Thanks to old racing friends Joe & Ruth Kelly of "Let's Talk Racing" in Richmond, Va, I am now the proud owner of the cherished CD you see above - RACING AT ROYALL SPEEDWAY - recorded 60 years ago, in 1951 in Richmond, VA by Crazy Joe Maphis of Richmond's Old Dominion Barn Dance to the tune of Moving On and transferred from a 78rpm recording. Joe Maphis later went on to fame and fortune in Bakersfield, CA and Nashville. He is thought by many to have been the greatest guitarist in the history of country music and Johnny Cash arranged for him to be buried with the Carter Family.
Maphis begins the song by stating that it is dedicated to the "fellas" of the Richmond Stock Car Racing Association and Royall Speedway and starts the song with the line, "Here we are at the hot rod track."
I have played the CD several times and here is what I have been able to pick up at this point from the action Maphis describes 60 years ago at the track that is today's Southside Speedway in Richmond:
* Little Joe Jernigan of Norfolk, who would soon be killed at the same track, is leading.
* Runt Harris in Junie Donlavey's #90 Ford is running second.
* Buck Mason in the #99 is in 3rd place.
* Sonny Hutchins in the #91 is 4th
* Hendrick hits the fence
* Someone is in a Hudson Hornet
* Cal Johnson in his duece Ford is puffing on his pipe (he did that for real when he raced and also listened to Washington Redskins games on his radio on Sundays)
* Al Grinnan is in the #33
One of the closing lines goes thusly,
"Buddy Shuman is an old Tar Heel and he's lapping The Whale who should have stayed at home."
Buddy Shuman needs no introduction. The Whale was a local Richmond driver whose name now escapes me. He was of considerable girth and usually ran at the back of the pack ala Herman 'The Turtle" Beam. I often heard of The Whale trying to make shady racing deals around Richmond in the 50s.
This song is an absolute treasure and I am so appreciative to Joe & Ruth who I ran into at Occoneechee after not seeing them for 12 years, thanks to Stock Car Racers Reunion. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
Is there a way to share this song on this site? I am technilogically challenged and have felt lucky to simply get my computer to play it. It is awesome and I wish all of you could share this real time 60 year old look at our stock car racing past.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM