Unprecedented in recent years not to throw a red flag rather than keep circling the track near conclusion using pit road.
I never before believed in the conspiracies, but it was obvious tonight who NASCAR wanted going forward with a championship.
I don't know what the geographic distribution of the product is, but this television commercial has been airing in our Charlotte, NC market for some time:
While searching around for information about Air Lift, I found the article below at www.airsociety.net :
In a simpler time when a mans ride was judged not by how flush his fitment was or by how tucked his tires were, but by the time it took him to tear up the 4.1 mile long Daytona Beach race track;
Air Lift emerged to reign supreme. 
What started as the brain child of GE Engineer Claude Pemberton and Oldsmobile Toronado developer Don Perkins in 1949 as a means to offer extra lifting capabilities to vehicles carrying huge loads, quickly turned into a thriving business that now employs over 70 people and services more than 543 vehicles types and classes. 
At the time of its inception the idea of using pressurized rubber air sleeves inserted into existing coil springs to provide added stiffness and lift for extremely heavy loads was an unheard of concept. This quickly turned around as people began witnessing first hand the extreme carrying capabilities of the Air Lift air springs. Of course once it was proven that air springs could carry weight more efficiently than coil springs, the next step was inevitably the race track. 
Before the Bonneville Salt Flats were recognized as the best place on earth to test what your ride was truly made of, the Daytona Beach Road Course in Daytona, Florida was considered to be the premiere location for racers with something to prove. More than 15 land speed records were set at this very track over half a century ago with racers such as Alexander Winton, Jack Radtke, and Ransom Olds tearing up the ocean strip. 
Of course racing on sandy beaches had its own set of obstacles to overcome such as having proper traction while transitioning through the hairpin curves that connected the 2 mile long beach strip of the track to the freshly paved A1A highway. Air Lift quickly jumped into the arena and started manufacturing performance based air springs to support these heavy vehicles as they navigated the course. 
What started off as a bootleggers way of blowing off steam on weekends, NASCAR quickly turned into the largest racing event in North America. Racers like Bobby Griffin, Junior Johnson and many of the Petty family ran Air Lift springs and swore by them. On February 22, 1959, Lee Petty won the very first Daytona 500 with an Air Lift equipped Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 (#42) in what became a story for the ages. 
Petty and rivals Johnny Beauchamp, and Joe Weatherly drove side by side by side across the finish line at the final lap for a photo finish. Beauchamp was declared the unofficial winner, and drove to victory lane to collect his prize. Petty protested the results, saying: I had Beauchamp by a good two feet. In my own mind, I know I won.
It took NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. three days to decide the winner. In the end, with the help of the national newsreel, Petty was officially declared the winner. 
Buck Baker was another Air Lifted driver who starred in 682 races, which sets him at 3rd most starts overall in the history of NASCAR. In 1953, 1960 and 1964, Baker won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway which eventually saw him pick up 46 victories in his over 40 years of racing. 
By the late 1960s NASCAR began heading in a different direction with regards to its suspension regulations so Air Lift transitioned into the drag racing scene. Legends of the 1/4 mile including Butch Fedewa rose to national stardom after winning races all over the United States. Eddie Schartman drove the Air Lift Rattler (Comet and later Cougar) to multiple wins throughout the late 60s as well. 
As time wore on so did the direction of the company and eventually Air Lift saw a leadership change. Claude Pemberton took over as president from Perkins. His son Bob took over as president upon his retirement and Air Lift currently continues to operate as a family company to this day. 
Today, Air Lift stands as the industry standard for air suspension parts and service. Its Traditional (Towing, Hauling, Load Support), Engineered (OEM, Emergency Vehicles, Handicap Accessible Buses), and Air Lift Performance (Full Air, Lowered Vehicles) divisions are what allow them to continue growing during the good times and the bad. 
While no one can say for certain what the future has in store, by bringing the passion of its old school heritage to the youth of the new millennium, Air Lift is in the drivers seat yet again and is showing the world that it isnt just a one trick pony and is here to stay for good. 
Big thanks go out to Ian Cain and Corey Rosser from Air Lift for the support and wealth of information and resources supplied for this article.
Seeing Tim's note that Fonty Flock was driving the Air Lift Olds got me wondering if that onetime mainstay of NASCAR Grand National stock car racing was still around.
The answer is "YES."
Here is a link to the family run Air Lift Company's web site: www.airliftcompany.com/about .
The clip below is taken from that web site:
Found a couple of interesting NASCAR Modified-Sportsman starts for "Bowtie Bob."
* July 4, 1952 - Started 36th, finished 42nd at Darlington, SC in Modified-Sportsman race running a Studebaker Sportsman.
*February, 1956 - Finished 15th on Daytona Beach - Road Course in Modified-Sportsman event driving a 1937 Ford Sportsman.
Also found that he'd once been disqualified at Flemington for showing up with a Corvair that was too low to the ground.
Bob passed in 2003 . This is his obituary in The Standard newspaper in Macclenny, Florida:
This was the only NASCAR Grand National start for the the last finishing and disqualified Robert Wiesemeyer . He raced in the 50s and 60s in weekly Sportsman racing in New Jersey at Old Bridge Stadium and Flemington. He was 1958 Old Bridge Stadium Sportsman champion.
Wiesemeyer liked to wear bowties, sometimes even when driving. This habit earned him the nickname "Bowtie Bob!"
Below are several photos from the 3WidesPictureVault site of Bob with photographer credits embedded where available. "Bowtie Bob" is easily picked out in tjhe group shot from Flemington.
For 52 years Donald Thomas held the title of youngest winner in GN/Cup history, until Kyle Busch won in 2005.
Man, I would have loved to have seen Herb Thomas race.
I'd like to know the origination of the "Buccaneer" name for the Kingsport race. I don't recall a lot of pirates in those east Tennessee mountains.
You ought to have just had Billy Biscoe bolt that nose cone on yer Roadrunner... honk, honk!!!
My friend, Hugh Hawthorne in Richmond, has the car below in his den on Courthouse Road. The comments under the photo are by Billy Biscoe from a previous post:
Dave:
Not only was I working at P/E back then, I was also introduced to Mr. Hawthorne.But was asked byMaurice Pettyto reassemble this exact racer.
Take as much time as you need, "I just want it back like it was when I drove it."verbatim for da' King hisself.There is absolutly nothing on this car that wasn't from the stashed parts and pieces from that era ! The best I can remember It took just shy of 670 hrs to complete and that not including that super Hemi under the hood. Motor room guru's took care of that end...I'm glad it ended up in Mr. H's collection of golden oldies.Arustyracer
Below is the link to the entire original post I made about Hugh Hawthorne and his friendship with the Petty family:
http://stockcar.racersreunion.com/forum/topics/unsung-hero-s-attempt-to-pay-back-richard-the-petty-family?commentId=1981311%3AComment%3A687846
