This is footage shot at Richmond's Royall Speedway - now Southside Speedway - in 1952 by Captain William Clark during a Richmond Stock Car Racing Association event.
I guess Joe is living out a dream many of us here have had:
NASCAR truck owner Joe Denette hits jackpot twice
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
Now, when Joe Denette watches a race, he gets to see his own Camping World Truck Series team on the track.
Photo Courtesy of Joe Denette Motorsports
Joe Denette was out of work and down on his luck three years ago when he bought a fistful of Mega Millions lottery tickets.
Like most lottery players, Denette fantasized about would he would do with the millions of dollars from winning the jackpot. Denette, a rabid auto racing fan from Fredericksburg, Va., imagined buying a new RV and traveling to every NASCAR track in the country.
Id buy $23 in tickets, Denette said. Three of the plays, I would play NASCAR numbers. My favorite four drivers, first and foremost Bill Elliott, I played the 9 on one ticket the 11 retired champions on another ticket Davey Allison Richard Pettys 43 numbers of drivers who have died in the sport Dale Earnhardts No. 3 then Id let the computer pick $20 worth.
Sure enough, in May 2009, the computer delivered the winning numbers, giving Denette, who had been laid off from his construction job for four months, a cool $76.5 million.
Instead of settling for just a new RV among some other toys, Denette ended up buying a whole new NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team, and hell have two trucks on the track in Saturdays SFP 250 at Kansas Speedway, including one driven by four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr.
I love NASCAR, said Denette, who turned 50 last week. I would rather go to a NASCAR racing event than go on vacation. I actually spent last week in Hawaii, came back and went to the race at Rockingham (N.C.), and I enjoyed Rockingham more than I enjoyed Hawaii .
Of the $75.6 million jackpot, Denette chose a lump-sum payment of $46 million, which after taxes shrunk to almost $33 million.
That was still more than enough to start a truck team on a part-time basis with former Nationwide Series regular Hermie Sadler behind the wheel, before Sadler took over day-to-day operations of Joe Denette Motorsports last year.
We crunched numbers, Denette said. Hermie knows anybody and everybody in NASCAR. That was my leg up. I told him, You run the team. Lets go for it. We got some sponsorship, hired a driver, got our feet wet. I told him, Whatever we need, I can come up with finances. Just build us a winning team.
Last year, in Joe Denette Motorsports first full season in the series, Jason White finished 15th in the standings, while a second truck driven on a part-time basis by Elliott Sadler won the pole at Bristol and finished seventh in the season finale at Homestead, two spots ahead of White, one of five top-10 finishes in 2011.
I learned a lot about racing in general, Denette said, and I learned that if you really want a good team, youve got to have the right people, hire the right personnel. Last year, the driver I had was OK, but I didnt want just an OK driver; I wanted someone who was going to go out there wanting nothing but to win championships.
My whole desire in all of this is to win the championship. That would be my greatest goal. Id be happy getting a trophy. Thats what I want. I want a NASCAR trophy at my house. You cant buy a trophy well, maybe you can but its not the same as building a team and winning a race.
Denette found a champion in Hornaday, whose four truck titles and 51 victories (including 2008 at Kansas Speedway) are the most in series history, but was out of a ride after Kevin Harvick, Inc., closed its doors following the 2011 season. Denette bought trucks from Harvick, is leasing the Harvick shop and hired a lot of his employees, including Hornaday.
That was like signing Peyton Manning as your quarterback, Denette gushed. Hes a proven champion, knows the tracks, is somebody I feel is going to win races and have a legitimate chance at winning championships.
In addition to putting Hornaday, 53, in his No. 9 (theres that number again) Denette added rookie Max Gresham, 18, to the stable in the No. 24 Chevrolet.
Its pretty exciting, said Hornaday, who is ninth in the standings after three races. Joe is a really pumped about his race team, and its quite an honor to drive for Joe and his whole family. Bringing Max aboard shows how much dedication they have.
It takes about $3 million a year to fully fund a trucks team, and Denette eventually wants to own a Sprint Cup team, which takes at least $20 million to be competitive.
