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Category: NASCAR Beginnings

The NASCAR beginnings series by Angie

  • NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Louis Jerome “Red” Vogt Sr.

    NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Louis Jerome “Red” Vogt Sr.

    Tracing the beginnings of NASCAR is not always easy. You often have to rely on stories passed down through the generations, faded clippings from local newspapers and old photographs. Sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish fact from opinion. But it’s never dull and you always walk away with another piece of the puzzle.

    Louis Jerome Vogt Sr. was born in Washington, DC on Sept. 22,
    1904. He got his nickname because of his red hair which he inherited from his mother, Carrie. His father, Louie, worked in the government printing office.

    Vogt’s parents were friends with the France family and their son, William H. G. France, Sr. (Bill) would become one of Vogt’s closest lifelong friends.

    At the age of 11 Vogt quit school and got his first job at a local Cadillac dealership named ‘The Universal Cadillac Corporation’. He was a natural mechanic and by the age of 16 had already risen to the position of shop foreman. He had discovered his calling.

    His friend Bill France Sr. worked at a local service station. On the weekends, the two friends spent their spare time at the race track. Vogt loved racing both motorcycles and open wheel cars on the old board tracks. He won the Eastern Board Track Indian Motorcycle Championship four consecutive years.

    The treacherous, banked board tracks and fast speeds exhilarated Vogt but the crashes took their toll. On a dirt track at Trenton Motor Speedway, racing in an open wheel car, he wrecked and lost most of his teeth. Another accident while racing motorcycles on a board track, shredded his leather racing gear and left splinters embedded in his flesh. He was in and out of the hospital for three months. During his rehabilitation, he met a volunteer named Ruth Maddox who helped nurse him back to health.

    Maddox was from a wealthy family, spoke fluent French and was studying for a career in her father’s insurance business. The unlikely pair soon became a couple. When Vogt decided to move to Atlanta she went with him and they eventually wed.

    France and Vogt had taken different paths as their lives progressed. While France honed his gift for organizing and promoting races, Vogt discovered his passion was not racing cars, but building cars.

    Vogt arrived in Atlanta at the height of Prohibition and quickly put his abilities as a mechanic to work. He met a famous Atlanta bootlegger named “Peachtree” Williams who hired Vogt and set him up in his shop to work on the cars he used to deliver his product.

    Vogt was an exacting employer with high standards. He quickly became well known for his quality workmanship and was a favorite with the local bootleggers. They weren’t the only ones who brought their cars to his garage but the Sheriff’s deputies and the federal revenue agents couldn’t pay as well. Vogt would often say “money equals speed,” so it was probably no accident that the bootlegger’s cars were his top priority.

    Vogt’s philosophy was simple. He made his cars stronger and faster than everyone else. It wasn’t long before the racing community took notice. Two of his earliest moonshine clients were future NASCAR drivers Lloyd Seay and Roy Hall.

    As Vogt’s reputation grew, so did his income.  After a few years he moved Ruth and his two sons to the suburbs into a huge mansion complete with 17 servants.

    C. Thomas Vogt who is known as “Little Red” or simply “Red” was born in 1934. “I got that nickname as I have always looked almost identical to Dad.”  He is the younger brother to Louis Jerome Vogt Jr., born in 1932.

    Although Vogt now had a family, his primary focus was on racing. As a result, his family life suffered. He sent both of his sons to a military school when they were young and was never a big part of their lives. His wife spent most of her time handling the business side of racing.

    His son “Little Red” describes his family as “dysfunctional,” and of his father, he says, “In private he was a mean, angry, belligerent, violent man.”

    Even so, “Little Red” cherishes the memories of the stolen moments he got to spend with his father. He adored his Dad and speaks proudly of him saying “He had less than a fifth grade education but he was brilliant.”

    “When my brother and I were home from military school he never came home but I would sneak down to the shop and try to be around him. He was usually very annoyed with my presence so I hung with the workers and tried to watch Dad and listen to him from afar.”

    Vogt demanded perfection at his garage and had a formidable temper. He was known as “the foul mouthed mechanic of NASCAR.” Although he didn’t treat his workers well, he paid them generously and earned their loyalty. His garage was open 24 hours a day and he would often spend days on end there, sleeping on a cot. He used cigarettes, coffee and soft drinks to battle his exhaustion.

    He kept the garage spotless and wore the same uniform each day; white pants, white T-shirt and white socks. His tools were displayed neatly on drawers and shelves. All of this was another sign of Vogt’s obsessive personality. But it worked to his advantage. He found that a clean engine lasts longer and runs faster.

    Vogt was a genius with cars but having left school at an early age, he was not so adept when it came to the business side of things. His wife, Ruth, usually handled collecting the money from the bootleggers and did the hiring and firing.

    The bootleggers called her Mom and she looked the part with her fancy dresses, big hats and high heels, but she was one tough woman. When it came time to collect the money they knew better than to make excuses. It was not uncommon for her to pull a 45 automatic out of her purse if they gave her any problems.

    Many suspected that her nagging about money was one of the reasons Vogt stayed at his shop so much. The stress finally took its toll on the marriage and the two divorced. Vogt would later remarry but his family life remained tumultuous.

