Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

Late Model Sportsman

Stock Car Racing History

I was a little confused the first time I attended Richmond's Southside Speedway in 1964. The NASCAR sanctioned events were advertised as Modified-Sportsman races. It took me a little while to understand that there were two separate divisions of coupes running in the same race, with different points being awarded. At Southside, for instance, Ray Hendrick, Runt Harris, Ted Hairfield and Sonny Hutchins were competing in NASCAR Modified coupes in the same race as Lennie Pond and Joe Henry Thurman in NASCAR Sportsman coupes. It was a lot easier to understand in later years when the modified division was dropped (how we hated that) and the cars all became Late Model Sportsman like they'd run for years in North Carolina, rather than the Coupe Sportsman cars. I agree with Jeff - A lot of argument to be made supporting your premise Dennis.

Dollar General taking big step into NASCAR

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You know, I also heard it mentioned by Andy Petree on the telecast from Kansas that the reason Reed had been removed from the car immediately was because he wouldn't quit complaining about how crummy his car was.

Brian Talk

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Only takes one apple............

Brian Talk

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A little food for thought on a rainy afternoon in Charlotte -

NASCAR Head Honcho Brian France (Z) was born in 1962

Just to show you how much things have changed since his birth, consider this:

In calendar year 1962, NASCAR ran 38 sanctioned Grand National races at these 24 venues that are no longer on the Cup schedule:

Concord, NC (1/2-mi dirt) - 2 races

Weaverville, NC - 2 races

Savannah, GA - 2 races

Hillsborough, NC

Columbia, SC - 2 races

N. Wilkesboro, NC - 2 races

Greenville, SC - 2 races

Myrtle Beach, SC - 2 races

Winston-Salem, NC - 3 races

Richmond, VA (1/3-mile paved Southside Speedway) - 2 races

Hickory, NC - 2 races

Spartanburg, SC - 2 races

Augusta, GA - 3 races

South Boston, VA

Asheville, NC

Chattanooga, TN

Nashville, TN

Huntsville, AL

Roanoke, VA

Valdosta, GA

Moyock, NC

Birmingham, AL

Tampa, FL

Randleman, NC

Prices for some selected items in 1962, the year of the Head Honcho's birth:

Chewing gum pack - 5 cents

Loaf of bread - 20 cents

Movie ticket - 50 cents

Gallon of gas - 31 cents

Postage Stamp - 4 cents

Pay phone call - 10 cents

Minimum Wage - $1.25/hr

Top-10 Pop Songs of 1962 - Head Honcho Birth Year:

1. Stranger on the Shore - Mr. Aker Bill

2. I Can't Stop Loving You - Ray Charles

3. Mashed Potato Time - Dee Dee Sharp

4. Roses are Red - Bobby Vinton

5. The Stripper - David Rose

6. Johnny Angel - Shelley Fabares (daughter on Donna Reed Show)

7. The Loco-Motion - Little Eva (from Kinston, NC)

8. Let Me In - Sensations

9. The Twist - Chubby Checker

10. Soldier Boy - Shirelles

Top-10 Country Songs of 1962 - Head Honcho Birth Year

1. From a Jack to a King - Ned Miller

2. It Keeps Right On a -Hurtin' - Johnny Tillotson

3. Old Rivers - Walter Brennan (Real McCoys TV show)

4. Devil Woman - Marty Robbins (#42 Dodge)

5. Wolverton Mountain - Claude King

6. Funny Way of Laughing - Burl Ives

7. PT 109 - Jimmy Dean

8. Ruby Ann - Marty Robbins (ran the 1972 Winston 500 with illegal carburetor so he could pass The King!)

9. She's Got You - Patsy Cline (dated Virginia driving ace Al Grinnan of Fredericksburg - listening Darth?!)

10. Send Me the Pillow You Dream On - Johnny Tillotson

As I consider the above information, I guess its pretty easy to understand why Head Honcho can't relate to my generation.

Brian Talk

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Wonder how many of our members have heard of a California company named Brand Sense Partners? You should check its website http://www.bsp.com/ and look at the officers of the company and at the client brands. Ever wonder why Sheryl Crow performed at so many NASCAR races or who is representing AmourAll and STP (that should make Legend severely sick). Interesting stuff here. Ever need Britney Spears for a gig... just call Z.

Brian Talk

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He worked one weekend I remember very well. He and a little buddy took a bunch of outdated Daytona programs, put new covers on them that had come from the printer and started selling them at face value outside a Daytona gate before daddy Bill was informed and busted it. Shortly thereafter, Z was sent to live on the West Coast and travel the Winston West Tour with Dennis Huth and Ken Clapp.

