My New Racing Heroine Is Just 11 Years Old
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
Lol, Johnny!
Like that old Ray Stevens song about Santa Claus. "He's EVERYWHERE, He's EVERYWHERE!!"
Probably shows up in all these places just to bug Legend.
Forum Activity for @dave-fulton
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
My New Racing Heroine Is Just 11 Years Old
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
Thanks, Ray.
Shoulda known if anybody had a photo of Diane racing it would be you!!
Here's an old photo of Macy's grandmother Diane Teel with DW from Macy's web page.
My New Racing Heroine Is Just 11 Years Old
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
One of the topics of discussion that came up on the Chat during last night's Racing Through History broadcast referenced the debut this week of a particular female driver at Darlington.
I asked on the chat if anyone remembered Diane Tee l from southeast Virginia? Diane made quite a name for herself in the 70s running NASCAR Late Model Sportsman at paved Virginia NASCAR tracks.
Woody Delbridge and Ray Lamm both saw her compete at Southside Speedway in Richmond, although Langley was her home track. I recalled her as one of the best female drivers I'd ever seen. In my research, turns out she was the first female to ever win a NASCAR sanctionned feature race - at Langley Field in the 70s.
Very late in her career, with the advent of the Busch Series in 1982, Diane made 11 starts in that series between 1982-1986, at age 34-38. In just those 11 starts, she posted two top-10 finishes, including a top-10 at the difficult Martinsville Speedway against elite competition.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered today that Diane now has a granddaughter wheeling full sized Late Model dirt cars. Diane's granddaughter, Macy Causey , isn't just another pretty face.
She won a track championship last season at the paved Langley Field - the youngest division champion in the history of that illustrious track. But, Macy wanted to try her hand at dirt racing. On April 21 she placed 14th of 20 Sportsman cars at Billy Sawyer's beautiful half-mile dirt Virginia Motor Speedway.
Did I mention that Macy Causey is just ELEVEN YEARS OLD??!! Awesome feat!
I must of been hiding under a rock or something. This young lady was dominating Arena and Bandelero racing beginning at age 8. She has made appearances on The Today Show and MSNBC , as well as having a feature story written about her in the New York Times . You can see the actual videos, the newspaper stories, even a writeup of her grandmother Diane with photos on this little lady's web page:
Please check it out. I am more than impressed and shall be following her career. The apple evidently didn't fall far from the tree when comparing Macy to grandmother Diane.
When an interviewer asked her about Danica Patrick, she answered, "Who?" I love this gal. Here's a photo I pulled from her page with her new late model dirt car, but please go to the page. Finding out about Macy has been the highlight of my day!
11 Year old Macy Causey of Yorktown, Virginia with her new sportsman dirt car she's racing at Virginia Motor Speedway.
Maybe Jeff will want to do an interview on the Goat Rodeo one Tuesday night. Oh, I also found an ad she did for Cheerwine. Watch out Jimmy Johnson!!
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:09:31PM
When Fred Lorenzen Saved LeeRoy Yarbrough
Stock Car Racing History
How wonderful to hear the short interview with Fred Lorenzen on our Racing Through History broadcast Tuesday night.
We have all heard the story many times of Tiny Lund helping to rescue Marvin Panch from a burning car at Daytona in 1963 then getting in Marvin's Wood Bros. GN car to win the Daytona 500.
The following year, 1964, LeeRoy Yarbrough was trapped in a burning car during one of the SpeedWeeks preliminary events.
Fred Lorenzen was one of several men to rescue LeeRoy from his burning car. Truly a "Fearless" act on the part of Fred and the other men.
Ironically, this race was also won by Tiny Lund, followed by Junior Johnson, Jimmy Pardue and Ray Hendrick.
Video from a Wide World of Sports excerpt.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
I've had time to reflect my 7 short years of Racing 1950/1956.
Stock Car Racing History
Jim,
When you share those wonderful memories with we "younger" seniors who weren't there, it sure gives us a window we enjoy looking through. Please continue to share. What memories!
