From Dave Dykes' RacingThroughTime.com web site:
New London-Waterford Speedbowl victory lane shot of the immortal Melvin Red Foote courtesy of our Webmaster, Tom Ormsby. Behind the controls of his familiar #J2, Footes long career was a colorful and well-traveled affair. You have to love the snazzy racing jacket worn by pioneering Speedbowl flagman, Loren Card. (Shany Photo, Tom Ormsby Collection).
Although he raced primarily in New England, Virginia and Maryland, Red had some very successful outings at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC. In Spring 1962 Red set a new Bowman Gray track qualifying record in his NASCAR modified. Later that Summer of 1962, Red finished second to Perk Brown in Bowman Gray's prestigious Carolina 400 NASCAR Modified race. As recapped on Ultimate Racing History, that was a field I'd have paid good money to see. Eastern Bandits Ed Flemke and Denny Zimmerman finished 4th and 5th behind Red, but ahead of 6th place Glen Wood.
Carolina 400
NASCAR Modified race
Bowman-Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, NC
July 21, 1962
400 laps on 0.25 mile paved oval; 100 miles
Fin St Driver # Owner Car Laps Money Status Laps Led
1 1 Perk Brown 45 400 1,000 running
2 Red Foote
3 Jack Hart
4 Ed Flemke
5 Dennis Zimmerman
6 Glen Wood 16
7 George Dunn 1
8 Joe Thurman
9 Glen McGee
10 Joe Bill Adams 2-A
11 Hank Thomas 19
12 Buren Skeen 71
13 E.G. Adkins
14 E.J. Brewer
15 Clarence Pickerell
16 Howard Grant
17 Carl Burris 45A
18 Pee Wee Jones 3B
19 Henry Mills
20 Bubba Beck X-1
21 Whitey Norman 11
22 Billy Hensley 23
23 Shorty York
24 Ralph McMaham
25 Robert Berrier
26 Paul Radford 12
27 Joe Holton
28 Paul Walton
29 Harold Rush 44
30 Bob Welborn
Pole Speed: 17.04 seconds
NEW ENGLAND AUTO RACERS HALL OF FAME
MELVIN "RED" FOOTE
Driver
Class of 1999
Red Foote ran his first race in 1948, at Kingston, RI. Carl Morrow and Ralph LeGendre co-owned Footes first car, a silver #1 coach. It wasnt long before the racing bug bit Foote, and he was competing at Norwood on Thursdays and Saturdays, and Lonsdale on Sundays, with regular visits to Westboro when time allowed. One day, while driving to a race at Lonsdale, the car hauling Foote's race car broke down. Unable to make repairs, he unloaded the race car and used it to push the tow vehicle to the track.
This kind of persistence paid off for Foote, who won championships at Waterford-new London in 1953, and again in 1958. He also took down a championship in Plainville in the 50s, competing in the United Stock Car Racing Club.
The 60s found Foote racing with NASCAR, winning races from New England to the Carolinas to Daytona. It was during this period that he became one of the Eastern Bandits, along with fellow bandits Ed Flemke and Rene Charland. Red took down a championship in North Carolina in 1965.
Red Foote retired after competing at Langley Field, Virginia in 1980, driving a sportsman car, (present day Busch Series), so he is able to say that he was competitive in 5 different decades of racing. From his 37 Coach, to a NASCAR Sportsman, Red Foote has represented himself, and the sport of auto racing, well throughout his career.
Hate to hear that news. Red eventually moved to Richmond after coming south with Ed Flemke, Rene Charland and Denny Zimmerman to race in Virginia and Maryland with those "Eastern Bandits." I recall Denny talking about how much they liked Richmond, especially since Junie Donlavey let them work out of his shop at the same time his #90 with Sonny Hutchins was racing against them.
R.I.P. Red. Another great driver who scorched our Virginai tracks in his modifieds when I first started attending races.
Decided to read a story on NASCAR.com and scrolled the comments after it for a second. If that bunch at the NASCAR Social Media Spy HQ doesn't have its ears burning, it ought to. I keep forgetting during Google searches that it is useless to click on a link directing to NASCAR.com to try to read an old story. All you get is a blank page.
Nobody seems to be paying any attention over at SPY HQ.
Here's just a few comments I saw a minute ago at NASCAR.com following the story about the sale of Dupont Performance Coatings and new sponsorship name for the #24:
bowtieracer3
Go the bottom of this page to help/contact us and then go to fan feedback section and email them your comments about this worthless site. I tried it but it would not recognize my computer for some reason. That is possibly one way to get to them. Let me know how you do.
