August 19, 1951 - Ft. Miami Speedway
- Tim Flock wins a 200-lap, 100-mile race on the Toledo, OH dirt track.
- On the same day, the St. Louis Browns baseball team trotted out a legitimate, signed but unexpected player as a pinch hitter. He advanced to 1st base on 4 straight pitches as the pitcher couldn't find his strike zone. MLB subsequently ruled he wouldn't be ineligible for the future games. But owner/promoters Bill Veeck sold a lottttt of tickets with the stunt. Last week, Humpy Wheeler released another YouTube video that resonated with folks. He said better racing promoters are needed. I happen to agree with him - and they could learn from old promoters such as Humpy and Ed Otto in racing and Veeck in baseball.
August 19, 1956 - Bay Meadows Speedway, San Mateo, CA
- Eddie Pagan wins
- The race is shortened to 241 laps from the scheduled 250-laps distance not because of weather or darkness but sadly because of the death of a track safety worker.
- Source: Oxford Source-Courier
August 19, 1979 - Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan
- Richard Petty wins over Buddy Baker
- David Pearson wins the pole and finishes 4th in another superb sub role for the recovering Dale Earnhardt
- Kyle Petty finishes 13th in his Michigan debut
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2011/08/august-19-this-day-in-petty-history.html
August 19, 1990 - CSP 400 at Michigan
- Mark Martin wins his 3rd career Cup race.
- Greg Sacks finishes 2nd - SECOND - in the 17 Tide Ride as a sub driver for Darrell Waltrip who was still recovering from a broken leg suffered at Daytona about 6 weeks earlier.
- Ken Ragan starts his final Cup race.
- Ted Musgrave starts his first one.
- Rookie Rob Moroso started and finished 26th. About 6 weeks later, he was killed in an off-track car wreck.
- Edward Cooper finishes 41st and last in the final of his 3 career Cup starts.
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 08/19/18 11:13:05AM