When NASCAR Mattered / Article in Hot Rod Magazine
Stock Car Racing History
I remember those dash mounted mirrors in the Chrysler Corp. line around that time. My aunt had one in her Plymouth. I could never get used to it. Hers was a Red & White '58 Plymouth with Red & White interior. Not a convertible like Tim's neighbor though.
I also remember those push button automatic transmissions in the Chrysler Corp. cars. I taught driver education for Richmond Public Schools on Saturdays of my senior year in high school and we had a fleet of Dodge Coronets equipped with the push button deals. It was a problem for the instructor to see what gear the student was "pushing."
As both Sandeep and Legend point out, today's cars look alike. I certainly can't distinguish them on the racetrack or highway. That was definitely not the case in the 50s-60s. There was no mistaking the difference between a Plymouth/Ford/Chevy or most any other make.
When NASCAR Mattered / Article in Hot Rod Magazine
Stock Car Racing History
There is an article in the May 2012 issue of Hot Rod Magazine titled, "When NASCAR Mattered."
Almost sounds as if the author has been peeking at our site or auditing the Goat Rodeo.
Legend, you should particularly enjoy the photo of the #43 Plymouth with tail fins on the high banks!
Some interesting, if familiar, thoughts are expressed about the appeal and connection of NASCAR in the 60s and now. Some pretty good old photos, also.
The article is available online at this link below :
http://www.hotrod.com/thehistoryof/retrospective/hrdp_1205_when_stock_cars_nascar_mattered/viewall.html
Here's a teaser excerpt closing the article discussing Electronic Fuel Injection:
The intake manifold and throttle-body configurations are virtually identical to the previous single-plane, single Holley setup, which eases the transition for engine suppliers and allows NASCAR to continue its restrictor-plate system, which is used to limit speeds on the big tracks at Daytona and Talladega.
One odd wrinkle is the high location of the eight injectorsjust below the throttle-body. Whats that about? The high location introduces the fuel into the intake port well upstream from the intake valve, explains Jim Covey, engine technical manager at GM Racing. This prevents any one manufacturer from gaining an advantage in efficiency of the fuel delivery downstream. Once again, NASCAR seems to have its hand on everything .
Tell us what you think of the piece.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/16/16 07:54:05AM
Keeper of the Darlington Stripe
General
Keeper of the Darlington Stripe
Posted on May 9, 2012
By Hunter Thomas
Contributing Writer
Darlington News & Press
When you sit in the grandstands at Darlington Raceway during pre-race ceremonies, have you ever wondered how all of those logos get painted on the wall? They are perfect and look just like the logo youd see on the Internet or on a t-shirt.
Well, believe it or not, nearly every logo at the raceway is not only hand painted, but most of them were painted free hand. Thats right, no templates, just pure measurement orchestrated into a flowing rainbow of art that makes the walls at Darlington Raceway so unique.
Theres no other track on the NASCAR schedule where the walls become the storyline before and after the weekends events.
In fact, the individual that creates this masterpiece over and over again is a local, someone that youll probably pass in the grocery store. For 15 years Jimmy Jolly and his crew have painted the logos and cleaned up after the most evil Darlington Stripes at Darlington Raceway. Residing just outside of the Darlington city limits, Jimmy has always been infatuated with the art of logo painting.
The 55 year old has been painting for an astounding 42 years. He actually owns a business in town thats called Custom Signs & Graphics. For 22 years, Jimmy worked at Nucor Steel, but even before then, he was painting. Jimmy use to paint little model cars eventually making his way up to top-notch facilities on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. Hes probably the only person in the world that cringes when a car slams and rides the historic wall at Darlington Raceway.
I painted signs before I went to Nucor, Jimmy Jolly said. Its an addiction. You get addicted to it, and you just cant leave it alone. Once it gets in your blood, its over with. Thats why you dont see too many sign painters quit their job. You got to smell the thinner and feel the brush.
