@harlow-reynolds16 years ago
But there was one very special, and extremely rare racer on the grid. It was Joe Merolas number 12 Tucker Torpedo.Let me type that again so you can read it a second time. Im not kidding. Joe raced a 1948 Tucker, one of only 50 cars ever manufactured.For those not in the know, the Tucker is a very highly sought after automobile by collectors. Its builder, Preston Tucker, was run out of the automobile business by the Big Three auto makers because, to be blunt, his car was just too darned good. It had safety innovations that were light years ahead of its time. When the government shut his plant down, Tucker had built only 50 of the futuristic looking cars.So the idea of one being on a half-mile dirt track is amazing, to say the least.But the Tuckers introduction into NASCAR stock car racing was short lived. Merola broke a right rear axel, and the car never completed a lap.Its believed that the racing Tucker was later lost in a warehouse fire in Florida, one of the few not to still survive.So next time you hear the TV commentators talking about how unique it is to have Toyota on the race track, just remember Dick Hageys Beetle, and Merolas Tucker. Well never see cars that cool on the track again.Copyed From Tucker Stock Car.comThanksHarlow ReynoldsLynchburg,Va.
But there was one very special, and extremely rare racer on the grid. It was Joe Merolas number 12 Tucker Torpedo.Let me type that again so you can read it a second time. Im not kidding. Joe raced a 1948 Tucker, one of only 50 cars ever manufactured.For those not in the know, the Tucker is a very highly sought after automobile by collectors. Its builder, Preston Tucker, was run out of the automobile business by the Big Three auto makers because, to be blunt, his car was just too darned good. It had safety innovations that were light years ahead of its time. When the government shut his plant down, Tucker had built only 50 of the futuristic looking cars.So the idea of one being on a half-mile dirt track is amazing, to say the least.But the Tuckers introduction into NASCAR stock car racing was short lived. Merola broke a right rear axel, and the car never completed a lap.Its believed that the racing Tucker was later lost in a warehouse fire in Florida, one of the few not to still survive.So next time you hear the TV commentators talking about how unique it is to have Toyota on the race track, just remember Dick Hageys Beetle, and Merolas Tucker. Well never see cars that cool on the track again.Copyed From Tucker Stock Car.comThanksHarlow ReynoldsLynchburg,Va.