Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

When Dover Debuted a Concrete Surface and the Subsequent Painting of the Blue Line

Stock Car Racing History

I think the line was blue the first morning they painted it in 1995, but it could have been black.

When Dover Debuted a Concrete Surface and the Subsequent Painting of the Blue Line

Stock Car Racing History

Chase, I didn't realize that the first Dover Cup event used today's backstretch for the frontstretch. I was so tickled to see the partial photo of Sonny's #90 Donlavey Ford beside Richard that I didn't even notice the flagstand right there under my nose in front of the horse viewing area and Dover offices! And Chase, the building in the photo was definely not a casino... that didn't come until several decades later. The bottom portion of that building actually had horse stalls. Then thee was the enclosed, heated/air conditioned viewing area for the horse races. Denis McGlyn had his office in that building and the PR office was also still located there when I was dealing with the track in the 80s.

When Dover Debuted a Concrete Surface and the Subsequent Painting of the Blue Line

Stock Car Racing History

The question came up on the Racing Through History broadcast Tuesday night as to when the concrete surface replaced asphalt at Dover.

The answer is 1995 ( just yesterday to me ) and last year I wrote about some problems the drivers had with the new surface blending with the white walls.

Here's a partial and edited recap of that post:

I haven't been to a hockey game in a good while, but I do remember two "blue lines" under the ice at all hockey rinks. You experts correct me, but I recall them being used to establish offsides penalties if players beat the puck across it?

Doesn't really matter, but I was reminded of the Blue Line when I read about the Barry Dodson/Kyle Petty win at Dover in 1995.

I'm not sure the various stories mentioned it, but that 1995 Dover race was the first Cup race on the new Dover concrete surface.

I was at Dover that June weekend and the new white concrete surface was near blinding in bright sunlight. The wall was stark white and bright. It was so bright and white, in fact, that cars in Friday practice and qualifying and in the Saturday Busch Series race kept hitting the white concrete walls (no SAFER barriers) because drivers couldn't determine where the white concrete track ended and the white concrete wall began. Drivers and car owners made a real fuss to NASCAR.

On Sunday race day morning, as was my custom, I arrived in the very early wee hours to the Dover track to beat the traffic and get a prime parking spot. I always got a special parking pass from NASCAR at Dover that let me park on the horse track ( remember, the track was still "Dover Downs" - not Dover International) and we tried to get as close to the gate and little steps that led straight down into the Winston Cup garage.

When I exited my car and walked down into the garage, I could see a crew of painters all around the Dover track. They were painting a blue line 6"-8" tall all around the base of the concrete retaining wall around the entire race track so drivers could determine where the track ended and the wall began.

I don't see quite as much of it around the track as used to be there, but it is still very evident in long stretches.

ESPN Photo

And that is how Dover got it's Blue Line. I should point out that the Dover blue line is a different shade of blue than the blue Armco guardrail at Watkins Glen or the blue walls at Phoenix. Just in case you ever noticed and wondered what that blue line at Dover was or why it was there.

By the way, the first Dover Cup (it was pre Winston and really a Grand National race) event took place in 1969. It was won by Richard Petty of Randleman, NC in a Petty Enterprises solid blue #43 FORD over Richmond, Virginia's late Sonny Hutchins driving fellow Richmonder, Junie Donlavey's Ford #90. Below is a photo of Richard and Sonny side-by-side on the old Dover asphalt backstretch in 1969. R.I.P. Sonny.

Photo from Delaware Today

1969 Mason-Dixon 300

NASCAR Grand National race number 29 of 54
Sunday, July 6, 1969 at Dover Downs International Speedway, Dover, DE
300 laps on a 1.000 mile paved asphalt track (300.0 miles)

Time of race: 2:35:28
Average Speed: 115.772 mph
Pole Speed: 130.43 mph Cautions: 4 for 27 laps
Margin of Victory: 6 laps +
Attendance: 22,000
Lead changes: 7

