In addition, there will be one of those "bounce houses" there for the kids. There will be live music provided by a band to rock to the place. There will be "dyno demonstrations" AND door prizes. Admission is free. Got that? Free!!!

Just across the road from Roush is the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame, a place every race fans owes himself or herself a visit.  I've been there dozens of times and enjoy each visit.  When you are in the museum part of the Hall of Fame, it is as though there is a special reverence reserved for the displays there.  I've been there when the lights were low, for the television special we did for HBO Canada, and when the lights are low, your imagination can run wild as if the essence of the displays there are actually conversing with you.  The Hall of Fame will be providing tours of the museum that day.  I don't know this for a fact, but I'm guessing Don Miller will be there Saturday and getting to meet Don is an absolute honor.  I would like to thank Bob Hissom for providing this information for me to share with you.

Now, on to the subject of this Legendtorial.  I guess, in a way, I should not be "somewhat shocked", but certain things have a way of grabbing my attention when those things are so unexpected and so unforeseen. What prompted this subject was the recent read of a book by H. A. Branham entitled "Big Bill".  I'm sure no one listening needs further introduction as to the man to whom the title "Big Bill" was given so many years ago. William Henry Getty France, the man so instrumental in organizing stock car racing, the force behind NASCAR, the builder of Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Super Speedway.  There are many adversaries to the man who will claim Big Bill manipulated his way into NASCAR history by less than honorable means, but having been a NASCAR fan almost from the beginning of the organization, I can remember times when, without the headstrong and dictatorial actions of Bill France, the very existence of NASCAR would have failed.  Sure, I didn't always agree with him, and sometimes he downright ticked me off, such as the 1965 ban of the Mopars, but looking back and seeing how he handled all the pressures, he was exactly the man needed to make the sport work.  There is information contained in Mr. Branham's book about Bill that I had never heard before and it is, in fact, quite interesting.  My friend, Bill Blair, Jr., who knew Big Bill quite well, has shared many memories with me of Big Bill and Bill Blair, Sr., working to propel racing in the North Carolina piedmont area. If Bill Blair, Jr. can speak highly of Bill France, then I will certainly not dispute his word.  I will, however, dispute his word about me jumping the start of the race at Bristol. But that's another story.

The book goes into the passing of the NASCAR torch from Bill, Sr., to Bill, Jr. and then on to Brian Zachary France, the young man with whom so many of us old school fans have issues.  In as much as the book was intended to reflect favorably on Big Bill, I had no issue with that.  Having spent more than a little time with Bill, Jr. (he in fact watched most of a race at Myrtle Beach Speedway from atop my parents' motor home back in the 70s) I learned to appreciate his efforts to propel NASCAR to a National level, far beyond what Bill, Sr. had done, but not beyond what Bill, Sr. had dreamed.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed the book and am happy to add it to my ever-growing Library in the Lair. However, what really shocked me was Chapter 10, entitled "What Would Bill, Sr. Think?" This Chapter is devoted to the current state of NASCAR racing under the direction of Brian Z. Even the beginning of the Chapter goes directly into that Chase Format which, as you all know if you've ever listened to this show, I detest. What really shocked me reading this Chapter were the comments made by several drivers I deeply respect (as well as one I don't care too much for). I am going to quote portions of Mr. Branham's book, and, where applicable the source he used for the quotes. Bear in mind the question to be answered by the individuals concern "What would Bill, Sr. think" which takes into account the state of NASCAR today and The Chase.  Ok, here we go:

JIM FRANCE, Bill Sr.'s son:  "He would be impressed with everything, I think."

LESA FRANCE KENNEDY, Senior’s granddaughter:  "He would probably say 'just keep it going'.  Lesa went on to say, "I think he would recognize the need to keep trying new things and that there will always be people who are in your camp and there will always be naysayers".

BETTY JANE FRANCE, Senior's daughter in law:  "He would love the technology available today"........ "The racing part, he would have been right there making it grow".

BRIAN FRANCE:  "I think he would really like the efforts to elevate the sport.  We are doing exactly what he had intended to do".

Therein, is the essence of what the members of the France family had to say.  I will neither support nor condemn any of those statements, not even those of Brian Z., for to do so would be condemning the loyalty of family, which I hope I never do.  Now on to comments that truly shocked me.

DARRELL WALTRIP:  "Big Bill would say this is exactly the way I wanted it to be, exactly the way I planned it".  I'm not surprised, actually, by anything D.W. would say to endear himself to the France Family. I wonder what his opinion may be if he was still racing?

NED JARRETT:  "I've said for a long time that I don't know another person who had the vision Bill, Sr. had for seeing where the sport could go, and I feel he would say today 'okay, this is doing what I thought it would do". Ned went on to say, "I applaud Brian for the way he is going about it (referring to the style of operating NASCAR).  Ned kind of shocked me with these statements.

RICHARD CHILDRESS:  "Bill, Sr. was a man whose life was built around this sport and the word 'NASCAR' I think he would be very, very happy and pleased".  "He is smiling down at us these days".

JUNIOR JOHNSON:  "I think he'd be proud of everything but I also don't think NASCAR would have a lot of the stuff it has now if he was still running the sport. I think he would want the racing to be more like the way we started ours.

BOBBY ALLISON:  "I think Bill, Sr. would say 'I did a good job’ (getting this started). This thing today is really, really good".  Bobby went on to say, "I do think if Bill, Sr. was still alive and running NASCAR, we wouldn't have what people call one-of-a-kind cars. No, I think we would have Chevys, Ford, and Toyotas (off the showroom floor running because Bill, Sr. thought the guy with the car in the driveway was same as the car racing because it was that guy buying the tickets".

A.J. FOYT:  "I think he (Bill, Sr.) would be very proud of what his boys and the grandkids have done...very proud.  But, I also think he would have kept things under his control more.

HUMPY WHEELER:  "If he was here, I think he would bring the sport back to its roots real quick. One thing he definitely would have done was address the aero-push problem we have in racing.  He would have done whatever needed to be done to get rid of that...I’m not sure he would have corporatized the sport as much as it is today".

KEN SQUIRE:  "I think he'd be thrilled, not even a question, with this 'Sweet 16' (the Chase).

STEVE WAID:  "I think Bill, Sr. would approve of NASCAR today, because of one reason-it has far transcended what he created. Now, as far as the politics, the rules and regulations...I’m not so sure.  He was an iron-willed man. I'm not so sure he would approve of this Race Team Alliance Thing very much at all".

There were more individuals quoted in the book with some very interesting observations.  Being as how Jeff now limits my Legendtorials to no more than five pages, I must leave it up to you all to get a copy of that book and read it for yourself.  People quoted, such as Ned, Richard Childress, Bobby Allison, and Junior Johnson, I respect very much. Same for A.J. Foyt and Humpy Wheeler.  Ken Squire and Steve Waid are some of the best in their respective fields so there is no argument there.

I guess what really shocked me when reading this were the comments by the old school racers, writers and promoters that back up what is happening in the sport today.  I certainly respect these individuals enough not to take exception to their comments.  Having said that, I cannot go on record as being in 100 percent agreement with all the comments.  But then, I don't have the clout or the fame to be quoted by anyone as to my opinion of The Chase, or the current cars running on the tracks.  I will say, however, that if everything is as positive as these comments would lead us to believe, why is attendance down everywhere and why are television ratings the lowest in history and continuing to fall almost every week?  I am guessing the reruns of "Leave It to Beaver" are closely approaching the ratings of the NASCAR racing.

Further, if that Chase is the answer to pumping up the excitement, how do you explain the lack of crowd at Richmond when the final qualifiers were being determined, followed by the lowest television ratings of the season?  How do you explain that all of these "exciting" Chase races are poorly attended and television ratings are in the cellar?  I won't even go into how I feel NASCAR is manipulating, as is within its power to do, who advances in each stage of the "playoffs". Did it occur to anyone else besides me, and one of my mentors who is very knowledgeable as to what transpires in the NASCAR garage, that Kevin Harvick was so much better than everyone else at Dover that he could restart 17th and be leading within fifteen laps? Don't need a "grassy knoll" to figure out that one.  All Kevin had to do was keep tires on it, gas in it, and stay off the wall, all of which he did.

Of course, Jimmie Johnson is out of play now and I'm sure that takes many fans from the sport for the remainder of the season as well as one of NASCAR's favorite "what if" scenarios for the seventh championship.  All we really need now is for all four JGR Toyotas to be the only ones running for the title at Homestead.  You can just imagine the tirade I'll launch into over that.  But, then again, who cares what I think?  Certainly no one in NASCAR.  I am shocked by the statements made by some of the old timers in that book, but then again, I'm shocked at some of the statements I make these days about the only sport I ever really cared about.  More the pity!