Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

Thanks for the deduction, Randy.

Buck Baker would score ten 1957 GN victories in the #87 Black Widow Chevy crewed by Bud Moore enroute to the 1957 NASCAR Grand National Championship. What track is this with Buck taking the checkers?

Getty Images - Unidentified track & photographer

A little interesting history and trivia....

The Cleveland County, NC Fair - site of the Shelby racetrack, was organized in 1924 by a local Kiwanis Club committee organized by Dr. J.S. Dorton of Shelby.

If the Dorton name is familiar to some of our members, it may be because the iconic, modernist, landmark arena structure erected in 1950 at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh is named for Dr. Dorton.

The iconic Dorton Arena at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh is named for Dr. J.S. Dorton of Shelby. goodnightraleigh.com

What might be more significant to our RR members is that Dorton Arena overlooks the site of the last NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Series race - The Raleigh Fairgrounds Speedway.

Below is a 1950 photo of the arena in Raleigh named for the founder of Shelby's Cleveland County Fair, Dr. J.S. Dorton, overlooking a 1950 stock car race in progress at the Raleigh Fairgrounds Speedway:

goodnightraleigh.com

I was not familiar with the name of the 19th place finisher, Clarence DeZalia , who broke a spindle on the 103rd of the 200 Shelby laps.

Trying to research a bit, I found that Clarence operated a garage in Aberdeen, NC - that's on U.S. Route 1 near Southern Pines where I always stayed for the Rockingham races.

Clarence entered 58 NASCAR Grand National races between 1955-1959 and 15 NASCAR Convertible events between 1957-1959. In fact, just the month before the Shelby race, Clarence had posted a 7th place finish in the Grand National race at Myrtle Beach and he'd post another 7th place a month after Shelby in the NASCAR Convertible event at Columbia, SC.

The photo below is posted of Clarence DeZalia in 1958 action at the HowStuffWorks site (I read the photo is also in Greg Fielden's books) with the cut line below the photo from the HowStuffWorks site:

Clarence DeZalia's #94 Mercury gets entangled in a three-car mishap during a short-track event. DeZalia was one of the many independent drivers of the 1950s. He had no sponsor other than his own garage in Aberdeen, N.C. The crew was limited to DeZalia and a few friends, and they towed their car all over the South to race. DeZalia competed in 27 of the 51 events in 1958, scoring six top-10 finishes. He finished 15th in the final standings, and won a shade over $3,000. HowStuffWorks.com

In the "It's a Small World" category, I discovered that a frequent poster to the Wilson, North Carolina based Local Race Chat site who goes by the name of "modman" is none other than Clarence DeZalia's son, Marty DeZalia !

In the "It's an Even SMALLER World" category, I discovered that fact in a discussion between "modman" and our own Stock Car RacersReunion members Jim Wilmore (CapeFear01) and Bobby Williamson (DoubleZero) discussing the 2010 reunion at Occoneechee! How cool is that... especially with the Occoneechee 2013 event scheduled for this coming weekend, beginning Friday, September 27!!!

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   Re: Oconeechee Event

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   Originally Posted by SGP91
   

   
   

   This is a reminder to tell everyone that you know about the 4th annual show at the Oconeechee Speedway in Hillsborough,NC on August the 27th and 28th,2010.
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   I've been to all three of the "Old" Orange County Speedway, Hillsborough events and have enjoyed every one of them. It's more than just old cars, they have past Grand National drivers from the 1950's thru 1990's telling stories, signing autographs, just hanging out with the crowd. Plus, this year they are going to do parade laps on the old track, the old grand stand will be open to the public. It's a first-class event all the way.
   Gene Hobby called me a few weeks ago asking if I was bringing my car. It don't look like I'll make it this year but I sure do support everything the Occoneechee bunch are doing. I give it 5 stars, guaranteed to have a good time. Plus, there's a band, hotrods, ratrods, concessions, etc. etc. something for everyone.
   
