What were you doing at age 51? Twenty years ago Harry Gant was winning 4 Cup races in a row!
General
That sounds just like Harry.
Forum Activity for @dave-fulton
General
That sounds just like Harry.
What were you doing at age 51? Twenty years ago Harry Gant was winning 4 Cup races in a row!
General
Jim, you might remember, too, that Richmonder Emanuel Zervakis, "The Golden Greek," traveled with the Skoal team quite a bit as a "chassis consultant" when the team really began hooking up. I see occassional picture posts by his son, Butch here. Found this nice writeup on Manuel written by Deb Williams after his passing:
Emanuel Zervakis, 'The Golden Greek,' blazed a unique trail in the sport
By Deb Williams Monday, July 14, 2003
In NASCAR's early years, several of its competitors are remembered more for their mechanical knowledge than their driving prowess. Such was the case with Emanuel Zervakis. On June 25, the NASCAR community's living foundation lost another brick with the death of the man known as "The Golden Greek."
A Richmond, Va., native, Zervakis first appeared in NASCAR's top division in 1956 in a car he owned. He competed in selected events through the '58 season, took a year off and then returned in 1960 in a Chevrolet owned by Monroe Shook.
For the next two seasons, he was one of the top competitors on the Grand National (now Winston Cup) circuit, finishing in the top 10 in points both years. The second season with Shook was his best, when he placed third in the point standings behind 1961 champion Ned Jarrett and runnerup Rex White. He posted two wins, one pole, 19 top-five and 28 top-10 finishes in 38 races that year.
In 1962, Zervakis returned to the driver/owner ranks and remained in that position through 1963. When he decided to hang up his helmet, he had competed in 83 Grand National races, recorded two wins, two poles, 21 top-five and 40 top-10 finishes.
However, it was his role as a car owner, mentor, consultant and the owner of the Richmond business Stock Car Products for which most will remember him. He was a consultant to Harry Gant's team when the Taylorsville, N.C., driver gained fame as the "Skoal Bandit."
Zervakis was the person who provided Geoffrey Bodine with the opportunity he needed to make his transition from Northeast Modifieds to Southern stock cars.
The year was 1981, and it was the last year the circuit that was to become the Busch Series would be known strictly as Late Model Sportsman. Virginia hotshoe Sonny Hutchins was driving for Zervakis, but the Richmond businessman was wanting to race more, and Hutchins didn't want to increase his schedule. Enter Bodine.
Zervakis was familiar with Bodine and his record, so he told the Chemung, N.Y., native he would pay the bills if he would build and maintain the cars. Bodine agreed, so he packed his bags, left his family in North Carolina and moved into a mini motorhome parked behind Zervakis' shop in Richmond. That was home for Bodine for two winters. It wasn't easy, but Bodine said it helped him learn about the type of racing he felt held his future.
"We, his sons and I, even built a Winston Cup car in 1981," Bodine recalls. "My fan club raised most of the money, and he would give me the parts, tubing and body."
Bodine left Zervakis at the end of the '81 season because of the strain on his family and landed a ride with High Point, N.C.-based Cliff Stewart. But Bodine never forgot Zervakis and what he meant to his career.
"Without that step, I might never have gotten the chance to drive Winston Cup," Bodine says.
Even though Zervakis was "pretty set in his ways, hardheaded," Bodine says the man never complained about anything he put on the car or how he did it.
"Emanuel was an innovator," Bodine says. "But he was the boss. He didn't say too much, but he knew when to say no and when not to say no.
"We never had a cross word. Whatever Emanuel said, he did. You didn't need anything more than a handshake with Emanuel."
While with Zervakis, Bodine introduced power steering to stock car racing as well as the wraparound-style seat from his Modified that later became status quo.
"Emanuel took a chance with me. Sure, he'd seen me race, but he read a lot of racing papers," Bodine continues. "He would spend a day reading up on everybody. He took all of the racing papers and all of the magazines he could get. I was working, and he was reading. And that was a good thing, because he'd read about me, and he was willing to take a chance."
Bodine is forever grateful for that chance.
"He was a racer. He loved to race and he loved to see his cars go around," Bodine says. "I had two great years with him. I learned a lot from him and his boys. It was really a great experience.
"We weren't buddy, buddy, but we were friends, and when true friends pass away you feel sad, and it hurts. It hurts to think that Emanuel isn't around anymore."
What were you doing at age 51? Twenty years ago Harry Gant was winning 4 Cup races in a row!
