Sam McQuagg

I had mentioned in an earlier entry that Sam McQuagg won the ’66 Firecracker 400 in a Ray Fox Dodge Charger……….I did a little research on Sam & found that I was mistaken……….it was a Ray Nichels Dodge Charger & was Sam’s only GN win. Another little tidbit of information I found on Sam McQuagg was thatduring practice for that race, he noticed that the rear of the car got very light above 180 mph & that he was actually spinning the rear tires going down the back straight, so he & his crew came up with the idea of adding a 1-1/2 inch metal strip across the rear of the car (the first rear spoiler).

In ’66, they could be more innovative & there were no rules against this. Not only did this provide enough downforce to hold the rear end down but actually added another 5-6 mph in speed. Obviously, it worked very well (since they won the race) & according to the story, Sam is given credit for running the first rear spoiler on a stock car in a NASCAR race. Sadly, Sam passed away in January, 2009.

I was not at that particular race (although I couldn’t begin to tell you how many races I’ve been to in Daytona). I did see Sam McQuagg race many, many times at Valdosta 75 Speedway as I was living in Valdosta, GA in the early ’60s. Back in those days, one of the cars Sam drove was called the Tifton Special. My numbers might be slightly off, but in ’63, Sam won something like 34 out of 36 races run on that track. Sam was from Columbus, GA, and one of his main competitors on that track was Harvey Jones from Tallahassee, FL. Harvey actually drove race cars into his early 70s. Sam retired from racing because he wasn’t making enough money at it in those days, took flying lessons, & became a corporate pilot for a company in Culumbus, GA for about 10 years. Both of these drivers passed away in 2009 within 3 months of each other.Tim Leeming said:

I was at that race, saw that car, saw that spoiler and couldn’t figure it out. There was no question, at the end of the race, that it work. To my non-engineering mind, it seemed the spoiled blade messed up the aerodynamics of that slick car but shows you how wrong I was.
Tim

Hey Ernest, That was some fantastic racing at I-75 Speedway all through the 60’s!! I was born in Madison Fla. and grew up there through the 60’s(10 miles south of the track) and spent most Saturday nights at that track. Sam drove a lot for Jimmy Thomas from Columbus Ga. in the yellow #22 quite a lot in 63,64.65. In 66,67, and 68, he drove mostly for Steve Sheffield from Madison. I think that blue #67 DeSoto was built by Jimmy Thomas and was very fast!! On one night in 66, Harvey made a comment that if he was driving that #67 car, he could win about every race too!! Sam OKed it with Steve and traded cars with Harvey. Sam outran Harvey in his own car!! What a great show that was! Do you remember that? It was GREAT! Did you go to any of the other tracks in the area? Lake City,Albany, Jacksonville,Waycross,Dublin,Dothan Ala. All great tracks! Drop a line. Rick Coody

I was not at the Valdosta track the night Sam traded cars w/Harvey……….wish I had been, that had to be one of the best nights at the track. I grew up in Albany, so I was at that track several times, at the Lake City track only once, at the old Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta a couple of times. The times I was at the Valdosta track was mostly ’63 – ’65. I remember seeing one car Sam drove with Tifton Special on the hood. I also remember some fast cars sponsored by Jon Thorn Motors……….and there was another driver from that era that I always thought was pretty good, too……….Eddie McDonald, Sr. I think he was from Tifton, GA. Man, all this racking my brain is bringing back some good old memories.Ricky J. Coody said:

Hey Ernest, That was some fantastic racing at I-75 Speedway all through the 60’s!! I was born in Madison Fla. and grew up there through the 60’s(10 miles south of the track) and spent most Saturday nights at that track. Sam drove a lot for Jimmy Thomas from Columbus Ga. in the yellow #22 quite a lot in 63,64.65. In 66,67, and 68, he drove mostly for Steve Sheffield from Madison. I think that blue #67 DeSoto was built by Jimmy Thomas and was very fast!! On one night in 66, Harvey made a comment that if he was driving that #67 car, he could win about every race too!! Sam OKed it with Steve and traded cars with Harvey. Sam outran Harvey in his own car!! What a great show that was! Do you remember that? It was GREAT! Did you go to any of the other tracks in the area? Lake City,Albany, Jacksonville,Waycross,Dublin,Dothan Ala. All great tracks! Drop a line. Rick Coody