I live in Blairsville, GA. I was the track photographer for the Tri-Racing circuit (Dixie, Rome and West Atlanta) for awhile and then moved up to Jefferson at Georgia International Speedway
That's Margaret Claud, Miss Winston from around 1981-1985. She was also Miss Wrangler on off Winston weekends. She married a Winston-Salem attorney last name of Padgett.
Here's an Winston Cup Scene article from 2003:
Not just a pretty face
By Deb Williams
Monday, December 15, 2003
A white, contemporary, one-story building with the name "Marilyn's" written across one wall is the only designation for the Greensboro modeling and talent agency. A reception area with a mirrored wall greets visitors. To the right, a hallway leads to offices, makeup and auditioning rooms. To the left is Marilyn Chilton Green's spacious office. Her dog, Sissy, sleeps on the sofa, oblivious to the people and ringing telephones. Hanging on one wall are photographs of Green with actor/comedian Bob Hope and Kathryn Crosby. Green was R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s first Miss Winston when the Winston-Salem, N.C., company became the sponsor of NASCAR's premier series in 1971. She remained in that position through 1972 and then decided to resign and open her own modeling agency. "There were a lot of young women who had come up to me in that two-year period and said, 'I really want to be Miss Winston. How can I apply?' I felt there was a need for a modeling agency in North Carolina," Green says. "There was only one in Charlotte, not a single agency in this area. I thought if there are so many women and men who want to model out there, who want to do things, it's worth a try, so I did this out of my apartment. I started with four or five people, and I went out and called on people to get clients. I did a lot of the jobs myself." Green built her business over the next three decades with her former employer becoming one of her primary clients. Her company not only supplied most of the women who served as Miss Winston, but also those women who represented RJR in its other sports marketing ventures, including IMSA, NHRA and professional rodeo. "I knew what they wanted, so they asked everyone to apply through our agency, which was great," Green says. "Scottie Seaver, during the 17 years she's been with me, she and I have interviewed thousands of young women who wanted to be Miss Winston. "Sometimes we would have six boxes of people [interested in being Miss Winston.] We'd go through them individually, look at their resumes and sort down to maybe the top 50. Then we would send those to RJR and they would pick the top 20 or 30 they wanted to see. Then they did the interviews. "It was a great experience, because it gave us the opportunity to explain the program in great detail, the responsibilities, the travel, everything to the girls before they ever went to RJR so that no one would be wasting their time. It wasn't just being a beauty queen, riding around on a float, or just being somebody that had to look pretty. This is someone who really had to work and was putting in a lot of time, and they were putting in lots of hours. It was more than just being a pretty face. They had to be on their toes to act and be professional images for RJR, and be a great image for the racing industry. "They asked us to be sure that we put a great deal of emphasis on character, ethics, personality and then looks." Jeff Byrd, vice president of Bristol Motor Speedway, was with RJR's Sports Marketing Enterprises for 23 years and hired many of the women who represented the company. "We looked for someone who was attractive but intelligent enough to be an assistant team manager," Byrd says. "You could send them to do tours with customers or they could run the suite for you. They could do whatever we did. A lot of girls got promoted and became full-time employees [with RJR]." Pattie Huffman Petty, Miss Winston from 1976-77, was working on her master's degree when she was initially hired by Byrd to be Miss Camel GT. "Pattie stood out because when she was hired as Miss Camel GT she was thrust into a world of wealthy people," Byrd says. "She came from High Point [N.C.], ... and for her to cross into that culture was a tribute. She felt more at home when we switched her to Winston Cup. She did a better job. She was very intelligent and honest. She was a Christian before it was fashionable to be a Christian in NASCAR." In addition to Petty, the other former Miss Winstons that stand out in Byrd's mind are Green and Margaret Claud Padgett. Green because she was the first Miss Winston and one Byrd described as "terrific." Padgett because of her longevity, 1981-85. "You had to walk a narrow tightrope back then," Byrd says. "You had to be attractive enough for everyone to pay attention, but wholesome enough not to make any wife or girlfriend mad." Padgett, an Elon College graduate, said it was her marriage that caused her to step down as Miss Winston. "It was long hours and it was hard work, but people never understand that," she once said. "There's a lot of social functions and after a while, you've had enough. Usually, we were up around 6 a.m. and didn't get through until midnight. You got a break to freshen up and eat." Byrd said there were three rules for Miss Winston: Be on time in the morning; don't miss your plane; and don't date anyone inside the sport. "Most didn't have any trouble with the first two. Most of them got fired with the third," Byrd noted. Green, who was 26 when she was hired as Miss Winston, was in Wachovia Bank's marketing department. A friend who had seen the advertisement in the local paper encouraged her to interview for the job. Green didn't think she had a chance at the position. She figured they would hire "some wonderful model out of New York. A top-notch person who knows what they're doing." "Not me, not a little girl from Stokes County who doesn't know anything about the modeling business," she says. "But I guess they just decided that maybe I'd fit better into the country girl that was auto racing, more so than some model out of New York. I was very honored they would even consider me." When Green was hired, RJR required a Miss Winston be age 21 or older. That was later changed to 23, and then raised to 25. "There aren't as many young women, as you would think, who are available to travel all the time who are not in college, who are not married, who are not working or have other major responsibilities in their lives, who are 25 or older," Green says. "It's very limiting to the number of young women who are available who don't have conflicts." Green operated her business in Winston-Salem from 1973 to '78 and was in two other