Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

Where's Kasey Kahne?

General

On a serious note, writer Mike Hembree reminded us this spring that once there was a different heir apparent to the Elliott family racing fame:

Bill Elliott lost nephew, racing hopeful to cancer

Where's Kasey Kahne?

General

I guess since his grandfather, George's Dahlonega Ford Sales no longer exists and Hendrick has no Ford affiliation, the young Chase will be willing to settle for a Cadillac nameplate while ole Kasey drives for his next team.

Where's Kasey Kahne?

General

In honor of Labor Day, Charlotte auto dealer magnate and multi-team owner of NASCAR Cup teams, Rick Hendrick ran a newspaper ad in markets where he has dealerships thanking his loyal employees for their hard work.

Reading down the list of dealerships (which I have attempted a very poor quality scan) I note the names of five current and former Rick Hendrick Cup drivers affixed to various dealerships in the Hendrick Automotive Group network.

The five drivers affiliated with Hendrick dealerships have been known by the following nicknames and you'll recognize each:

* "6-Time"

* "Junebug"

* "Wonderboy"

* "Iceman"

* "Jaws"

The "Jaws" fellow leads the list with three Hendrick dealerships in Tennessee.

The son of "The Intimidator" is next with two Florida dealerships.

The other three drivers have one dealership each linked with Hendrick.

Only one of Hendrick's four current Cup drivers doesn't have a dealership linked to the boss and that is the winner of last night's Toothbrush 500 at Atlanta, Kasey Kahne.

Kahne joins such former Hendrick drivers as Geoff Bodine , Ken Schrader , Benny Parsons , Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch who were ultimately let go by Hendrick without a dealership interest.

Taking nothing else into consideration, the reading of these tea leaves tells me Kasey better have his resume in good order.

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

August 30, 1963 - Ray Hendrick Takes Virginia 400 NASCAR National Championship Modified-Sportsman Go at Richmond's Southside Speedway Over Future Winston Cup & Indy 500 Rookies of Year in Same Race!

Stock Car Racing History

August 30, 2015 marks the 52nd anniversary of this Ray Hendrick win in the Virginia 400. Ray remains the winningest driver in NASCAR history. Can anyone explain how Jack Ingram and Jerry Cook(a stroker), two drivers Ray took to school and beat heads up in LMS & Modified hundreds of times, can be in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, but not Ray?

August 30, 1963 - Ray Hendrick Takes Virginia 400 NASCAR National Championship Modified-Sportsman Go at Richmond's Southside Speedway Over Future Winston Cup & Indy 500 Rookies of Year in Same Race!

Stock Car Racing History

The Maryland Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame shows Ray Hendrick finishing 9th and brother Ed Hendrick 17th in 1966 NASCAR Modified points at Beltsville Speedway in Maryland.

August 30, 1963 - Ray Hendrick Takes Virginia 400 NASCAR National Championship Modified-Sportsman Go at Richmond's Southside Speedway Over Future Winston Cup & Indy 500 Rookies of Year in Same Race!

Stock Car Racing History

Ray's brother, Ed operated Hendrick Construction Co. (always seen on the front fenders of Junie Donlavey 1960s-70s late models) for which Ray was a construction foreman. Ed raced sparingly in the modifieds. First time I ever saw Curtis Turner race was right after NASCAR reinstated him and Richmond Fairgrounds promoter, Paul Sawyer put him in a Ed Hendrick modified on a cold March night dirt show at the Fairgrounds.

Note Hendrick Construction sponsorship on front fender of Junie Donlavey owned, Sonny Hutchins driven late model.

August 30, 1963 - Ray Hendrick Takes Virginia 400 NASCAR National Championship Modified-Sportsman Go at Richmond's Southside Speedway Over Future Winston Cup & Indy 500 Rookies of Year in Same Race!

Stock Car Racing History

Thanks for your kind comment.

August 30, 1963 - Ray Hendrick Takes Virginia 400 NASCAR National Championship Modified-Sportsman Go at Richmond's Southside Speedway Over Future Winston Cup & Indy 500 Rookies of Year in Same Race!

Stock Car Racing History

Nine of the drivers in the 1963 Virginia 400 Modified-Sportsman race at Richmond's Southside Speedway competed six month's earlier in the two big February 1963 stock car events at Daytona.

2nd place Red Foote drove this Rocky Hinton Ford #84 to a 27th place Daytona 500 finish:

ISC/Racing One/Getty Images

Ted Hairfield drove Parker Snead's #72 Commonwealth Ford sponsored entry out of Richmond to 49th in the Daytona 500:

National Modified champion Eddie Crouse of Glen Allen, Virginia drove this 1960 Ford to a 3rd place finish in the 1963 Daytona Modified-Sportsman 200:

ISC/Racing One/Getty Images

Besides the 3rd place for Crouse, Bob Dobyns finished 16th at Daytona, while Carl Burris with an assist from Bobby Allison was 17th. Paul Radford was 26th, Jimmy Mairs was 30th, Rene Charland was 32nd and Bill Champion was 46th.

August 30, 1963 - Ray Hendrick Takes Virginia 400 NASCAR National Championship Modified-Sportsman Go at Richmond's Southside Speedway Over Future Winston Cup & Indy 500 Rookies of Year in Same Race!

Stock Car Racing History

Here's a photo of Ray Hendrick winning at the same Southside Speedway in Richmond eight years earlier on May 18, 1955 at age 26 from ISC / Racing One / Getty Images:

August 30, 1963 - Ray Hendrick Takes Virginia 400 NASCAR National Championship Modified-Sportsman Go at Richmond's Southside Speedway Over Future Winston Cup & Indy 500 Rookies of Year in Same Race!

Stock Car Racing History

We have become accustomed to fresh faced 18 and 19 year olds competing and even winning in NASCAR's current K&N, Camping World Truck, and Nationwide series. We're even seeing the youngsters in Cup these days - a bunch of rosy cheeked, peach fuzzed boys not yet shaving. Today's NASCAR racing wouldn't make a good market for 1980s NASCAR sponsor, Gillette Atra or 1990s sponsor Barbasol when the participants don't yet shave.

Gillette would have been much more at home on the 1960s NASCAR Modified and Sportsman scene.

Southside Speedway's 1963 Virginia 400 NASCAR Modified-Sportsman event was a rich NASCAR National Championship Double Point race, drawing all the top Modified and Sportsman drivers from Alabama and Florida to New York and their counterparts in the Carolinas, Virginia and Maryland.

There were no rosy cheeked, peach fuzz boys in the Southside Speedway lineup in 1963. This was a hardened group of racers, most of whom had day jobs.

I have been able to determine the age of 22 of the Virginia 400's thirty starters and it averages age 33. The youngest of those drivers was 22 year old future Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Dennis Zimmerman, followed by Gil Hearne and future 1968 NASCAR Late Model Sportsman National Champion Joe Henry Thurman at age 24, along with future NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Bill Dennis at age 27.

Only those four drivers were even in their 20s.

On the upper end of the age spectrum was Bill Champion at age 41, Carl Burris at age 39, and two-time NASCAR National Modified Champion Eddie Crouse at age 38, along with Runt Harris at 36.

Winner Ray Hendrick was age 34, as were Sonny Hutchins, Rene Charland, Bob McGinnis, Lionel Johnson and EJ Brewer.

2nd place Red Foote was age 35, as was Pee Wee Jones.

Southside Speedway on Friday night, August 30, 1963 was no place for high school boys to test their racing skills.

What I'd really like to see is a listing of cars that did not make the 30 car field. It undoubtedly is a larger list than the starting lineup and I suspect includes a number of track champions from up and down the east coast.