13 Minutes ago
bowtieracer3bowtieracer3
bowtieracer3
I have found something that might work guys. Go to the bottom of this page, click on help/contact us, and go to fan feedback section of the other contacts at lower part of that page and email them your comments about this worthless site. I tried it but it would not recognize my email address. Maybe you guys could that and see if you can get any answers from them. Let me know what happens.
17 Minutes ago
RattstoneRattstone
Rattstone
Arrrrggggg ,,,,,, I had to download a pdf to get the dayyam schedule, and I gota do that for all the series. Bah, Humbug.
21 Minutes ago
PeteD1944PeteD1944
PeteD1944
Is anyone reading all the complaints about this new site? We all are pretty unhappy with it and we are the ones who are using it. I don't know who you taylored it for but it isn't us.
27 Minutes ago
Busch78Busch78
Busch78
Site stinks! I'm leaving for ESPN, Speed, and Jayski.
32 Minutes ago
Busch1878Busch1878
Busch1878
nascarnation.us
47 Minutes ago
Busch1878Busch1878
Busch1878
where is the forum
47 Minutes ago
bowtieracer3bowtieracer3
bowtieracer3
Can anyone please tell me how to get to nascar nation? This has to be the most f-ed up site I have ever been on. No more joy.........
1 hour ago
bowtieracer3bowtieracer3
bowtieracer3
Can anyone please tell me how to get to nascar nation? This has to be the most f'ed-up site I have ever been on.
1 hour ago
lets go racinlets go racin
lets go racin
i liked the old site where it was easy to navigate
1 hour agoFlag
blackjackblackjack
blackjack
This and the preceding website have to rank amongst the worse on the internet. Too difficult to manuver and there is too little content. Makes one wonder what happen to those programers that could write krisp programs that did not use mega bytes to load and operate.
1 hour agoFlag
ready4Changeready4Change
ready4Change
PLEASE say SapientNitro and/or Omnigon (folks behind the new website) are monitoring comments. I only use jayski.com now. I will not use Nascar.com after the re-make of the site. As a web developer myself, it pains me to see a site like this in 2013.
1 hour agoFlag
jhawk720jhawk720
jhawk720
This has got to be one of the worst web sites in the world!!!!
2 hours agoFlag
KennyjwKennyjw
Kennyjw
I agree the new site stinks. Takes to long to load and you cannot navigate very well. Hard to access on mobile device also.
2 hours agoFlag
johnny5johnny5
johnny5
NASCAR.COM website SUUUCKS so bad, I don't even want to get on it anymore. Back to the simple design please!!
3 hours agoFlag
jeffjeepjeffjeep
jeffjeep
this site is the worst , to to much going on . please redo it the old style was much better
3 hours agoFlag
bilbobaggensbilbobaggens
bilbobaggens
This website gets worse every time you make a change. It was far easier to use and more user friendly 4 years ago. At one time I was a regular checking in here. Now I only come here to check the race schedule and times. This site sucks.
3 hours agoFlag
score24score24
score24
The new site is lacking "life"..
3 hours agoFlag
score24score24
score24
this is by far the worst NASCAR website on the net...Whoever is runnin this site has no clue on how to be fan friedly! NASCAR.com should be ASHAMED with your heads hung low!!
4 hours agoFlag
mshambymshamby
mshamby
The new website is not up to NASCAR standards and hard to navigate.
4 hours agoFlag
rmf1127rmf1127
rmf1127
hate this new web format bring back old site
4 hours agoFlag
rmf1127rmf1127
rmf1127
hate this new web format bring back old site
5 hours agoFlag
GPANTOJAGPANTOJA
GPANTOJA
J
What's with these comments now? Can't even reply to anyone? Lameola.
5 hours agoFlag
redbrown2redbrown2
redbrown2
testing
5 hours agoFlag
To Be DeterminedTo Be Determined
To Be Determined
hate this new web format bring back old site
6 hours agoFlag
still2tokstill2tok
still2tok
amen to that
6 hours agoFlag
still2tokstill2tok
still2tok
Gooooooooooood night Nascar world.......!
9 hours agoFlag
Rev. Stagger hasn't been seen since Shallotte's Christmas on the River Festival!
"Tell me again Tony why she has that star on her butt?"
TS: "Them cow eyes and Mona Lisa smile ain't working no more. I already heard."
Brothers Len and Eddie Wood, Glen's sons, recently visited the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan and got to see the Jim Clark Lotus that made their father and uncles internationally famous in 1965:
