My thoughts are with, and my prayers for, the Pistone family and all the friends of that wonderful lady. Such a love story of which novels are written and movies made and this one was lived out in the world of racing and a wonderful family. God bless the Pistone family.
I must have told you that story, Jeff. Yes, it was the pace car. Pearson would pull up beside us and ask for a light and the guy riding with me would hand him this cigarette lighter. Pearson would light his cigarette and hand it back. The third time we did that, the lighter got dropped in the pass back and ended up on the track going into turn three. I reported it to track workers but after the race we found the light up against the dirt bank in the turn. Car dealer never knew we lost it in the first place. But, the bottom line in this story is that I WAS NEVER PASSED BY EITHER ALLISON, PEARSON, GANT or any of the other stars!
Yep, Richard had a great publicist, but I had to resign as my other duties became overbearing. Richard was one very dedicated racer and he worked as hard as anyone ever has. To do what he did with what he had is simply amazing.
Oh,and Dave, for the record, if you add David Pearson and Bobby Allison to that list of competitors, I was on the same track with all those guys at Columbia and led every single lap I was out there. That is the absolute, verifiable truth. Call me for details.
James Hylton was a great competitor and even a better man. He helped me out with my racing a great deal. It is almost iimpossible for me to accept he is 79 years old, but I guess time does move on. Thanks, James, for all the great memories.
Who was it, Johnny someone, who one had a hit with the song "Ain't It Funny How Time Slips Away"? Tillison or something like that was his last name, I think. Most of us who are older surely know that is true as it often seems we have hardly taken out the trash from the opened Christmas presents before we are putting up the tree for the next Christmas. Oh, and birthdays? Those were one a year apart. Now seems as if the birthday comes around once a week or so. But TODAY marks six months ago that we started the Racing History Minute.
I would like to think that many folks read these and don't comment, while we have some who do read and comment and certain TMC Chase and Dave Fulton add posts that really enhance the meager posting I make. This is providing this site with a truly wonderful historic record of stock car racing. Chase and Dave have added some videos that are really special.
So, to all who may read these posts, if you have a memory pertaining to the event chronicled, please add that memory to the post. This is YOUR website. The website for all fans who wish to connect with the history and the legends of the sport. Enjoy, be a part of this all.
Now, on to the History Minute for today. There have been several races run on this date but it seems most of those were Petty victories. I have an agreement with TMC Chase that he covers the Petty triumphs and he does that very, very well. I'm sure he'll be posting later on some of those Petty wins. As for us. we will be at the "Augusta 200" which was run on the half-mile asphalt track in Augusta, Georgia.
Bobby Allison, in the Friedkin Enterprises Plymouth started on the pole. He was flanked by Richard Petty in the Petty Enterprises Plymouth with David Pearson in the Holman-Moody Ford starting third. Bobby Isaac qualified the K&K Insurance Dodge fourth and Elmo Langley put the Langley-Woodfield Ford in fifth starting spot.
Bobby Allison would lead the first 108 laps while seemingly on cruise control. He had Pearson nipping at his heels, but Bobby just could not be passed. On lap 109 Bobby hit the pits for a routine stop but the crew had a difficult time changing two tires and he lost ground to David Pearson who assumed the lead on that stop. Sad thing is the race was under caution when Allison stopped. Allison would give chase, but he could not retake the lead from Pearson.
Richard Petty, who was clearly the fastest car on the track, had stopped on lap 22 for tires (apparently one didn't feel right to The King) and he lost a lap and a little more at that time. Richard made up the lap under green and was litterally rim-riding and flying around the high banks of that half-mile track but came up short.
Elmo Langley, the independant driver who started fifth, was running a stong fourth place when his engine blew on lap 33. Elmo was truly a gentleman racer and, as my old memory serves, who two Grand National races in his career. If you ever saw the movied "Red Line 7000", you may be interested to know that Elmo bought one of the cars used in that movie by "Mike Marsh" played by James Caan and it was in that car, I believe, that Elmo won the two races.
The win was the 46th for David Pearson who would go on to win a total of 105 races in NASCAR's top division and is now a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The 1968 season would see David win the Championship.
