take this patty and turn it it into a piece of art as you are sooo good at you are my hero on editing
The Lady in the Peach Orchard
I can remember the day my dad came in and said they building a big half mile track over off hiway 41. Well nothing would have it but one way and over there I flew.
It looked like it was as big as daytona when i first saw it,huddled in between the Pecan Orchards and Peach trees.
I can almost smell it now the first time we pulled in there and raced. It was so,how would you describe it, like it held you in its arms when you ran around it.
The turns were so high banked that i dont think you could run off the top if you tried,but fast it was.
I can remember going over with a friend one race and he was smitten at how his motor was performing that nite,yeah i was driving his car, he said go out and run a lap in 3rd gear, talk about winding one out, but all that got was a bunch of people wanting to protest his car.
Another time we were running the quarter mile track and i was driving a guys coupe from pinehurst ga. that thing was almost as fast as Charlie Burnettes coupe, but we came out of number four turn running bumper to bumper and here came AW Vickers shooting by on the outside and he plastered the outside wall about where the flagstand was,his throttle stuck wide open.
Don Tumberlin was the track master at mgr because he was so consistant,had a dang good car too.
That Still deal I heard of it in talk many a time but didnt put no truth to it until later in life. I now understand why all those neat car trailers were always there from south fla with cars that ran so-so.
under the stands was a room and an area where the drivers hung out after the race to talk and just be sociable. It was kinda like a brotherhood because we sorta looked out for each other, true we argued like sore tailed cats on the track and shook fists at each other on the track but off every one made sure all were well for the trip home. If you broke down some one or three would stop and get you going again.
We had that cop from Macon running out there so at first i didnt know if you could get away with bumping him to pass without retaliation later but he turned out to be A-ok.and now a real personal friend.
Friday Hassler,Bob Burcham,Red Farmer,Bobby and Donnie Allison were regulars along with more names than I can remember.
I also hear through the grapevine that The Miss Middle Ga Raceway from back in the day may just make another appearance at the track,maybe that convertible will come too.
There were a few unknowns who got their start there on MGR. I know I learned a lot real quick running there and after I drifted out I would come back for a refresher course, and it always helped
When Racers Reunion met with the present owner I took a lap or two around the old gal and it was just as I remembered it,the trash on the track didnt bother me none. Even the quarter mile track brought back strong memories.
Bob Moore,Tommie Clinard,Guy Jenkins and myself stood over at the pit entrance close to where the infamous still entrance is talking of past races and old names were popping up in our talks making more precious memories of days gone by. Having the undivided help I had from Bob Brown building my engines to Skip Leonard showing me the finer points on tuning and setup,he was like a brother to me,.are things MGR created but will never be forgotten.
drivers like charlie burnette and friday hassler were the ones i could always go to for advice,thats something you dont get this day. My first Speedway car was built by Stewart Seymore and I cannot leave him out of the picture because when you had a friend like Seymore you had a gold mine for a friend.
Middle Ga Raceway was described by some as the next Bristol because it was so fast, maybe we will still see that happen.
The bleachers are still standing at attention waiting for the return of the crowd and the roar of the race so beware,the ghost of the past may just comeback for a visit.
that pop festival was something in its own. True I liked rock n roll but not in a mess of people like out there at the track during that time. I rode out one time and people were camping in every conceivable place possible, and if you kinda looked hard you could see a whole lot of skin showing. And down at creek the fishing hole turned into the local bath house with regular sorties back and forth.
Seeing the track close really hurt our habit of weekly racing at home.
The nascar races there were the highlite of the track for awhile because names came there you heard about on tv or read about in magazines. you could even walk up to them and talk to them and just be one of them. try that today if you will.
If Mr Brown planned the still when it was built he was good but the story I heard there was a leak in the drainage pipes of the track and a hole slowely washed out under there, and a hunter was messing around down stream of the runoff one day after a rain and the water had a funny odor to it so he backtracked and found it.the rest is history, what i wrote was here say.
this is how i remember growing up around our lady in racing, she was fair, sometimes forgiving, but always ready for you. its hard to end a subject like this because it was a prt of my life back then and now too, its my --------------------memories
