Forum Activity for @ernest-sutton

Union 76 Racing Gasoline

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In those days, I could buy Sunoco pump-grade gas at around 100+ octane and I believe the Union 76 racing gas was around 108-110. The Charger ran good on the Sunoco 260 (as it was called then), so any better performance on the racing gas was probably just my imagination. Sunoco had pumps back then which you could dial up your own blend of fuel (from Sunoco 190 on the low side to Sunoco 260 on the high side). I was still living in SW Georgia then and could only find the Sunoco stations in Florida. And Robbie, no one ever told me if the racing gas at the endurance races was the same octane as the racing gas at NASCAR races.........I just always assumed it was............maybe someone can give us the answer to that one.

Union 76 Racing Gasoline

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I was working flagging/communications at 24 Hours of Daytona in '70 and the street car I drove at that time was a '70 Dodge Charger R/T (wish I still had that car). A couple of days before the race, I drove my car out onto the track and made a slow lap(even stopped on the apron between turns 3 and 4 and crawled to the top of the turn, you couldn't stand up and do that). The track management was far less restrictive in those days. When I got to the pit area, I pulled in to the Union 76 station which was there at the time, noticed that the price of racing gas was $1.75/gallon (I think regular gas price then was around $ .75/gal.), so decided I would pay the price and try some. I filled the car up (18-20 gal.) myself since it appeared to be self-serve, went inside the station to pay, and the only guy there said they weren't allowed to sell the gas and had no facilities for collecting any money..........so I told him I had just filled my car and what should I do? His only comment was, "have a good time, compliments of Union 76". Those were the "good old days" when everything was less restrictive..........don't believe you could do that today.
updated by @ernest-sutton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

Carolina Moonshine Video

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I just watched the Carolina Moonshine video......I'm pretty sure that everyone here knows Junior Johnson's history, but seeing that white #3 '63 Chevy at the end of the video sure brought back some memories for me. I watched Junior win a race in Atlanta (don't remember whether it was spring or fall) in that car in '63. Being a Chevy fan at that time, it was pretty sweet to see that since Chevys had not been faring too well up to that point.........the '62, '63, '64 Fords (especially those from Holman-Moody) had been doing much better. Ford was putting out some great race cars in those days. I believe that Chevy may be the one which D.W. refers to as having had the "mystery" engine in it.
updated by @ernest-sutton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

Sam McQuagg

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I was not at the Valdosta track the night Sam traded cars w/Harvey..........wish I had been, that had to be one of the best nights at the track. I grew up in Albany, so I was at that track several times, at the Lake City track only once, at the old Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta a couple of times. The times I was at the Valdosta track was mostly '63 - '65. I remember seeing one car Sam drove with Tifton Special on the hood. I also remember some fast cars sponsored by Jon Thorn Motors..........and there was another driver from that era that I always thought was pretty good, too..........Eddie McDonald, Sr. I think he was from Tifton, GA. Man, all this racking my brain is bringing back some good old memories. Ricky J. Coody said:

Hey Ernest, That was some fantastic racing at I-75 Speedway all through the 60's!! I was born in Madison Fla. and grew up there through the 60's(10 miles south of the track) and spent most Saturday nights at that track. Sam drove a lot for Jimmy Thomas from Columbus Ga. in the yellow #22 quite a lot in 63,64.65. In 66,67, and 68, he drove mostly for Steve Sheffield from Madison. I think that blue #67 DeSoto was built by Jimmy Thomas and was very fast!! On one night in 66, Harvey made a comment that if he was driving that #67 car, he could win about every race too!! Sam OKed it with Steve and traded cars with Harvey. Sam outran Harvey in his own car!! What a great show that was! Do you remember that? It was GREAT! Did you go to any of the other tracks in the area? Lake City,Albany, Jacksonville,Waycross,Dublin,Dothan Ala. All great tracks! Drop a line. Rick Coody

Sam McQuagg

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I was not at that particular race (although I couldn't begin to tell you how many races I've been to in Daytona). I did see Sam McQuagg race many, many times at Valdosta 75 Speedway as I was living in Valdosta, GA in the early '60s. Back in those days, one of the cars Sam drove was called the Tifton Special. My numbers might be slightly off, but in '63, Sam won something like 34 out of 36 races run on that track. Sam was from Columbus, GA, and one of his main competitors on that track was Harvey Jones from Tallahassee, FL. Harvey actually drove race cars into his early 70s. Sam retired from racing because he wasn't making enough money at it in those days, took flying lessons, & became a corporate pilot for a company in Culumbus, GA for about 10 years. Both of these drivers passed away in 2009 within 3 months of each other. Tim Leeming said:

I was at that race, saw that car, saw that spoiler and couldn't figure it out. There was no question, at the end of the race, that it work. To my non-engineering mind, it seemed the spoiled blade messed up the aerodynamics of that slick car but shows you how wrong I was.
Tim

Sam McQuagg

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I had mentioned in an earlier entry that Sam McQuagg won the '66 Firecracker 400 in a Ray Fox Dodge Charger..........I did a little research on Sam & found that I was mistaken..........it was a Ray Nichels Dodge Charger & was Sam's only GN win. Another little tidbit of information I found on Sam McQuagg was thatduring practice for that race, he noticed that the rear of the car got very light above 180 mph & that he was actually spinning the rear tires going down the back straight, so he & his crew came up with the idea of adding a 1-1/2 inch metal strip across the rear of the car (the first rear spoiler).

