Wendell Scott's wife passed away today :(
Stock Car Racing History
My God grant peace and comfort during this time of loss.
Forum Activity for @dennis-andrews
Stock Car Racing History
Half Way – “The Beginning of the End”
Stock Car Racing History
Robert, They ran both the wedge and the Boss 302 engines. The small block Chevy had tons of torque up off the corners, especially the Trico engine, where the Ford motor came on a little higher in the RPM range. Had to keep the breath in them as dad used to say. The biggest problem was the cost and availability of quality parts. The Chevy guys could order any high performance part right out of a catalog from a dealership. Reid got most of his engine parts from Bud Moore since without factory help that was one of the few places to get them. And the fact that he had known Red Myler and Bud for a long time. If you remember Bud was having a lot of engine failures at the time, so dad did too. Valve train failures were one of the most frequent. Bud eventually figured it out but the GA series was history by then. Because of this they had to be on the conservative side with their engines. Plus they always ran legal. The one time they tried gain an advantage was at Bowman-Gray. I can't remember if it was one of Reid's cars or Jack's but, tired of being beat off the corner he showed up with an aluminum flywheel. The first thing the officials did was check the flywheels.
Half Way – “The Beginning of the End”
Stock Car Racing History
Jack,
NASCAR must have liked what they saw in the combination races they ran in 1971 as you had the same cars but all in one division as Grand National East.
Half Way – “The Beginning of the End”
Stock Car Racing History
Half Way The Beginning of the End
I have had a lot of fun posting the race results of the Grand Touring / Grand American races over the last couple of years and realized that we were about half way through the span of time occupied by this series. An article I have that led up to the next race to report and an article Dave Fulton posted not long ago got me to thinking. Yeah I know, dangerous right? Anyway I thought I would share the results.
At the end of the 1970 Grand American Challenge Series season NASCAR released the following story:
By the numbers reported here you would think the series was in good shape but signs of trouble were starting to appear as early as June. The following article was posted on RR Grand American page by Dave Fulton.
Just a few short weeks later right before the Paul Revere 250 the following article appeared in the Daytona Beach Evening News.
Both of these articles record how hard it was financially just getting a team to the track much less being competitive.
As history records the 1970 season went on to have a total of 35 races but the predictions of a 40 race schedule for 1971 fell way short. Phil Homers ad campaign was too little too late. Many tracks that had held Grand Touring events in 1968 and1969 did not invite them back in 1970 but they were able to replace them with different venues. It got worse as there were only 11 Grand American races in 1971 plus 6 combination races. These combination races were really Grand National short track events that allowed the GA cars to run. Grand American drivers did collect GA points based on there finishing position but if a Grand National car won there was no first in class award for the GA cars. If a Grand American car won there was no GN winner for that event. All six of these combination races were held after the July 4th Paul Revere 250 at Daytona with only the Bama 200 at Talladega being a GA race. The 1972 season only consisted of 4 races plus one FIA sanctioned SCCA race at Daytona that allowed Grand American cars to run and collect points called the Midnight Challenge Cup. Even with the warning signs already up who would have thought that when the Grand American cars left Daytona in July of 1971 there would only be 5 more stand alone Grand American events.
Many opinions have been given as to why the Grand American Challenge Series faded into history. Instead of just listing the ones I have heard it occurred to me it might spark some memories and conversation from our Racers Reunion members. So, what do you think? Give us you thoughts.
updated by @dennis-andrews: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
HAMPTON 100 June 27, 1970
Stock Car Racing History
HAMPTON 100
Langley Field Speedway
Hampton, Virginia
Saturday, June 27, 1970
Grand American race #16 of 1970 was held at Langley Field Speedway, a .4 mile paved oval. Qualifying was held in the form of two 10 lap heat races. Buck Baker won the first heat to earn the pole with Jim Paschal winning the second heat nailing down the outside of the front row. Point leader Tiny Lund broke an axle in his heat and would start 18th.
Tiny, in the Pepsi sponsored Ronnie Hopkins prepared Camaro, went from 18th to 4th in the opening laps and remained near the front the rest of the way. He edged out second place finisher Jim Paschal by 6 car lengths at the finish. It was Lunds 13th win of the year and third in a row. Pole sitter Buck Baker finished 3rd half a lap behind Paschal the last car on the lead lap. Second in points Ken Rush was fourth 4 laps down with T.C. Hunt 5th.
