Tiny Lund Won BOTH NASCAR Halves 42 Years Ago!
Stock Car Racing History
It is always great to hear the personal "real" memories from your father that you are able to post, Dennis. Thanks so much.
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Stock Car Racing History
Tiny Lund Won BOTH NASCAR Halves 42 Years Ago!
Stock Car Racing History
OMG! Did anyone tell Bill Brodrick there was a "Miss BP" hanging around a NASCAR race?!
Tiny Lund Won BOTH NASCAR Halves 42 Years Ago!
Stock Car Racing History
Good stuff, Chase. The AP reports talk of Tiny cutting the corners, kicking up dirt and even once losing the lead to Felton after a spin, but quickly passing him back. AP also notes a bad Pete Hamilton accident.
And there was a JUNIOR present, but not named Johnson or Dale.
Who can guess which Junior was the Grand Marshal for the Road Atlanta NASCAR Grand American race?
HINT : Dial BR-549
See the link below for the answer (if I were smart like Chase I would capture a screen shot and post, but I ain't)
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eAwsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IMgEAAAA...
Tiny Lund Won BOTH NASCAR Halves 42 Years Ago!
Stock Car Racing History
Those of us who watched saw that the SPEED Channel (FOX) broadcasters couldn't average the finishes of the competitors in the first segments of NASCAR's recent All-Star race at Charlotte. That led the network to display incorrect graphics about the order of entry to pit road before the final segment.
Tim Leeming has recently taken us back in time to when the spring Rebel race at Darlington was split into two segments with the winner being determined by the combined results.
It just so happens that 42 years ago, Tiny Lund captured the honors at a NASCAR Grand American race at Road Atlanta in Lanier, Georgia that was split into two equal segments. Lund won both segments and the overall title. Ironically, 2nd place finisher Gene Felton was running a rear gear borrowed from Tiny.
Early this year the official Road Atlanta blog highlighted Lund's May 23, 1971 win there in the following article:
The GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series makes its Road Atlanta debut April 19-20. Formed in 1999, it is recognized as the most competitive road racing series in North America, if not the world, due to its close competition and wild finishes.
The Gainesville Times
But the GRAND-AM name is not really new to Road Atlanta.
In the late 1960s and early 70s, NASCAR sanctioned a series known as Grand-American (often called the Baby Grand Series). It consisted primarily of American muscle pony cars like Mustangs and Camaros. The Grand-American series raced primarily on short ovals in the south. However, in 1971 Grand-American visited Road Atlanta, which had opened just a year earlier.
On May 23, 1971 a field of 35 Grand-American NASCAR racers took the green flag in an unusual format two 50-lap heats with the results combined to determine the overall winner of the 100-lap total. In other words, the race had a halftime like a football game!
As with most Grand-American races, Tiny Lund dominated both heats in his 1969 Camaro (Tiny wasnt so Tiny at 6-foot 5-inches and 300 pounds). Veteran road racer Gene Felton took second place in his Camaro, followed by Buck Baker in a Firebird and Bobby Allison in a Cougar. Finishing fifth was celebrity Dick Smothers, host of the Smother Brothers television show! Ironically, the first car out of the race was the defending Daytona 500 champion Pete Hamilton. There were only two foreign cars in the field, a Fiat and a BMW, and neither were competitive against the thundering herd of American muscle cars.
The Grand-American series ended the following year, and has faded into history. Few remember this NASCAR series, which is a shame because it was similar to Trans-Am but oriented toward ovals.
In the four years Grand-American existed, it attracted NASCAR regulars such as Donnie Allison, Buck Baker, James Hylton, Dick Brooks and Tiny Lund, who all became better than average road racers. But it was Lund (a former Daytona 500 winner) who emerged as king of the series, winning an incredible 41 times in just the four years the series existed. Road racers Don Yenko and Vince Gimondo also won races, and even Indy 500 ace Lloyd Ruby won once, but it was Tiny Lund who dominated. Sadly, he was killed at Talladega a few years later in a NASCAR Winston Cup race.
GRAND-AM is coming April 19-20- it should be a fantastic race! But remember that 42 years ago Grand-American came to Road Atlanta, and a BIG man named Tiny was the winner!
By: Ken Breslauer
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
Warren Prout article
Stock Car Racing History
Thanks for the insightful recap of Warren's career and "retirement."
Warren Prout article
Stock Car Racing History
Also see where a Ronald Sturla of San Jose, california won $1,000 in a 2008 San Francisco Dream House drawing. That gentleman is 71 and would have been 30 in 1971.
Warren Prout article
Stock Car Racing History
I note that a Robert Sturla won First Place honors in 2006 at Carlisle, Pa. for the All-Chrysler Nationals with a 1973 Plymouth Barracuda 340 entered in the Class B23 Plymouth E Body 72-74 Modified.
Same fellow? Related?
Warren Prout article
Stock Car Racing History
and according to the Spartanburg paper, the Prout/Paschal combo's first win of 1970 came in the July 4th Paul Revere 250 at Daytona. Bobby Allison had put a second Prout Javelin on the pole:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19700705&id=...
Warren Prout article
Stock Car Racing History
Our RR member, Bill Blair made the following post back in 2011 after I had posted on the Raleigh Fairgrounds fan club site about seeing Jim Paschal win in August 1970 there in his AMC javelin:
Comment by Bill Blair on October 18, 2011 at 9:19am
I was working for Jim Paschal and Warren Prout who had the American Motors contract that year. My job was to built the engines for those cars. I built the engine for the red/white/blue Javelin that Jim drove to victory lane that day. I think they won 10 or 11 races that year and I think they won 10 in a row and finished second in the points.