No... I don't have the film video, but I was thinking of the great opening to the movie TINY LUND, Hard Charger .
If you have not been privileged to see the movie TINY LUND, Hard Charger (I saw it once in spring 1967 in Charlottesville, Va. while a student at the University of Virginia) , it has a fantastic opening. Many reference sites by the way list the wrong release date for that movie as being a year or two later. They are incorrect. I know EXACTLY when and where I saw it.
Shooting through the front windshield of the racing tow vehicle, the movie opened with various highway road signs and overhead signs passing by. They were all signs on roads heading to a race track.... Daytona, Richmond, Asheville.... wherever (wish I could remember the names, but they were the real signs on the real roads going to the races).
The opening footage of the road signs passing by on the open highway was accompanied by the pounding beat of Dave Dudley booming out his classic 1963 hit song "Six Days on the Road."
Somebody, somewhere has to have a copy of the Tiny Lund movie....
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Budweiser is removing its name from NASCAR's Shootout exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway beginning next February and instead will be the title sponsor for the 150-mile Duel qualifying races held before the Daytona 500.
Daytona president Joie Chitwood made the announcement at the track Friday morning.
The beer brand will become title sponsor of Daytona Speedweeks and the Daytona 500 pre-race show. It also sponsors the No. 29 car driven by Kevin Harvick.
Chitwood says the track is shopping for a new title sponsor for the Shootout.
Next season's Shootout field will feature mostly pole position winners from this season. The pole position is sponsored by a rival brewer, Coors Light.
Wondering if our fearless leader Jeff might be any kin to "Terrible"Tommy Ellis?
I was reminded of one particular night in the 70s when Tommy had a few problems and found this short recap in a 1986 Orlando Sentinel story on Tommy:
At Lonesome Pine Speedway in Coeburn, Va., a fight that started on the track and spilled into the pits got so bad that the police had to turn out the lights at the track so they could escort Ellis out in the dark without restarting the riot.
I guess you might be a Rodeo Goat if they ever had to turn out the race track lights so you could leave safely!
One of our daughters never made it through a meal without the word "oops" being said as she knocked over her milk or whatever. She took so many spills working as a server in a sports bar/restaurant that the crew lovingly nicknamed her "Grace." Not sure how much of that clumsiness was inherited!
I have been embarrassed more than once (though my wife will claim nothing embarrasses me) as a race fan or participant.
My top two moments that immediately come to mind:
1) Being locked in the turn one grandstand restroom at Martinsville following a Ray Hendrick Cardinal 500 NASCAR Modified win.
2) Walking up on Richard Childress in a department store in Winston-Salem, NC's Hanes Mall in 1981 one week after he signed his sponsorship with Wrangler Jeans. He was purchasing a pair of our competitor Levis for his daughter, Tina. Ever see Jimmy Stewart juggle his hat around in the movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?" Well, that describes Richard. My wife reminded me that evening that we had two daughters and I might be caught in the same predicament one day.
Do you remember a "Most Embarrassing Moment" as a race fan or participant?
I think we'll all agree that sponsors have played an important role in the development, growth, and continuation of stock car racing. Here in Charlotte, folks fork over more than $100 for a ticket to watch an NBA game by a terrible team with just 4 wins. Can you imagine what a ticket would cost today to attend a major NASCAR race if sponsors weren't underwriting many of the costs by sponsoring races and race teams?
Over the years there have been many memorable television commercials by companies who also sponsored races and race teams. I have laughed at the Budweiser frogs and felt a sense of peace when the Clydesdales marched through the snow during the holidays. I've found myself humming the Pontiac "Wide Tracking" tune and enjoying the antics of the Hamm's Beer bear in the Land of Sky Blue Waters . I've been ready with the answer when the commercial asked, "What'll you have?" (Pabst Blue Ribbon). I always knew when it was Miller Time and enjoyed the Gusto promised by Schlitz. I knew it was Black Label Mabel was supposed to bring.
I've seen the USA in my Chevrolet and tried out Ford's Better Idea. I wore Wrangler Jeans and smoked RJR cigarettes, cooked with Crisco and laundered with Tide to get out the grease stains. I poured STP in my crankcase and bought Goodyear tires. I've pumped Pure Firebird Racing gasoline and Sunoco Blue 360.
So many of the companies who have been around racing at one time or another have produced ads that were memorable and that I enjoyed tremendously. I do, however, have a personal favorite all-time television ad by a company/product who was also a racing sponsor.
In 1933 a young man from Nashville, Tennesse began a small meat packing company in Lynchburg, Virginia and three years later moved it to Salem, Virginia, next door to Roanoke. Valleydale Packing Company, proprietor of Valleydale Meats quickly gained a very good reputation and expanded.
From 1980-1991, a span of 12 seasons, Valleydale sponsored the Spring race at Bristol that had originally been called the Southeastern 500. 12 seasons is a long run in the world of race sponsorships and it only ended because the company was sold to Smithfield Meats in 1992 and now operates as a subsidiary of Smithfield's Gwaltney brand and division.
When Roanoke TV station WSLS signed on the air its first commercial was a Valleydale ad. I give you all this history because my favorite television commercial of all-time remains an early Valleydale ad that I watched in Richmond, Virginia as a kid. It always got our attention and stopped us in our tracks. Here's my favorite ad by a sponsor involved in racing. How about you? Do you have a favorite?