General
Just saw this very nice recent column by Tom Higgins and it brought back a lot of memories about Harry Gant. Had the opportunity to work a little with Harry while representing Detroit Gasket and I was the media relations guy at Richmond when Harry won number 2 in his 4 streak series of wins to earn the title, "Mr. September."
20 Years Ago in 1991 at age 51, Harry Gant won 4 Cup races in a row, beginning at the Southern 500.
Hilarious Harry Gants Winning Streak
October 26, 2011 By Tom Higgins
Harry Gant's sense of humor and storytelling capabilities helped make him one of the most popular drivers in NASCAR. In 1991, the personable Gant won four races in a row and could have won a fifth until an inexpensive piece of equipment failed.No matter how great a winning streak some NASCAR driver might put together in the future, itll have to be a lulu festooned with all kinds of special circumstances to rank up there with what Harry Gant achieved in the autumn of 1991.
Gant won four in a row 20 years ago this fall, and except for the failure of a 10-cent O-ring in his cars braking system, he almost certainly would have made it five straight.
I know, I know. Several drivers have won four races in a row.
And in 1967, Richard Petty strung together an incredible 10 straight victories en route to a 27-win season.
However, Petty had just turned 30 at the time of his streak.
Harry Gant was 51 when he won four in a row! FIFTY-ONE! Thats an age when most race drivers have long since retiredor should have.
Gant started his streak by winning the Southern 500, a race he had dreamed of taking since boyhood when he sat in the backstretch grandstand at Darlington Raceway with his dad. He won impressively, too, leading the final 70 laps and finishing 10.97 seconds ahead of runner-up Ernie Irvan.
The competition was a bit tougher the next weekend at Richmond Raceway. Gant grabbed the lead with only 19 laps remaining and managed to hold off a fast-closing Davey Allison by four car lengths.
Hurryin Harry enjoyed a relative laugher the following week at Dover Downs in Delaware, leading 330 laps in the Peak 500. His Olds fielded by a Leo Jackson-led team was so strong that he rather easily lapped the field.
It was no laughing matter, however, on Sept. 22 of 91 at Virginias Martinsville Speedway. Gant was sent spinning by Rusty Wallace when they collided while battling for the lead near the midpoint of the race. Gant went backward into the wall, and two others then hit his car. It appeared his streak was over.
However, Gant somehow managed to stay on the lead lap. During repeated pit stops in the ensuing seven-lap caution period, his crew managed to get the fenders pulled away from the tires, and get loose sheet metal duct-taped back into place.
Gant restarted in 12th position, and it was obvious he was a man on a mission. To the cheers of a crowd that seemingly was unanimous in support of him, Gant steadily picked off the drivers ahead of him. Finally, there was only one, Brett Bodine.
Gant whipped around Bodine on the 454th lap and won by a second.
His green and white No. 33 Olds looked like it had been in a demolition derby. Gant chuckled at the sight.
Its pretty remarkable to win in a car this torn up, he said. I didnt think about maybe winning again until we got back in the top five, then I noticed the cars in front of me werent running any better than mine was.
Said Bodine, We ran as good as we could against a guy who can do no wrong.
In Gants hometown of Taylorsville, N.C., proud local fans of the personable driver had made a practice of flying a flag bearing his car number and team colors in front of City Hall for a week following each of his victories. Now, the flag had been rippling in the breeze in the foothills town for a month, and wags were joking about Harry winning so much the banner was becoming frayed around the edges.
Congratulations poured in to Harry from all over, including messages from other well-known veteran athletes. Among these was the legendary baseball pitcher, Nolan Ryan, now the president of the Texas Rangers who are battling for a World Series championship.
As Bodine had suggested, it certainly appeared that Gant and the Jackson team were unbeatable as NASCARs top tour went to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the Tyson Holly Farms 400 on Sept. 29. Harry won the pole and immediately surged ahead, leading the first 252 laps. On the 294th of the races 400 laps he regained the lead and built an edge of about seven seconds.
On Lap 392, through, Gant slowed markedly, and Dale Earnhardt swept ahead to lead the rest of the way, snapping the streak that had gripped the sports world.
The brake pedal went swoosh, said a resigned Gant. I had zero brakes after the O-ring failed. I had to let Earnhardt go, because we would have wrecked if I had tried to race him. I dont do people like that.