Brian Talk

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Tim, I couldn't agree more about not giving the 18-36 year old demo the historic basis of stock car racing. When I first met and started working with Bud Moore and Paul Sawyer in 1981, I was already 34 years old, had been a race fan over half my life and had been a part owner of a dirt stock car in the previous decade... I thought I knew a lot about stock car racing. Boy was I wrong. Those two gentlemen, and later Glen and Leonard Wood, really "took me to school" about racing history. Being around those four men who had both built and ownedcars driven by Joe Weatherly and Curtis Turner gave me a totally different slant on stock car racing's roots. I was so lucky to hear the private, behind the scenesstories. My wife always says I should write a book. One day I might. I know this, if I ever do write a book, its title will come straight from what Paul Sawyer called the modern day racers - "Whores With Helmets."

Brian Talk

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I do note that the NASCAR's Chief Honcho admits to not being an economist.Posted for informational purposes only. No further comment from this party in keeping with the spirit of the Rules of Engagement.

NASCAR chairman optimistic during sluggish economy
By: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 09, 2011
KANSAS CITY, Kan. --

The Chase standings are tighter than ever. Television ratings are up and attendance has been robust at the first four races in NASCAR's version of a playoff.

Things are certainly rosy on the track, even if that's not entirely the case off it.

Several teams are contemplating layoffs during a down economy, when sponsorship has become harder to secure. The latest example came just this week, when Turner Motorsports released Nationwide Series championship contender Reed Sorenson and advised employees it might downsize at the end of the season, after sponsor Dollar General announced it would not return in 2012.

NASCAR chairman Brian France said Sunday he's not oblivious to teams' financial concerns, but he remains optimistic the economy will not cause long-term problems for the sport.

"I've always said I'm not an economist," France said, "but I know what you know, and it's very difficult out there for companies, and people in general, and that has an impact on us."

France said the one positive that comes from teams downsizing is it creates opportunities for other teams contemplating a move to NASCAR's top tier.

"We'll see in the offseason teams thinking about moving up that didn't want to because there wasn't availability or they couldn't make an event," France said. "I hope everybody comes back, I hope everybody gets what they need to compete, but if the economy is difficult, it does allow opportunities for others. I guess that's the only silver lining to it."

France also confirmed negotiations have begun with Sprint to remain the title sponsor of NASCAR's top tier. Sprint is in the eighth year of a 10-year, $750 million contract.

The struggling wireless carrier, based in suburban Kansas City, posted its 15th consecutive quarterly loss in July. The nation's third-largest carrier also reported more contract customers defected to rivals AT&T and Verizon than some analysts had expected.

"It's a program that's worked well for them and we're in a time where we're having those kinds of discussions about extending the relationship," France said. "My hope is that we will."

France addressed several other issues Sunday at Kansas Speedway:

The points system, which was streamlined this season, has created tighter standings that are easier for fans to understand. Bonus points are still awarded, but otherwise each spot on the track roughly equates to a point. Only 19 points separated the top nine drivers coming to Kansas.

"I'm not sure we could be anymore pleased with how the Chase is unfolding, and frankly, how the season is unfolding, the level of competition, the closeness of the Chase," France said.

"Our hope always is that we come down to the finale at South Florida, at Homestead, and we have as many drivers really in the thick of it as possible. That's the goal, that's what we hope."

Television ratings have been on the rise after a couple of years of stagnation, particularly in younger demographics, a key to the sport's continued growth.

France said much of that is tied to the tight Chase standings.

"You'll see this in the various playoffs and championships in all kinds of sports, it comes down to storylines and matchups," he said. "When you have more of that, good storylines and great racing in our case, you should do better, and we are doing better."

France said he isn't concerned that paving projects at Phoenix this year and Kansas in 2013 will dramatically alter the competition. Drivers had mixed reactions after testing at Phoenix earlier this week, and many said Friday they would prefer the Kansas surface be left alone.

"The kind of asphalt they lay down, even sometimes changing the configuration a little bit like they did in Phoenix, it's all designed to provide more side-by-side racing," France said.

updated by @dave-fulton: 03/12/17 03:53:56PM

R.I.P. Smokey Snellbaker

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Great shots Jim. Thanks for posting.

R.I.P. Smokey Snellbaker

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Learned today from my buddy Frank in Pennsylvania of the death of legendary driver Smokey Snellbaker. No, Smokey didn't drive stock cars - but I'd have sure loved to see him in one. Smokey drove dirt sprint cars, mostly in central Pennsylvania and what a driver he was. Smokey was a 2002 inductee to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and won track championships and big events at many of the famed dirt speedways in Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland. I had the opportunity in 1990 to watch him put on a driving clinic in a dirt sprint car at the historic Williams Grove, Pennsylvania track. He was no spring chicken then, but he sure could show the youngsters the short way around, sideways, in one of those winged sprint beasts. More than that, he was the friend of other racers and those in the grandstand. He was still full of fun at a more advanced age. Frank tells me he ran into him the other year at a car show in York, PA featuring a pretty hokey "beauty pageant." A fairly lame magician was performing, much to the crowd's dismay, when Smokey suggested the magician wouldbe better appreciated if he made the beauty contestants' clothes disappear! Another one of those colorful drivers disappearing from racing who showed up every week, had fun and thrilled the fans. In reading various reports, it was always mentioned how he stayed around after the races to talk to fans. R.I.P. Smokey.

