Charles Stocks, thank you for your kind comments. I am really enjoying doing these History Minutes and with Dave and Chase adding information and your making such nice comments, I may keep on doing them. I do appreciate you taking time to read and comment.
That is awesome Dave! I had no idea Bob was a member here but I am very pleased. I hope he reads my post and realizes that, after all these years, his comments back then make even more sense than when they were written. But, instead of chauffer driver Cadillacs, it's jet planes and million dollar motor homes.
I always appreciate you reading and commenting.
I post this Racing History Minute in hopes that my good friend, Harlow Reynolds, may stumble upon it and add some of his special memories.
On April 18, 1960 (a good year in my book) the quarter mile paved track in Winston-Salem, NC, more commonly known as Bowman Gray Stadium, held a 200 lap/50 mile race. Only 15 cars showed for the event and there was not one lead change in the entire race as Glen Wood started his Ford on the pole and led the entire 200 laps. This was the first Grand National (now Cup) win for Glen although he had been a terror on modified tracks for some time. It was also the third consecutive win for Ford in the 1960 season.
Junior Johnson borrowed a Chevrolet for the race, qualified last, and finished last as the engine blew after two laps. Richard Petty increased his points lead over his father in this event, leading the points after 13 races of his first full season in the Grand National Series. Just a heads up here though. Richard would NOT win his first championship in 1960. That honor went to a very deserving Rex White.
Top Five Finishers were:
1. Glen Wood, Ford, winning $900.00
2. Rex White, Chevrolet, winning $475.00
3. Jimmy Massey, Ford, winning $400.00 (also a Glen Wood Ford)
4. Richard Petty, Plymouth, winning $305.00
5. Ned Jarrett, Ford, winning $245.00
Finishers sixth through fifteenth were Tom Pistone, Fred Harb, Jimmy Pardue, Bob Welborn, Bunkie Blackburn, PAUL LEWIS, Lee Petty, Neil Castles, Jimmy Lewallen, and Junior Johnson. Paul Lewis is in all caps as he is the reason RacersReunion exists.
RACING HISTORY MINUTE EXTRA FOR THE DAY:
The following quoted statements are from an article I read last night:
"BUT, ALAS and alak, racing will never go back to the "good old days" when everyone was an independant and winning depended entirely upon which driver was the best mechanic and would keep his foot on it the longest.
First off, the sport has become too widely publicized for it to ever go back to those formative years and the situations that existed then. Automotive firms, everyone from the manufacturer of the cars to the makers of the valve stems, have to recognize the advertising they get by supporting racing.
Secondly, promoters as well as sanctioning groups, feel that the racing fans themselves would never stand still for a return to the dark ages.
.........Sometimes you feel like racing is heading into an era where the drivers will be like today's baseball players. Baseball became big business with its bonus babies and now the player spends as much time checking on the stock market ventures as he does in the batting cage.
Racing hasn't become that yet, but the move is certainly in that direction. Not that anyone begrudes the drivers one penny of the money they make. On the contrary, if anything, these guys work for peanuts considering the risks they take.
But no one would like to see the drivers lose their down to earth approach to the sport or to the fans. Who wants to pull for some guy who comes to the track in a chauffer driven Cadillac?
.......If it gets too big, it loses a whole lot of the personal touch that made it big in the first place"
END OF QUOTE.
What did that quoted section have to do with a History Minute you may ask? When do you think it was written and by whom?
That quote is only a portion of a column entitled "Exhaust Fumes" written each week by Bob Hoffman in a now defunct publication known as "Southern Motorsports Journal". This particular column appeared in the issue of that paper dated April 18, 1968. That's right. Forty-five years ago Bob Hoffman was talking about much the same thing we often discuss here today. Just thought you folks may enjoy that extra this morning.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.
Today our History Minute will take us back to the .533 mile asphalt track situated in the foothills between Tennessee and Virginia. I can't recall the actual degree of banking in 1977 but I know this was before the concrete and before the now gradual banking or whatever they wish to call it now.
It was a pleasantly warm day in Bristol, only reaching the mid seventies that afternoon, but a young man from Timmonsville, SC was as hot as a firecracker in the Fourth of July heat of Key West, Florida. Cale started his Junior Johnson Chevrolet on the pole and led 495 of the 500 laps, losing the lead only when he pitted. Cale said after the race that he didn't know if he could finish the event because he was suffering with the flu. Obviously, the best medicine for flu treatment was leading the race, a fact medical science still has not acknowledged!
Second place finisher, Dick Brooks, was seven laps behind Cale at the finish and Dick opined that the only way he could have won was to have someone in the pits shooting out Cale's tires. Some 30,000 fans watched Cale decimate the field that afternoon as several drivers required relief. Ed Negre took over the Matador for Bobby Allison and drove it home sixth. Elmo Langley took over for Richard Childress and Rick Newsome moved in the seat for Janet Guthrie. J.D. McDuffie simply pulled out of the race due to driver fatigue.
Tighe Scott, a modified driver driving for owner Walter Ballard, brought out one of two caution flags when he hooked James Hylton and crashed. Ballard was furious with Hylton stating "that is the third time he has taken us out". Just another example of tempers at Bristol it would seem. There were only two caution flags for 9 laps which allowed Cale to average 100.989 mph for the race.
