Forum Activity for @dave-fulton

Curtis Turner

Stock Car Racing History

In spring 1986 I was standing with Glen and Leonard Wood on top of their hauler in the garage area of Atlanta (on the old, good, pure oval configuration) as they watched with amazement while Dale Earnhardt made aqualifying run. Both brothers allowed that they had never seen any driver go so deep in turn 1 at Atlanta before lifting. Before I knew it, they were discussing who in their opinion was the greatest driver they had ever seen... and they had seen a bunch.Neither brother named David Pearson, which surprised me. One said Earnhardt, the other said Curtis Turner. Then they named the "dumbest" driver who ever drove for them. I won't repeat the name, but they both agreed. Back in 1981, while managing the Wrangler Racing program in Greensboro, NC, my wife and I went to a parent conference with our older daughter's 2nd grade teacher - a very refined woman, nearing retirement. When she found out what I did, she told us she had once snuck Curtis away from a party he wanted to ditch in the trunk of her car. We thought that was hilarious. My favorite about Curtis used to be told by Paul Sawyer in Richmond about Curtis and the "ought not" bush at the Daytona Beach road course. Curtis used to say that when you got to that little scrub bush you "ought not" be on the gas anymore, or you'd turn over in the turn. After that, Joe Weatherly started calling it the "ought not" bush.

Historic Track Closing

Historic Speedways and Ghost Tracks

Unfortunately I don't get up to Richmond more than once every couple of years and haven't been to Southside since 1998, so I can't comment on the car counts or crowds.

Pete Banchoff said:

Dave, hopefully it isn't dead and can continue to operate. Talk about a who's who in racing...WOW what a line up of drivers. How were the recent crowds and car counts at Southside?

Historic Track Closing

Historic Speedways and Ghost Tracks

Although the list of Southside drivers over the years would fill several books, I was remiss not to note Joe Henry Thurman, 1968 NASCAR National Late Model Sportsman Champion, as another Southside SpeedwayFriday night regular.

Historic Track Closing

Historic Speedways and Ghost Tracks

Heard awful news this week. My old hometown weekly track - Southside Speedway in Richmond, VA - won't open this season due to a stroke by the owner. I think we all have a special place in our hearts for our home speedway, even when we live far away and no longer attend. Originally opened as the dirt Royall Speedway, Southside operated continuously for well over 50 years, a 1/3-mile asphalt configuration whose most recent "star" was Cup regular Denny Hamlin. At one time it also hosted GN/Cup events in the same seasons asits crosstown companion track, the 1/2-mile dirt Richmond Fairgrounds. Southside was indeed a historic track by any standard. It was home to "Mr. Modified" Ray Hendrick, as well as the other 4-H Boys - Sonny Hutchins, Runt Harris and Ted Hairfield. 2-time NASCAR National Modified Champion Eddie Crouse called Southside home, as did Busch Series GN champ Tommy Ellis. One of its promoters included Emanuel Zervakis, the "Golden Greek" of early GN win fame, whose career ended in a blazing pile of Modified rubble outside the track one Friday night. Zervakis later built winning Sportsman cars for Sonny Hutchins, Butch Lindley and Geoff Bodine. Cup Rookie of of the year Lennie Pond called Southside home as did Rookie of the Year, Bill Dennis - alsothe first 3-time winner of Daytona's Permatex 300 at the wheel of Southside car owner Junie Donlaveys' mounts. Running on Friday nights, Southside drew the best talent from North Carolina and Maryland, as well an the famed "Eastern Bandits" from the northeast -"Steady" Eddie Flemke, Denny Zimmerman and Red Foote. Wendell Scott was a track points champ. A former winner of Southside's famed Virginia 400 Modified race was Bobby Allison. Al Grinnan would win here on Friday night on asphalt and in Wilson, NCon Saturday night on dirt.Jimmy Hensley, Eddie Royster, Paul Radford, Perk Brown, Carl Burris, Hank Thomas, Gene Lovelace raced each other here. Friday nights are going to be very quiet on GenitoRoad in Chesterfield County, VA. Too quiet. A sad day for weekly racing. Forgive me if I have a tear in my eye dreaming ofthe ghosts of Ray Hendrick and Sonny Hutchins beating and banging through turn 1 while we fanspourfrom our hiddenpints into our Coke on a cold April night for a little warmth. RIP Southside.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:08:38PM

Question of the day for March 25, 2011

General

Yes... Rapid Ray Hendrick - "Mr. Modified" - in 1990 after he stopped racing and not long before his death. I was Director of Media Relations at Richmond International Raceway and we decided to honor all contestants who had ever competed in the NASCAR Virginia State Fair Modified Championship races on the old 1/2-mile dirt track. We created the "Strawberry Hill Mod Squad". I had the honor of physically researching every NASCAR results sheet for those events and we invited them all back and honored them inpre-race activities before a huge modified race on the new 3/4-mile asphalt track. I came away with a great feeling. We had guys like Runt Harris, Wendell Scott, Sonny Hutchins, Eddie Crouse, Ted Hairfield, Lennie Pond, Bill Dennis, Emanuel Zervakis, Red Foote, Denny Zimmerman and the list went on and on. Not only was it an honor to meet Ray in person, but all the others.

Liz Liked Mods, Sportsman & Schlitz

Stock Car Racing History

Me, too and I bet a lot of others.

Liz Liked Mods, Sportsman & Schlitz

Stock Car Racing History

Bopper, they died a horrible death in 1982, the day NASCAR turned the LMS division into a "Tour." All of the Virginia tracks had already dropped the NASCAR mods several years before that and 95% of the cars were coming from the northeast except the Bowman-Gray contingent.

Martinsville has tried diligently to run a big Late Model Stock Car event, but it never drew like the old Dogwood 500 and Cardinal 500 races. NASCAR kept the Grand National/Winston Cup calendar open on those two weekends so the top talent in the country could be there and there was no competition for fans. MRN Radio used to broadcast both halves of both events. The very first Cardinal 500 was a 500-lap Modified only affair, won by Richmond's Ray Hendrick, but then the format changed to twin 250-lap LMS & Modified shows. Probably the very best racing I ever saw anywhere, anytime. The crowds rivaled the GN crowds at Martinsville.

Liz Liked Mods, Sportsman & Schlitz

Stock Car Racing History

Finally found another photo I mentioned... of my wife and her group at Belk Dept. Stores in Charlotte the day they had lunch with Liz. That's Liz holding the dog and my wife in the zebra print, lol.

Liz Liked Mods, Sportsman & Schlitz

Stock Car Racing History

It did ask me for the subcategory with a dropdown menu. I had clicked on the "Add Content" / Typewriter icon first, I think... but don't hold me to that... too many cases of "old timers" recently!

Liz Liked Mods, Sportsman & Schlitz

Stock Car Racing History

Here's a great little video from the Richmond paperchronicling Elizabeth Taylor's 1976 visit to the NASCAR Modified / Sportsman double-header at Martinsville. She sat in the grandstands with the fans drinking Schlitz and opining the racing was better than Formulas One at Monaco. Geoff Bodine says his kiss from Liz was his most memorable moment in racing.

updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM