Big Bill ran a separate Division and kept Points for Grand Nationals on Short Tracks 1/3, 1/4 mile.
I can remember Billy Myers driving a Big Turnpike Cruiser on Little Old McKormik(sp) Field in Ashville.
A freind of mine, was one of the top Drivers Bud Guisleman..
Thanks very much for sharing your valuable memories Mr. Streeter!. I always look forward to your posts.
Hey Jim. I would love more information about that series. After you mentioned it, I seem to have very faint memories of hearing about the series before, but I know nothing about it. I tried to search some records, but my search engines don't recognize what I'm putting in. It does appear, however, that Dave Fulton can at least locate some information. Dave is a genius at that.
Thanks for posting and staying involved.
I, too, meant to thank Jim for his post and didn't in my haste to try to find some more information about it. I was not familiar with the NASCAR Short Track Division until I read Jim's post above.
Itonically, RR member, TooMuchCountry (Chase) had asked me the very same day about a specific race at Norfolk, Virginia's Princess Anne Speedway, operated by Joe Weatherly and Paul Sawyer during this time period. He'd seen a newspaper article but couldn't locate the event in any data base.
Now I'm wondering if the race Chase read about was in Big Bill's Short Tarck series. Thanks again, Mr. Streeter.
Here's an excerpt about Jim Reed in a 2008 story in the Middletown, NY Times Herald-Record about him running the Montgomery Air Force Base Grand National race in 1960:
Reed was the Yankees of NASCAR's short-track circuit. On tracks of less than one-half mile, he won the championship every year from 1953 to 1957. A winning streak never duplicated. In 1960, he arrived at the airport having won three short-track races in less than a week, the last in Old Bridge, N.J., where he beat Lee Petty.
But Montgomery was a Grand National race, and at 2 miles, the airport track was one of the longer ones on the schedule.
Here's a 2009 National Speed Sport News column by Gary London:
Jim Reed Once Won Five-Straight NASCAR New Car Titles
by Gary London
VALLEY STREAM, N.Y.
Another season is winding down and it looks like Jimmie Johnson is stinking up another Chase despite the overblown blather of TV commentators.
Much is being made over Johnson winning a fourth-straight Cup title. Actually someone else did win five-consectutive NASCAR new car titles. He was Jim Reed of Peekskill, N.Y. Reed was the kingpin of the NASCAR short-track division.
First, many of you need to be caught up in NASCAR history. Big Bill France started it in 1947. The first division was the modifieds. A sportsman class was added, but they raced with the modifieds and had a separate point tally. In 1949 came the Strickly Stock/grand national division later known as the Cup series.
It wasnt all easy. France found himself with competition. The AAA, which ran Indy-car racing, started a stock-car division. In fact, AAA had a better roster of drivers. Even Marshall Teague, who lived in Daytona Beach, Fla., went with AAA.
France countered with a speedway-car division, made up of old Indy cars with stock-block motors. It lasted a year. NASCAR ran midgets, too, for seven years. France started the short-track division to run more races at tracks the Grand National division didnt run. In 1956, a convertible division was added. These actually werent ragtops; the hard tops were cut off, but were often put back on.
There were also races when the cars with tops ran with those without them. With the short-track circuit, drivers were free to pick their spots.
Reed was a short-track demon. Whether dirt or asphalt, he was hard to beat. Not just a bull-ring expert, he followed a fourth- and a second-place finish in the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway with a win in 1959. He was champion of the short tracks from 1953-57. Like other drivers of the day, Reed was a first-rate mechanic.
Driving Chevrolets most of his career, Reed was offered a ride from Pete DePaolo, Fords racing head. After the factory pulled out, he was back in a Bowtie.
An accident forced Reed to retire in 1963. At age 83, he operates a Mitsubishi truck agency near his lifelong home.
With an insipid Chase as part of another ho-hum season, NASCAR steadfastly refuses to change the dreaded CoT. I have a suggestion which some would say is over the top, but doing nothing isnt a good idea either.