For six grueling weeks, Jimmy will lie on the high banks of the raceway and paint the logos that bring the facility to life. As he dips his brush into the Dixie cup thats holding the paint, his heels and hips will begin to bleed due to the tracks infamous rough surface. Sweat will pour down his face, and the sun will bear down on him until the night consumes the raceway. Its a rough profession, but its the passion that brings a smile to his face after every project.
Dale Jr. said all you got to do is roll your tires around the pits, and you scuff them, Jimmy said. This racetrack will scuff you. My hips are raw when I leave here. Ill have a big ole burn on my hip. The hills are probably the roughest part, and these safer barrier walls have these cracks in them. Id rather have a smooth wall.
He does all of this work just to redo it all once more right after the NASCAR Nationwide Series race thats held on Friday night before the historic Bojangles Southern 500 on Saturday night. As soon as the cars hit pit road and the winner of the race finishes his burnouts, Jimmy and the crew will take off into the night and start repainting the logos that were destroyed by drivers who couldnt tame the old Lady In Black. As the sun breaks the horizon over Darlington County on Saturday morning, Jimmy will just be finishing up after the long chaotic night.
Its tough, Jimmy said. As soon as the race is over, we pull out. The cars havent even cooled off. All night long, we are walking up and down these hills. One thing Ive learned is instead of walking straight up and down these hills, you got to walk it at an angle. Your legs will be a lot better for you when you get off work that morning.
After a job well done, Jimmy will take a break and watch the Bojangles Southern 500 from his seats in turn four. He enjoys going to a race and seeing cars spinout and hit the wall just like most other fans, but one thing that really agitates him is when the winner tears his ground logos up. He says that the driver has the entire track, and theres no reason to hit every single logo that took six weeks of his life to complete.
Jimmy learned how to do all of this on his own. He had a few heroes, but for the most part its just straight talent. Very few templates are used during the entire process. Jimmy said by far his greatest moment was about five years ago when his son was on the track painting the walls with him. There was even a picture of the two in the raceways program that year.
I dont know if I have talent or not, but its just a lot of hard work, learning how to lay it out and doing a lot of measuring, Jimmy said. If you dont have an eye for measurement, and you know you have to measure a foot, or two feet, or three feet, I can kind of look and see it, because Ive done it so much. Thats the way we do it. We take a picture, and they give it to us. We scale it, and sometimes we will have what they call a pounce pattern.
So, when youre at Darlington Raceway this upcoming weekend and see the massive Bojangles emblem painted on the asphalt at the exit of turn four, the Darlington Raceway emblem in the turns, or Royal Purple and Coca Cola logos around the entire track, remember, Jimmy did that. Theres a lot of work that goes into making each visit to Darlington Raceway as memorable as possible. Its not just about the cars that drive in circles. Instead, its about the unique individuals that make everything flow on race weekend, everyone from the individual that takes your ticket stub to Jimmy pulling an all-nighter to make the facility look brand new for the next morning.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
Piedmont Airlines Documentary Airs Thursday - Official Airline of NASCAR and Sponsor of Rudd, Labonte, Childress, Hagan
Stock Car Racing History
I watched the final 45 mins. Can't believe I dozed in the recliner and missed the first 15. I, too, though it was excellent and shall have to watch for a rerun to catch what I missed. That group defined the word, "TEAMWORK." I can only imagine the pride when they were named Airline of the Year in 1984 - same year as the Terry Labonte / Billy Hagan Winston Cup Championship in the Piedmont #44. That was quite a year. Would liked to have known Tom Davis. Now I want to read those two books recommended at the show's conclusion.
Piedmont Airlines Documentary Airs Thursday - Official Airline of NASCAR and Sponsor of Rudd, Labonte, Childress, Hagan
Stock Car Racing History
ttt
Airs tonight, Thursday, May 10 on University of NC Public TV affiliate stations @ 10:00pm.