Twenty one cars took the green flag but Grand American and Langley Field regular Randy Hutchison was not among them as he was in summer school and did not make the race. One record shows Earle Canavan started 8th in his Javelin but only completed 3 laps.
Fin Srt Car # Driver Car Laps Reason out
1 18 55 Tiny Lund 69 Camaro 250 Running
2 2 14 Jim Paschal 70 Javelin 250 Running
3 1 87 Buck Baker 70 Firebird 250 Running
4 44 Ken Rush 69 Camaro 246 Running
5 88 T. C. Hunt 68 Camaro Running
Personal note: Wayne Andrews was 3rd in points going into this race. His records show they took the 68 Cougar to Langley Field that day with the wrong setup and too low a gear. The A-frame on the right front came loose and he ended up finishing 15th.
updated by @dennis-andrews: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
June 25, 1950 - First Ford GN Win
Stock Car Racing History
Dave,
I had gotten the info I posted from a story about Ford's 100th anniversary. I had forgotten about Jimmy crawling out of the car bare chested.
SMOKY MOUNTAIN 200 June 20, 1970
Stock Car Racing History
SMOKY MOUNTAIN 200
Smoky Mountain Raceway
Maryville Tenn.
Saturday, June 20, 1970
Grand American race #15 of 1970 was held at Smoky Mountain Raceway, a 1/2 mile paved oval. Qualifying demonstrated that the cars were running much quicker than the previous year. Wayne Andrews posted a speed of 89.569 MPH which was almost 4 MPH faster than the record speed he set in 69 but would end up starting 4th. In all 10 drivers qualified faster than the 69 mark with Tiny Lund setting a new track record for the Grand American cars at a speed of 91.317 MPH.
Tiny, in the Pepsi sponsored Ronnie Hopkins prepared Camaro, went on to lead all but 13 of the 200 laps ending up with a 2 lap advantage on second place finisher Wayne Andrews in a Shaw Racing Enterprises Cougar. It was Lunds 12th win of the year and second in a row.
Lund collected $1,600 of the $9,000 purse. There were 2 cautions totaling 21 laps, one of which appears to have collected Max Berrier when Ken Rush lost an engine. Berrier, in one of the American Performance Center Javelins, had lead 13 laps.
Fin Srt Car # Driver Car Laps Reason out
1 1 55 Tiny Lund 69 Camaro 200 Running
2 4 15 Wayne Andrews 68 Cougar 198 Running
3 3 87 Buck Baker 70 Firebird 196 Running
4 8 41 Gary Myers 69 Mustang 194 Running
5 10 07 Bob Burcham 69 Camaro 193 Running
6 15 88 T. C. Hunt 68 Camaro 192 Running
7 6 01 Tommy Andrews 68 Mustang 190 Running
8 16 0 Stan Starr, Jr. 68 Camaro 189 Running
9 11 8 Phil Wills 69 Camaro 188 Running
10 17 30 Kreuger Johnson 69 Camaro 180 Running
11 24 17 Ernie Shaw 68 Mustang 180 Running
12 25 86 David Boggs 69 Firebird 175 Running
13 19 26 Richard Childress 68 Camaro 174 Running
14 22 3 Doug Aldridge 69 Camaro 166 Running
15 2 16 Max Berrier 70 Javelin 156 Accident
16 12 44 Ken Rush 69 Camaro 156 Engine
17 21 9 Stan Starr, Sn. 69 Camaro 145 Brakes
18 20 54 Bobby Fleming 69 Camaro 133 Carb.
19 23 62 Harry Gant 68 Camaro 108 Running
20 14 21 Frank Sessoms 69 Camaro 98 Handling
21 5 14 Jim Paschal 70 Javelin 80 Rear end
22 9 33 Joe Dean Huss 69 Camaro 58 Ignition
23 18 27 Jerry Huflin 69 Camaro 27 Accident
24 13 7 Jimmy Vaughn 69 Camaro 16 Accident
25 7 31 Earl Canavan 69 Javelin 16 Heating
26 26 92 Paul Tyler 69 Firebird 14 Ignition
updated by @dennis-andrews: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
Tough week gets tougher - Jim Vandiver has passed
-RacersReunion® OUTREACH
Thoughts and prayers for comfort and peace for family and friends.
#3 Jim Vandiver, #88 T.C. Hunt, #40 Phil Spiak in 1969 Grand Touring race.
More sad news
-RacersReunion® OUTREACH
Scrapbook cover from 1967. #4 Wayne Andrews, #28 Bill Bostick, #70 Glen McDuffie