Looking for a TLab Photo
Stock Car Racing History
This shot of the car appears on the Hendrick Motorsports web site. Why not try them?
Forum Activity for @dave-fulton
Stock Car Racing History
RacersReunion and Facebook.
Administrative
Well, for folks like me who don't "do" Facebook, I guess I'd have missed all the enjoyment I've gotten the past several years from participating here at RR's home base. I'd have missed meeting many new and wonderful friends. I wouldn't have known of wonderful activities I've attended like the Historic Speedway Group functions at Occoneechee or this past weekend's honoring of Bud Moore at Memory Lane Museum in Mooresville.
However, if I hadn't been directed to this site a couple of years back now by Jim Wilmore and Bobby Williamson, I wouldn't have to block out several hours either every Tuesday night to socialize with a bunch of old goats.
And, I wouldn't reach my maximum frustration level correcting PK and proving that men are indeed usually correct!
Charlotte Sets Record
Current NASCAR
In the interest of keeping the pot stirred, I took the liberty of looking at the listed hometowns of the 33 drivers in the inaugural 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock race at Charlotte Speedway. 48% of the starting field called North Carolina home.
Here's the state by state driver breakdown for Race #1 in what was to become today's Cup Series:
North Carolina - 16
Georgia - 7
Virginia - 5
Florida - 2
Alabama - 1
Kansas - 1 Eventual declared winner Jim Roper
New Jersey - 1
RR member, LaVerne Zachary has a very interesting story regarding the winner of this race told directly to him by Hubert Westmoreland (one of the owners of the winning Johnny Mantz car at Darlington in 1950) and how he was paid back by Bill France for what happened at Charlotte and why. We need to get him to tell it here sometime.
Charlotte Sets Record
Current NASCAR
Heck, Charlotte doesn't even have to schedule their qualifying times around the shift changes at Cannon Mills or Philip Morris anymore. The Kannapolis towel plant that once employed the blue collar Earnhardt family is now gone, along with the more recent cigarette factory just a smoke ring or two down U.S. 29 from the track.
There was a movie titled "The Americanization of Emily." What would you title this show?
My, how things have changed
General
Well, it took 2 months, but I finally found the photo, taken in November 1971. The young lady seated on the far right of the front row, sporting long hair, mini-skirt and shiny white "Nancy Sinatra" "walking" boots is my future wife to be, Joyce, exactly two years to the month before we were married. I have never seen her with long hair except in photos. If she ever sees this picture posted here, it may be the end of days at RR!
My, how things have changed
General
My wife, Joyce was a a long distance operator in Raleigh for Southern Bell, getting to work on Christmas Eve, etc. Then a PBX operator and finally settling in to the Southern Bell State Government Marketing Office in Raleigh until we married in 1973.
I guess those State Government types had lots of phone needs to have their own dedicated marketing office with the phone company. Our wedding director was the wife of her telephone company boss. Joyce adored the folks she worked with at the phone company.
Somewhere in our family photo archives is a group photo of the Southern Bell Raleigh Marketing Office circa late 60s with Joyce in a VERY short mini-skirt and high top, shiny white , Nancy Sinatra-type "These Boots are Made for Walking" boots! She is also wearing shoulder length hair, which I've never seen in person.
At our Wrangler plant in Wilson in the early 70s we'd occasionally have our dumb blonde switchboard operator page Arnold Ziffel, the pig on the Green Acres television show. She never caught on in her very brief tenure.
My, how things have changed
General
The Telephone Museum of Virginia http://jackmansystems.com/telephonemuseum/index.html is located in a former Richmond bowling alley constructed in the early 60s where I bowled my first game of tenpins. Duck Pin bowling was the big deal then in Richmond, Norfolk, Washington, DC and Baltimore.
The link has some really good photos of old telephone equipment.
My, how things have changed
General
I watched a woman walk into the exit door at Target last week while texting on her way from the parking lot. I gave her a kindly piece of advice which she didn't appreciate.
My, how things have changed
General
Our local Richmond provider was a part of the Bell System - Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone (C&P), which later became part of Bell Atlantic, then Verizon. My uncle was a lineman, with his truck, ladder, etc.
The Wilson, NC phone service was provided by Carolina Telephone & Telegraph of Tarboro, NC, a very competent provider which was acquired in the 90s by United Telecom which sold to Sprint which became Embarq which has now been acquired by CenturyLink.
Although most of Charlotte was serviced by Southern Bell, which became BellSouth, our annexed area was the domain of Alltel and its landline business was purchased by Windstream, the second worst phone service I've encountered. The worst was the local phone company in Charlottesville, Va. when I was in college there in the 60s.
By the way, I detest cell phones and will only use one under duress, like if I am being carjacked or my engine has just blown up, lol.