Next year, designate a half dozen or so races at various track configurations and throw the rule book out. Aside from cubic inches and weight, let the NASCAR crew chiefs, many of whom are very creative, run what they want. Confiscate the cars and set up the new rules using settings from the cars that race the best, not necessarily the fastest.
NASCAR is still using the excuse that it wont alter the cars for the sake of the manufacturers. Face it: The cars teams run today all look alike and dont exist. Try to buy a two-door rear-wheel drive car with a V-8. Toyota never made a V-8 for consumer cars until it ran NASCAR. Have teams put the car makers name on the roof.
I dont expect NASCAR to take suggestions from me or anyone else. Therefore, you can expect the same show that has resulted in more empty seats and lower TV ratings than ever.
- The small town of Vallejo, Calif., is apparently a breeding ground for millionaire sports stars. Both Jeff Gordon and Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia were born there.
Doing PR for Balloon Boy at 25 Emerson Place, Valley Stream, N.Y. 11580. E-mail to Racewri771@AOL.com.
We went down from the tri-cities (my home) to watch the NASCAR Race at Montgomery NY '60..Rex White won...
( We Drag Raced there a few times..NASCAR sanctioned..... (My friend George Snizek nearly died in a top end crash there)... Anyhow,,Jim Reed (who won Darlington), was One Tough Racer.......A (back then), NY Hero..like Bill Wimble, Dick Nephew,Dutch Hoag....more
Jim Reed was one of the best in the Short Track/New Car Division. Here is a shot of four greats at Bowman Gray with Reed leading the pack.
Regarding Dave's comment about Princess Anne Speedway.
I found an issue of Illustrated Speedway News on ebay earlier this week & zoned in on some of the page excerpts at the bottom of the listing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/July-7-53-ILLUSTRATED-SPEEDWAY-NEWS-Racing-Newspaper-PICTORIAL-EDITION-/161003869995?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123
A couple of articles quickly caught my eye. One, a 4th of July Junior Johnson win - at DARLINGTON! Apparently it was run as a 200 miler on Independence Day 1953.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ImYsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PcsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7177%2C428466
The race wasn't a NASCAR sanctioned GN event. The GN series ran on July 4th in Spartanburg, I guess Darlington paid better than Spartanburg. (Incredibly, the GN cars ran the day before on July 3rd in Rochester NY. Many drove all night to make the Spartanburg and Darlington events.)
I also noticed an article about Lee Petty winning the "first GN race" at Norfolk's Princess Anne Speedway in a 400-lap, 100 miler in late June 1953 (actual date looks like 24th). Officially, it seems only 1 GN race was held at Norfolk - a 200 lap, 100 miler - and was won by Herb Thomas in November 1953. So far, no luck in finding anything on Google - including the news archive.
(Sorry for poor resolution. Best I could do from the limited view of the auctioned paper.)
Something doesn't make much sense. First GN race - yet no official results? And either the article was wrong about the laps - or the track was lengthened from a quarter-mile to a half-mile in less than 4 months. I even checked the convertible series records and they didn't race at Norfolk then either.
I'm wondering if the event was part of this Short Track Division you've mentioned.
The Darlington race was a Modified/Sportsman race. As the article states, there were several smash-ups. I know that for a fact. Daddy injured his shoulder and arm in that race when he rolled over. Won that night at Greenwood, SC. I think in J.S. Popes #99 but I can't swear to that. As for Jim Reed, he was one of the best in the "Short Track/New Car" division. Here is a shot from 1955 with Reed starting on the pole at Bowman Gray with Lee Petty on the outside followed by daddy in the T-Bird and Junior Johnson in the Corvette. 
What a terrific photo, Randy! Thanks.
Did some digging today and came agross a photo of daddy sitting unconscious in his car and the article from the Greenwood, SC newspaper detailing the win. It was in J.S. Pope's #99.
Jim, I thought I had posted a comment this morning asking for more of your stories, but it's not showing up so I'm back again. Please give us more! You are a living resource for all we love here. Having heard some of your memories personally makes it only more important others get to hear them.
Wow. Thanks for sharing, Randy!
What an amazing story, Randy. Thanks for finding and posting.
