Those of a certain age will remember traveling south on old U.S. Route 1 and U.S. 301, as well as I-95 and I-85 in their very early years and seeing signs that advertised "Towels by the Pound." Usually incorporated with these signs was the logo of Cannon Towels.
"Towels by the Pound" was a southern device invented to extract a few extra dollars from Yankee tourists traveling to Florida. Those in the know will tell you that buying towels by the pound is not an economical way to purchase towels, but we fooled many a greedy Yankee.
Those Cannon towels were produced in Kannapolis, North Carolina at the now gone Cannon Mills textile complex, operated in its dying days as Fieldcrest-Cannon and Pillowtex.
Two fellows named Earnhardt - Ralph and Dale - both were employed at one time or another at the Cannon Mills complex in Kannapolis. Ralph's race shop (and Dale's for a while) was located at Dale Senior's childhood Kannapolis home.
Earnhardt Race Shop in Kannapolis, NC - DL Anderson
Dale Earnhardt Childhood Kannapolis Home
Kannapolis is also home to the minor league baseball Kannapolis Intimidators team.
Now comes word from the FIA that Gene Haas has been granted a license to form a team to compete in the international world of Formula One racing. This will be the first USA F-1 team since the 1970s and is a huge announcement on the world racing stage.
Gene Haas
Haas already has an established race shop complex in Kannapolis, North Carolina that houses the Stewart-Haas NASCAR teams. This says Haas, is where the F-1 operation will also be located.
Stewart-Haas racing Complex in Kannapolis, NC
In light of this huge racing announcement, I initially have just one question. My question concerns the Waffle House in Kannapolis.
Kannapolis, NC Waffle House
My question is this - does anyone know if they've added "Quiche" to the Kannapolis Waffle House menu in preparation for the Formula One types?
Freshly prepared Quiche (not Brie, Not Lemon Meringue pie, Bobby Williamson)
Heck, the Waffle House in Kannapolis may not have gotten the word yet. Even Bubba Watson says his first trip in Augusta, Georgia Sunday after winning the Master's Golf tourney was a quick sojourn to the local Waffle House for two grilled cheese sandwiches with hash browns smothered, covered and dumped on all over!
I guess Kannapolis has already gotten used to a whole team of high dollar engineers, as well as Danica and the other 3 Stewart-Haas drivers. I wouldn't even be surprised if Danica won't welcome an upgrade to the Waffle House menu.
By the way, Haas says none of his current crop of drivers are candidates to drive his F-1 entry. He is looking for fresh, young talent.
Next time any RR members are in the Kannapolis Waffle House maybe you can give us a menu report. The late Dale Earnhardt loved Escargot and always ordered them at Skilligalee restaurant in Richmond, Virginia , but I don't recall the Kannapolis Waffle House adding snails even for the Intimidator. We'll just have to stay tuned, I guess, to see how Kannapolis handles the hobnobbing international set.
--
"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
Jan
Enjoyed the photos/postcard, Dave.
