One of Cotton Owens' Final Smiles Reserved for David Pearson & Bud Moore After His HOF Election
Stock Car Racing History
I had forgotten that name, Charles. Thanks.
Forum Activity for @dave-fulton
Stock Car Racing History
One of Cotton Owens' Final Smiles Reserved for David Pearson & Bud Moore After His HOF Election
Stock Car Racing History
Yes, they have been doing them. I caught the pieces on Leonard Wood and Buck Baker and part of the Rusty piece last week.
One of Cotton Owens' Final Smiles Reserved for David Pearson & Bud Moore After His HOF Election
Stock Car Racing History
I enjoyed this column in today's Charlotte newspaper by Scott Fowler recalling the smile that came across the face of Cotton Owens when he learned he would be joining his friends at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. I was privileged to have seen Cotton's final win, on the Richmond Fairgrounds half-mile dirt layout in September 1964 when he came out of retirement to show his driver, David Pearson how to make smooth pit stops.
Hall election puts smile on Cotton Owens face
By Scott Fowler
sfowler@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Wednesday, Feb. 06, 2013
Cotton Owens in an Observer file photo.
By the time car owner and driver Cotton Owens was voted into NASCARs Hall of Fame during May 2012, a series of strokes had left him unable to speak.
Owens watched the voting results on television with his family from his home in Spartanburg. We had all been disappointed before, Don Owens, Cottons son, said during an interview. We didnt know what to expect. But when Brian France announced that he had gotten in, he was visibly happy. That was the first time I had seen him smile in a long, long time.
That night, the other two men with Spartanburg roots already in NASCARs Hall Bud Moore and David Pearson came to celebrate with Owens. That meant a lot to Owens, who made his biggest mark in stock-car racings top level as a do-it-yourself owner and mechanic back in the days when car owners had grime under their fingernails.
That day last May was one of the last great moments of Owens life.
He couldnt talk, said Moore, a close friend who ate lunch almost every day with Owens at a Spartanburg diner from 2000 to 2012. But he was grinning from ear to ear.
Owens died two weeks later on June 7, at age 88, from complications from cancer and his strokes. His wife, Dot a major part of the family racing business and always her husbands biggest cheerleader already had passed away. The two were married 66 years; their deaths were separated by only two months. The rest of the Owens family will celebrate this week in Charlotte, as Owens officially is enshrined Friday in NASCARs fourth Hall of Fame class along with Buck Baker, Herb Thomas, Leonard Wood and Rusty Wallace.
Look up the definition of nice man in the dictionary and you will see Cotton Owens picture, said Buddy Baker, one of more than 20 drivers who drove for Owens. And he could build every single part of a race car himself. So everyone who worked for him would walk through fire for him.
Although Owens first name was Everett, no one called him that. Born in 1924 in Union, S.C., as a child he had blond hair so light it was almost white. Someone called him Cotton and the nickname stuck so thoroughly that many of his friends didnt know his real name.
He and Moore went to high school together in Spartanburg Moore was one year ahead of Owens in school. We ran around some and raced some against each other before World War II, Moore said.
Owens served in the Navy, got out and became known as the King of the Modifieds, winning races as a driver on short dirt tracks all around the Carolinas.
Those races left red clay spattered all over the cars. And Owens had a steadfast rule, both as a driver and later as an owner.
It didnt matter what time you got home after a race, said Don, who not only was Owens son but also worked for his father for decades in the familys race shop. Midnight, 2 a.m., Owens' best season as a driver in NASCARs top series was in 1959, when he finished a close second to Lee Petty in the standings. By age 38 he had mostly retired as a driver, but based a successful race team out of his Spartanburg shop. In 1966, he fielded cars for Pearson, also of Spartanburg, and won the season title in what now is NASCARs Sprint Cup Series. Owens never got rich racing, but he made ends meet.
And when you do something you love to do and can make a living, his son Don said, thats about as good as it gets.
Cotton Owens also prepared cars for drivers such as Junior Johnson, Fireball Roberts, Ralph Earnhardt and Buddy Baker, who won the 1970 Southern 500 in Darlington, S.C., in a Dodge in what Owens considered one of his biggest victories as an owner.
It was in that race that Owens gentlemanly demeanor faded a little. Said Baker: Like all smart-aleck kids, I thought I couldnt do anything wrong. I had a huge lead, like around five laps. So to show off a little, I came off the fourth turn, cut it sideways and smoked all four tires. Cotton told me right after that: If you wreck this car with that kind of lead, Ill kill you.
Later in his life, Owens drew immense pleasure in fielding cars for three grandsons, all of whom raced during their youth. He and his family also ran a big auto salvage yard, which remains in operation in Spartanburg.
Always, Owens work ethic was unimpeachable. Said Moore of Owens: He done the work like it was supposed to be done.
And even though Owens failing health left him speechless the day he got elected to NASCARs Hall of Fame, his work on the track spoke loudly for decades and still does.
Scott Fowler: sfowler@charlotteobserver.com; Twitter: @Scott_Fowler
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/02/06/3837814/hall-election-puts-smile-on-cotton.html#storylink=cpy
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
The Goat Herders are Heading For Daytona
Stock Car Racing History
I did see they advertised a nice seafood selection... and yes I did check the menu!
The Goat Herders are Heading For Daytona
Stock Car Racing History
If you haven't checked out the North Turn Restaurant's website, you need to. VERY cool. Great photos, history, videos, maps (and a menu), as well as a newsletter.
Darlington Gen-6 Test Results
Current NASCAR
Associated Press report on test at Darlington on Tuesday, Feb. 5 of new Gen-6 car:
Speeds up for Gen-6 drivers at Darlington tire test
By PETE IACOBELLI AP Sports Writer
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) Carl Edwards and several other Sprint Cup stars gave the new, faster Gen-6 race car a thumbs-up after a Goodyear tire test Tuesday at Darlington Raceway.
Edwards said the digital speedometer on his Ford Fusion hit 193 mph right before entering turn three, a typically unheard of speed at the ultra-tricky track.
"Each time down, you want to watch and see what you're doing," he said. "But the fastest point is the point where the track needs your attention and your eyes are not supposed to be on that monitor. I saw 193 or something, but I can't look at it any longer before I have to look into the corner."
Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Juan Pablo Montoya were also at Darlington for the daylong session. NASCAR teams have previously tested the car at Daytona International Speedway and Charlotte Motorspeedway.
Edwards found the new machine to be faster and racers should expect better handling and tighter racing when the circuit returns to NASCAR's oldest superspeedway for the Southern 500 on May 11.
A few laps around the track "Too Tough To Tame" in the new car and Truex was confident someone would shatter Darlington's record qualifying speed of 181.254 mph set by Kasey Kahne at the 2011 race.
"We were faster in race trim than we qualified last year and I think we qualified sixth or something," Truex said.
Then again, Darlington may not be the place for higher speeds. The track has a reputation as one of the most fearsome layouts in NASCAR. Its misshapen corners think of an egg's oval shape and narrow straightaways make it treacherous with every pass.
The past two races here ended in melees with Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch tangling after the cooldown lap in 2011 and crews for Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman went at it at the end of the 2012 event.
Edwards said the newly designed car should only add to the excitement here and improve the product for fans. The car has shown more ability to grip the surface, meaning drivers can stick it into places not generally accessible expect to the most fearless pilots at Darlington.
"We can always have more exciting racing. The more those cars are sliding sideways and drivers are manhandling around the racetrack, the better off we are," Edwards said. "Hopefully, this car gets us to that place."
The Gen-6 car has been faster at each place it's been tested. What remains to be seen is how it'll perform with a full field ripping through the corners and jostling for the top.
"This thing's quite a bit different than what we're used to," Truex said. "There's going to a lot of things to learn for the teams and for the drivers so we're glad to get out there and get some laps."
Goodyear expects to use the information from this test to formulate the type of tire they'll bring back here in May. If history is any guide, the tire company should bring plenty of rubber. Darlington is known for its abrasive, tire-chewing surface that has shown itself more and more since a 2008 repavement.
"It's a two-lane highway with a speed limit of 190 mph," joked Brett Bodine, the former racer who works as NASCAR's competition director for research and development.
Edwards was happy for the lap time and has been pleased with the Gen-6 car's performance so far. He expects a lot of thrills when the season kicks off with the Daytona 500 later this month.
"It seems like NASCAR is putting as much effort as humanly possible in making the cars perform as we all want them to on the race track," Edwards said.
He is planning for additional chances when engineers from the teams and NASCAR see what the car does in competition. In the end, Edwards is confident any adjustments will improve things on the track, even one as difficult as Darlington.
"For me, this test is one I really looked forward to," he said. "I get to work with a new car, a new team, new tires at a track I love. The weather's nice. This is a great way to spend a Tuesday."
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM
melvin (red) foote 1928-2013 RIP
Stock Car Racing History
The writeup story of Red Foote's death in the Friday, February 8, 2013 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch also included a photo gallery titled, Melvin "Red" Foote at the Races . Here is that gallery. The gentleman standing with Red in several photos is the late JM Wilkinson, owner of Richmond's Southsdie Speedway.
melvin (red) foote 1928-2013 RIP
Stock Car Racing History
Virginia News
Melvin Red Foote, former NASCAR race driver, dies at 85
Consummate racer competed for 30-plus years
Red Foote ran 10 races at NASCARs top level, now known as the Sprint Cup Series.
Posted: Friday, February 8, 2013
BY ELLEN ROBERTSON
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Whether it was NASCAR Modifieds, the Busch Series or any other kind of race car, if Melvin Red Foote was driving it, he always was considered the guy to beat, said Lets Talk Racing radio co-host Joe Kelly.
Kelly said Mr. Foote was racing at Daytona International Speedway in a 1963 race when the engine seized, and he flipped three times at roughly 160 mph. He still finished the race in 29th place and made 550 bucks.
In a 1967 race at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Kelly said, Red was racing against Sonny Hutchins and they had a photo finish. Red nipped Sonny by less than 6 inches. That qualified him for a big race in Trenton (N.J.).