   Check it out... http://historicspeedwaygroup.org/unc...ld?action=page
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   
   
   
   
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   Re: Oconeechee Event

   
   

   
   

   
   

   My dad used to race there number 94 Clarence DeZalia Aberdeen NC. My nefew Micheal Hall from Ric Va will be there to represent our dad I am going to try to make it if work permits . we are looking for a 56 ford to make into a car like my father raced Any one having pictures of it we would enjoy seeing them . Great event
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   
   
   

   
   
   
   
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   Re: Oconeechee Event

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   Originally Posted by modman
   

   
   

   My dad used to race there number 94 Clarence DeZalia Aberdeen NC. My nefew Micheal Hall from Ric Va will be there to represent our dad I am going to try to make it if work permits . we are looking for a 56 ford to make into a car like my father raced Any one having pictures of it we would enjoy seeing them . Great event
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   COOL! Modman , your dad was Clarence DeZalia? There is a photo of him in a '56 Mercury #94 "DeZalia's Garage Aberdeen, NC" in Greg Fielden's "NASCAR Chronicle"

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   
   
   

9th place finisher Larry Baumel of Wisconsin had started on the pole in the 1970 Columbia Speedway dirt Columbia 200 won by Richard in the Jabe Thomas Plymouth.

Andy Towler posted the Richmond News Leader story of the Bill Dennis Falcon a few years back from the Ray/Roy Hendrick archives. It was the first Late Model Modified to race at Richmond's Southside Speedway. The photographer, Don Pennell was a family friend and member of our Richmond church who passed this summer.

The story of Bill Dennis' "retirement" from racing is an amazing one.

Langley To Honor Dead (almost) Racer

Newport News Daily Press

May 13, 1989

By AL PEARCE Staff Writer

HAMPTON Langley Raceway will honor a man tonight who died seven years ago.

Bill Dennis, alive and smiling, will be here as friends, family and fans recognize his sparkling racing career on Bill Dennis Night.

Dennis hasn't raced since a horrific crash at Daytona Beach in February of 1982. At 53 and still somewhat bothered by the incident, it's doubtful he ever will.

Moments after the head-on crash he had an "over-and-back" experience in which he clearly saw his body drifting toward a brilliant white light.

Given up for dead by a member of the speedway's rescue squad, he was brought back by two doctors in the infield hospital.

THE ACCIDENT happened on Feb. 7, 1982 as Dennis attempted to qualify an Eddie Falk-owned Pontiac for the Daytona 500.

He was early into his qualifying run when the rear of the car abruptly pranced to the right, out of his control. As the back of the car kicked out, its nose aimed left, down the steep banking and onto the flat portion of the track.

"It started like a routine run," Dennis said months later. "Nothing different from what I'd done down there thousands of other times. But when the car hit the apron and came back around to the right, there was nothing I could do."

He reacted correctly by steering right, into the spin. But it was too little too late. The car snapped around and went directly into the concrete wall at 180 miles an hour.

"I knew I was going to die," Dennis said. "I'd seen people killed in wrecks not nearly that bad, so I knew I was in deep trouble. I hit the (engine) kill switch and jammed the brake pedal so hard it broke my foot.

"Then I got my best hold on the steering wheel."

Barely two seconds had elapsed between the time the car broke loose and its impact on the wall.

THE TRADEMARK DAYTONA, USA is painted in two-foot-high letters along the frontstretch wall of the speedway. The D in DAYTONA was the last thing Dennis remembered seeing before the impact.

Seconds later, he saw himself dead - if only for a few mimutes.

At first, he felt nothing, just silent darkness. Then Dennis saw a brilliant light, then his body drifting upward, through billowing white clouds, toward the light.

After watching himself try unsuccessfully to move his arms and legs, darkness quickly enveloped him again.

To this day he believes he was dead. Indeed, one of the ambulance attendants who rushed him to the track hospital told attending physicians that their patient already had expired.

"HE DIDN`T HAVE any vital signs of life," said Dr. Jerry Punch, one of two physicians on duty that morning. "There was no pulse, he wasn't breathing and he had that cold, clammy feel. It looked very bleak."

Punch and Dr. A.J. Adessa worked on Dennis for several minutes, administering oxygen and cardiopulmonary resusitation.

"Suddenly, Bill gasped and his eyes shot open," Punch recalled. "He had the most horrified look on his face, like he'd seen a ghost. He couldn't breathe well, he couldn't speak and he couldn't move. He was totally disoriented."

