Trivia - NASCAR's Final Big Time Dirt Track Race had an all Ellerbe Front Row
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What color is that??!!
Forum Activity for @dave-fulton
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What color is that??!!
Trivia - NASCAR's Final Big Time Dirt Track Race had an all Ellerbe Front Row
General
Richard Petty will always be remembered as the winner of NASCAR's final Grand National race on dirt, at the half-mile Raleigh, NC Fairgrounds on September 30, 1970 - now 41 years ago. However, two drivers residing in Ellerbe, NC started the race on the front row. John Sears of Ellerbe, who used to drive for L.G. DeWitt of Ellerbe won the pole and L.G DeWitt's"new" driver, mid- westerner Benny Parsons, now residing also in Ellerbe a mile from Sears, started on the outside pole.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
SHARKS! Brendan Gaughan Races with 'em and SWIMS with 'em (Crazy?)
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In 1981 used to fly on some charter deals tyhat Danny Culler with Piedmont set up out of the Winston-Salem airport. Usually flew on a twin engine piloted by Lauren Edwards, Earnhardt's neighbor on the lake. Earnhardt and Barney Hall, along with a Winston rep,Miss Winston and myself usually made up the flight. Something got screwed up one evening after a Michigan race and they were swapping planes around and told me I'd be on a single engine from MIS to Winston-Salem. I told Danny it's be a cold day in July. We were having thunderstorms and a tornado warning. Anyway, I did fly back on the twin engine, but I absolutely got my fill of little planes that year and haven't flown in any since. The convenience wasn't worth the feeling of being scared s-------. One flight into the Mt. Pocono airport, Lauren tried to land on three approaches and we never did see the runway before diverting to Wilkes-Barre Scranton. Flew out of Talladega in one of thos famous thunderstorms and they'd always show me where Richard Brooks flipped his plane at Dover when he hita culvert. haven't been on a plane of any kind since 1998 and not sure I will again.
SHARKS! Brendan Gaughan Races with 'em and SWIMS with 'em (Crazy?)
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Brendan Gaughan in the shark tank at Newport Aquarium
Gaughan Dives With Sharks
Cincinatti Enguirer
10:47 PM, Sep. 20, 2011
CINCINNATI -- Brendan Gaughan traded his driver's suit for a wetsuit and scuba gear to dive in a shark-filled tank on Tuesday.
"I've been trying to put together my two passions and I finally got Kentucky Speedway to bite," the veteran NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver said, then added. "I shouldn't say 'bite' right now."
Gaughan was in town to promote the speedway's Oct. 1-2 race weekend from 20 feet under water in the Surrounded by Sharks exhibit at the Newport Aquarium.
He'll drive the No. 62 Toyota for Germain Racing in the Kentucky 225 Oct. 1. The IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights are scheduled to race the following day.
"Swimming with sharks. Racing with sharks," Gaughan said. "It's kind of the same."
A certified dive master, the 36-year-old enjoys diving with sharks like the toothy sand tigers that cruised around him Tuesday. He also has explored sunken German U-boats off the coast of North Carolina and encountered an orca and her calf up close in the waters near La Paz, Mexico.
"That was one of the most frightening moments of my life," he said. "I would rather hit the wall at Kentucky Speedway full-throttle."
An eight-time winner in the truck series, Gaughan ranks 13th in points this season and considers Kentucky one of his better tracks. He finished third there in the UNOH 225 in July.
"There's a focus that comes in racing that is very intense, and scuba diving is somewhat the same," Gaughan said. "When I dive I feel very much like I do when I'm really intent and focused on the racetrack. That's my goal. I'm looking at what I want, the guy in front of me, where I'm trying to pass him. And I'm that focused on it. When I'm diving at 220 feet ... you've got to be very task-oriented and very intent and focused on what you're doing. If you make a mistake, just like in racing, you can probably get hurt."
updated by @dave-fulton: 04/03/17 01:32:06PM
Miss the local food joints when traveling the racing circuit - New Hampshire offerred Fresh Fried clams & homemade ice cream
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Tobacco Co. in Richmond was pretty unique. My dad actually worked in that very building for 48 years when it was a manufacturing plant.