    When Raymond Parks came into Vogt’s life he was able to overlook the flaws and accept Vogt for who he was. They became best friends. He hated the way Vogt treated his sons and went out of his way to be there for them. “Little Red” called him “Uncle Raymond” and the two had a special bond. But above all else, he recognized that Vogt’s expertise with cars was unparalled.

    Raymond Parks was the king of moonshine distributors and before long, he trusted Vogt with all his whiskey hauling cars. There was a secret room where the bootleggers could take care of business away from the prying eyes of the federal revenue agents.  A “bootleg” safe was located on the third floor to store the money.

    Vogt even built a “clean” room in his garage and he only allowed a select few inside. It was also here that he let his natural curiosity lead him to discovering ways to make the cars run faster. It wasn’t long before Vogt’s genius as a car builder helped establish him and Parks as a force to be reckoned with.

    Raymond Park’s cousins, “Lightning” Lloyd Seay and “Rapid” Roy Hall convinced Parks to finance them in their racing careers. Parks provided them with quality cars and with Red Vogt as his chief mechanic, they quickly found success.

    The two drivers soon became stock car racing’s first stars.

    They dominated the sport in the late 1930s and early 1940s but after World War II, they were not much of a factor. Seay was killed in a moonshine dispute in 1942 and Hall was not able to duplicate his earlier success after the war.

    When racing was getting off the ground, World War II broke out. Parks served in Germany and spent about three years in the service. He participated in the famous Battle of the Bulge where he spent over 100 days in a foxhole. Parks survived the war with barely a scratch and returned to racing. Fate would soon intervene to bring him together with a new driver.

    Red Byron, who had also been in the war, had been racing since 1932 with some success. After the war he moved to Atlanta and met “Red” Vogt. Vogt was immediately impressed with Byron. He was not only a good driver but had an understanding of the strategy it took to win a race. The two men automatically clicked. In late 1945, Vogt introduced Byron to Raymond Parks. These three men would soon become one of NASCAR’s first super teams.

    The team had some struggles in the beginning. Byron had been injured during World War II. His bomber had been shot down and Byron injured his hip and nearly lost a leg. His recovery wasn’t easy and it left him with a limp. He had to wear a metal leg brace and an orthopedic boot so driving a car wasn’t easy.

    But with some modifications to the clutch pedal by an innovative Red Vogt and a lot of determination, Byron was able to race competitively. The team of Parks, Vogt and Bryon went on to win the first two NASCAR championships ever awarded; the Modified Class in 1948 and the Strictly Stock Grand National Championship in 1949.

    Parks and Vogt continued to find success and later fielded cars for Fonty Flock, Tim Flock, Curtis Turner, Jack Smith and others.  However Park’s career as a car owner was short-lived. In the mid 1950s, Parks walked away from NASCAR.

    Vogt would later team up with an old friend, Peter Depaolo, and The Ford Motor Company team. During his career he also worked with Carl Kiekhaefer, Fish Carburetor, Holman Moody and Smokey Yunick. Yunick credited much of his success to what he had learned while working for Vogt. When General Motors decided to start a new Factory Corvette Race Team, Vogt was their pick as mechanic.

    But Vogt was always happiest when he was working for himself and in the late fifties built his own garage in Daytona Beach. However, lack of sponsorship dollars made things difficult.

    By the time Vogt retired in 1968, he had amassed an amazing number of victories. The exact amount is unknown. In a speech that Smokey Yunick gave in 1999 to nominate Vogt for the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he gave the following estimate.

    “I believe a conservative estimate of “Red’s” race-winning engines from 1926 to 1968 would be at least 400-450. Certainly, it is very likely even more.”

    While Vogt is widely recognized as a master mechanic, there is one aspect of his racing legend that is not so well known. His son, ‘Little Red,” has made it his mission to get his father the recognition he deserves for his participation in the founding of NASCAR.

    The famous meeting that resulted in the birth of the organization we now call NASCAR, took place in Daytona Beach at the Streamline Hotel in December 1947.  France, Parks and Vogt were among those in attendance.

    While Bill France Sr. is generally accepted as the primary force behind the organization of the sport, he was not alone. Raymond Parks played a dominant role by supplying money, cars and advice to France and the newly formed organization.

    ‘Red’ Vogt’s contributions were also crucial but are not well known.

    His son, ‘Little Red’ explains, “My Dad is credited with coming up with the name NASCAR. That’s been recognized.” But that’s only part of the story.

    What most people don’t realize is that Vogt owned the charter to the already incorporated NSCRA (National Stock Car Racing Association) in Georgia. The charter also included the acronym NASCAR. In order to move forward, the charter in Georgia had to be surrendered.

    The new corporation was going to be formed in Florida. The laws in existence at the time would not allow them to use the same name for the new corporation because that name was being used in another state.

    Bill France Sr., Bill Tuthill (motorcycle racing promoter) and Ossinsky (France’s attorney) all got together and convinced Vogt to relinquish his charter. Vogt not only gave up the charter but suggested the name NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.) The name was voted in unanimously and NASCAR was born.

