Talladega Trivia III

The inaugural Talladega 500 is more famous for the "Boycott" than being the 1st race at the massive speedway. The main issuse of the PDA was that the tires would not be able to withstand the strain of the high speeds and the result would be crashed cars and injured (or worse) drivers. Big Bill's responce was "Just slow down you, control the throttle".

Well, as you know the PDA went home and the race went as "scheduled" (started to say as planned but that would not be true) and tire failure was not being reported afterward. As if to prove the point the following was printed in the next Nascar Newsletter.

"In the heat of the happenings during the inaugural week of activity at the Alabama International Motor Speedway one fact apparently went unnoticed: During the entire week and during 900 miles of racing over the weekend not one car spun out or lost control on the race course.

As a matter of fact, the only accident of the week came" when?

For me, Richard Brickhouse is a local (Rocky Point, NC near Wilmington) driver. He was a racing colleague of my dad, as both began their careers at the old Carolina Beach Speedway. I had closely followed all the drama surrounding that inaugural Talladega event, and was absolutely thrilled when Richard won. He was immediately black-balled from racing...forever. "He traded his career for one win....." was the instant quote, that can still be heard.

I recently had a long phone conversation with Richard, and I could almost feel the 'guilt' in his voice. He quietly explained that, at the time, as driver for Bill Ellis' Plymouth team, he was a Chrysler-factory associate, and was under contract with Firestone too. When Charlie Glotzbach decided to jump ship with the Richard Petty-led PDA...a dangerous and ultimately pointless endeavor, Chrysler approached Brickhouse and told him they were "Racing that purple #99 Daytona tomorrow, and he could drive it or they'd find somebody else.........." Chrysler went on to insinuate, that if he, Brickhouse, DID drive the 99, the favor would not be lost, and they would provide him with more potent equipment than the Bill Ellis team currently possessed.

It's not that Brickhouse failed to realize the quagmire he found himself in, but ultimately he thought he owed more to the Chrysler corp. than to the PDA. But, heaven forbid, he won the race. Chrysler up-held their end of the bargain, providing Brickhouse a lime-green #88 Daytona at several season-ending events (1969). But, the world began changing too. Chryser and Ford were both downsizing their NASCAR endeavors, and after 1971 both would be 'officially' gone. Firestone, too, left the game, and both of Richard's primary sponsors were no longer players. Richard Brickhouse, as many before him, realized he had to "come home and start making a living.......". He built and operated the local "Pender County Speedway" in the late 70's but eventually fell on hard financial times and sold the track, which was subsequently demolished for a housing development.

The frustrating irony of the inaugural Talladega 500 is who ELSE was in the race: Jim Vandiver, Bobby Isaac, Ramo Stott, Tiny Lund, Dick Brooks, Coo Coo Marlin, Jim Hurtibise, Buck Baker, Dr. Don Tarr........and Richard Childress making his first GN career start. Brickhouse was not the lone ranger, but because he won, the ax fell on him. Recently, on our Racing Through History radio program, Charlie Glotzbach was our guest. I asked Chargin' Charile about Talladega and why Brickhouse had taken the heat. "Because he's the one that stole my car..........." was Charlie's answer, obviously laced with over 30 yearsofemotion.

In 2008, I really tried to convince Richard to attend the Hillsborough/Occoneechee Festival. I could tell he was interested, but he kept making weak excuses, and never went. Richard Brickhouse was part of a very historical yet controversial moment in our sport. It's really sad, that he's still paying the price.

Bobby, Now this is something you will never read in a Nascar record book.Talk about a coin having two sides, how can something so good for Richard also be the very thing that ends up hurting him. I have always been confused about how this turn of events helped some and hurt others.Other than Brickhouse the one in particual I'm thinking about is the one thatyou used bold type to note their first GN start. I have heard it said more than once how he was remembered well by France for it but who knows, you will hear all kinds of stuff like this at a race track, kind of like a barber shop. I have what I believe to be a great conspiracy theory about someone who choose not to run both races.

RecentlyI was reading old newsletters and read the account that was the subject of this trivia post. I hope that you do not think I was making fun of Richard Brickhouse, that was not at all my intent. It just jumped out at me as being one of those obscure things that made good trivia.

I know what you mean about old emotions, I've heard dad say that it took him 30 years to "get over(fill in the blank)". Tell you that story sometime. Most all racers have those lost opportunities and times that they felt they got the short end of the stick and it stays with you. I've heard Jim Vandiver say that he actually won that race. Great stuff though, no where else but on RacersReunion.