Miss the local food joints when traveling the racing circuit - New Hampshire offerred Fresh Fried clams & homemade ice cream
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One of the things I really miss about no longer travelling the Cup circuit is missing out on all the local one of a kind food joints in the vicinity of the various tracks. It always seemed like the farther away from home I was, the more exciting the discoveries that became "must stop" places - sometimes they were fine restaurants, sometimes just joints, but they were all unique. When I first started going to New Hampshire, Dave Marcis told us abouta small local motel with no phones in the room on Lake Winnipesaukeedown the road from Weirs Beach. Enroute from the track to this scenic spot on the lake, we passed a crossroads where stood Sawyer's Dairy Bar , my favorite place to eat in New Hampshire. It was basically a roadside stand opened in 1945 that had expanded over the years with a dining room, but still had delicious homemade ice cream. The "all you can eat" fried clams I used to get at Howard Johnson couldn't hold a candle to the fresh ones, with "bellies" served at Sawyers. A really good local joint.
Funny how Dave Marcis is involved in recommending various good, cheap eats places. He did in fact have a legendary appetite. We used to stay in Eden, NC when we raced at Martinsville, and there was an old train depot that had been turned into a restaurant in either the old town of Leaksville, Spray or Draper. I remember they'd serve Dave all the spaghetti he could eat, which was a bunch. I believe the place was called Railroad Cafe .
The first time I went to the Phoenix track was before it had Cup races and it was being promoted by Dennis Wood. Dennis tokk me up South Mountain one night to the famous T-Bone Steak House , built in the 1920s from adobe and river rock. Outside the ranch house as you drove up, there were various outdoor pits on the mountainside where steaks were being cooked over mesquite. The old lady running the place walked around with a .45 pistol strapped to her belt. According to the current website, the place is now a non-profit foundation that has been awarded 11 New York Times awards for "Best Cowboy Steak."
http://t-bonesteakhouse.com/home/
When we used to race in Riverside, Dale Earnhardt's favorite place to take us was the Cask'n Cleaver . http://www.caskncleaver.com/
This place, in business since 1967, has won numerous awards as the best steakhouse in the Inland Empire. One night a guy tried to cut off Earnhardt getting into a parking place. Big mistake. The old Lincoln Town Car rental cars could do a lot of damage!
In Daytona, our favorite spot, along with Earnhardt's, was the original Tony & Jerri's Italian, a block off the beach and long since torn down to build parking for the "new" arena. The place had awesome veal and Jerri's husband (not Tony, he was dead) used to play Italian stuff on old 78 rpm records.
Another place Dave Marcis took us to was called the Farmhouse , on the way to the Michigan track from Ann Arbor. They'd open at 4:00 a.m. on race day and the place looked like a barn.I think it had been. Tremendous breakfast served for the racers.
At Darlington, we always had to have at least one cheeseburger steak for lunch at the Raceway Grill , across the side road from the track on 52. When you came back to the track everybody knew where you had been, because you smelled like grease, lol. There used to be a fancy place in Florence called Bonneau's . That's where Bill France, Jr. hired out the bar after hours one night to argue with Paul Sawyer and called me an instigator. I guess I was.
When we came to Charlotte, we always ate at the old Ranch House on Wilkinson Boulevard, that just closed last month. It was famous for its shrimp cocktail, with a freshly ground horseradish sauce that took your breath away. One night my assistant Wrangler Racing program manager had "Miss Pontiac" as his escort at the Ranch House - her first visit. When she ordered a shrimp cocktail we all waited for her first bite, then burst out in howls of laughter when she gagged and then got mad. She got so mad, in fact, that she got up and left, taking her Pontiac Firebird pace car with her. My guy wouldn't speak to us the rest of the night!