Dennis' larnyx was crushed and his voicebox badly damaged. His shoulder was dislocated, his foot broken and he had suffered severe cuts, bruises and internal injuries.

He spent two weeks in a Daytona Beach hospital, then 10 more days in a Richmond hospital. Today, the only outward lingering sign of the ordeal is his inability to speak much above a whisper.

THE NEWS STUNNED race fans in the Richmond area, the driver's life-long home. When a radio station reported that Dennis was dead, nephew Carroll Harris was so distraught he almost wrecked his truck in his dash home.

Keith Dennis was an 18-year-old student at James Madison University. He rushed home to join his mother, sister and grandmother on a chartered jet to his father's bedside. Ricky Dennis, 21, had gone to Speed Week with his father.

"Every flight from Richmond was booked that day, so I rented a Lear," Theresa Dennis, his daughter, said. "I didn't think about anything except getting to the hospital. I didn't think about the cost ($4,500), I thought about the people I love."

Despite divorcing in 1974, Nancy and Bill Dennis had remained good friends. A registered nurse, she knew something was terribly wrong when a colleague said she had a call from doctor in Daytona Beach.

"I didn't know if it was Ricky or Bill," she said. "I just knew they wouldn't be calling me from down there if it wasn't bad."

She prayed that day for her ex-husband to give up racing. "He's had a great career, a great life," she said at the time. "He's won a lot of races and a lot of championships. He doesn't have anything to prove."

She knew better, though. "I know he won't get out of racing," she said. "It's still too important to him."

Dennis tried to race again, but NASCAR said no. They cited his difficulty breathing and speaking. Before he was grounded, though, he was adamant about racing again.

"I'll be racing again by the middle of this summer," he said in April of 1982. "I decided when I was in the hospital that if I was physically able, I'd get back in a race car as soon as I could.

"I'm not trying to prove anything to anybody or to myself," he added. "I've raced for 25 years and I know what I can do. I don't have to prove I'm not scared. Racing is my life and I'm not ready to quit."

Then he added,"I'm not ready to die, either, I'll tell you that."

BILL DENNIS

Began racing: 1958 at Moore's Field in Richmond. Won his first-ever start after subbing for driver who didn't show up for a Modified race.

Honors: 1970 NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

Titles: 1975-76-79 Virginia Sportsman Champion; 1974-75-76-79 Southside Speedway Sportsman Champion; Top 10 in Sportsman national standings seven times between 1973-81.

Highlights: Won Daytona Sportsman 300 in 1972-73-74 for car owner Junie Donlavey.

Bill Dennis' daughter, Theresa chartered a Lear Jet to get from Richmond to her dad's Daytona bedside in February 1982. That's Theresa (as my "Miss Wrangler") 7 month's later in Richmond's Budweiser Sportsman victory lane in September with the late Butch Lindley. Photo from the Butch & Emanuel Zervakis collection

12th finishing Bill Dennis was one of our hometown Richmond Friday night drivers from Southside Speedway. He got a 1969 Chevy Malibu and put the same number on it - #54 - that he'd started running on his NASCAR Late Model Modified Falcons. He wound up being named 1970 NASCAR Grand National Rookie of the Yea r.

1970 Grand National Rookie of the Year, Bill Dennis carried sponsorship from Richmond's "Round Man with the Square Deal" - Sonny Mallory and his Mallory's Speed Shop. Here he races his #54 Malibu with Dover winner, Richard Petty in his Superbird. From the "Hondo" collection as published at Randy Ayers Modeling Forum.

Dennis first debuted #54 on his Late Model Modified Falcon that ran Southside Speedway, South Boston, Langley Field and Old Dominion.

Above - Bill Dennis with his Late Model Modified Falcon #54 parked next to the Ray Hendrick Tant/Mitchell "Flying 11" coupe at Langley Field in 1967 from Jalopy Journal.

Dennis' Late Model Modified Falcon #54 in 1968 as posted at Jalopy Journal.

Bill Dennis would go on to become the first 3 time winner - in a row - of Daytona's Permatex 300 in the Junie Donlavey #90.

November 25, 1970 - Lewiston Evening Journal

Thanks, fellas.

Anyone know the reason for Junior's disqualification?