Thanks, Tim. July 16th is a special date for me. Thirty years ago tonight, in 1983, I stood in the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway victory lane with Dale Earnhardt after he beat DW in the Bud Moore / Wrangler Thunderbird.
I watched the rerun on SPEED last night of the Richard Childress episode of A Racer's Life. Much of the episode was devoted to Bowman Gray racing. RC said he wanted to model himself after Curtis Turner after seeing him at the stadium around 1955. Lots of good photos and action shots from Bownman Gray in that episode if you get a chance to catch it in rerun again.
Here's a couple of RC quotes from the segment as provided in a SPEED transcript:
On his first trip to Bowman Gray Stadium:
I came over as a kid (to Bowman Gray Stadium) with my stepdad. I remember walking in and having to peek around the corner of the wall because I wasnt tall enough to see over it, and every seat in this place was packed. And I watched those cars go around here and I thought, Man, this is something Id really love to do. I asked my stepdad I said, Hey, can my brother and I go back over there tonight and get a job? Wed seen these kids selling peanuts and popcorn and programs and stuff. He said, Yeah. So, we went and got us a job.
On making the transition from race fan to driver:
I was about 19, I guess. You had to be 21 or get someone to sign. We forged my moms name to it, and we bought a 47 Plymouth. Paid $20 for it. We taped roll bars and tried to solder some old pipe that we got from a dry cleaner over here. We finally got a cage in it. Back then, you were young and partied and had a good time. It was all about the atmosphere of driving race cars.
On rough racing at Bowman Gray in his early days:
Youd beat and bang, and if you needed something there at the end of the race, youd try to take it on the track. Usually afterwards, youd get behind the old field house here, and I always had some pretty good-sized boys with me and wed start fighting. About every week thered be a fight. Thats the way racing was.
Looking good, Jimmy. Thanks for the photo spread, Ray.
How do you pronounce "Joisey" with a Nooga/Nashville/Franklin accent?!
Today we hear about the Busch brothers being such accomplished drivers, but back in the day there were THREE of those Flock brothers winning regularly. Some amazing driving genes in that family.
Is misjudging yer braking like gettin' behind on yer steering?
Ned and Billy started on the front row of the first race I attended, the March 1964 Richmond GN event won by David Pearson for Cotton Owens. Wade and the King put on quite a show in that race that hooked me for life as reported by UPI in the excerpt below:
From a New York Daily News story:
The unlikely tale of Greg Sacks and his lone NASCAR victory
One win.
Michael Waltrip went 463 races before he got one, and then he won three more.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. , just went through a 76-race drought before winning again.
Wins are elusive for many drivers, for a variety of reasons. Loads of drivers would take a win these days, which, given the way the sport has changed and the level of competition increased, has gotten tougher and tougher.
Greg Sacks would like a win, too. At least one more.
Greg who?
Newer fans might not recognize the name, but anyone who has been following the sport for a while will remember Sacks as a former modified driver out of Mattituck , L.I., who is listed with 20 other drivers in NASCAR 's modern-era to notch just one elusive win.
"I hate to say it, I never, and still don't, want to be a one-time winner," Sacks said recently, while recounting his 1985 win at the Daytona International Speedway , in what was then called the Firecracker 400.
Sacks, 55, who hasn't driven in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series since 2005, says he still has the desire to drive.
He broke into NASCAR's top level in 1983, a time long before outsiders were bought into the sport as investment properties. It was also a time when independent teams could make a stab at racing, qualify, and actually race. Single cars were often the norm, rather than the exception.
Sacks' only win had that fairytale kind of magic, too.
"That was an incredible day," he said. "What an incredible day."
He edged out Bill Elliott for the win by a slim margin.
The deal to race at Daytona came together two weeks before the event. He drove a car his family-owned team had bought from Harry Rainer . It had been run by Cale Yarborough before that, and quite successfully.
Sacks was working then as part of a development team with DiGard Racing, and had Gary Nelson as his crew chief. He also had an inexperienced crew made up of people, who, in some cases, had never done that kind of work before. But he had a car with a newfangled steering system that, while legal, wasn't exactly the way NASCAR would have planned it.
"The day before the event I called my mom and dad," Sacks says. "I suggested they might want to come down to the event."
It's safe to say, he felt good about his chances that day.
He ran well early in the race, but the inexperienced pit crew killed him. He lost spots every time he pitted. Eventually, though, as other teams dropped out of the race, his crew was replaced by seasoned veterans who made the difference between having one win, or none.
"Without those guys, I couldn't have won the Firecracker," he said. "What a storybook event."
But storybooks have endings, as Sacks found out rather quickly.
After the Daytona win, he drove for a couple different teams, including Hendrick Motorsports , where he drove cars for the filming of "Days of Thunder." He had flourishes of promise since that glorious day in Florida , but never quite matched the moment at Daytona. Then in 1998, he was involved in a devastating crash at Texas that cost him a season.
In recent years he's straddled the line of an owner and driver, and says he's seeking sponsorship and alliances that could get him in the car and chasing another win. He realizes the days of running a full schedule are probably behind him. Instead, he wants to run at places where he feels he could compete.
"I've got that desire to compete to win," Sacks says. "I don't have that desire to enter races just to race."
He won't be racing at Daytona this weekend, but Sacks says the place has the potential to make any a driver a star - if only for a day.
"I think today, with the right driver, the right combination," Sacks says, "magical things can happen at Daytona on the Fourth of July."
He should know.
He's got the one win to prove it.
Just one.
Email: Rhuff@nydailynews.com
Greg Sacks was a part timer when he won the 1985 Firecracker 400 at Daytona. (my earlier reply said 1984... which, of course, was the date of the King's 200th win)
