I'll never forget Ricky Rudd telling NASCAR's Carl Hill at Richmond sign-in that it would be easier for Junie to give Carl the Richmond telephone directory than list all the friends and helpers who needed pit passes. R.I.P. Junie.
Thanks for bumping Scott's 2014 post, Chase. I was hospitalized on the original posting date and missed it when I tried to catch up. Lots of interesting stuff here and I must second Tim's appreciation for Scott's photographic skills. He is simply outstanding.
A year later at Martinsville in 1960, the run by 8th place finisher Jimmy Massey of Burlington, NC would inspire this song you put us onto a few years back:
Checking online, I see that Mickey Matus is still with Ford and now in his 37th year. He is currently the Marketing Communications Manager for Ford Racing and one of the nicest guys I ever met at Ford.
The "Bud Moore" Wrangler Thunderbird in Scott's photo previewed under the Ford Display tent was actually built by our RR member, Will Cronkrite. You can see Will's White Crown Engineering logo on the c-pillar. I had my own Wrangler Thunderbird show car owned by our parent company, Blue Bell, Inc., touring the country, but talked Mickey Matus in Ford SVO Marketing into featuring the Wrangler colors on the car they used in Ford's touring display.
In December 1982, I purchased a $40 Polaroid camera at a Service merchandise store in Greensboro, NC. Inside the camera box was a coupon from Delta Airlines for a free accompanying round trip flight anywhere in their system. So, in June 1983, my wife, Joyce accompanied me on her first trip to California thanks to the camera purchase. The photo below is of the two of us on race day morning at riverside on June 5, 1983.
Excerpt from A History of East Tennessee Auto Racing: The Thrill of the Mountains - David McGee 2014
There is nothing more exciting than the first time. Thank you so much for sharing, Chase. Just makes it extra special that family was involved.
I cherish the memory today of the first time I dragged my late father to a Grand National race at Beltsville, Maryland in 1966. I'd been going to GN races with my buddies since 1964, but it was special to have Dad along. Later, when I was doing the Wrangler program in the 80s, I was able to take both Dad and my favorite uncle (who'd been a huge fan of Little Joe Weatherly) to a number of races and hospitality areas. I'll forever have those memories of family with me at the races.
Legendtorials are like bacon. You can never have enough!