In '66, they could be more innovative & there were no rules against this. Not only did this provide enough downforce to hold the rear end down but actually added another 5-6 mph in speed. Obviously, it worked very well (since they won the race) & according to the story, Sam is given credit for running the first rear spoiler on a stock car in a NASCAR race. Sadly, Sam passed away in January, 2009.

updated by @ernest-sutton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

Tiny Lund GrandAm Win at Road Atlanta

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Thanks, Brandon..........does the program you have happen to have the entry list with it? Just curious............I really wish I had saved some of all the race programs & paraphenalia I ran across in those days. I worked many races in the Southeast..........Road Atlanta, Daytona, Sebring, Talladega, Selma, Robling Road (Savannah).........and wish I had more pictures from those days. Brandon Reed said:

What a cool story. My stepfather, who passed away last week, was at that race. I still have his program and race info from the event. He said there was also a heck of a post-race party.

Thanks for sharing your story, and reminding me of his.

Tiny Lund GrandAm Win at Road Atlanta

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Besides being a huge NASCAR fan, I used to work flagging/communications at SCCA races & I was part of the team invited to work the GrandAmerican race at Road Atlanta around '69. I don't remember all drivers in that race but do remember that Bobby Allison, Bob Tullius, & Tiny Lund were participants. Bobby had even landed his plane (twin Beechcraft, I believe) on the long back straight before the race. Tiny Lund won that race (Pepsi-sponsored Camaro, as I recall). I was on the far back portion of the track, Tiny had taken the checkered flag & was taking his cool-down lap. I was standing next to the track to give him the thumbs-up when he pulled over next to me & stopped. I thought something was wrong, so I leaned inside the car to ask him what it was..........he said nothing was wrong, was just wondering if I might have a cold PBR. It so happened that I did, went back to my cooler, retrieved it & handed it to him. He popped the top, thanked me, and took off for Victory Lane. Those were the 'good old days".
updated by @ernest-sutton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

Cale Yarborough's 1st GN Win

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I met a few drivers over the years, but the only one I actually met from this race was Tiny Lund......that's kind of an interesting story, too.

Cale Yarborough's 1st GN Win

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Guess I was right.........I thought I remembered Buddy Baker & Wendell Scott being there also, but didn't remember for sure. Buck Baker was defending GN champion. I'm surprised I remembered te '64 Ford part. Jeff Gilder said:

He was winless in 66 then won 2 in 67 at Atlanta and Daytona.

Jeff Gilder said:

June, 27, 1965 at Valdosta.
Racing Reference has this listed as Cale'sFirst win.
Here is the field.
Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
1 5 06 Cale Yarborough Kenny Myler '64 Ford 200 1,000 running 18
2 11 19 J.T. Putney Herman Beam '64 Ford 197 600 running 0
3 2 49 G.C. Spencer G.C. Spencer '64 Ford 196 400 engine 21
4 9 18 Stick Elliott Toy Bolton '65 Chevrolet 196 300 running 0
5 21 31 Harvey Jones Sam Fogle '63 Ford 195 275 running 0
6 14 52 E.J. Trivette Jess Potter '63 Chevrolet 191 240 running 0
7 15 9 Roy Tyner Roy Tyner '64 Chevrolet 191 200 running 0
8 13 89 Neil Castles Buck Baker '65 Oldsmobile 189 175 running 0
9 7 68 Bob Derrington Bob Derrington '63 Ford 184 150 running 0
10 6 00 Tom Pistone Emory Gilliam '64 Ford 175 140 running 0
11 19 97 Henley Gray Gene Cline '64 Ford 166 130 running 0
12 1 29 Dick Hutcherson Holman-Moody '65 Ford 161 120 rear end 161
13 3 11 Ned Jarrett Bondy Long '65 Ford 160 110 running 0
14 16 99 Gene Hobby Gene Hobby '64 Dodge 133 100 running 0
15 12 34 Wendell Scott Wendell Scott '63 Ford 116 100 differential 0
16 4 55 Tiny Lund Lyle Stelter '64 Ford 85 100 axle 0
17 8 88 Buddy Baker Buck Baker '64 Dodge 15 100 clutch 0
18 20 38 Wayne Smith Archie Smith '65 Chevrolet 12 100 differential 0
19 18 87 Buck Baker Buck Baker '65 Chevrolet 3 100 fuel pump 0
20 17 64 Elmer Gilliam Elmo Langley '64 Ford 1 100 push rod 0
21 10 53 Jimmy Helms David Warren '63 Ford 1 100 engine 0