It is with sadness that I report the news that legendary pre-war racer and Living Legends of Auto Racing member "Mad Marion" McDonald passed away on Thursday the 21st of this month. Marion would have been 96 this past Saturday.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/news-journalonline/obituary.aspx?n=Marion-McDonald&pid=172247512
Happy birthday, Dub
Here's praying your wife gets well soon.
Lothar Motschenbacher and Rolf Stommelen both ran NASCAR, but neither ran the 500. We have had two Peruvians in the Daytona 500, Eduardo Dibos and Raul Cilloniz. Dibos was a borderline-immortal driver who ran competitively in the IMSA GT Championship in the late 90s despite being almost 70 years of age.
It was 1982 and the driver was Dave Watson. Watson was running strong that day, strong enough to take the lead by staying out during green flag pit stops. He did indeed retire from racing then and there.
That's the annoying part of things. We have Johanna sitting on her couch. Kenzie Ruston is doing OK, but Johanna seemed to be the real deal, even running second in an NNS race before flattening a tire; of course, ESPN always has done their best to ignore her though.
Anyone else thinking of Nur Ali: "Don't bring him back EVER again." Kid got his license pulled he was so bad, and Milka had her IndyCar license pulled. See where this is going? Yet thanks to Venezuela $$$ she has one of the best non-Cup rides in the entire series.
Well... having met many drivers, that wouldn't surprise me.
Edit: I found an Ebenezer Smith from Georgia who was born in 1929 and passed away in 1997
http://georgiaracinghistory.com/2010/11/05/frank-rebel-mundy-interview-with-a-legend/
I was reading this interview with Frank Mundy. At one point, the interviewer asks if certain drivers are still alive: Arden Mounts and Jesse James Taylor. I know that they have passed on, but Frank mentions Slick Smith, Buddy Shuman, and Glenn Dunaway. We know what tragically happened to Buddy and Glenn, but Slick?
Slick is a curiosity to me. I have spent time searching the country for "Ebenezer Smith"s, yet I have never found one that would match Slick. Does anyone know for certain if Slick is still with us?
Perry Smith was the owner of the Studebaker factor team that Frank Mundy drove for in 1951. Why Mundy didn't drive the car I do not know, but Smith did well considering he wasn't a race car driver!
I've read the laundry list of legal issues over the years. Constant fights between them and the city are always threatening the racing. Look at Birmingham: the track got torn down to build a swimming pool when there was tons of available land all over the place.
