Will, I'm "guessing" the photo is from the Nov. 1985 ARCA race at Atlanta. I'm also seeing Dale in the #96 at Daytona ARCA in Feb. 1985. Do you recall if Dale Singleton drove any other events for you?
Still a really nice shot, Scott.
He needs to be in Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. Perhaps the most noted worlwide racer to ever come out of Georgia.
Georgia's Dale Singleton: Would he have been as Nascar big as Dale Earnhardt Sr?
Just saying Dale Earnhardt Sr 's name and Nascar in the same sentence produces instant recall, especially during Nascar's 53rd Annual Daytona 500 race this week , also known as " The Great American Race ", according to the Daytona International Speedway.
But another Dale was as instantly recognizable in the State of Georgia during the late 70s and early 80s and that was Dale Singleton, who won the Daytona 200 in 1979 and 1981, along with the 1981 AMA Road Championship for motorcycle racing.
And if Dale Singleton had lived it is highly likely he would have given Dale Earnhardt, Sr . a run for his money, as Singleton was known as the fastest motorcycle racer of his time, partially due to the fact that he built his own bikes.
But how would a motorcycle racer have been a competitor against legend stock car racer Dale Earnhardt Sr., you may ask?
While Singleton was a force to be reckoned with on the motorcycle, and garnered attention in the U.S. and Europe -- where he raced as well -- recent racing enthusiasts may not realize he had left motorcycle racing at the top of his game and had veered into stock car racing shortly before his fatal plane crash.
In fact, Dale Singleton had left a stock car race with fellow pal Richie Panch - the Daytona Beach, Florida stock car racer -- and was a passenger in Panch's Piper plane when they encountered a storm so bad the plane fell apart, sending them and other passengers aboard to their deaths.
Racing enthusiasts the world over lost the first Dale to racing back then, in September of 1985. They would go on to lose the second Dale -- Dale Earnhardt Sr. -- almost two decades later, and actually while in a race.
Dale Singleton and Dale Earnhardt Sr both exit at top of game
Like Dale Earnhardt Sr., Dale Singleton was fast on the tracks, attributed he said to his unique approach to racing.
"Most of my advantage at Daytona is the fact that I got to the level I'm at by doing my own thing mechanically. I know the inside of the bike's engine like the back of my hand."
And, indeed, he did, building his own bikes in lieu of using factory made motorcycle racing bikes.
The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame says Singleton was so knowledgeable about the mechanics of motorcycle bikes that he not only once -- but twice -- played "David" to the factory racing team's "Goliath" on the track, whipping them at their own high-dollar game.
When Dale Singleton exited motorcycle racing for stock car racing instead, he did so with the same intent as racing motorcycles: to win.
Singleton's untimely death prohibited us ever learning what he would have accommplished on the Daytona track in a stock car, but this fearless racer would have surely been pitted against another Dale eventually.
As it is, Dale Singleton and Dale Earnhardt Sr . both exited the professional arena of motor sports at the height of their respective careers, and the latter will be officially remembered on the 10th anniversary of his death during the 53rd Annual Daytona 500 race this weekend.
Dale Singleton, on the other hand, didn't live to be in the "Great American Race" in Daytona, but I'm confident his showing would have been just as spectacular if he had. For more about the family this Dale left behind read " NASCAR: Two deaths, two anniversaries - Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and Dal... ."
References: Daytona International Speedway , AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Website and Singleton Family
Wrangler had determined that we wanted to help motorcycle racer and Dalton, Georgia pig farmer, Dale Singleton (the fellow I ate with at the Disneyland AMA banquet on Sunday night of this 1983 Elliott win at Riverside) get a toe hold in stock car racing if he wanted to continue because he was such a personable competitor.
Dale had twice beaten the factory teams as a "privateer" in 1979 and 1981 to win America's most prestigious motorcycle race - the Daytona 200 .
