Help Identify The Track & Drivers In These Old Photos
Historic Speedways and Ghost Tracks
I think we have a winner but I'm going to go up to Mike Staley's next week and check out some of his photos just to be sure.
Forum Activity for @randy-myers2
Historic Speedways and Ghost Tracks
Bet nobody enjoyed Saturday at Columbia Speedway reunion more than me
General
I also had a great time and especially want to say thanks to all the "Legends" for taking the time to meet the fans. Last time I was at Columbia it was dirt but I saw some of the same faces Saturday afternoon as I saw on that dusty night in 1966. Thanks for the memories.Randy
TRIVIA QUESTION
Stock Car Racing History
Actually both are correct. Smokey had a lip on the rear of the roof of the #13 Chevelle at Daytona in "66" and while it may have not been recognized as a "spoiler" it was enough to add to get the attentionof NASCAR inspectors.
Tiny Lund GrandAm Win at Road Atlanta
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When I was a little kid, Tiny came to Winston-Salem and worked and stayed at Daddy's shop. I remember he playfully stuffed me in a stack of tires to keep me out of the way. Years later (66 or 67) when I was working with Huggins Tire (Goodyear GN service), I thought I could get away with picking on Tiny since I was now a "grown" man. He promptly reminded me of who was the boss by stuffing me in another stack of Goodyears. "Hell of a man"!
Madhouse II
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Well done Mr. Janik although Burt's younger brother is Jason. I wish I was that young again. An open mind is always open to change.
Madhouse
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Well said. The only thing I would dispute is Hank's comment. It's probably more like 3%. HA! All-in-all, the show represents the "Stadium" and the folks who go there well. And for those of you so worried about the reputation of the folks in the south, we'll survive , and some of other short tracks that are struggling to keep the doors open would do well to take some lessons here. Thomas K. Craig said:
Ok, I've read alot of these posts about this show in the last week. I give every persons opinion with the utmost respect. But for the life of me I cant understand why the majority of people that replied here has something bad to say about this show and its not because they disliked it. It was because of the way the people acted on the show. Like I posted previously that my father has went to Bowman Gray and told me its just like the way it is on the show. Even yesterday at the show in Raleigh me and my dad were talking with Hank Thomas and he said about only 5% of it was "Hollywood". But the part that isnt, is that fued with the Myers and Miller. I dont care if somebody watches this show on the West Coast or Northeast US and it throws more fuel on the fire for the stereotype of southern people that we act stupid. There are people all over the world that act that crazy over something. So who cares what others think. I'm glad there is a track that actually cares and there is passion over a certain driver or drivers. Look at Cup Series today. You couldnt find anything like that in that snoozefest they have going on now. Thank you Bowman Gray for putting a great show and still having that grass roots part of racing.
Madhouse
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Brian Janik said:
Burt tested with Roush several years ago and did quite well according to Mark Martin who was setting up the trucks for the tests. Roush GM said so as well. All it took to sit in the seat was a check for $1,000,000.00. Sometimes all the talent in the world won't get you where you want to go. Witness the 100's of great drivers wheeling around the short tracks every weekend with every bit as much talent as the current crop of steering wheel holders. For the record, Miller did get two or three seasons of "Cup" racing as did Burt's dad, Gary, back in the 70's. Finances just didn't let them move on and they were content in being good at what they do which translates into being the big-fish-little-pond you so snidely described.And that will be 62 years of the Madhouse on opening night in April. Strange the track has never produced many drivers in recent years (1960's through today) who moved up the ladder for long unless you count Childress who never won a feature race there. Several from back in the early days like Turner, my dad, the Flocks, Geln Wood and a few more moved up.Yes overacting is an understatement. BG may be a Madhouse on raceday for the past 40 plus years and thats fine. It draws a huge crowd of wild fans who love their Miller and their MYERS and thats something to be proud of,,loyal fans. As good as Miller and Myers are, why are they still at BG? NC is the meca of NASCAR and these guys I though by now would have had their sights on bigger and better things. But not everyone has the talent to leave the small pond and go play with the big fish.
John Joyce said:My father and others I talked to said that has been the way B_G has always been. I think it may have been a little overacting by the guys but it has the rep of always being "wild". But look at the stands, they are packed! And have been for years. People love the rivilaries. Just a thought...I wonder if Nascar will want to pull it due to negative outlook people will get. Much like the NFL pulled the series "Playmakers" from ESPN a few years ago because potrayed the NFL in a bad light.
Madhouse
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My dad, Billy Myers, was the original "Master of the Madhouse" way back in 1955 wining 12 BGS feature races (from the back of the field) on the way to 48 wins and the NASCAR National Championship in the Sportsman (now Nationwide) division. He won those races against the likes of his brother Bobby, Curtis Truner, Glen Wood and Pee Wee Jones. My nephews, Burt and Jason, continue to compete there and were part of the show you complained about in your post. By-the-way! We are from NC and the spelling is MYERS. They may spell it differently in PA, wherever that is (lol). While you or I may not always approve of the way things are done at Bowman Gray, what you saw on Sunday night is exactly what happens there. There was very little scripting (especially at the track) and these guys are passionate about what they do. The "stuff' you saw Sunday goes all the way back to the earliest days of the sport when "Big" Bill France and Alvin Hawkins were the "Stadium" promoters. (Brian France probably secretly wishes he could package what you saw to help fill some of the empty seats at Daytona in February) You always had to fend for yourself at BGS. Can you imagine how it feels to have several races and a couple of championships taken from you by the local "bully" with the management cheering it on and selling the tickets. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. And, right or worng, the "Stadium" continues today unlike Columbia, Occoneechee, New Asheville, Weaverville, Harris and many more. Drama sells tickets and maybe the "Stadium" does it best of all.For all you "purists" complaining about the "black eye" this gives short track racing, how short your memory must be. Remember Truner and Allison destroying two perfectly good race cars at Bowman Gray in "66"? Remember the Allison - Petty fueds of the early "70's"? Remember "the fight" that put NASCAR on-the-map on National TV? Remember the "Iron Man" the Houstons, Boscoe Lowe, Roy Trantham, Ned Setzer and the Killians at Hickory, Remember Carl Burris, Perk Brown, Ted Swaim, Eb & Fuzzy Clifton and dozens more at Bowman Gray? I know there were many others at the tracks in the northeast, midwest and west that did (while you cheered them on), and continue to do the very thing you are compalining about. This ain't your Sunday afternoon on TV, milk-and-cookies, steering wheel holder, nap taking bunch of "Cup" racers. These guys (as are most short trackers) are passionate and do what they have to do to make from week-to-week, race-to-race.So "quit-yer-bitchin" and get out to your local "madhouse" when the season starts. Fill up the seats. Get excited! Support the sport. Those "short tracks" really need your help.