Whenever I see the name of last place finisher Nero Steptoe making one of his few GN starts, I always think of the BBC television series Steptoe & Son that was the basis for Redd Foxx's Sanford & Son series on American television.
Alabama Racing Pioneers
By the way, this place was Jr.'s dad's favorite Pocono area eatery back in the 80s when he drove our blue & yellow Wrangler car. They'd push the dessert cart filled with just baked goodies up to Dale's table and his grin would spread from ear to ear!
It was a most interesting race to try to follow and keep up with. Lots of different strategies playing out.
I think it is terrific to see a 3rd generation winner.
I guess you'd get thrown in the NASCAR jail today for wearing a skirt like the one on the program cover. Of course, it it were one of our guy members, we might be in the Hampton or Jonesboro jail before NASCAR got to us to enforce political correctness!
The South Boston Gazette-Virginian carried a photo of Ken Rush in victory lane with a note that the rain mentioned by Dennis Andrews held down the crowd.
Prior to the race, the same paper carried an ad and a brief (canned) preview:
Here's a photo of Randy Hutchison the same year - 1969, at Daytona - 3 years out of high school. During the school months he was wrestling at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.
Randy Hutchison is still convinced he won the 1969 Grand American race at Hampton, Virginia's Langley Field and not Pete Hamilton who is credited with the victory.
HAMPTON NASCAR's "sporty car'' Grand Touring series was two years old when it made the first of its two appearances at what was then known as Langley Field Speedway, The date was Sunday afternoon, Nov. 16, 1969.
The new division was founded in 1968 to appeal to younger fans, primarily those in the market for their first new car. Someone at NASCAR headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla., noticed that millions of smaller and more nimble "pony cars'' were showing up in showrooms and driveways and school campuses.
In the series' 1968 debut, the most popular cars were Cougars, Camaros and Mustangs, with an occasional Javelin, Porsche and Dart showing well. Tiny Lund won the 1968 championship ahead of Buck Baker, Jack Ryan, Jim Vandiver and Roy Tyner.
Newport News native Randy Hutchison (Warwick High School, Class of '66) drove a family-owned 1968 Camaro in seven of that season's 19 races. His highlight was finishing fourth behind Donnie Allison, Vandiver and Al Straub in the dirt at Richmond's old Fairgrounds Raceway.
In 1969, Langley promoter Henry Klich brought the series in for a late-season race. By then, Hutchison and crew chief Hank Richardson were rising stars. They had finished fifth in the July night road race at Daytona Beach, third at South Boston in August, had won the August race at Holland, N.Y ., and run fifth later that month at Stafford, Conn.
Langley was the 34th stop on the 35-race schedule, and Ken Rush and Frank Sessoms were in a pitched battle for the championship. Pete Hamilton stole their thunder by winning 400-lap, 100-mile race (one of 12 that year) over Hutchison , T.C. Hunt, rookie Wayne Andrews and Sessoms.
Speaking of stealing...
To this day, Hutchison thinks he won the race . " We qualified on the pole (17.98 seconds, 80.088 mph) and led the most laps,'' he said. "But the scorers got messed up during pit stops and gave it to Pete. It took 'em forever to review the scorecards, but I still don't think they got it right.''
Randy Hutchison was still running NASCAR Late Model Sportsman on Friday nights in Richmond 3 years after the SoBo Grand American race.
The Fredericksburg newspaper had a very interesting story concerning the Friday night 1972 Memorial Day weekend race at Richmond's Southside Speedway. As a favor to Southside promoter J.M. Wilkinson, Bobby Allison (who was already on the Pole for that Sunday's World 600 at Charlotte) entered the race to spike attendance. Bobby used to come to Richmond in the early 60s and stay at Wilkinson's home while he raced chasing NASCAR Modified points.
Allison's only previous Southside win had come in 1960 in a Modified. His win at Southside in 1972 in the LMS race - came after Randy and veteran Al Grinnan crashed racing for the lead. Grinnan, who had taken Randy's #42 ride at one point quickly came to Randy's defense, however. I don't guess that kind of sportsmanship occurs too often these days.
Randy Hutchison of Newport News, Va. was 20 years old at the time of this race. The previous year, 1968, had seen the introduction of the Late Model Sportsman division to Virginia's weekly NASCAR tracks joining and then replacing the modifieds. I remember Randy showing up at Richmond's Southside Speedway in the summer of 1968 with a beautiful #42 Chevelle painted a dark metallic blue with bright yellow numbers. The car was wickedly fast and Randy looked to be about 15 years old. That same car would later be driven by Al Grinnan.
