It Really Was Different Back Then
General
Awesome Post!!! Brought back plenty of memories forme too as your descriptions are almost exactly the way it was with us. Richard Petty at Burnside Plymouth. David Pearson at Burnside Dodge, Ned Jarrett at Pulliam Ford. We spent most of the time with The King, of course.
And seeing the new cars before they were put in showrooms!!! Wow that was awesome. One of my friends was the son of the guy in charge of parts at Oliver Motor Company, a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership. He lived in an area where the back yard was over an acre and surrounded my a high fence and hedge bushes. In 1960 through about 1965, the Plymouths and Chryslers would be stored in his back yard three weeks before introduction to the public. How we loved that preview and advantage we had. I often lament the fact that I never carried a camera with me because I could have had my own personal photo of every Grand National Driver from the mid fifties through the time the fans were closed out. I had my picture taken in many a race car and did, in fact, in 1964, get to drive the King's number 43 out of the Burnside showroom onto the trial. In 1971 when Richard won the Columbia Speedway event. he stopped at the flagstand and I got the checked flag, sat on the door with my legs inside the car as he drove around the track. I'll never forget the look on my mother's face when we passed where she was in the infield. We had a personal relationship with the drivers,. or at least we believed we did. Today, the only thing close to a personal relationship with someone is saying goodbye to Abe and U.S. Grant as I hand them over to NASCAR. Come to think of it though, I haven't done that in a number of years. Thanks, Dave. I love this post.
Never heard back on that one. In 1969, whenever I saw him, I snubbed him, but in a playful way. Then, at the Columbia Speedway race in 1969, August, there was an event on I-26 and I-20 AFTER the race which is a story from which Legends arise and I have plenty of witnesses to that. After the October race in Charlotte, he and I were walking through the garage together when he said he had a surprise coming for me. We all know it was back to Plymouth for 1970. Fans today pull for the drivers, for the most part, and the passion is there. Guess it really doesn't matter as long as there is a passion for something. The brand loyalty isn't there anymore with most fans although I shop Lowes instead of Home Depot because I thing JoLo is disgusting. There was a time I could name the sponsor of every car in the field and actually did that once for a survey at Daytona when a lady came around the infield asking for that information. My passion for racing is still in my heart, no doubt, but my passion for present day NASCAR, not so much.