Glossary 1969 NASCAR Grand National results / 1969 standings

advertise here

Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
1 3 43 Richard Petty East Tenn. Motors (Petty Enterprises) '69 Ford 300 4,725 running 150
2 4 90 Sonny Hutchins Junie Donlavey '67 Ford 294 2,050 running 0
3 9 48 James Hylton Hylton Engineering (James Hylton) '69 Dodge 294 1,275 running 0
4 8 4 John Sears L.G. DeWitt '69 Ford 293 825 running 0
5 25 84 Elmo Langley Elmo Langley '68 Ford 287 725 running 0
6 7 15 Ed Hessert Ed Hessert '69 Plymouth 281 675 running 0
7 17 34 Wendell Scott Wendell Scott '67 Ford 277 650 running 0
8 10 25 Bill Champion Bill Champion '68 Ford 275 600 running 0
9 28 45 Bill Seifert Bill Seifert '68 Ford 273 585 running 0
10 13 47 Cecil Gordon Bill Seifert '68 Ford 273 595 running 0
11 27 19 Henley Gray Harry Melton '68 Ford 267 560 running 0
12 16 70 J.D. McDuffie J.D. McDuffie '67 Buick 265 575 running 0
13 29 44 George Ashbrook Giachetti Brothers (Richard Giachetti) '67 Chevrolet 262 540 running 0
14 32 06 Neil Castles Neil Castles '69 Dodge 261 530 running 0
15 2 98 LeeRoy Yarbrough Junior Johnson '69 Ford 223 620 crash 124
16 5 49 G.C. Spencer G.C. Spencer '68 Plymouth 210 560 engine 0
17 23 04 Ken Meisenhelder Ken Meisenhelder '67 Oldsmobile 183 500 rear end 0
18 12 76 Ben Arnold Don Culpepper '68 Ford 155 515 engine 0
19 18 0 Frank Warren Don Tarr '67 Chevrolet 128 505 engine 0
20 20 11 Roy Hallquist Roy Hallquist '68 Chevrolet 93 495 oil leak 0
21 30 57 Bobby Mausgrover Ervin Pruitt '67 Dodge 82 460 driveshaft 0
22 19 26 Earl Brooks Earl Brooks '67 Ford 71 475 engine 0
23 1 17 David Pearson Holman-Moody '69 Ford 65 890 crash 26
24 6 31 Buddy Young Fred Bear '67 Chevrolet 65 455 engine 0
25 31 9 Roy Tyner Roy Tyner '69 Pontiac 65 420 rear end 0
26 14 64 Dub Simpson Woodfield Ford (Elmo Langley) '68 Ford 62 440 overheating 0
27 22 40 Jabe Thomas Bill Champion '67 Ford 56 410 crash 0
28 24 82 George Davis Mack Sellers '67 Chevrolet 24 400 quit 0
29 11 03 Richard Brickhouse Dub Clewis '67 Plymouth 19 415 engine 0
30 21 23 Paul Dean Holt Don Robertson '67 Ford 7 380 engine 0
31 26 86 Ed Negre Neil Castles '67 Plymouth 2 370 ignition 0
32 15 25 James Cox Don Robertson '67 Plymouth 1 385 engine 0

Stats from Racing Reference

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM

south side speedway

Stock Car Racing History

Woody,

Dickie Gouldman and Roy Martin made these comments about the Pete Goodman car and sponsorship under the Al Grinnan Memories club page:

Comment by Richard Gouldman 10 hours ago

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It would for sure be Pete Goodman's #39 car. I'm guessing from the limited view that it was Hank's BBQ on Cowardin Avenue across from the old Martin Chevrolet. Pete ran a Pontiac powered orange GTO in the late model division later also. Pete piloted his own cars early on, and had a variety of drivers in later years. I was at Southside one night when Ray Hendrick "borrowed" Pete's Sportsman car. He started at the back of the field and thrashed his way to a third place finish in the feature with a car that was plowing like a dump truck.

Comment by Dave Fulton 13 hours ago

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Thanks for the car owner ID, Roy.

Comment by roy martin 13 hours ago

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Pete Goodman owned Pontiac powered race cars for a long time. He worked at a Pontiac dealership in Richmond and he was Ted Hairfield's father in law. Probably Southside Speedway.

south side speedway

Stock Car Racing History

Here's a Walt Wimer photo of Al Grinnan at Southside in the #39 Pontiac powered modified identified by RR member Roy Martin as a Pete Goodman car.

How We Did It 30 Years Ago

Stock Car Racing History

We see lots of posts about how the racing was 30 years ago and how the cars were built 30 years ago.

Did you ever wonder how the cars were sponsored 30 years ago and how those sponsors justified their sponsorship? Did you ever wonder how much it cost to hook up with a major league NASCAR driver and team back in the day?