Gant triumphed five times overall in 1991, and he won twice in 92. Among the latter triumphs was the Budweiser 500 at Dover, making Harry at age 52 the oldest driver ever to win a 500-mile race. After winless seasons in 1993-94, he decided to retire, ending his career with 18 victories.
The wealth of Harry Gant Stories did not go into retirement with him, though. Theyre still told from time to time by fellows like Phil Parsons, once a nominal teammate of Gant under sponsorship of U.S. Tobacco Co., and by drivers such as Michael Waltrip, Sterling Marlin and others who enjoyed hanging out with Gant in the garage areas.
Parsons tells a classic:
It was 1985 and Lou Bantle, the president of U.S. Tobacco, wanted to give Leo Jackson, then my late brother Bennys car owner, a nice reward for winning a 500-mile race at Atlanta. Leo likes to fish, so Lou decided a fishing trip would be the prize.
The trip was to this great fishing lodge on the Wood River north of Dillingham, Alaska.
Mr. Bantle decided that all the drivers his company sponsored Harry, Benny and me should go along, too. None of us cared a thing about fishing, but we didnt dare tell Mr. Bantle that.
We didnt even know how to cast, but we gave fishing a try. The third day of the trip our whole party is fishing in this wide, shallow river. Harry wades out to the middle about knee deep and starts casting. He immediately begins catching rainbow trout after rainbow trout that look about as long as your arm. Hes releasing the fish after netting them.
It gets so ridiculous that Harry starts counting, rubbing it in on the rest of us, who arent having anywhere near that kind of luck.
Twelve trout in 12 casts, Harry hollers. Thirteen trout in 13 casts! and right on. He gets up to 18 in 18 and suddenly quits fishing. Harry then heads toward the bank, explaining that there aint nothing to this. Harry grinned and said, Im gonna take me a nap.
As Harry wades along hes got his fishing rod over his shoulder. Somehow or another he disengages the push-button on his reel and the spinner hes using for a lure drops into the water. The line goes streaming out behind him in the current, unbeknownst to Harry.
So help me, another trout grabs that spinner and the rod tip starts jerking down over Harrys shoulder. He spins around, sets the hook and starts yelling, Nineteen in a row! Nineteen in a row!
As Harry comes by me he winks and says, Ive got to get out of this river. Theyre a-chasing me!
For several seasons Waltrip, Marlin and fellow driver Rick Wilson inevitably gravitated to Gants transporter in the various garage areas to be regaled with all sorts of anecdotes, complete with amusing sound effects, hilariously provided by Gant.
Often, the three were targets of Gant practical jokes or needling.
Once, Wilson was hitching a ride back from a race on Gants private plane. Gant had won that day, and he was carrying the trophy.
As they walked across the tarmac to the plane, Gant suddenly thrust the trophy into the hands of Wilson, who was destined to go winless in a career covering 200-plus starts.
Here, carry this, said Gant, grinning with mischief. You need to know what it feels like.
Someone once joked that Gant had attended comic Norm Crosbys School Of Malaprops.
Once describing the breed of dog one of his daughters had bought, Gants memory lapsed temporarily. Aw, its one of them little ol long dogs, he said. You know, its aits aits aIts a Datsun!
Waltrip used to double over laughing when Gant described a piece of machinery he used on his farm near Taylorsville.
Harry called the earth-moving equipment A bullnozer.
Its bulldozer, Harry, Waltrip repeatedly corrected.
The thing pushes dirt with its nose, so its got to be a bullnozer, Gant always insisted.
Hmmm. Makes some sense to me.
This makes sense, too:
Nowadays, NASCAR sure could use a driver with Harry Gants color and fan appeal. The driving talent and grit that enabled him to win four races in a row at age 51 would be a bonus.
updated by @dave-fulton: 06/15/17 05:15:22AM
NASCAR Owner's Plane Crash Lands
Current NASCAR
Posted on Monday, 10.31.11
NASCARs Rick Hendrick injured in plane crash in Key West
By CAMMY CLARK
The Miami Herald
A jet carrying Rick Hendrick, owner of NASCARs Hendrick Motorsports, and his wife, Linda, crash landed Monday evening at Key West International Airport.
Both were taken to Lower Keys Medical Center with what appeared to be non life-threatening injuries, according to Peter Horton, director of the airport.
The Gulfstream 150, which was registered to NASCARs five-time champion Jimmie Johnson, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, apparently lost its brakes upon landing at the small airport at about 7:45 p.m.
