Looking forward to watching tonight's show. Having watched Tiny and Junior power slide on dirt, as well as Curtis Turner and ole David Pearson, I think you ask a legitimate question, Tim. Big difference between sliding those old heavy 50s & 60s rides with manual steering and those goofy looking lightweight wedge shaped things.
I guess we know now why NASCAR has been pushing thtat NBC property "The Profit" down our throats the past several weeks. Money talks, nobody walks.
Back when I worked with the late Kenneth Campbell at the Richmond track in the 1990s, he told me he had been involved in the 1970s with the making of a stock car racing documentary movie titled "STOCKCAR!"
According to the late Campbell, he was shafted by Hollywood types and the film distributor. The film seems to have quickly gone the way of "Tiny Lund, Hard Charger."
Campbell told me he had set out to make a realistic behind the scenes look at stock car racing.
Did anyone see this movie? It is listed in the International Movie Data Base (IMDB) and I found a story in the May 26, 1977 Fredericksburg Free Lance Star stating the film was going to debut that weekend in Charlotte, in conjunction with the World 600.
Stockcar! ( 1977 ) |
| Credited cast: | |||
 | Bobby Allison | ... | Himself (driver, #2 Mercury) |
| | Buddy Baker | ... | Himself (driver, #15 Ford) |
| | Janet Guthrie | ... | Herself (driver, #68 Chevrolet) |
| | Benny Parsons | ... | Himself (driver, #72 Chevrolet) |
| | David Pearson | ... | Himself (driver, #21 Mercury) |
 | Richard Petty | ... | Himself (driver, #43 Dodge) |
| | Cale Yarborough | ... | Himself (driver, #11 Chevrolet) |
A look at NASCAR Grand National stock car racing circa 1976-7. The stars include Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, and Buddy Baker, and includes upstart female racer Janet Guthrie. The sport in the mid-1970s was undergoing a surge of national popularity after Petty and Pearson crashed fighting for the win within sight of the checkered flag of the 1976 Daytona 500, telecast live on ABC Sports, and the surging interest triggered renewed media interest in the sport.
Ed Hinton married the late journalist Joe Whitlock's late wife Sno (she really was born Sno White.)
Whitlock used to call Hinton his husband-in-law!
Wasn't the first time Big Bill France - then known as "Wild Bill" - had shown his arse end, so to speak, to Red Byron, as evidenced in this pre-NASCAR story in the January 2, 1946 Sarasota Herald-Tribune :
Stay safe and thanks for the report. That intersection at Blakeslee is a busy place. Good luck with your appearance there.
I came across a pretty good 1980 Miami News interview with the late NASCAR driver, Louise Smith (passed in 2006) of Greenville, SC done at Daytona. It's a story I think most will enjoy. Louise tells how Buddy Shuman taught her to "cut a flip" and Curtis Turner taught her to power slide. She related how everybody thought she'd been killed at Occoneechee and why she liked in her later years to help underfunded drivers like Ronnie Thomas and Rick Newsome .
The story opens with a verbal snapshot of Janet Guthrie going up in the Osterlund trailer at Daytona to powder her nose and fluff her hair before her qualifying run.
Here's the story link below:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FqwyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aukFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1152,3715130&dq=nascar+louise+smith+special&hl=en
Don't reckon Clint Boyer will be racing in South Dakota anytime soon:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/22/star-nascar-driver-fights-lawsuit-in-south-dakota/
