Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

Tell 'em off in person

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Not stock cars, but just a public service reminder:If any of you are planning to attend the upcoming October 30 Formula One race,it would be a perfect time to just walk over in person and resolve any consumer complaints at one of the hundreds of Customer Service Centers nearby.

Sep 24, 10:47 AM EDT

F1 chief Ecclestone says India ready for first GP

By CHRIS LINES
AP Auto Racing Writer

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has played down doubts over preparations for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix next month.

Ecclestone told The Associated Press on Saturday that "we're very happy, they're doing a good job." He spoke after reports this week of slow progress on construction of the Buddh circuit outside New Delhi.

The World Motor Sports Council met on Friday - ahead of Sunday's Singapore GP - and said it received a "positive" briefing from Indian race officials without elaborating.

Last year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi were subject to severe delays and allegations of corruption but Ecclestone said "we aren't being corrupt and we are not trying to corrupt anybody, so no problems."

The India GP is on Oct. 30

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

Will Charlotte's NO GREASE BARBERSHOP Co-Sponsor Talladega & Daytona Races?

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Good one TMC... I used to do some marketing on that deal as well as the P&G Tide sponsorship - both VERY briefly. Seeing Buddy reminded me of a deal back in '87 or '88 when I was doing Oldsmobile stuff and we did a demo for VA/NC/SC Olds dealers at Charlotte Motor Speedway to demonstrate the effectiveness of anti-lock brakes. We had all of the Olds backed NASCAR drivers - Baker, Rick Wilson, Lake Speed, etc. on hand to do the demo in Olds passenger cars. CMS maintenance supervisor Harvey Walters wet down pit road and all the drivers first came down the wet pit road as fast as they could go coming off turn 4 and then slammed on their brakes between sets of orange pylons. They did it first in cars without ant-lock brakes and the second time in cars with anti-lock brakes. It was a pretty amazing demo that made eveyone on hand a believer in anti-lock brakes. I'm not sure Buddy left one single orange cone standing on his first, out of control slide down the wet pit road.

Will Charlotte's NO GREASE BARBERSHOP Co-Sponsor Talladega & Daytona Races?

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With the new technical bulletin from NASCAR issued this week outlawing lubricant on the rear bumper, there's a very high profile hair cuttery in Charlotte named the NO GREASE BARBERSHOP that I believe International Speedway Corporationcould approach for co-sponsorship of its races at Talladega and Daytona. Certainly NASCAR and ISC won't be getting any support from Vaseline, WD-40 or the KY lubricant folks and will need to look elsewhere for money. I believe this would be a perfect match.

NASCAR says no more messy bumpers

By Jim Utter - jutter@charlotteobserver.com
LOUDON, N.H. - Along with changes to the size of the restrictor-plate and the pressure release valves of Cup cars there is another change mandated by NASCAR that will affect the racing there next month.

In the technical bulletin issued to teams this week outlining the changes at Talladega, there was also a note that the addition of lubricants to the rear bumper cover will not be permitted.

The change covers all tracks, but in reality the use of lubricants on the rear bumper has been most commonly used this season at Talladega and Daytona to assist in the two-car drafting tandems.

To keep the pushing car from spinning out the lead car in the two-car tandems, teams have used everything from grease, to ointment to cooking spray to keep the bumpers from getting locked up when they meet.

Teams' inability to soften the blow, is likely to add to their unwillingness to utilize the drafting method, or at least use it more sparingly.


Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/24/1514541/nascar-says-no-more-messy-bumpers.html#ixzz1YyNam1vl

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

Happy Birthday Mrs. Legend

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Hope the birthday is a terrific one.

Newsreel - Late 40s Richmond Dirt Track

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http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=26864

This is pretty neat archival newsreel footage of a championship motorycycle race at the then almostnew Richmond dirt half-mile in 1949.

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

Back to Black !!! Thanks

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Wonder if anyone would considering restoring the size of the fuel cells back to 22 gallons? I can't believe anyone enjoys the fuel mileage race endings.

Trivia - NASCAR's Final Big Time Dirt Track Race had an all Ellerbe Front Row

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NC State Fairgrounds Speedway - Raleigh

Trivia - NASCAR's Final Big Time Dirt Track Race had an all Ellerbe Front Row

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Trivia - NASCAR's Final Big Time Dirt Track Race had an all Ellerbe Front Row

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Dennis, right you are. The following is from an old column in Stock Car Racing Magazine:

The last dirt track race we (NASCAR's top division) ran was at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds Speedway in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a 100-miler on a half-mile track. The date was September 30, 1970. John Sears, a drivers dirt track racer, won the pole and led the first 10 laps. Then Benny Parsons took the lead and led from lap 11 through lap 88. I took over on lap 89 and led the rest of the race, which was through lap 200. I think I averaged about 68 miles per hour. Neil Castles finished second, Bobby Isaac third, James Hylton fourth, and Cecil Gordon fifth. Bobby Allison finished sixth.

Now, I want to tell you something about how we won the race. At Petty Enterprises we didn't have a car built exclusively for dirt track racing. We were running the Plymouth SuperBird on the big speedways and the regular Plymouths on the paved short tracks. But we remembered selling driver Jabe Thomas and team owner Don Robertson a '69 Plymouth built for dirt track racing, or let's say it was better suited for dirt than anything we had to race at our shop. So what we did was borrow that car from Jabe and Don. We put one of our engines in the car and won the race. Then we returned it to Jabe and Don and left our engine in the car as a payment.

The other two dirt track races that year were at Columbia Speedway in Columbia, South Carolina. That track was as hard as asphalt. We ran the first race at Columbia that year on April 30. We did the same car-borrowing then. That was the first time we borrowed our old car back from Jabe and Don. We were lucky enough to win that race, too. Bobby Allison finished second and Bobby Isaac third. Neil Castles ran fourth and James Hylton fifth.

We did the same thing after the win, too. We turned the car back over to Jabe and Don with one of our engines in it. What you must remember is that back in the early days of stock car racing, we ran a lot of state fairgrounds tracks, and they were all dirt. In fact, I don't remember Hillsborough, North Carolina, having guard railings for a long time. You ran off the track going into the third turn, and you drove off down into a pine thicket. Nope, racing wasn't always as prim and proper as it is now.
By Richard Petty

Trivia - NASCAR's Final Big Time Dirt Track Race had an all Ellerbe Front Row

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The Shadow Knows