May 22 - Anniversary of two Petty Enterprises Wins
Stock Car Racing History
YouTube 8mm film of 1966 World 600.
YouTube 8mm film of 1966 World 600.
Tim, reckon we ought to add another one to Jeff's "you know you are a rodeo goat" series?
Perhaps, like me, "You know you are an OLD rodeo goat when you remember solid blue Petty Enterprises cars."
That must have been one messed up race track at Richmond in 1955. Thanks, Tim.
What can y'all tell me about the "sponsorship" name Helzafire used by owner, "Colonel" Ernest Woods of Winchester, Kentucky on the Oldsmobiles of Jim Paschal in 1955? Was Helzafire a horse, a product or just a phrase to equate with speed?
I note that Colonel Woods was the owner of the winning Daytona beach road course entry that led to Tim Flock's disqualification and suspension for the soldered screws on the carburetor and that many also credit Woods with the first two-way radio in race cars in 1953.
Thanks, Tim. That race would have left a bad taste in a paying fan's mouth regardless of who the fan pulled for.
Really good stuff. I particularly enjoyed seeing so many of the Late Model Sportsman cars. Thanks for posting.
You said one of the magic words, Johnny - BIAS - let's bolt some on and slide through those turns and let it all hang out.
Put this fellow down as another 100 percenter!
Bruton Smith has escalated his war with the City of Concord, NC and Cabarrus County over what he claims are broken promises to reimburse him (Speedway Motorsports) for road improvements around the Charlotte racetrack. He claims to be 70% sure he'll move his October Charlotte race to another venue and is not shy to say $$$ talk.
Bruton Smith: 70% chance I'll move race out of Charlotte
I knew we were in trouble when DW, Mike Joy, Larry Whopper, oops Mac and the rest of the television braintrust couldn't average the finishes of the contestants in the first segments and figure who was due to be in what order to pit for the final segment.
It's gotten so hokey that I'm not certain it can be saved or needs to be saved, either.
Humpy last year described the process of staging the event at night and mentioned how hard Paul had gone after it. We were sure at the time based on what T. Wayne had told us that the race was ours. Not the first time RJR said one thing but did something else, though.
I went with then sales manager Jim Duncan to Winston Salem in 1991 to visit RJ Reynolds Sports Marketing Dept. The meeting was with RJR director of sports T. Wayne Robertson to make a presentation for the 1992 Winston All Star Race. Our contract was always for one year. We yearly made a presentation to them to get the event back.
I was really worried that year because Richmond promoter Paul Sawyer really wanted the event. So, we made our presentation and presented them with five promotional ideas. Wayne and his group didn't like any of them and I thought we were going to lose the race. Right before the meeting ended I said: `Ok, I have another idea...let's run it on Saturday night.