Domino's was first. Bahari / Mikey ran #23 and Hawaiian Punch. When they got Domino's, the number was updated to 30 to coincide with their ill-fated 30-minute delivery guarantee. Domino's didn't stay long as a sponsor, but Bahari kept 30 when Country Time signed on and later Pennzoil.
That's my story, and ah'm a'stickin to it.
Friend of mine and I were trading email about a couple of historical cars. One thing led to another, and an idea for a discussion thread emerged. With it being off-season, I'm hoping this could go for at least a few days.
How about some photos of car numbers influenced by the team's sponsor and/or owner? I'll start with a handful and then everyone else take it from there. The more obscure the better! 
We ought to be able to keep this going a while, right?
45 -Rich Bickle - Sponsor 10-10-345 Long Distance
30 - Michael Waltrip - Domino's Pizza - 30 minute delivery guarantee
94 - Terry Labonte (and Sterling Marlin) - Sunoco - 94 octane gasoline (photo from Ray Lamm's collection )
7 - Kyle Petty - 7-Eleven (from Richard Guido's collection )
Posted a blog entry today to commemorate the birthday of one of our Schaefer HOFers. While the anniversary of the 1969 Texas 500 is December 7th vs. December 3rd, it made sense to post it today in my opinion. One, there are no other significant races that ran on December 3rd to blog about. Ha! Two, December 7th should be reserved to commemorate an event with far more significance than a race in College Station that few people cared about back then.
Many of you may already be aware of this race. Yet, I still find it one of the craziest and funniest stories to happen during a race.
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/12/december-3-birthday-and-buddys-bobble.html
He knew when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. He knew when to walk away and when to run. LOL
Looks like some good viewing. Glad its in segments. As a kid, Woodhead was the beat writer for Nashville's fairgrounds speedway plus putting the local spin into whatever wire copy came for from the national races. When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I remember a Sunday morning article in the Tennessean where he messed up who set successive track records the night before. It was L.D. Ottinger and Harry Gant. Today, I can't remember who went 1st and then had their record broken moments later - I think Gant went 2nd. But I knew then Larry had it wrong. Haha. My mom suggested if I felt that strongly about it, I should write Larry. So I did. About a week later, she answered the phone, said "just a minute", shrugged her shoulders, and handed the phone to me. I said hello, and the voice on the other end said "Chase? This is Larry Woody ... from The Tennessean? I got your letter." I remember the blood draining from my face and breaking into a cold sweat - and my mother starting to snicker. But I made it through the call and restated my position that Larry got it wrong. He thanked me for reading and pointing out the error. Beyond that, it was a short call - though it seemed to go on forever.
In recent years, I've traded e-mails and a couple of calls with Larry. I've told him that story before - and its easier for me to laugh about it now than it was then.
That site looks like it features several interviews by David Lipscomb University students of Nashville area journalists. A couple of other names jumped off the page at me that have somewhat of a racing connection in addition to their Nashville roots.
Joe Biddle has covered golf, Vanderbilt & a myriad of other sports stories around Nashville for 30+ years. Before moving to Nashville, he was on the sports staff at the Daytona Beach Morning Journal. He wrote the local copy for Richard Petty's 7th Daytona 500 win in 1979, and I included his article in my blog post about RP's win.
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-18-this-day-in-petty-history_18.html
In Biddle's interview, he skips over that part of his career and gets right into his Nashville sports reporting. He laughed when he told me he knew nothing about racing back then. He was just told by his editor to get to the track to cover Speedweeks that year.
http://nashvillejournalism.com/2012/04/21/joe-biddle/
The other person interviewed that caught my eye was John Jay Hooker ( http://nashvillejournalism.com/2012/04/14/john-jay-hooker ). That dude has been about everything. A lawyer. An entrepreneur. A shyster (he roped many investors into a failed business venture called Minnie Pearl's Chicken). The owner of The Nashville Banner. And even the CEO of STP following Andy Granatelli. A couple of my entries featured JJH in victory lane with The King.
1974 Music City 420 at Nashville
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/05/may-11-this-day-in-petty-history.html
1974 Talladega 500
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2011/08/august-11-this-day-in-petty-history_11.html
Thanks for that heads-up Dave. I've got YouTube stuff I've got to watch and listen to now.
Among the many things I'm thankful for today, I'm particularly thankful for my Uncle Ronald. He is the one who introduced me to racing in the early 70s and said I simply had to follow Ol' Blue Richard Petty if I wanted him to take me to races in the future. I've said before that it didn't take me long to become a fan of the King on my own terms vs. being told to. haha
He has had an up and down health situation the last few years. About 4 years ago, he learned he had lung cancer - at the same time the younger brother of he and my mother developed throat cancer. My Uncle Earl battled valiantly but succumbedto his cancer 2-1/2 years ago. Ronald underwent surgery, had part of his left lung removed, got a clean post-surgery screen, and seemingly was OK.
But cancer is a cruel son of a b1tch. It returned earlier this year. He has gone through several rounds of chemo and is now in an experimental drug program. I guess we all know the eventual outcome - but his attitude is tremendous. For decades we've gathered for Thanksgiving at my uncle's place. Today was no different. My mother asked him if he was going to be OK to host it, and he answered absolutely.
A few weeks ago, I contacted The King's daughter and asked if she'd frontline an autograph request for me. I sent her a hat I'd originally bought for myself on ebay - it had never been worn - told her Ronald's story, and asked if she'd King to sign it for him.
Sure enough, he did and it arrived Monday. I took it to my uncle today, and he was truly pleased to get it. So once again, the Petty family has played a role in helping make the life of someone else a bit more enjoyable. And for that, I'm truly thankful.
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