Horton said the pilot and co-pilot radioed to the tower saying they had no brakes. The plane skidded completely off the 4,800-foot runway and came to a stop along a 600-foot unpaved safety area that had just been added at the airport in May .
If this area hadnt been added the outcome would have been different and probably catastrophic, Horton said. Before we had only 100 feet of overrun and then they would have gone into a salt pond and hit an embankment.
The pilot and co-pilot, whose names were not available Monday night, were walking after the accident and did not appear to be injured, Horton said. But both pilots were taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Hendrick and his wife were put on stretchers and taken to the hospital. The extent of their injuries was not available Monday night.
The National Transportation Safety Board was notified and will be investigating the incident.
In 2004, Hendricks team plane crashed en route to a NASCAR race, killing all 10 aboard, including his son, brother and two nieces.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/31/2481573/nascars-rick-hendrick-injured.html#ixzz1cQF5uj8O
NASCAR Owner's Plane Crash Lands
Current NASCAR
Plane Registered To Race Car Driver Crash Lands In Key West
October 31, 2011 10:32 PM
KEY WEST (CBSMiami) Four people are recovering in a hospital with non-life threatening injuries after a frightening crash landing at Key West airport Monday night.
Monroe County Sheriffs Office spokesperson Becky Herrin says the pilot and co-pilot of the Gulfstream 150 jet radioed to the airport that the planes brakes were failing, moments before the crash landing around 7:45 p.m.
Herrin confirmed that the plane is registered to Jimmy Johnson Racing II Incorporated out of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Associated Press sports writer Tim Reynolds is reporting that Jimmie Johnson was not on the plane, but team owner Rick Hendrick and wife Linda were, and suffered minor injuries.
The runway at the airport was shut down for a period of time because the plane ran completely off the runway. It has since reopened.
The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and will be conducting their own investigation.
NASCAR Owner's Plane Crash Lands
Current NASCAR
The Plane Carrying Rick & Linda Hendrick
Sheriff's department: Rick Hendrick, wife in plane crash
By Jim Utter - jutter@charlotteobserver.com
Monday, Oct. 31, 2011
A Gulfstream 150 jet registered to Jimmie Johnson Racing Inc. and carrying Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and his wife, Linda, crash landed at the Key West (Fla.) International Airport Monday evening, according to the Monroe County (Fla.) Sheriff's Department.
Hendrick, his wife, the pilot and co-pilot were all transported to Lower Keys hospital for further evaluation. The Sheriff's department said at least two suffered minor injuries, but it was unclear who.
According to the sheriff's department, the pilot and co-pilot radioed there were no brakes upon landing. The plane ran completely off the runway at approximately 7:45 p.m. and the runaway was closed for a short time before being reopened.
The National Transportation Safety Board was notified and will be investigating the incident.
A statement by Hendrick Motorsports said no one on board suffered any serious injuries.
Johnson drives in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Hendrick and has won the past five series championships.
Hendrick was at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Sunday for the Tums 500, where Johnson finished second in the race.
In October 2004, a plane owned by Hendrick Motorsports crashed in thick fog en route to a NASCAR race at Martinsville and killed all 10 people aboard, including the son, brother and two nieces of Rick Hendrick.
Read more: http://www.thatsracin.com/2011/10/31/78045/sheriff-department-rick-hendrick.html#ixzz1cQ8vnSYr
Championship Shouldn't be Decided by Brian Vickers - NASCAR Should Have Parked Him
General
A pretty good summary ( Even if it is a Fox News piece) here of various driver quotes, etc. recapping the feelings about Mr. Vickers' driving at Martinsville:
VICKERS INFURIATES MANY AT MARTINSVILLE
Published October 31, 2011
Fox Sports Network
Martinsville, VA Brian Vickers became driver enemy number lap slugfest at Martinsville Speedway. If Vickers did one thing right during the day, he left the racetrack quickly and quietly.
In a race that featured a season-high 18 cautions, Vickers was involved in five of them, including three that occurred during the first 100 laps. Jamie McMurray and Chase driver Matt Kenseth would've loved to have at it with Vickers after the dust had settled at NASCAR's shortest track. Jimmie Johnson might have wanted a word with him as well.
Vickers started the ruckus on lap 28 when he was involved in a crash with Regan Smith and Dave Blaney. He then tangled with Juan Pablo Montoya before bumping into Jamie McMurray and putting him into the outside wall. McMurray tried to retaliate against Vickers but made contact with the wall again.
