When the green flag fell that hot afternoon, the Junior Johnson number 3 roared away from pole winner Marvin Panch and moved right into the lead. Everyone, including Junior, was expecting a Ford to fill his mirror. But what is this???? By lap five Junior was seeing the ugly front of one of those Dodges as David Pearson jockeyed right up on his bumper. Pearson was giving Junior a fit for the lead, but unfortunately about lap 24, the Cotton Owens engine went south (must like Sherman) and he was out. Junior, feeling same now, rode a couple of laps and looked in the mirror to see another of those ugly Dodge front-ends filling his mirror. This time it was Billy Wade and Billy was determined the "goat" was going to toast that Chevy. Billy followed Junior a couple of laps and then blasted around him to lead a couple of laps. While Junior may have found the rear-end of the Dodge more attractive, he soon went around Wade to retake the lead. Didn't last long and Billy was back in front. GM and Ford fans were shaking their heads at the tenacity of that Dodge. In the end, the Chevy would prevail. Seems Billy had front-end alignment problems and was eating up tires like the Georgia Highway Patrol eats up doughnuts on race day. Heck, any day.
That was my introduction to Atlanta International Raceway as it was then called. From that race through 1990, they didn't crank the engines without me in the infield. I have so many memories of events at that track I could fill a book. But, tonight I'll only share a couple. One race I particularly remember is the 1970 Atlanta 500. With 10 laps to go, Cale Yarborough had a huge lead and Donnie Allison, a guest on last week's show, was running second. Donnie's engine blew at precisely the same time Cale hit the pits for a little gas to finish the race. When Cale hit the pits that allowed Bobby Allison, driving that beautiful Mario Rossi Dodge Daytona to make up a lap. Mario called Allison in for a quick stop to change two tires. When the green flew again with five laps to go, that red and gold Dodge took off and left Cale behind. Didn't we just talk about Cale last week when we had Bobby and Donnie as our guest? Seems as though we did. I'll swear we did. But that race just sticks out in my mind because I loved the Mario Rossi Dodge. It has to go in the record books as one of the most beautiful race cars to ever hit the track.
On August 1, 1971, the track at Atlanta lacked spectators, especially in the infield, but the race was great. Naturally, a part of my reasoning for that was the fact that Richard Petty won it, and although I can't seem to find the "stat" to back it up, I believe it was that race when Richard became the first driver in NASCAR to top one million dollars in purse money. While that is no big deal today, in 1971 it was an awesome accomplishment. As good as the race was, two things I remember about the day stick out in my mind.
First up is the statement by Glen Wood after the race that his car would NOT be entered in further NASCAR events because he believed Chrysler Corporation had an unfair advantage. Something to do with larger openings on the carburetor. At the time I thought that was hilarious and I couldn't stop making distasteful comments about the "cry-baby" Ford Motor Company guys. But, please remember that these were the days where the ONLY car on the track that meant anything to me was blue and had number 43 on it. For the record, I have since personally apologized to all the Wood Family and shook their hands while doing it. As far as I know, the Wood family and I are on good terms now.
The second thing that stands out in my mind from this race was hanging with Richard through the entire after-race celebration, including hanging outside the press box waiting for him to finish his interview. It was very late by then and upon exiting the pits and heading to our car, now the ONLY spectator vehicle remaining in the infield, we discovered it was surrounded by Georgia Highway Patrol and the local county law enforcement. As we approached the car, the local Sheriff confronted us; a guy I'll swear was the model for Jackie Gleason's role in Smokey and the Bandit. After he used some choice words on us for holding them up from leaving the track, we got in our car and were escorted completely out the track and the track road back to the highway. It didn't occur to me at the time to ask for a police escort back to I-20, but in retrospect, that may have been pushing my luck.
I did not attend the race at the end of the 1992 season which was The King's farewell and the introduction of one Jeff Gordan, the "Prince in Waiting" so to speak. I was at the first race Richard even drove, but I could not bring myself to drive to Atlanta that day. I watched it all on television though, and although I had a huge lump in my throat on that last lap with Richard driving what was left of that Pontiac around the track, I don't recall shedding a tear. I think, looking back, that I had been through his entire career with him and he was my hero. I was very fortunate to have been at hundreds of races he drove and I still hold the official record as the "most aggravating fan" Richard ever encountered.
Since that day in 1992, I've watched most of the Atlanta races on television. I remember the euphoria of seeing Kevin Harvick win as a replacement from Dale Earnhardt, Sr. whom we had lost only weeks before. I remember Carl Edwards pulling the totally ignorant stunt of almost putting Keselowski in the stands. I remember very close finishes in several events. When it was the true oval, I though the races were much better and I continue to believe that. Just something about watching NASCAR's best drivers run side-by-side through turns that sweeping.
So, this past weekend, we were back at Atlanta. Surprisingly for this time of year, the weather was pretty good. From what I saw of the stands, most of the fans must have been trying to fight their way through the Georgia traffic directors to get there. Sure were a lot of empty seats. Yes, I did get to see the first 45 laps before leaving for my grandson's soccer game and the empty seats were a glaring example of the continuing loss of fans. Can't wait to see what the television rating turn out to be (this is being written Monday morning).
Something else I noticed and wish to point out. Remember last year when the rules were changed to keep the teams from pulling out the sheet metal on the rocker panels in front of the rear wheel openings? I will point out, and you're welcome to check it for yourself, that the yellow number 18 and the yellow number 20 both had the left side rocker panels pulled out. Please note I name neither the driver nor the car make as some people fancy themselves to be Perry Mason in defense of that brand. Nevertheless, it is there for all to see if you only look closely
I had several friends who attended the race and all spoke of the lack of fans in the stands. One of my younger friends even said he paid $20.00 for his ticket just past the start-finish line half way up the stands. That young man is always truthful so I have no doubt of his veracity. He, being a fan of Jimmie Johnson, was pleased with the outcome although I haven't seen him mention the competition on the track.
Did the new rules package work? All the drivers claim to have loved it, but with the new severe penalties, NASCAR would impose for saying anything negative about anything to do with NASCAR, I wonder if those statements contain the truth. Many other friends of mine, most of whom now work for a race team or have previously worked for a race team, some even drivers, were not at all complimentary about the race. "Boring" and "snooze-fest" were two descriptions repeated often. I don't know, because I only saw the first 45 laps. What the new package will eventually do remains to be seen. I hope it works out for the good, but there are so many other areas NASCAR needs to address. More on that another time.
