GREENVILLE GT200 7/19/1969
Stock Car Racing History
Pete Hamilton had won 50% of his starts... 7 for 14!
Forum Activity for @dave-fulton
Stock Car Racing History
Separated at Birth or Does Putin Simply Emulate Earnhardt?
General
I would never really attempt to equate Russian strong arm man, Vladimir Putin with the late Dale Earnhardt . However, Putin has been much in the news of late displaying his intimidation tactics in the Crimea, the Ukraine in particular.
Putin would undoubtedly have been a fan of the late NASCAR driver's tactics both on and off the track. At Wrangler, we nicknamed Earnhardt "One Tough Customer." "Many short track fans had already called him "Ironhead " - a takeoff on his father, Ralph's "Ironheart" nickname. Of course, the sobriquet that ultimately stuck on Dale Senior forever is "Intimidator."
Evey now and again a 1981 Grand National Scene photo of Dale shirtless astride a horse, but wearing his Wrangler Jeans and western hat will surface.
A year or two back, some 30 plus years after the Earnhardt photo, the Russian bully had a similar photo taken. Was it just coincidence, or did Putin read Grand National Scene and pull for Earnhardt?
What's your take? I think the Russian better get a hat with that shiny head!
updated by @dave-fulton: 01/30/21 06:58:37AM
July 1976 Nashville Fairgrounds: Where have the years gone?
Stock Car Racing History
Nothing like the first time. Thanks for sharing, Chase.
July 18, 1954 - Jack Harrison Beats Bob Welborn in Richmond, Va. SAFE Stock Car Race (Must Reading for RTA)
Stock Car Racing History
The November 7, 1955 edition of Sports Illustrated carried news of Jack Harrison winning at Atlanta's Lakewook in a SAFE New Car Convertible race on the same weekend as Fireball Roberts winning the Lee Kirby Memorial Modified race in Charlotte that Tim Leeming has featured previously in our Racing History Minutes:
AUTO RACING
Glenn (Fireball) Roberts, Daytona Beach, Fla., 125-m. Lee Kirby Memorial, in 1:25:40, in Cadillac-powered car, Charlotte, N.C.
Jack Harrison, W. Newton, Ind., 100-m. new car race, in 1955 Ford convertible, Atlanta.
July 18, 1954 - Jack Harrison Beats Bob Welborn in Richmond, Va. SAFE Stock Car Race (Must Reading for RTA)
Stock Car Racing History
Recap of 1954 Circuit of Champions SAFE season from Chicagolandautoracing.com:
July 18, 1954 - Jack Harrison Beats Bob Welborn in Richmond, Va. SAFE Stock Car Race (Must Reading for RTA)
Stock Car Racing History
Thanks for the enlightening articles and photos, Jack.
July 18, 1954 - Jack Harrison Beats Bob Welborn in Richmond, Va. SAFE Stock Car Race (Must Reading for RTA)
Stock Car Racing History
Cool, they even ran at my hometown Royall Speedway weekly track in Richmond, today's Southside Speedway.
July 18, 1954 - Jack Harrison Beats Bob Welborn in Richmond, Va. SAFE Stock Car Race (Must Reading for RTA)
Stock Car Racing History
While the new Race Team Alliance is puffing its chest with its self proclaimed importance, it might want to take in a little stock car racing history.
NASCAR wasn't the only stock car racing series in town back in the early days. It wasn't even the first. However, it did survive to become the biggest, sometimes by simply digesting its competition.
On this very date 60 years ago, a midwest rival of NASCAR made one of its infrequent forays into the Southland.
The date was July 18, 1954 and the venue was Richmond, Virginia's eight year old Atlantic Rural Exposition half-mile dirt track - site of today's Richmond International Raceway.
The event was the Mid Atlantic 100 stock car race sanctioned by SAFE - the S ociety of A uto Sports, F ellowship and E ducation.
On this day, Jack Harrison of West Newton, Indiana and an Indianapolis resident - a frequent winner on the MARC stock car circuit (predecessor of ARCA) - would top southern stock car star, Bob Welborn of Denton, North Carolina and Pat Kirkwood of Fort Worth, Texas.
According to a very brief recap on the Ultimate Racing History site, the Richmond SAFE Stock Car Series event was contested for 200 laps - 100 miles - before a crowd of 3,500 spectators.
I have been unable to find a writeup of the event.
Harrison evidently enjoyed his southern trips. He also won a SAFE Convertible Series race at Winston-Salem, North Carolina's Forsyth County Fairgrounds as well as MARC races at South Carolina's Greenville-Pickens Speedway and Atlanta's Lakewood.
By now you RTA owners must be asking whatever happened to the SAFE Stock Car Racing Series ? Well, NASCAR evidently saw SAFE as competition. The January 7, 1956 edition of Billboard Magazine carried the short obituary of the SAFE Stock Car Serie s:
That was the last anybody ever heard of SAFE and Mr. Scharf and Mr. Redkey.
Are you listening Mr. Kauffman? You're pretty familiar with that Richmond track venue, I believe. Seems one of your drivers needed to scratch an itch there last year in the final race to set the Chase field and stirred the NASCAR pot more than intended. Maybe that's why the owners elected you as their spokesman.
Brian France may not be the big gorilla in the room like his father and grandfather, but I'm not sure I'd want to take on sister, Lesa lurking in the background ready to protect her millions.
Anybody with more information about the SAFE Stock Car Series please chime in.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
The King's Politics were predictable ... or were they?
Stock Car Racing History
AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!!
Thanks to Russ and to your persistence, Chase.
This definitely looks like Bristol looking off into turn 1 over the hood. I remember that radio broadcast and the announcers talking about Buddy's car number being part of the ad for Hooker like it were yesterday.
Do you know Russ' source for the photo? SMJ perhaps?