Top five finishers were:
1. David Pearson, Holman-Moody Ford, winning $1,000.00
2. Bobby Allison, Friedkin Enterprises Plymouth, winning $600.00
3. Richard Petty,Petty Enterprises Plymouth, winning $600.00
4. Bobby Isaac, K&K Insurance Dodge, winning $300.00 (1 lap down)
5. John Sears, L.G. DeWitt Ford, winning $275.00 (5 laps down)
Sixth through tenth were James Hylton, Dave Marcis, Clyde Lynn, J.D. McDuffie and Bill Siefert. Jabe Thomas would finish 11th, Roy Tyner 12th, Ed Negre 17th, Elmo Langley 18th, Frank Warren 19th, Earl Brooks 20th. Wendell Scott would finish last, in 21st position, after experiencing engine problems on the very first lap.
PERSONAL MEMORIES: I remember that several of my friends and I traveled to Augusta that day, all of us Petty Fans except for the one Junior Johnson fan who went because he loved racing so much. That was sort of special because Junior wasn't racing that day but all we guys sort of hung together and had been doing so since age 8 or 9.
All of us pulling for Petty thought the race was over for us on the 22nd lap when Richard went to the pits and he had no idea why. We saw the tire change and then he flew back onto the track. He was obviously so much faster (at least in our eyes) than everyone else we just knew he would win. Didn't happen, but we had a good time with Richard after the race. The good time went on even further as we left the track at the same time the Petty crew did and managed to follow them as far as Columbia on Highway US 1.
It was sometime around 1962 when I came to truly appreciate the "independant" drivers and teams in NASCAR. Because of that, I would always try to speak to as many of those drivers as I could anytime the opportunity presented itself. As I think back on the Elmo Langley disappointment that day, my memories of all my encounters with him reinforce the fact that he was a kind man who loved racing.
In 1992 I was working with a major television sports network putting together a special to be aired around Christmas. My camera man and I were sitting on the pitwall long after the finish of the October Charlotte race when the Pace Car pulled up. Elmo got out and came over to speak. After talking a few minutes, I asked Elmo if we could do an interview. He agreed, and we sat there for 45 minutes talking racing history. I have tried for years to obtain a copy of that video but have been refused. Last try, about 2004, I was told it no longer exists. I must say it was through the actions of that television network that I learned you do NOT trust television networks. You should see what they did to my interview with the King in December of that year. Yes, I have that on tape because the Producer was so upset at how I had been treated by the network he sent me the actual tape from the camera that day. But all is good. I have the memories and those are mine!
I also have the memory that less than one year after the event which is the subject of this "Minute" I would run my second race as a driver. In that race, I started fourth and took the lead coming off turn two on the first lap when the first two cars were too involved with each other to notice me. I led 7 laps before I experienced my first "bump and run" in turn four. I lost the lead, but as I remember, we ran third that night.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future
1. David
On this date in 1970, 8,800 folks showed up to cheering their favorites in the "Wilkes 400" run on the .625 mile asphalt track at North Wilkesboro. One of the "original" tracks of early NASCAR, the venue always provided exciting racing, whether dirt or asphalt and the event in 1970 was no different.
Bobby Isaac, already at ten time winner in the 1970 season, and leader in the points coming into the event, put the K&K Insurance Dodge on the pole with a speed of 105.406 mph. Donnie Allison, in a Junior Johnson Ford would start second, Richard Petty in the Petty Enterprises Plymouth would start third, Bobby Allison in the Mario Rossi Dodge fourth and Friday Hassler driving a James Hanley Chevrolet qualified fifth.
Bobby Isaac led the first four laps before Donnie Allison muscled his way around the swift Dodge of Isaac. Four laps later, Isaac ascerted the Dodge power and went in front where he would stay until lap 131. Richard Petty took over on lap 132 and stayed out front until lap 178 when Isaac took over but only for one lap. From lap 181 through lap 353 it was a back and forth battle between Petty and Isaac with the leader never more than a couple car lengths from second place.
Isaac stopped, a scheduled pit stop, on lap 388 and while changing tires, the jack sunk into the soft asphalt causing Bobby to lose a lap to Richard. Bobby blasted from the pits and soon unlapped himself but was left with almost half a mile to make up if he wanted to win the race. Then. with 25 laps to go, Bub Strickler, running well back, spun and brought out the fourth and final caution flag.