Dale Singleton with his pig "Elmer" in Daytona Victory Lane
Dale had run in one NASCAR Bud Series LMS event in 1982 at Martinsville and really hoped to transition. He and Richie Panch had become great friends and it's easy to see why. Both had infectious smiles and senses of humor.
Take a look at the little clip below of Dale Singleton with Elmer and you'll see how he could have become another of NASCAR's "Clown Princes:"
Good job, Cody. Really nice writeup. Now we will be expecting more!
I remember there was a huge rain deluge at the end of this event and that desert dust turned to gumbo that stuck all over my western boots. When we left the track, most of us were soaked through and shivering.
This was back before everybody had those huge team jets and even before the old Piedmont Airlines starting offering some special charters for the teams. Many crew personnel opted to take the 11:00 pm "red eye" out of LAX Sunday night after Riverside races to get back to the east coast and their shops as soon as possible.
I had to hustle straight from Riverside Raceway in my soaked through blue & yellow Wrangler shirt to the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim for that Sunday night's American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) banquet. I was seated that night next to Dale Singleton ("The Georgia Pig Farmer") who, as usual, had a baby piglet in a crate under our banquet table. Dale would later perish, along with Marvin Panch's son, Richie, when their plane went down in a thunderstorm leaving Darlington.
The 7th place on the lead lap performance by Terry Labonte was outstanding, considering he suffered one of the wort crashes in Riverside history the previous year. Terry's experience and thoughts are described below by Mike Hembree in his NASCAR book, The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told :
Here's a couple of variations on the Associated Press race report from newspapers in Wilmington and Lexington, NC and Lakeland, Florida:
1985 Stroh's Beer 200Previous race results / Next race results Previous at this track NASCAR Winston West Series race number 5 of 12
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Welcome to the site, Bobby. Maybe somebody out there has a photo.
Yep... that Randy Ayers link is the same one I highlighted the other day about the cars fielded by Junior Fields & Ralph McNabb out of Liberty, NC - sometimes sponsored by Cannaday Chevrolet, where Wayne Andrews bought all his high performance parts.
16th place finisher Ted Cannaday seemed familiar so I looked it up and he should be. Ted would end up with a Chevrolet dealership in Liberty, NC. Dad bought a lot of over the counter 396 parts there and ended up in the showroom in 1969 with Cannaday Chevrolet on the quarter panels on this Chevelle.
Dennis... I found this interesting passage in The Danville (Va.) Bee :
Apr. 21, 1971 'Mr. Modified' Joins Virginia 500 Field
MARTINSVILLE -- Take Ray Hendrick, put him in a fast Chevrolet and what do you have? Hopefully, a lot of excitement for the fans in Sunday's $32,680, 16th annual Virginia 500 race at Martinsville Speedway. The Richmond speedster who is becoming known as "Mister Modified," will drive a 1971 Chevelle in the Winston Cup event that covers 500 laps and 262.5 miles. The car, just recently built, was prepared by Junior Fields and R a l p h McNabb and is sponsored by Cannaday Chevrolet of Liberty N.C.
The results don't show Hendrick in that Cup field.
Here's a link to a very interesting writeup of the #91 Chevelle sponsored out of Liberty, NC by both Cannaday Chevrolet and a local lumber company and fielded by Junior Fields and Ralph McNabb for a variety of drivers in the 1971 Winston Cup season, beginning with Charlie Glotzbach at the April 1971 N. Wilkesboro event:
http://www.randyayersmodeling.com/modelingforum/viewtopic.php?p=606...
That's cool Dave. I knew about the #91 Chevelle but never knew of any connection with Cannaday Chevrolet other than the fact that Ted would order factory racing parts right out of the performance catalog for GN teams as well as local outlaw teams. That's where dad got most of his 396 parts for the dirt Chevelles he owned. I think I've still got part of one of those catalogs somewhere. At that time you couldn't get over the counter racing parts from Ford.
