I found this clipping in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal archives. But the reported crowd estimate is far less than Fielden apparently included in his book based on his research.
I posted this earlier today on my blog. Thought I'd repost in its entirety here. Enjoy reading - and the doughnuts I hope you eat afterwards.
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2013/06/nascar-themed-national-doughnut-day.html
Today, June 7, is the 2013 edition of the annual National Doughnut Day . Don't let anyone kid you. You can't spell doughnut as donut . Taking a principled-stand for the proper spelling of doughnut is a must. Otherwise, just have fun, and celebrate by enjoying doughnuts with those around you - friends & foes, in-laws and outlaws.
I love doughnuts. Fortunately, I've backed away from eating as many of them as I once did - but I still love them. As a kid, our mother treated us occasionally at a local bakery in Donelson, Tennessee - a suburb of Nashville. After she dropped off my dad at work, she would sometimes stop on the way back home and allow the three of us to buy two doughnuts each. More often than not, I'd get a chocolate-topped, glazed doughnut or a lemon-filled one. Sometimes though I'd step forward with an order for an apple fritter. I'm not sure a fritter actually qualifies as a doughnut. But it was the best value for my mother's generous offer, and DADGUM it was good.
NDD got me to thinking about how I could tie racing to doughnuts, and I realized two of my favorites have a pretty close connection.
First, the smell. The scent of a doughnut is hardly the same as a race track. But both are unique and create a lasting impression. Nothing is more heavenly than walking into a bakery or doughnut shop at the very time hot doughnuts are coming off the line as a fresh pot of coffee finishes brewing. Similarly, nothing quite gets one's adrenalin pumping and pulse accelerating like the smell of NASCAR fuel and heated Goodyear tires.
Next, the circle. While I've always had a fondness for fritters, eclairs, filled doughnuts, and such, a true doughnut is simply round with a hole in the center.
An analogy can be drawn from a doughnut to certain race tracks such as...
Dover...
Nashville...
Hickory...
And especially the long-lost, one-mile, dirt circle known as Langhorne Speedway.
One could even suggest the logo of Ontario Motor Speedway that once stood near the site of today's California Speedway somewhat resembles a doughnut - albeit a smashed one.
A handful of drivers and cars have a loose connection to National Doughnut Day such as...
Young Gray Gaulding who has Krispy Kreme as a sponsor. How awesome would it be to have unlimited access to those glazed sliders.
Delma Cowart - This driver once quipped "I've never won a race, but I've never lost a party."
Dan Gurney - This legendary driver has had a success in just about every form of motorsports. But is it possible his greatest accomplishment was piloting a car with a doughnut-like zero on the side of it?
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| Credit: Ray Lamm at RacersReunion.com |
Ward Burton perhaps?
And these two drivers kind of remind me of my mother's offer of letting my brother, sister and me buy two doughnuts.
David Reutimann...
... and Buckshot Jones.
Remember folks - brush those pearly whites, perhaps with Aquafresh, after you eat your doughnuts. There's no sense in ruining National Doughnut Day by developing tooth decay.
TMC
Tim Leeming's post today focuses on a southern race on June 7, 1964. Eleven years earlier, Lee Petty wins what I believe is the only NASCAR Grand National / Cup held in another southern state - Louisiana. Petty won a 200-lapper in Shreveport, LA - with 2 other future NASCAR Hall of Famers, Herb Thomas and Buck Baker, joining him in the top 5. Read on for more:
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2013/06/june-7-1953-lee-petty-wins-in-shreveport.html
Bobby Johns crushing the wall in Bud Moore's Mercury.
The AP race report from Daytona Beach Morning Journal
And here is the UPI wire story published in The Dispatch.
As you noted Tim, Rex White made his final GN start in this race. He wrapped up his driving career in a series of races driving for Bud Moore. Ray Lamm has this photo in his collection of Rex in Bud's car at Darlington 2 races earlier. Rex was a teammate to Bobby Johns in the Dixie 400.
Photo of Doug Cooper's tearing down the fence with Larry Thomas sailing by unaffected.
This enough to get you through the flight Dave? Could ship it to you from Vegas. Figured you might want the lower calorie version at your age. Ha!
The reason you were able to land at Pocono on a clear sky day in July 1981 is simple. Unlike any previous race at the track - or any Pocono races after it - a Schaefer-sponsored car was in the show for the Mountain Dew 500. D.K. Ulrich fielded a Buick for Al Loquasto. Clear skies were just part of the karma.
Source: TMC Collection
