May 1973 at Charlotte. I'm dating this photo based on the paint scheme on the
#92 of Larry Smith. Earlier that year the car was black with gold numbers and wheels and was changed after Rockingham to the white numbers and wheels. Larry died in August of 1973 at Talladega, so this has to be at the World 600.
You are right they ran the gold # at daytona and rockingham yhen changed to white. The gold # didnt show up on the track up close they looked good but from far away you couldnt see them. Do you have any more pictures of Larrys car?
I wish I had more photos of Larry and his car. It has been hard to find anything till I found this site.
I have several pictures of Larrys car about 8 of the car he was killed in after they brought it back to the shop but i dont know how to post them.
I would love to see them. I heard that the car was fixable, that the damages wasn't too bad. You've seen the car, what do you think? I have been consumed by the tragic story of Larry Smith and I'm shocked that so many people don't even know who he was. I hope that site's like this will inform and remind us all of the drivers that made NASCAR wnat is is today.
If you can scan the photos they are pretty easy to post.
The car wasnt fixable the frame rail dug into the concrete wall and the cars roll cage behind the saet was buckled. Larrys head hit the stearing wheel is what killed him. I have talked to his crew chief several times about the accident.
Thanks for the information. One other question I've had for years is was it this crash that prompted Bobby Isaac to climb out of his car. I've heard for years that Bobby drove past "A" crash at Talladega and started hearing vioces telling him to get out. It was around this same time he quit for a little while. I've always assumed that it was Larry's crash.
Yes Bobby pulled in after this crash and didnt even finish the race. I think CooCoo Marlin finished the race for Bobby.
I heard that Bobby called in to his pit for several laps asking why they hadn't loaded Larry into the ambulance yet. He said something to the effect that "They just have him laying back there" on a streacher. It shook him up.