Most of the time on the road it was the local places that we found had the best food and if you ever needed a food guide, Dave Marcis was your guy.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
Will the two "new" rules end two-car tandems at Talladega & Daytona???
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lol...
I certainly understand there won't be ANY racing if a car gets in the grandstand. But, I sure don't like the two car deals. I was there at Talladega when Awesome made up two laps, on the track, under the green.
Didn't much like that, either.
Surely somebody, somewhereis smart enough to give us great racing at Daytona and Talladega again with no wings, no plates, decent speed and the least likely chance of a car airborne. A good ole last lap setup for a slingshot. Is it not possible to cut back the cubic inches and rpms? Just asking. No mechanical brain here.
Will the two "new" rules end two-car tandems at Talladega & Daytona???
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Personally, if the new rules end the two-car drafting deals, I think the racing will be better.
Changes could limit Talladega tandems
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- NASCAR tweaked two rules for next month's race at Talladega Superspeedway, apparently in an effort to limit the two-car tandem racing that has dominated at its two fastest tracks.
The first change ordered Wednesday was an increase in the size of the restrictor plate that will be used in the Oct. 23 race. The larger holes in the carburetor plates should lead to an increase of horsepower that could make the cars 2 to 3 mph faster.
Drafting is a common occurrence at Talladega, but NASCAR hopes to change that with new rules.
NASCAR also ordered an adjustment on the pop-off valve in the cooling system that should lower the maximum water temperature in engines. A threat of overheating could prevent cars from staying hooked together for too long.
Drivers discovered over the last year that it's faster to run at Daytona and Talladega in two-car tandems. That style has replaced the popular two- and three-wide packs, and fans have been lukewarm about the tandem racing.
Now, two cars hook up bumper-to-bumper, one clearly pushing the other until the potential for overheating forces them to separate and then swap. It's made for record lead changes and exciting finishes, but is a totally different style than the white-knuckle pack racing fans loved.
Drivers, meanwhile, said it's impossible to see anything when they are pushing another car and Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's most popular driver, has repeatedly railed against tandem racing.
"What kind of move can you make in racing like this?" he asked in July. "There ain't no move you can make. You just hold it on the mat and try not to wreck into each other."
NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton made no mention of the tandem racing in explaining the rule changes.
"After the last few superspeedway races, we've heard many drivers express their desire to open up the size of the restrictor plate some and we thought the time was right to do that," Pemberton said in a statement. "We anticipate these revisions in the rules package for Talladega will help continue to provide competitive and exciting racing for the fans."
The larger restrictor plate could push speeds over 200 mph, but the combination of the pop-off valve change likely means the cars won't be able to stay locked together for as many laps. David Reutimann crew chief Rodney Childers thinks drivers might be limited to a lap of pushing before needing to swap.
"Changing the plates will be better," Childers said. "It should make it more racy, where you can pull out and pass. If they are wanting to make it where people can't draft as long, it's going to do that. Probably only a half of a lap or a lap is all you're going to get out of it."
Chad Johnston, crew chief for Martin Truex Jr., predicted that drivers will have to swap positions more. That could make it dicey, he said, because drivers will have to swap while also avoiding the two-car packs closing in behind them.
"The chances of something going wrong on a swap are going to go up obviously, but hopefully it will eliminate or lessen the two-by-two racing," he said.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
Jeff & Dustin - We all need HELP! Liked the old "black" background better than the new "gray"
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LOL, ANY kind of boots at my preppie Weejun loafers, Gant shirts, Adler wool socks, khaki pantsRichmond high school in 1964 would have been earth shaking! Then, in 1966 I had to wear coat & tie, along with wingtip shoes to class every day at University of Va. On my UVA bookcase, I had a model of Richard's '64 Plymouth, though.