Thats everybody in NASCARs dream, to sit there and say, Hey, I own that car, Denette said. But first youve got to get a reputation. Once you have a reputation, you can get sponsorship. Once you get the right sponsors, the money comes in. But they dont want to put sponsorship on a 30th place car or truck. They want somebody who is out front. They want their product to be seen.
Denette, married and a father of two sons, usually visits the race shop outside Charlotte, N.C., once a month but is still mostly a fan. Before winning the lottery, Denette attended NASCAR races within a five- to six-hour drive, including Charlotte, Bristol and Richmond.
My going on vacation would be a three-day weekend in Charlotte at the races, he said.
Now, he jets to all of the races, coast to coast.
At the races, I talk to all the guys, put on my headphones and listen in during the race, try to hype them up, and thats pretty much it, Denette said. I dont do anything with the team. If they need somebody to catch tires coming across the wall, Ill do that. Ill do anything they ask me to do.
The lottery has changed my lifestyle, but it hasnt really changed me. Im still the same person. I still like going to the races and tailgating I would rather tailgate with the fans than the drivers thats what I am. First and foremost, Im a fan.
A rich one at that.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/04/17/3561097/truck-owner-denette-hits-jackpot.html#storylink=cpy
The latest remarks about the Hall's financial problems from the new head of the Charlotte Regional Visitor's Authority as reported by WSOC Television in Charlotte:
Posted: 4:15 p.m. Thursday, April 19, 2012
NASCAR Hall running $600K deficit for year, but hopeful for turnaround
By Jim Bradley
CHARLOTTE, N.C.
The man who heads Charlottes visitors authority said the NASCAR Hall of Fame cannot continue running deficits.
The latest numbers show the Hall of Fame has lost more than $500,000 already this year.
Its been nearly two years since the Hall of Fame opened its doors to fanfare. Unlike the fast cars it promotes, the halls budget seems stuck in reverse, running up deficits that are twice as high this year as originally projected.
From the start of the fiscal year last July through the end of February, the Hall of Fame projected a deficit of $308,000. However, number released this month show the actual deficit is more than $619,000.
Even Tom Murray, who heads the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, said that is not sustainable . The CRVA runs the Hall of Fame.
Well, you cant go on forever, obviously. But we think we can get it under control, Murray said when asked about running a $600,000 deficit.
The Hall of Fame said its projection of breaking even this year was too aggressive a goal to meet.
The hall has seen a big rise in revenue from groups renting the facility, but overall attendance numbers are also down this year.
City Councilman Warren Cooksey said the numbers are troubling, but out of the citys control.
That is the responsibility of the regional visitors association to manage on behalf of the city of Charlotte and thats my expectation, that they will manage it, he said.
Murray said hes already making organizational changes that will save money and funnel more visitors to the museum.
If we have 500,000 people coming through the convention center visiting our city, how many of these people can we get into the Hall of Fame? he asked.
The Hall of Fames revenue and attendance will almost certainly be higher in the next few months, with big races at Charlotte Motor Speedway bringing in huge crowds.
But Murray said the museums deficit may be even bigger than it is now by the end of the fiscal year in June.
He said hes working on a budget for next year he hopes will be more realistic.
LINK TO NEWS VIDEO :
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/nascar-hall-running-600k-deficit-year-hopeful-turn/nMdHM/
NASCAR DIVERSITY - 1956
Carl Kiekhaefer in his business suit stands with six of his Chrysler 300 divers before the 1956 Daytona Beach Road Course NASCAR Grand National Race.
African-American driver Charlie Scott ( far left ) is joined by Tim Flock, Fonty Flock, Frank Mundy, Buck Baker and Speedy Thompson.
Photo from Daytona Racing Archives as published in NASCAR's 1998 50th Anniversary book , THE THUNDER OF AMERICA.
This had to happen sooner or later.
There used to be video of this historic 1974 Permatex 300 race posted on YouTube, but it has been removed. Today is the 41st anniversary of the Bill Dennis / Junie Donlavey 3-Peat!
I had seen your comments regarding the purchase on the Local Race Chat site. Cool stuff.
Let's hope Dennis doesn't get on me for aging him so drastically!
Thank you for correcting my GLARING error. I knew the right answer, but I guess my fingers didn't!!!
