I guess the water around South Boston and Emporia where the Burton Brothers and Sadler Brothers grew up and Chemung which bred the Bodine Brothers and Corpus Christi that gave us the Labonte Brothers is just radically different than that Las Vegas water with all the fallout from the nuclear tests in the 50s.
It's not in a Cup car, but it will be really nice to see Ward Burton back on the track. They don't come much nicer to be around at the track than Ward and brother, Jeff. Two of the most cooperative folks you could ever ask for. Hopefully, we'll get a chance at a television interview that will take full advantage of Ward's famous drawl!
Ward Burton had five career wins in in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series and four in the Nationwide Series.
Ward Burton returns to race at Daytona
By: Billy Fellin
Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: January 26, 2012
After a five-year absence from competing in a NASCAR race, Ward Burton will drive at Daytona in February in the NextEra Energy 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event.
Burton and his 19-year-old son, Jeb, have teamed with Hillman Racing in the Truck Series to run the No. 27 Chevy this season.
Burton, the 2002 Daytona 500 winner and brother of current Richard Childress Racing team member Jeff Burton, stepped away from the sport in 2007 to help Jeb's racing career as well as work with the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation.
Burton had five career wins in in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series and four in the Nationwide Series.
"I am real excited about the things we have going on with Mike Hillman Sr. and his program. I think this is a real good thing for Jeb and his career," Burton said in a statement. "Hillman Sr. is building a great team of people and we are hoping that we can bring some additional marketing partners on board with us to make this program a huge success."
Jeb moves up from the NASCAR Whelen All-American series to the Truck Series.
Ward will race at Daytona because Jeb is not yet qualified to run at Daytona. Burton also will make select starts throughout the truck series schedule.
The younger Burton will make his debut behind the wheel in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville on March 31.
Atop the pit box for the No. 27 will be Richmond native Trip Bruce, who worked with Burton in his Sprint Cup days at Bill Davis Racing.
"I'm excited to race in the truck series," Jeb Burton said in a statement. "This is a big step from the NASCAR Whelen Series but I am ready for it. I am comfortable with my crew chief Trip Bruce and the teams of guys here at Hillman Racing."
The NextEra Energy 250 is Feb. 24 at Daytona.
There are literally hundreds missing, but how to remember and name them all? NASCAR Grand American & GT. The IMCA, USAC, AAA, Richmond Stock Car Racing Association, etc etc etc. Hundreds of "independent" 1,2 3 track bodies over the years, like the association that sanctioned Sanford & Rockingham tracks, and group that put together common rules for Wilson, Fayetteville and Wake County. If all these different places are not listed, some of the best drivers who ever strapped in a race car will be left out. Trans-Am, Canadian-American, ACT, etc, etc, etc
My Travel Section in Sunday's Charlotte paper carried a story about the Winston Cup Museum in Winston-Salem, NC, which I had never heard previously mentioned. Anybody ever been? Here's the brief story and a link to the museum.
Check out Winston Cup history
By Gary McCullough
Correspondent
Posted: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012
daytrips0122
The Winston Cup Museum pays tribute to R.J. Reynolds' 33-year sponsorship of the NASCAR racing series. GARY MCCULLOUGH
More Information
Details
The Winston Cup Museum, 1355 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Winston-Salem, is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Admission: $8; $4 for ages 5-12. Info: 336-724-4557;
Dale Earnhardt's record-setting seven championships, Richard Petty's remarkable 200th victory, and the first checkered flags in NASCAR's premier series for such drivers as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., all happened while the sport's primary sponsor was the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. From 1971 through 2003, the most talented stock car drivers in the world competed for the Winston Cup, and it was during this period that NASCAR skyrocketed to national popularity. The museum in Winston-Salem has a collection of race cars, show cars, trophies, driver uniforms and helmets, and more.
To see and do
While specific cars and exhibits vary from time to time, the primary purpose of the museum - to honor NASCAR's Winston Cup era - remains a constant. An impressive mural that wraps around three interior walls, a visual timeline that pictures many of the sport's most popular drivers on and off the track, racing photos from venues around the nation, pre-race festivities and victory celebrations. A showcase at the end of the timeline features a trophy naming the champion driver for each year from 1949 to 2003, beginning with Red Byron, NASCAR's inaugural champion, and ending with Matt Kenseth. Cars making up the museum's "field" include show and competition cars driven by some of the sport's most iconic figures, including Richard Petty, Darryl Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
In 1985, R.J. Reynolds introduced "The Winston Million," giving drivers the chance to win $1 million by winning three of four "crown jewel" races: Florida's Daytona 500, NASCAR's most prestigious event; the Coca-Cola 600, the longest; the Winston 500 at Talladega, Ala., the fastest; and the Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C., the oldest. During the 15-year history of this event, only two drivers claimed the prize. Bill Elliott won the inaugural Winston Million, earning him the nickname "Million Dollar Bill." Jeff Gordon won in 1997, the final year of the event, by taking the checkered flags at Daytona, Charlotte and Darlington.
The Winston Million was replaced by the Winston No Bull 5 in 1998. Also introduced in the mid-1980s was an all-star event. What is now known as the All-Star Challenge began as "The Winston," an event open only to a select field of drivers. Held all but one year at the track in Charlotte, winners of "The Winston" include Darryl Waltrip, Davey Allison, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, and both Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The last driver to win the event in 2003 was an up-and-comer named Jimmie Johnson.
Remember, also, that the writer of an article has nothing to do with the headline.
This post has absolutely nothing to do with racing, but I thought we could all use a little beauty during this gloomy (in the Carolinas) weekend. Received my February issue of Southern Living Magazine in the mail yesterday (yes, racing and recipes can co-exist!) and it contains a feature story centered in our member Pkl's neck of the woods.
For over 30 years, beginning in 1980, a gentleman named Jim Gibbs has been building a world class garden, featuring daffodils, in Ball Ground, Georgia . On March 1 it will officially open to the public for the first time. According to the article, the garden contains literally millions of daffodil blooms. The location of Gibbs Gardens is listed as being on Yellow Creek Road, not far from I-575.
These couple of partial scans can't begin to do justice to the beautiful photos in the magazine, but here's a much cropped and partial glimpse of whatneighbors have to look forward to this spring in their own "backyard."
Have a great Birthday, Jeff. Don't let 'em make ya work today!
Billy, I'm sure you already have this information, but the original 11 drivers who met in August 1969 in Ann Arbor, Michigan to form the PDA all were elected to a "position" in the organization.
PRESIDENT
Richard Petty
VICE PRESIDENTS
Cale Yarborough
Elmo Langley
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bobby Allison
Donnie Allison
Buddy Baker
Pete Hamilton
Charlie Glotzbach
David Pearson
LeeRoy Yarbrough
James Hylton
Interesting to note that Vice President Elmo Langley later became a NASCAR employee.
I, too, remember the red caboose. Since I never bought any souvenirs at the track, I don't remember the couple.
