A few thoughts on Racing at Middle Ga. in the 70's.Of course the big draw was watching Jody R. , Ronnie SanderBuck Simmons, Billy McGinnis, Neil Bonnet and even Bobby Allison. Back when the track ran under the old STARRS sanction. We ran 1 100 lapper a month and a couple of 200 lap features in the summer of 74. There were only 2 divisions to start the 74 racing season. The promotor thencreated the "claimer car" division. The rules were simple, pretty much 'run watchya brung' and 'catch as catch can'. No yellow flags and the only time a race would be slowed would be if the track was blocked or there was a danger to a driver.The class ran on the 1/4 mile pit road. Guys like Francis Sullivan and A.W.Vickers. In a few years, guys like Gary Rhodes, myself, Frank Roe and some other characters whos names escape me. It wasn't unusual to have features with 24 cars and more. I ran the Late Model Divison in the summer of 74 and drove the 65 Plymouth #12 owned by John Connell. Does anyone remember the Petty Kit Car Prototype that was driven by Pete Hamilton? It was a Dodge Challanger, painted primer gray with a shoe polish "0" on the door. The car didn't even have a working starter most of the time, but ran like a "raped ape". In November of 74, they ran the "Peach State 500". A 500 lap race that drew drivers from all over thesouth east. There was a major controversyat the end. A Red Camaro #8 was two laps ahead of the field. On the last lap the car blew a right front tire and hit the wall coming out of turn 2. I'm not for sure, but I believe that car was driven by Dale Earnhardt Sr. After Dale's death on one of the special programs about his life, there was a picture of that car which was sponsored by the Army. The contoversy was the fact that the 8 car was 2 laps ahead but never completed the 500 laps. I believe the race winner was declared to be Cale Yarbourgh in Sam Ard's chevelle. That's enough for now. Next time I'll talk about the 75 season.