"I saw [Vickers] get inside of me, and I tried to block, and I couldn't get down far enough," McMurray said. "When we got down in there, it seemed like he let off the brake a little early and sent me for a ride. It's just one of those really frustrating tracks, and it brings out the bad in people."
After banging each other's doors several times in the late going, Kenseth had enough of Vickers when he turned him around, forcing the 15th caution. Kenseth was involved in a multi-car wreck shortly after when he locked his brakes and spun around. He took out title contender Kyle Busch, as well as Joey Logano and Montoya.
"He just kept hitting me in the door," Kenseth said. "We're at Martinsville, and I gave him the bottom. Obviously, I'm not gonna roll over and let him go with 40 [laps] to go or whatever it was, and he just kept driving in harder and harder, and he slammed me in the door at least five times and just ran me up in the marbles, and I was just tired of it, so I spun him out."
Kenseth suffered a broken track bar during the multi-car wreck and spent several laps in the garage for repairs.
While Johnson was holding a comfortable lead with less than 10 laps to go, Vickers attempted to get even with Kenseth but failed in his efforts, as he spun around. The final caution setup a three-lap shootout to the finish. After the restart, Tony Stewart passed Johnson and then held him off at the finish. Stewart has won three of the first seven Chase races. He's also moved to within eight points of leader Carl Edwards.
"I certainly understand that if you're unfairly wrecked, regardless of who that person is, there's a chance retaliation is going to happen," Johnson said following his second-place finish. "After a fourth, fifth time with the same car in the crash, you start thinking about maybe you're the problem. Something is going on. You're having a bad day. You need to stop crashing for whatever reason."
Johnson certainly needed the win to help keep his slim title hopes alive. The five-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion is 43 points behind Edwards with just three races to go.
"I don't agree with the way things were handled at the end," Johnson noted. "Tony Stewart is sitting in victory lane smiling, and he's real happy it turned out that way."
Vickers, a non-Chase driver, finished 30th in his banged up No.83 Red Bull Toyota. He had no comment after the race. Vickers' future in Sprint Cup is in doubt right now, as Red Bull is pulling out of the sport at season's end.
Kenseth's 31st-place finish at Martinsville put him 36 points behind Edwards. He entered this race 14 points in back of his Roush Fenway Racing teammate.
Vickers wasn't the only culprit in the Martinsville demolition derby. Marcos Ambrose and Montoya clashed, while Kurt Busch got turned around by Paul Menard. Busch also had encounters with Jeff Burton and Ryan Newman.
Martinsville was indeed the latest chapter in NASCAR's "boys, have at it."
"It seemed like guys were ticked off at one another, driving over their heads," said third-place finisher Jeff Gordon, who bounced back after being involved in a six-car accident during the opening laps. "We saw that for a big majority of the race. Obviously, the 83 had that throughout the whole race. But I think it was just one of those crazy days. I don't know. You can't always explain it. Usually Martinsville does contribute towards that."
Stewart seemed to be the only one who wasn't caught up in the commotion at Martinsville, which was probably a good thing.
"I think they ought to get a portable boxing ring," he said. "As soon as they get done with the victory celebration, set the boxing ring on the frontstretch and give the fans a real show they paid for. If you want to boost the attendance at Martinsville, have a boxing match with each of the guys that had a beef with each other."
Ding, ding, ding!
Round eight in the Chase bout is Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/10/31/vickers-infuriates-many-at-martinsville/#ixzz1cPk2eYpB
Championship Shouldn't be Decided by Brian Vickers - NASCAR Should Have Parked Him
General
I'll stand up and take the wrath of the Brian Vickers fans, but his performance at Martinsville crossed the line. Don't know why, but he caused way too many cautions and took out too many cars. The comments about Vickers of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards have to be taken with a grain of salt, since they are embroiled in the Championship Chase and all had their performance screwed up at one time or another Sunday by Brian.
I highly respect analyst Ricky Craven, a pretty talented former driver with a good head on his shoulders. "Forty-three cars started this race," ESPN analyst Ricky Craven said afterward, "and I think Brian Vickers hit half of them."
There comes a time when a driver has to be parked and NASCAR has been willing to do it in the past, backwhen its officials like Dick Beaty, Bill Gazaway, Noris Friel, etc. had some intestinal fortitude. I remember watching the late Bub Strickler in a Grand National race at Rockingham after he caused his third caution. To the garage he went, courtesy of NASCAR, not to return to the track that day.