If not... quit right here. If so, read on.

My wife came across these documents yesterday while organizing one of our spare rooms.

In the 1980s I managed motorsports programs for Blue Bell, Inc. and our Wrangler Jeans sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt/Bud Moore/Richard Childress/Rod Osterlund/Robert Gee/Ed Whitaker, as well as event sponsorships. Later I managed NASCAR, IMSA and NHRA programs for The Southland Corporation's 7-Eleven / CITGO / Chief Auto Parts sponsorships of Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises, Wood Brothers, Jefferson Racing, Derrike Cope, Bob Glidden, Billy Meyers, Bruce Jenner, Klaus Ludwig, Doc Bundy and Lyn St. James.

Some sponsors simply painted their names on cars and waited for the publicity and dollars to roll in. Our programs were organized very differently. We considered our particular race market event won before race day. What happened on the track was gravy.

Remember these are 1983 dollars... 30 years ago.

Since neither Blue Bell, Inc. nor Southland Corporation exist today, this is no longer proprietary information. Many of these pages would be very boring to the average reader, but if you wonder what it cost and how sponsors justified the expenditures, read on to see budgets and programs for 1983 and 1986.

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM

Racing History Minute - May 30, 1951

Stock Car Racing History

Also note that Klapak won a 6 hour, 500 mile USAC stock car race at Trenton, NJ on September 2, 1957 - the same date as Darlington's Southern 500. Look at the Trenton results as posted at Ultimate Racing History and you'll see a lot of familiar faces who were at Trenton rather than Darlington that day:

USAC Stock Car race
Trenton International Speedway, Trenton, NJ
September 2, 1957
500 laps on 1 mile paved oval; 500 miles

Fin St Driver # Owner Car Laps Money Status Laps Led
1 Mike Klapak 1957 Ford 500 4,000 running 191
2 Jerry Unser 1957 Ford running
3 Russ Hepler
Bob James 1956 Chevrolet Convertible
4 Les Snow
Johnnie Parsons
5 Norm Nelson
Marshall Teague
6 Don Schisler
7 Bill Walker
8 Harold Frankel
9 Carl O'Harold
10 Bill Shoulders
16 Gus Linder
6 Sam Hanks 1957 Mercury 270 piston
4 Marshall Teague Chevrolet 30 piston
1 Dick Rathmann accident
2 Ralph Moody mechanical
3 Tom Pistone
5 Johnny Mantz differential
Dick Linder engine
Ed Lindsay
Harvey Eakin 226
Bill Lone 170
Lou Spears 50
Bill Benson 151
Bobby Abel 50
Roland Lufton 104

Notes: 43 cars started the race.
James was relieved by Russ Hepler.
Les Snow relieved by Johnnie Parsons.
Norm Nelson relieved by Marshall Teague.
Time of race: 06:07:07
Average Speed: 81.718 MPH
Pole Speed: 39.37 seconds
Attendance: 18,746

Racing History Minute - May 30, 1951

Stock Car Racing History

Dennis, I wasn't familiar with Mike Klapak, but after your post I have read several accounts of his racing prowess and he was obviously quite talented, having a long and successful career. Found several photos at different places... the uncredited ones below are posted on the Legends of NASCAR site.

I love his #23 "Bambi Special" Ford coupe. That car was destroyed, however, on Labor Day afternoon 1953 when Klapak went over the first turn at Pinegrove Speedway in Shippenville, Pennsylvania.

MIKE KLAPAK - above

Above - MIKE KLAPAK'S "BAMBI SPECIAL" BEFORE THE SHIPPENVILLE ACCIDENT

Below - MIKE KLAPAK'S "BAMBI SPECIAL" AFTER THE SHIPPENVILLE ACCIDENT LABOR DAY 1953

Racing History Minute - May 30, 1951

Stock Car Racing History

They certainly drew a big field of cars as noted and a really big crowd of fans. It is espacially interesting to me to see posts about events at locales we no longer visit. Thanks.

Kyle Petty Pit Board Sign (early 80's)

Stock Car Racing History

Here's an e-mail address and telephone number for Richmond at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College:

Gage, Richmond
Program Chair in Motorsports Management Technology [+]
email richmond.gage@rccc.edu
phone (704) 216-3918