This brief piece appeared in National Speed Sport News online:

Smokey Snellbaker

Smokey Snellbaker Dead At 79

by NSSN Staff

DOVER, Pa. Legendary open-wheel racer Larry Smokey Snellbaker has died at the age of 79. Snellbaker, who raced sprint cars, super sportsman and other types of cars primarily in Central Pennsylvania, was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2002. Snellbaker began driving in 1965 and amassed more than 150 sprint car victories and raced in the super sportsman class until recently. Among the car owners for whom Snellbaker drover were Jack Imerbrink, Al Hamilton, Bob Weikert, Bud Hoffman, Kenny Beck, Gary Wasson and Roy Morrall when the pair campaigned the familiar No. 880 sprint car. Snellbaker drove for Mike and Charlie Lloyd beginning in 1977 and the team won the Williams Grove National Open and the Syracuse Super Nationals in 1979. Through the years Snellbaker earned track championships at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway, Penn National, Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway, Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway and Williams Grove Speedway. We raced back then because we enjoyed it, Snellbaker said upon his induction into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. No, we loved it. We made money, but we really had fun at it.

And - from the York, PA newspaper:

Local racing loses legend in Snellbaker
COLUMN By BRYAN HOUSEHOLDER The York Dispatch
Updated: 10/07/2011 07:51:01 AM EDT


The central Pennsylvania racing area has lost another of its legendary drivers.

Dover's Smokey Snellbaker died Wednesday afternoon.

Snellbaker began his Hall-of-Fame racing career in 1966 and had raced through the 2010 season.

His time on the local circuit earned Snellbaker berths in both the York County Racing Club Hall of Fame and the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.

Snellbaker actually put together two separate careers on the local tracks.

He began racing in the cut-down racers known locally as "bugs," and followed that class through the progression into today's sprint cars.

As he became older and was no longer able to find winning sprint-car rides, Snellbaker moved into the super-sportsman class and kept right on winning.

Snellbaker scored his first sprint-car win in 1968 at Susquehanna Speedway, and before ending that phase of his career, had won 152 sprint-car races. His wins included the Williams Grove National Open, the Syracuse Super Nationals and wins against the World of Outlaws and USAC (United State Auto Club). He won point titles at Williams Grove, Selinsgrove, Port Royal and Hagerstown, along with the overall title in Jack Gunn's KARS series.

Snellbaker's most productive year in a sprint car was in 1975, when he won 29 features. Seven times during his career, Snellbaker won a dozen or more sprint-car features in a single season. His last sprint-car wins came in 1983 at Port Royal.

After another season or so in the sprint cars, Snellbaker began racing in the super-sportsman class, and also spent some time in the 358 sprint cars. He won another 35 features in the super sportsmen and continued racing them on occasion even through last season.

While he didn't spend much time in the 358 sprints, he was also a winner there.

Snellbaker also raced for a time with USAC's Dirt Champ Car class. Those cars evolved from the Indy cars of the 1940s and 1950s, and often attracted some of Indy's finest.

During the time when USAC and CART were fighting for control of the Indy-car series, USAC invited a few of the Dirt Champ Cars to compete with the Indy cars in a 500-mile race at Pocono. Snellbaker was one of the drivers invited and got to compete with some of his racing heroes, including four-time Indy 500 champion A.J. Foyt. That was one of his proudest moments.

While he was one of this area's biggest stars, Snellbaker always had time for the fans who supported the sport. He never disappeared after a race and seemed to always make time for the various events fans attended around the area.

Snellbaker was one of the first drivers to befriend me when I got started in this business and always made time for me. Less than two weeks ago, we sat together to watch the super-sportsman and limited-late-model races on a Sunday evening at Susquehanna Speedway Park.

This season was the first time since his career began that Snellbaker didn't drive a race car at some time during the season. Not that he had retired. Snellbaker was still looking for a ride. However, earlier this season he began experiencing some health problems and probably then realized that his time behind the wheel had come to an end.

Now he's gone, and those of us left behind will always have all those great memories.

Bryan Householder writes about dirt-track racing for The York Dis patch. He can be reached at sports@yorkdispatch.com.

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM