pawn stars and goodyear tire
General
Dave,that is some good footage.Thanks for sharing
Was reallysorry to hear this news.Wanda was alwayssmiling and so full of energy when I saw her.She
was so much a part of things when she came to Hillsboro.We will really miss you but you will never be forgotten.
May your Star always shine brightlyand may God Bless.
LAVERNE ZACHARY
HISTORIC SPEEDWAY GROUP
In the April 2012 issue of Mopar Action Magazine there is an excellent article by Cliff Gromer
as told by Bob Tarozzi ,who was a Project Engineer fo Chrysler Corp. from 1965-1969.The story
tells of the development on the Charger 500 which was done in the Ray Nichels shops.Of course the Charger 500 was the forerunner to the Dodge Daytona.This is a must read for all Mopar fans .
Dave, what a great story and a wonderful tribute to your friend.Thanks for sharing it with us.
What an honor Ray!Enjoyed talking to you on Joe & Ruth's show.
When we first started the Celebrationof the Automobile and Racers Reunion at OCCONEECHEEORANGE SPEEDWAY an older gentleman walked into thethe tent with a box
of pictures many from that very track.There were pictures of Jane Mansfield,Bob Flock at the
very first stricky stock race at Hillsboro in 1949 and many others.I was really impressed with
what I saw.That gentlemans name was William "Bill" King.Over the next few years we became friends and he told me many stories aboutthe early days of racing.
One such story was about a modified he owned and how he became connected to a driver who became well known in those early days.Everyone is familiar with Taft Sloan and the number 91 Modified of his that Tim Flock raced very successfully out of Sanford NC.Well
Mr King had this modified that had been driven by several drivers including himself with little success.He had taken it to Mr Sloan and got him to build an engine for it.Mr Sloan told Bill he need to get someone to drive the c ar that wasn't so particular and be more agressive.One
day while he was there Mr. Sloan told him the next time he came he had someone he wanted
him to meet.Next time he came to the garage there was a man in a pair of coveralls and Mr
Sloan introduced him-I want you to meet Herbert Thomas (Herb wasn't used until later).Any way Mr KING hIred him and he drove the number 92.Eventually it became too expensive and the car was sold but we all know about the career of Herb Thomas.
During the last year Mr King had foughta battle with cancer.On November23rd he lost that battle. I am very thankful that I had the pleasure ofknowing Mr Bill King and will always
remember him.
Back in the late 60's I attended several Indy car races at Phoenix while Iwas stationed there in the Air Force.
All the great open wheel racers,the Unsers,Foyt,Swede Savage,Andetti,the Bettenhausensand others raced
there.And I saw some great races .Thats what Phoenix was about.They raced sports cars,they even raced sprint cars there.And although there have been some memorable races there in stock cars it is one of those tracks
that never impressed me as far as NASCAR stock cars goes.I know many improvements have been made over the years but it's like an old house that youkeep putting new siding on-when you pull back the siding it's still an old house
As we approach September 22th lets take a look back at the 1964 NASCAR season,a season which had already been filled with tragedy.We had lost Joe Weatherly at Riverside and Fireball Roberts fromburns at Charlotte.On September 20th Wilkesboro'sJimmyPardue ,4th in the points standing,would start 2nd in the 150 miler at Hillsboro and finish 13th.Two days later on September 22th Jimmy would go to Charlotte to do some tire testing.On his sixth lap he would turn 149 mph about 4 mph faster than the track record.On the next lap a right front tire exploded and he went through the 3rd turn guard rail causing fatal injuries.One more dark cloud had just been cast over the alredy tragic season.And although there were still 7 races left JimmyPardue would still finish 5th in the season points standings a tribute to the great season he was having.And as the sun set on the 1964 season 3 shining stars had been dimmed but the safety standards that came from these tragedies changed NASCAR forever.
LAVERNE ZACHARY
An interesting fact about the Mad Dog IV which was owned by Bob Osiecki was that Bill France had posted a $10,000 bounty for the first person to break the 180 mph lap at Daytona.On August 29th,1961Bill France went home with $10,000 less in his pocketbook as Art Malone took up his challange and won.Don"t believeBig Bill made any more challenges to up that barrier!!