Mr. Foote, who raced for more than 30 years before retiring in 1980, will be honored at 2 p.m. at a graveside service Friday, today, at Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Alberta.
The 85-year-old Chesterfield County resident died Sunday in a local hospital after an illness that started in January.
His nickname, derived from his red hair, sometimes confused young fans. He once laughingly told a reporter that children thought Redfoot was an American Indian race driver.
A Haverhill, Mass., native who grew up in Meriden, Conn., he moved to Richmond in the early 1960s after coming south with Ed Flemke and Rene Charland to race in Virginia and Maryland. The group, called variously the Yankee or Eastern Bandits, thought pickings would be better down south, Kelly said.
Red was the consummate racer. He started in Modified stock cars pre-World War II vintage, and won many, many, many races. He won Martinsville and Trenton, Kelly added.
Fellow Bandit Dennis Denny Zimmerman recalled that when they came south, our cars were lighter and more nimble and able to get around the curves faster (than the Southern cars). At the beginning, it was easy pickings. We helped them make their cars lighter and more nimble in the curves and the competition pretty much became even. We became brothers, Northerners and Southerners.
Zimmerman called Mr. Foote a good shoe that means a good driver. He was an exceptional driver when the track was more like a bowl, what I call a momentum track where you have to keep the momentum up, than a track where you have long straightaways. He also was very good at avoiding accidents. He very seldom crashed.
He was inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame in 1999, one of the first 20 drivers to be included.
He won track championships in New England and by the 1960s came south. He was the only Bandit who drove for legendary Richmond car owner W.C. Junie Donlavey, Kelly said. Donlavey let the northerners run out of his shop at the same time his trademark No. 90 car driven by Hutchins was racing against them.
Mr. Foote ran 10 events at NASCARs top level, now known as the Sprint Cup Series, during his career. In 1963, he competed in Daytona International Speedways Speedweeks events, finishing a career-best 16th in the Daytona 500 Qualifier and finishing 29th in the 500.
He retired after driving a Late Model Sportsman race at Langley Speedway in 1980. After Mr. Foote retired as a machinist with Dean Foods, he spent time on his boat fishing in Mathews County. He went every weekend during the summer, with or without me, said his wife of 45 years, Loretta Breeden Foote.
The effects of a stroke in 2001 left him partially paralyzed on his right side, unable to enjoy his camper and boat. He then made friends whom he would visit daily in Dutch Gap, where he also would feed feral cats wandering the nearby woods because he couldnt stand for anything to go hungry, his wife said.
Survivors, besides his wife, include a daughter, Susan, in Connecticut; a stepdaughter, Linda Strasburg of Columbia; and two grandchildren and two stepgrandchildren.
Staff writer Randy Hallman contributed to this obituary.
melvin (red) foote 1928-2013 RIP
Stock Car Racing History
Red was a winner at Moyock Dog Track, featured by Bobby Williamson several weeks ago on our RacersReunion Radio Ghost Track Racing Thhrough History segment. By the way, another of the Eastern Bandits, the late, great, "Steady Eddie" Flemke drove his first race on a northeastern dog track.
From YankeeRacer.com:
Red put New England modified racing on the map, NEAR member Bruce Cohen said. His exploits in the Henry Smith Ford powered J-2 are legendary with feature wins up and down the Eastern Seaboard. To a young kid (yours truly) in the early sixities with racing wonderlust, Red always had time to answer the many questions I asked. RIP my friend. He continued, Red was a childhood hero of mine in to watch him in the 312 Ford #J-2 was incredible.
Red Foote of Southington, CT was a part of the Eastern Bandits, along with fellow NEAR Hall of Famers Rene Charland, Ed Flemke Sr. and Denny Zimmerman. This group of New England drivers traveled South in pursuit of victories in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Virginia.
Red and Ed Flemke were the first real Eastern Bandits, Cohen said. Although they did not travel together, they went to a lot of the same races. The Eastern Bandits were a force to be reckoned with. In July 1962 at Marlboro (MD) Raceway, Flemke and Zimmerman finished 1-2 while Foote was 4th. Many of the tracks that the Bandits raced at were NASCAR-sanctioned, allowing them to accumulate points from racing 3-4 times a week. Foote finished 5th in NASCAR national Modified points in 1961 and 1963.
He also made 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (then NASCAR Grand National) starts between 1962 and 1965, including 3 of the most prestigious races-1962 World 600, 1962 Southern 500, 1963 Daytona 500.
Foote recorded at least 60 career wins. He won at Empire, Plainville, Martinsville, Moyock, Norwood, Old Bridge, Pine Bowl, Riverside Park, Southside, Stafford, Wall, Waterford, and Westboro. A sample of the tracks he raced at included Asheville-Weaverville, Atlanta, Alatamont Fairgrounds, Beltsville, Bowman-Gray, Candlelite, Eastern States Exposition, Harmony, Kingston, Langley, Lonsdale, New Egypt, Old Dominion, Richmond, Tar Heel, Thompson and Trenton. Foote was a 2-time champion at Waterford Speedbowl with 39 career victories.
Foote was inducted into the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1999.