Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

Grandsons Racing & Winning

General

Saw in the Richmond paper today where local racer Chris Johnson had swept Twin 50-lap Modified races at Richmond's Southside Speedway this weekend, at the same track where his dad, Eddie Johnson and grandfather, Cal Johnson made a name for themselves. Certainly not the name recognition of the Pettys or the Earnhardts, but for some years now, all around the country, some of us old enough to remember have been seeing the grandchildren of drivers we used to watch racing and sometimes even winning. At Richmond's Southside, Brandon Hendrick raced where his dad Roy and grandfather Ray had preceded him. I first met Chris Johnson's grandfather, Cal in 1990 when we inducted all drivers who had ever competed on the half-mile Richmond dirt track in the Fall NASCAR State Fair National Championship Modified races into the "STRAWBERRY HILL MOD SQUAD."

Cal Johnson was very quiet and soft spoken. What I remember most is that he was a Washington Redskins fan. In the early 50s, Cal had a radio installed in his modified so he could listen to Redskins games on Sunday afternoon when he raced at the Richmond Fairgrounds.

It was a simpler time.

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

2 in a Row for Marcos

General

I turned off the race right after the checkers (I had both grandsons here - on the computer, playing "Roblox"). I did't know about The "hair raising" event with Steven Wallace until I saw a sports telecast this morning. I've never seen a crew chief pull a competitor's hair before. I understand Steven sid it was a "girly" thing to do!

A postrace clip:

2 in a Row for Marcos

General

Not bad... two NASCAR road course wins in the same week in two different countries for Marcos Ambrose. I watched today's Nationwide Montreal win and this past Monday's Cup win at Watkins Glen. Very talented, dedicated driving. Both of these races were far superior to most of the recent oval track NASCAR shows in these divisions. Congrats, again, Marcos.

updated by @dave-fulton: 03/28/17 06:19:06PM

North South Shootout moved from Myrtle Beach to Caraway Speedway

General

I apologize if I have been overly harsh. Like Billy, I was confused by the release.

North South Shootout moved from Myrtle Beach to Caraway Speedway

General

I'm with you, Billy - does kinda read like a bucket of mud thrown on a sheet of paper. I went to the more info site, but got the same release. WHO?, WHAT?, WHERE?, WHEN?, HOW?... that's what you've always got to tell.

Riding the Hound to Darlington on Labor Day - September 5, 1966

General

I always shake my head, too, Tim, when the announcers tell me how tough it is. They don't even know that old turn 3 was widened a bit when the concrete walls replaced guardrail. The picture in my mind of little Danica Patrick "wrestling" one of those full-size cars of the 60s with no power steering is not pretty. Heck, first time Mark Martin drove there I thought he would wind up in the Robert E. Lee paddock. It was just too much for him. All I could think was that little Rex White and little Joe Weatherly were men among men.

Riding the Hound to Darlington on Labor Day - September 5, 1966

General

It has now been exactly a half-century since I headed to Darlington for my first Southern 500 in 1966. Wonder what winner, Darel Dieringer would think of ground effects, aero push, radial tires, glass dashes, and the front stretch being the backstretch?

Riding the Hound to Darlington on Labor Day - September 5, 1966

General

So far, that's one thing (memory) that still works... mostly!

Riding the Hound to Darlington on Labor Day - September 5, 1966

General

Today, September 5, 2014, marks exactly 48 years since my buddy, Frank and I boarded a Greyhound Scenicruiser bus in Richmond, Virginia just after midnight on September 5, 1966 for a 301 mile ride to Darlington, South Carolina to attend our very first Southern 500 on Labor Day at Darlington Raceway.

The memories of that first time visit and how we accomplished it never grow old.

With the historic Southern 500 returning to Labor Day weekend for 2015, here's hoping some other high school boys might take an adventure to Darlington that will stick in their memories some five decades later like that day is emblazoned in the memory banks of Frank and me.

Riding the Hound to Darlington on Labor Day - September 5, 1966

General

Tim, I didn't make it to Darlington after our 1966 adventure again until 1971. That Labor Day Sunday, 6 of us from the Wrangler/ Blue Bell, Inc. operation in Wilson, NC piled into truck driver Dennis Page's big, ole, maroon Pontiac Bonneville for the trip down to Darlington. That was the vehicle where I'dfirst been exposed to Sun Drop soda one evening, being taught that you held the green Sun Dropbottle in your left hand to wash down the swig of KentuckyTavern bourbon you had just swallowed from from your right hand holding the community bottle being passed around the car in a brown paper bag. We got to the racetrack late Sunday afternoon and parked in a lot right in front of the Robert E. Lee Paddock where we had tickets. That lot was run by the DarlingtonRescue Squad and we pretty well behaved ourselves, catching a few hours of sleep while sitting upright in the Bonneville. I always remember the Oasis Shrine clowns performing in their crazy vehicles every year. They've probably pushed them out by now, too. The next year, 1972,we made grander plans. The same group of six would go, but we would leave Wilson early on Sunday morning. The late Jerry Jackson, manager of our Bethel, NC plantand I had bought a six person tent (that slept 4 comfortably) and we rode from Wilson to Darlington in Cutting Room manager, Eston Smith's famed (at least in eastern NC) black Buick Electra 225, known to everyone as "Black Beauty," the car you'd have to shoot if it could talk. That was a wonderful experience. This time we again pitched our tent outside the turn 4 Robert E. Lee Paddock and were ready for serious partying. In those days the deputy sherriffs used to erect several portable jails inside and outside the track. All around the track there were bands playing music on flatbed trailers. Country, bluegrass, rock n roll - you name it. In a field just across Highway 52, this one band kept playing Rubyyyyyyyyyy.... don't take your love to town. By 10pm Sunday night, you could no longer feel the ground under your feet, because you were walking on crushed beer cans. Unbeknownst to him, we entered our truck driver, Dennis in the "World's Ugliest Human" contest. He won. We told him about it when he regained consciousness and showed him the sign that we had made and hung around his neck. Another of my great racing memories is the 8 mm film we shot on Monday Labor Day morning of the six of us passing around a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket and shaving out of it. We probably drew flies all day. Again we sat in row 17 of the Robert E. Lee Paddock and watched Bobby Allison in the Richard Howard/Junior Johnson Chevy, much to our delight, outrun David Pearson in the Wood Brothers Merc. Those row 17 Robert E. Lee Paddock seats were so good, that for years Doris Mims, the Darlington ticket manager, would keep a block reserved for me at Wrangler and 7-Eleven. Only problem was your ears rang for two days. Didn't get back again until 1979, when DW went to sleep at the wheel while leading and knocked down the wall, allowing David Pearson in the Osterlund Chevy to win.

From 1981 - 1999 I went to every spring race and every Southern 500, working various programs. For a couple of years at Wrangler we rented a separate motel room facing the pool at the Sheraton Swamp Fox in Florence and set it up with several blenders. With the track closed on Sunday, we provided frozen treats to all the racers, beginning Saturday night. I could go to another million races and not recapture the feeling I had at my first couple of Southern 500s. Lotta lost friendships since then and some fellas no longer with us. There is something to be said for being young.