"Stand up and clap your feet"
Historic Speedways and Ghost Tracks
The Ray Melton quote I remember was made on the parade laps at Darlington. Ray was encouraging the crowd to 'send them on their way..."
Forum Activity for @bobby-williamson
Historic Speedways and Ghost Tracks
The Ray Melton quote I remember was made on the parade laps at Darlington. Ray was encouraging the crowd to 'send them on their way..."
"Stand up and clap your feet"
Historic Speedways and Ghost Tracks
Dennis, LOL!! I've never attended a race at 'the Stadium' but it's on my bucket list. In the summer of 1975 I was a student at UNC-CH summer school, and one Saturday night drove from Chapel Hill to 'the Stadium' for the weekly show. It was a classic July evening, hot, sunny, and just as practice was ending, a thunderstorm came out of nowhere and rained out the race. I've never gone back to redeem my rain check............but I need to!
The late Ray Melton, longtime Darlington Raceway announcer, had this spiel of ...."ladies and gentlemen, stand up, STOMP your feet, clap your hands, and send these drivers on their way in this.......Southern 500" I more or less botched the great announcer's intro.............creating the classic....."stand up CLAP your Feet!" LOL!
The cost of sponsorship and by who.
General
I have exact same feelings in regard to BB&T sponsoring RCR. If BB&T has enough 'extra' funds to go Cup racing, they can sure hire some extra tellers and a receptionist down at the local branch.......instead of the few poor tellers trying to do about 3 different jobs simultaneously.
Vintage Racing at Carolina Speedway
Vintage Oval and Road Course Racing
BB and Karen, we are very honored to have you join us! Please know that you are always welcome! It's all about having fun, I know the night ran long, but the socializing was priceless...along with the fried chicken!
My group made it back home around 2:00 AM, we hung out at the all night convenience store 'til THREE AM re-running everything and I was teaching my Sunday school class at Camp Methodist Church at 10 AM!! Gotta love it!
Vintage Racing at Carolina Speedway
Vintage Oval and Road Course Racing
Eight division are too many, but eight divisions are not the weekly format at the Carolina Speedway. The Bell & Bell vintage cars, for example, are an 'extra' one-a-month addition, as are the 'outlaw U-cars'. Resulting from the recent rain-outs, everything, all 80-something race cars, converged on the Carolina Speedway on Saturday night. A "perfect storm" scenario. On a positive note, too many race cars is a problem many promoters would love to have.
Summerville Speedway
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
There's exceptions, but the paving of long-time dirt tracks is tricky business. NASCAR/RJR had a grand vision of making all the Saturday night tracks a mirror image of the big leagues. It worked, some, but failed some too. Big time. A culture that had been 'raised on dirt' did not necessarily embrace asphalt. Momentum was lost, interest was lost, and a generation of fans was, and still is, lost. Dirt and ashpalt racing is two different entities, and appeals to different tastes. NASCAR/RJR tired to force the issue in the Carolina's.........and, now, the industry's a shadow of its former self.
Summerville Speedway
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
Charlie Powell was the last owner of Summerville. After selling the speedway, Powell has focused on his track at Timmonsville, SC.
Summerville Speedway
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
Sadly, the Charleston, SC area, once a hot-bed of racing, has gone totally dormant, DOA, with the closing of Summerville Speedway. With the exception of Myrtle Beach, there's not a race track in coastal South Carolina. Summerville, the sole survivor, and last in a long line of low-country tracks, faced the same impossible real estate scenario as many other coastal locations: the speedway property was worth much more as ahaven forcondo-cammandos than a race track. One thing is certain, in all of this, no race tracks, no racing. Works every time. It a'int rocket science.