Crew chief for Isaac, Harry Hyde, called his driver into the pits and went about changing tires to a softer compound for the short run to the checkers. Petty did not pit. The green flag flew again and Bobby was on a mission. With 12 laps to go, Bobby put the red K&K Dodge out front with Petty now in hot pusuit. The new, softer compound tires allowed Bobby to literally fly through the turns and he was able to hold off Petty by six car lengths at the finish.This was the 32nd win in the Grand National Division of NASCAR for Bobby Isaac. The fans were treated to a thrilling race between Isaac and Petty and surely went home happy.
Top five finishers:
1. Bobby Isaac, K&K Insurance Dodge, winning $5,825.00
2. Richard Petty, Petty Enterprises Plymouth, winning $2,850.00 (6 seconds back)
3. Donnie Allison, Junior Johnson Ford, winning $1,975.00 (1 lap down)
4. Bobby Allison, Mario Rossi Dodge, winning $1,250.00 (5 laps down)
5. James Hylton, Hylton Engineering Ford, winnint $900.00 (7 laps down)
Sixth through tenth were Benny Parsons, Neil Castles, Clyde Lynn, Friday Hassler and Jabe Thomas. Elmo Langley would finish 11th, Frank Warren 12th, Dave Marcis 13th, Cecil Gordon 14th and Wendell Scott 15th. J.D. McDuffie was 21st, Roy Mayne 23rd, Bill Champion 25th, Dick Brooks 26th, Buddy Arrington 28th. Credited with 30th and the final position was G.C. Spencer who was involved in a crash on lap 63 and was finished for the day.
Four caution flags for 32 laps kept the average speed to 90.162 mph for the winning Isaac.
On a very sad note for this date, same day, October 4, 1970, the racing world lost Curtis Turner. "Pops" was flying his Aero Commander 500 when it crashed near DuBois, PA. Curtis and his passenger, golf pro Clarence King were both killed in the crash. From the earliest days of NASCAR, Curtis had been a force that propelled the growth and popularity of the sport. The stories about Curtis are legendary in the racing world.
Curtis and his buddy Joe Weatherly, put on some of the best racing ever on the dirt tracks, and at Darlington, but were also known for their parties. "Pops" was always ready to start another party. He lived his life to the fullest and gave so much of that life to the sport of stock car racing.
PERSONAL NOTE: I had the opportunity to meet Curtis Turner and actually hang around him several times at the track. One night at the then dirt track, Columbia Speedway, a big Lincoln with Texas Longhorn steer horns mounted on the hood pulled in and Curtis got out dressed in a dark suit with a white shirt and dark tie. He appeared headed out to dinner rather than to the steering wheel of a race car. He drove the race in that suit, tie and white shirt.
As I sit here and recall each encounter I had with Curtis Turner, it is difficult for me to remember any time when he seemed to be serious in conversation. Oh, he was serious in the race car but it seemed he was always up for having fun with people. I was at Rockingham that October 31, 1965 when Curtis won the first race on that track in the Wood Brothers Ford. NASCAR, which had banned him for life, realized they needed him to revive a season that suffered dismal attendance. Watching him that day was reminisent of watching him in those 56 Fords tearing up the dirt tracks and Darlington. It would be so grand to have Curtis around to enjoy the get-togethers we have with RacersReunion. He would add so much. We are fortunate to have his daughter, Margaret Sue Turner Wright, a very gifted artist, attend many of the events, keeping her father's legacy alive for the new generation of fans. It is a legacy well worth continuing.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.
Awesome Dave!!! Loved the video. I must ask, however, if you have a library card for this library. You've been hitting it a lot lately. But oh how I'm loving what you're adding.
Chase, I definitely need an autographed picture of you to add to the gallery here in The Lair!!
Chase, I am assuming, and only assuming, that is you in the #43 hat? Great post. I hope to catch the show but what network is carrying it?
Amen to that Dave. Wish it would happen. The two guys who did the pictures are both very talented college graduates of the past two years. Both huge race fans and both very good guys. I feel really honored that they would take the time to look up my old Plymouth and then make these cars. Both of them have bright futures whatever they choose to pursue.