You can't let one driver, regardless the reason, cause as many wrecks and cautions as Vickers did at Martinsvilleand stay on the track.
I know NASCAR has a short memory, but geeze, it's only been 9 years since the Martinsville incident described below. Is their memory that short?
MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Winston Cup driver Kevin Harvick has been "parked" by NASCAR officials and will not be allowed to drive in Sunday's Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway, several sources confirmed late Saturday. A formal announcement of the action is expected at the track Sunday morning. Grand National series driver Kenny Wallace will drive Harvick's No. 29 Chevrolet in Sunday's race, sources said. He would have to start at the rear of the field since he did not qualify the car.
Harvick's "parking" - defined in the NASCAR rulebook as an emergency action that is "final, non-appealable and non-reviewable" - comes in response to NASCAR officials' demand he park his truck after spinning Coy Gibbs in Saturday's NASCAR Truck series race at Martinsville.
Harvick and Gibbs tangled on the track several times over the course of several laps. Gibbs spun Harvick one time exiting Turn 4. Following a caution on Lap 188, Harvick rammed Gibbs' rear bumper entering Turn 1 and finally spun him exiting Turn 2.
NASCAR had enough, black-flagged Harvick and parked him for the day.
Don't know whether you are familiar with the Brian Vickers feature done this past year in Maxim Magazine or not. I read quite a few accounts of the article. Brian's actual quotes can't be printed on a family fiendly web site, but here's a short cleaned up version from the Birmingham News. Ifthe story is accurate and the descriptions of Brian's social life by Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are accurate, I hope Brian is high on the list of NASCAR drivers who are made to "pee in the cup" on more than just a random basis. Martinsville is one thing, but you put a driver on a big track whose head is screwed up and you're talking about killing folks.
Hard-partying NASCAR driver Brian Vickers profiled in Maxim
February 15, 2011
The Birmingham News
Brian Vickers is making his return to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Daytona after missing much of last season when he had to be treated for blood clots.
And he's making a splash this week with a profile story of him in Maxim, which paints a picture of a driver who is just as committed to partying as he is to working out. The profile was written by Mike Guy, who did a similar profile of Tony Stewart for Rolling Stone in 2008.
Here are a few sample paragraphs with a couple changes to bring the rating down to PG:
"Back on the rebound, Vickers follows the old routine: an insanely fastidious fitness regimen (hard biking, yoga, healthy meals) combined with hard drinking spells that fuel his relentless, connoisseur's pursuit of ... (women) ... in all its forms. BV's evenings can play out like the young-money equivalent of racetrack pileups: He gains velocity by consuming untold vodkas, lurches from club to bar to club, and staggers home with women in multiples. Whether he remembers anything the next morning is a crapshoot. One day he e-mails me, "You know it was a good night when you find a picture of you at a bar, with a dog...and you don't know where it came from." The attached photo shows him yowling at the camera in a dark Manhattan bar with a confused terrier in his lap. His war stories are legendary among friends. But in a testament to Vickers' drive, they all seem to end with him bouncing back like a comic book character.
I join him on one of those nights, in a bar on Houston Street. Vickers is drinking like an elite athlete--draining a succession of vodkas, waiting for the bar's owner, a dissolute pop singer named Gavin DeGraw. Vickers makes a phone call to Jeff Gordon, hectoring him for not coming out to get trashed.
"(Expletive) Gordon," Vickers says. "He used to be a lot of fun."
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
THE PAPERCLIP held together again today
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.... I know where there is a short track in Wilkes County, NC and a mile track in Richmond County, NC.
THE PAPERCLIP held together again today
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
Sounds like most of us that have posted recently regarding Martinsville, the "cookie-cutter" mile and a halves and racing at Talladega would agree with Dale Earnhardt Junior's assessmant as reported in an Associated Press story:
"I think this was a great day for NASCAR, and I think this kind of racing is exciting and people really yearn to see that style of racing," he said. "Please, build some more short tracks, we need some more short tracks. All these 1.5-mile tracks. I know you can get more seats or whatever but they just don't really turn everybody on, you know? So I think this was a good day for NASCAR."
It's a totally different tone than the one NASCAR's most popular driver had a week earlier, after riding around at the back of the Talladega field with teammate Johnson until it was too late to make a charge to the front.
"Bored," was how Earnhardt summarized Talladega in a sentiment shared by many.