locations before building her current facility 17 years ago. "I learned a lot in two years [of being Miss Winston] about how to market, not to be afraid to speak to anybody, not to be afraid to go to clients and tell them I could help them with their marketing ideas," she said. "I learned from the best between [RJR's] Ralph Seagraves and Wayne Robertson. It was like having a free education." Today her client list looks like the Who's Who of Corporate America. She provides models, actors and singers for print and electronic commercials as well as runway shows and even those willing to dress in costumes. She also provides 50 to 100 models for the state's annual furniture market. "We still do Mattel toys and we do Barbie everywhere," she says. "They interview a lot of girls who are blonde who can go into the big toy stores and sign autographs as "Barbie" for the kids. "We have costumes we provide. We actually do that for Chiquita banana. We're doing a national campaign right now and their mascot [wears] a big sheep costume." In addition to those who served as Miss Winston, Green's agency furnished the people who provided sample products for RJR at the track. That meant hiring 40 to 150 people each weekend. "It's sad they're not going to be doing that anymore," she says. "I loved all the people at RJR. They were just family to me and I've stayed in touch with them all these years. I've always felt like I was just part of their family." Green, who's always attended two to six races annually, said her company had spoken with Nextel and given that company a bid. "Hopefully, that will be a positive endeavor," Green says. "It will never replace our relationship with RJR. It will take a long time to ever build another relationship like that. "A lot of doors have been opened [for young women] because of things like Miss Winston. That opened doors to put women into sports that never would have been opened had they not done that. When you think about it, that was a man's world ... and you think about the women who now interview the sports people in the pits, on the sidelines in football games. "So thanks to RJR and SME, they opened the door to let intelligent, pretty young women show they could do things within that sport and many other sports that maybe would never have had a chance. I owe them a lot and a lot of other young women owe them a lot, too."
I keep seeing tv news coverage in Charlotte of several terrible wildfires started by lightening burning thousands of acres in eastern North Carolina and it seems to be getting worse. The other day on a newscast I saw a huge column of smoke in the distance looking inland from the beach at Surf City, where I used to fish back in the 70s. Then in today's Charlotte paper Isaw a big wildfire story datelined Rocky Point, NCand set in Pender County, NC. I thought immediately of 3 things:
1) Rocky Point being the listed home at the time of Richard Brickhouse, unlikely winner of thefirst Talladega race in 1969.
2) Back in the early 70s enjoying watching Carl Horton, teeth clinched on his ever-present cigar stub, broadslide through the turns at Wilson County Speedway piloting his "Pender County Special" Chevelle.
3) Concern for the health and safety of my many friends, former business associates and my wife's family members and our Reunion members and their families living in eastern NC.
Let's hope they get some rain and are able to get some relief.
This one is identified as Cherry Hill, NJ, near racetrack. Doesn't specify if it's a four wheel or four hooves track!
We reminisce about the old tracks no longer running and North Wilkesboro with its unique uphill & downhill straights is one of them. I must say, upfront, however, that I was never impressed like PattyKay and some of the rest of you by a hotdog slathered in slaw. The first one I got really surprised me. Had to order them special without the slaw after that. Just not my thing to eat slaw on a hotdog - on barbecue, yes. If you never went to North Wilkesboro, you need to know that it was a little lacking in amenities, such as paint, by "modern" track standards. The first thing you noticed on opening day morning before the fans arrived was the incredible smell. It wasn't a nice smell. I chalked it up to all the chicken houses in the vicinity until one of the crew guys told me they grazed goats in the infield throughout the year and I better watch where I walked. Then there were the infield restroom facilities, or lack thereof. Darrell Waltrip tells a tale with lots of sound effects about the first time he went in the restroom at Wilkesboro and Junior Johnson was in one of the stalls. When Darrell tried to open the door, Junior kept saying, "Go udden, go udden," so Darrell started making the sound of a race engine being revved, not realizing Junior was trying to tell him to go to the other stall.I thought I was gonna get killed one time at North Wilkesboro when DW let loose a load of lead shot from Junior's car that went bouncing in all directions. Another time I thought I had been killed. Right at the end of the race I was walking between transporters just as the Wood Brothers opened the side trailer engine compartment door. I walked slam into it, gashed my head, started bleeding and promptly passed out. My first and last (I hope) visit to the Wilkesboro hospital was when Len Wood drove me there for stitches in my head. My wife would argue that I haven't been right since. But what I most remember about Wilkesboro was leaving there with green feet. I don't remember if it was spring or fall of 1981, but on Friday it rained like all get out and we were soaked to the bone and the whole infield was nothing but a mudhole. Representing Wrangler Jeans, I was supposed to dress in jeans, blue & yellow team western crew shirts and western boots. Well, I hated western boots, especially the pointy toe ones they wanted me to wear. Finally, one day at the Greensboro K-Mart I found a pair of blue and yellow athletic shoes that perfectly matched the blue and yellow Wrangler colors. Now, this was before Nike and Reebok and those nice leather shoes. I don't know what kind of Asian or Carribbean materials those shoes were made of or what kind of toxic chemicals were used in the blue and yellow dyes, but when they met the wet mud of the North Wilkesboro infield my feet turned green. Not just for a day either. I had green feet for what seemed like weeks. The last thing I'd see at night before climbing under the covers was a pair of dayglo green feet. Scary. I went back to wearing those dreaded western boots and never dabbled in colored athletic shoes again. But, my biggest memory of North Wilkesboro remains leaving there with green feet.