Noteworthy here is that Cale's win was the 150th consecutive win for Goodyear tires in that event. Of course,these days that means nothing as Goodyear is the sole supplier for racing tires for NASCAR in the "Premier" divison, but back in the day, there was competition, first with Firestone, very prominent in the sixties and later Hoosier tires. I clearly remember Firestone supplying tires to The King in the sixties for some events.
Top Five finishers were:
1. Cale Yarborough, Chevrolet, winning $23,300.00
2. Dick Brooks, Ford, winning $7,750.00 (7 laps down)
3. Richard Petty, Dodge, winning $6,100.00 (9 laps down)
4. Neil Bonnett, Dodge, winning $4,200.00 (10 laps down)
5. Benny Parson, Chevrolet, winning $3,950.00 (12 laps down)
Bobby Allison, James Hylton, Richard Childress, Jimmy Means and Ricky Rudd rounded out the top ten. Other finishers of note are Janet Guthrie in 11th, Frank Warren 13th, Buddy Arrington 14th, Elmo Langley 16th, Cecil Gordon 17th, Darrell Waltrip 19th, J.D. McDuffie 20th, Dave Marcis 21st, D.K. Ulrich 26th, Buddy Baker 29th. Only 30 cars started the race. Oh, by the way, Bobby Allison's Matador started second to Cale that day. I remember Bobby actually singing a song on an album I have/had entitled "Watch Out For The Matador".
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.
Great addition Chase. Thanks for making all these posts so much better.
I admit that the 50s and 60s were about my favorite time in racing. Something about that era and those who competed, not to mention the awesome cars, always draws me back to that period when looking for a History Minute, and today is no exception.
Today we will go back to a .625 mile track in North Wilkesboro, NC, which is no longer on the circuit but was, at one time, one of the most popular tracks for fans and competitors. Today, we will talk about the 250 mile race on that paved track on April 16, 1961.
Junior Johnson, no surprise, huh, qaulified on the pole. Rex White started to his outside. Junior took off like a rocket on the green flag and led the first 62 laps before his transmission went out. Junior's departure left Fred Lorenzen to lead. Freddy was cruising along with a comfortable lead when, on Lap 123 a rocker arm broke on the Holman-Moody Ford and Lorenzen was out of the race. As Fred parked his Ford, Rex White took over the lead in his Chevrolet. On lap 241, a hard-charging (was he ever a pacer?) Curtis Turner ran down Rex and took over the lead in the Wood Brothers Ford. The rear end in the Ford began to burn out and with 104 laps to go, Rex White blew past the ailing Ford and back into the lead which he would hold the rest of the way to win the 14th race of the season by two laps. Rex, the defending Grand National Champion, padded his point lead.
This event was the first Gwyn Staley Memorial 400 at the beautiful little track located in the Brushy Mountain foothills. At the time of the race, the track had seats for just over 12,000 fans which sold out and, with 12,500 folks in attendance, it was truly "standing room only". In fact, in a day when there was no television coverage, radio coverage only in selected Southeastern Markets, and hit and miss newspaper coverage, the press was there in such force that it is noted in Greg Fielden's commentary that the press sat "cramped in a make-do press box".
Top five finishers were:
1. Rex White, Chevrolet, winning $2,455.00
2. Tommy Irwin, Chevrolet, winning $1,175.00
3. Richard Petty, Plymouth, winning $900.00
4. Fireball Roberts, Pontiac, winning $575.00
5. Johnny Allen, Chevrolet, winning $575.00
Other finishers of note were Buddy Baker 7th, Fred Harb 8th, Reb Wickersham 10th, Curtic Crider 12th, Curtis Turner 14th, Wendell Scott 15th, Ned Jarrett 24th and Buck Baker 25th and final position. Also worth noting is Paul Lewis, the man responsible for inspiring Jeff Gilder to found RacersReunion, finished 25th after falling out of the race on the 100th lap when a rocker arm broke on his Chevrolet.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future
I read in the business section of my newspaper this morning that Dish Network is negotiating to buy the Nextel/Sprint company from its Japanese owners. Dish states that more people are watching television on their phones now so it would be much more profitable to own the phone company. No figures were given in the article I read as to prices, but apparently Dish Network is very serious about this. So, The Winston Cup became the Nextel Cup which became the Sprint Cup, which may become the NASCAR Dish. On the other hand, Dish Network may not wish to even sponsor the NASCAR Dish so what would happen then? Anyone?>
I've been hearing this RCR to Dodge for a few months now. A friend of mine in Canada, who usually doesn't speak until he has some pretty rock solid info, told me that was a big possibility as early as last November. I can't see RC leaving Chevrolet, but then I never really thought RPM would leave Dodge either. We all should know there is NO certainty in NASCAR at any level.
Wow, Jim, another historical fact added by you! I appreciate it. We are really building a first person history of the sport here. Thank you for each contribution you make. I never played football but I have two bad knees as well, one of them caused by the crash at Myrtle Beach Speedway in 1973. Not the same track as your's but same area.
