Tim Leeming has been quiet today
Current NASCAR
Too bad Danica couldn't be there. Then he would have all three of his racing heroes in the same pic.
Forum Activity for @andy-denardi
Current NASCAR
When Dover Debuted a Concrete Surface and the Subsequent Painting of the Blue Line
Stock Car Racing History
I'm overly-familiar with the blue Armco at Watkins Glen but I've never noticed the blue stripe at Dover. Thanks for filling me in!
I miss the days when NASCAR ran allowed several model years to run. It added variety that you don't see these days. Not that it would matter, we don't have annual styling changes anymore (I miss those too). Unless the 1969 race was highlighted on Bud Lindeman's Car And Track, I'm certain that I didn't see it. I definitely don't remember seeing Buicks and Oldsmobiles in the field during the thirty years that GM was laying low.
I was laying low in 1969 and not paying a lot of attention to NASCAR. Petty was in a Ford; who wanted to see that? They already had Pearson & Yarbrough, we needed some competition! Look at that filed and tell who had a chance to win but wasn't driving a Ford? I'm also reminded that James Hylton doesn't get enough credit . He ran real well in the championship for a couple of years and didn't have the factory support that others did.
Racing History Minute - May 30, 1951
Stock Car Racing History
I wish we knew more about WHY we no longer visit. There's been a big push to move NASCAR out of the South and win fans in other parts of the country. But they had already been to most of those new areas and abandoned them after one or two races. Canfield had a good crowd and lots of participants, was Big Bill not getting a big enough cut? The Winston West series ran for years and years, why are they still struggling to build a market in California? For all of Bill France's numerous talents, he seems to have failed a presenting a better show than the midgets, sprint cars and modifieds that were already established outside of the South.
I still maintain that NASCAR would do better if they established an East and West league and held a ten race series between the two for the national championship. They could give each track two races like they want and still have room for more short tracks and road courses. You could cut the race schedule to 25 events for each league and still have racing on TV every weekend. Plus, "the chase" would actually mean something. Obviously, DW and Jeff Hammond would be traded to the Western League. Hollywood Hotel and all that.
Racing History Minute - May 30, 1951
Stock Car Racing History
Harold Petty must be another of those brothers who gave up on driving early on and spent his time building race cars.
Some tips for tagging photos on RacersReunion
General
Do you have a preferred size or resolution? Most of my photos were digitized at 1200DPI which is takes too long to load on the web. Would 6x9 300DPI be OK?
Most of my older pictures are SCCA/IMSA/ALMS sports cars but I think I have a few stockers from the Talladega museum that I could toss in.
Petty's #43 Sponsor Sells to Chinese Outfit
Current NASCAR
When Budweiser was sold to foreigners, I realized that America won't be returning to its former greatness. I don't drink their product but when they've come for your manufacturing, your beer and your food then you are in serious trouble. You can blame it on any politician you want, but I point my finger at greedy CEOs and investors. If we were isolated by war the way we were in the Forties, we could not survive.
Racing History Minute - May 29, 1955
Stock Car Racing History
I assume that Grand National was running roll bars in their hardtops in 1955. It's odd that open wheelers didn't run them above the helmet. I notice that Formula 1 was the same way. I did a lot of study on the Vukovich accident last year, I don't think it would have helped in his case because the fire would have prevented anyone from pulling him out.
New Dominion Speedway Approved , Thornburg VA
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
That's a very cluttered and difficult to read website. Topics bleed over from one page to the next as well, which dilutes the argument at hand and makes it look like they were just trying to fill the page. They would definitely benefit from paying a web designer. If it were my site, I would make traffic or noise the lead story, not the Small Whorled Pogonia. Homeowners have more immediate concerns than the fate of something that looks like poison oak.
I feel that their 10 mile raceway sound radius is an over-exaggeration. If the terrain were relatively flat, I think that 3 miles would be a more accurate concern and that only for unmuffled race cars. The type of cars that would be on the track during school hours would likely be modified street cars and it's very easy to put a decibel requirement on them. I think they have a point about two schools within the one mile radius. Young boys will hear even muffled cars at that distance and I know that I wouldn't have been able to pay attention with race cars that close by.
I'm also suspicious of the fringe benefits that appear to already be lining up for family & friends of the Planning Commission. It looks like a scheme to line someone's pockets I think Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia has them trumped on road racing for professionals and amateurs alike. I can't see that as being a substantial part of their business. Google says that there are two 1/4 mile and two 1/8 mile dragstrips within an hour's drive. It appears to me that they're going to have to make the majority of their money on Saturday night oval racing.
New Dominion Speedway Approved , Thornburg VA
Local and Regional Short Track Racing
It's too far North to do me any good but I can't see this lasting more than five years after its inauguration. With three types of track it's obviously going to get used several times a month. Add in concerts on Summer Saturdays and you've got noise nearly every other day. Residents always agree to the noise at first but many move away when it gets too annoying. New residents move in and quickly shut the place down.I don't know how it will be configured but I can't see how the proposed buildings would adequately block noise for all three configurations. They need to drop the whole facility down into a deep hollow with dirt embankments above the grandstands all the way around. Then you've got to account for the drainage problems that creates.
Racing History Minute - May 23, 1965
Stock Car Racing History
You confused me for a minute because the photo you posted earlier had AJ Foyt in the #41 Ford and your most recent reply said Paschal ran that number in a Chevrolet. Racing Reference infers that the Hutcherson-Lorenzen-Foyt picture may be from the Fall 1965 Charlotte race.
Although the Indianapolis 500 wasn't run until a week later, we can assume that Foyt was preparing for his start from the pole position. I notice that Pedro Rodriguez ran the '65 World 600 and Jim Clark won the '65 Indy 500. It's a shame that era of racing anything that rolls has passed.