    Vogt passed away in 1991 after a ten-year battle with cancer.

    Smokey Yunick, who would go on to become one of the sports’ most revered car builders and mechanics, recalled his time working for Vogt. His words speak volumes about the legacy of “Red” Vogt.

    “I met “Red” in 1947. He was 43 and I was 24. He was a very big man with big hands and big, thick fingers and a heavy Southern accent. He had no time for his then long broken first family. I had about a year’s worth of experience in ‘turning money into noise’ when I met “Red”.

    I was in absolute awe of his knowledge. Have no doubt about it; I still am!  All of us ran second unless his car crashed. His cars just never broke and were always the fastest. If his car did not win, it was usually because of an unavoidable wreck.”

    Awards and Achievements:

    1980 – National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (Darlington)

    1987 -TRW/NASCAR Mechanics Hall of Fame (Inaugural ceremony)

    1998 –Smokey Yunick Racing Pioneer Award

    1998 – 3.2 Million Dollar Atlanta Racing Garage Complex named “Red Vogt Garage” in honor of pioneer NASCAR mechanic Jerome “Red” Vogt

    2002 – Georgia Racing Hall of Fame Inductee

    Special Thanks to C. Thomas Vogt –“Little Red”

    Smokey Yunick quotes from speech given to nominate Louis Jerome ‘Red’ Vogt Sr. to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame per the Atlanta Constitution Newspaper.  Additional quotes courtesy of Neal Thompson, author of ‘Driving With the Devil’

  • NASCAR Beginnings Featuring an Interview with ‘Tiger’ Tom Pistone

    NASCAR Beginnings Featuring an Interview with ‘Tiger’ Tom Pistone

    “Tiger” Tom Pistone was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 17, 1929. He began racing in 1950 at the age of 21 and became a legend at the famed Soldier Field where he won three consecutive championships from 1951-1953. He remains the all-time winner there with approximately 38 feature wins.

    He has often been called one of the best short track drivers of all time. Glenn “Fireball” Roberts once described Pistone as, “The toughest guy there is to beat on quarters and half-milers.”

    During his career, he competed in both the NASCAR Grand National and Convertible divisions.

    Pistone’s first win in a NASCAR-sanctioned race was at Soldier Field in 1956. He drove his 1956 Chevy ragtop to victory lane after passing leader Curtis Turner with only six laps to go. He captured his second NASCAR win, again at Soldier Field, in the Hardtop Series in 1957.

    His most competitive season was also his first full-time season.  In 1959, he scored two victories, 12 top-five finishes and ended the year in sixth place in the point standings in the Grand National Series. He scored a third win that year in the Convertible Series.

    His racing career lasted from 1955-1968 with two wins, 29 top-fives, and 53 top-ten finishes in 130 starts in NASCAR’s premier series. Pistone was known not only for his skill behind the wheel but for his ability to set up a racecar that could withstand his aggressive driving.

    “When I came south in 1955, they more or less had strictly stock automobiles,” explained Pistone.  “They were cars like you actually drove on the street.”

    Pistone changed all that. His innovative ideas and expertise led to a second career building racecars and engines. Drivers like Harry Gant and Bobby Issac drove to victory lane in his equipment. His most successful partnership came when he teamed up with his friend Tiny Lund in the 1960s.

    You’ll read about drivers with more wins and championships, but you would be hard pressed to find any with more heart and soul than Tiger Tom Pistone.

    His career is a reflection of the all the drivers who shaped the early beginnings of NASCAR.

    Pistone’s story began in 1950 when he met Andy Granatelli, a promoter at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

    “He more or less organized all the races,” Pistone said. “You run the way he wanted you to run. A lot of people didn’t know but in his races, the white flag was the winner, not the checkered flag. He put a show on.”

    The racers were a different breed and they handled problems with other drivers in their own way, without a rule book or a NASCAR official. Crashing someone on the track or fistfights after the race was not uncommon.

    “In Chicago, it was that way,” Pistone continues. All they did was fight and crash each other. It was pretty bad. But it was exciting for the fans. They loved it.”

    “Back then you had to be a man. I used to tell those guys, we’re all the same size in a racecar. I’m only 5’2” and I used to bring 10 guys with me to every race. You had to.”

    “Tiger” Tom had his admirers back in the day and one of them was a youngster named Fred Lorenzen. “His Mom used to tell me that Freddy wanted to be just like me when he grew up.”

    Pistone goes on to recall how he sold the “great” Lorenzen his first race car.

    Remembering Lorenzen, he says, “He was the first one that did pit stops.” And then he pauses and says, “We used to laugh at him and say what the heck is that guy doing?”

    Both Granatelli and Lorenzen would later play a pivotal role in Pistone’s career. Pistone calls it “the sore spot of my life,” as he recounts the story.

    Pistone came up with the idea to visit his old friend Andy Granatelli and talk him into sponsoring his cars in NASCAR. Granatelli had become prominent as a sponsor in Indianapolis and became an Indianapolis 500 winner in 1969 with driver Mario Andretti.

    “So Tiny and I flew to Indianapolis and we met him in the hotel and we got him to agree to sponsor our car.”

    Or at least they thought they had an agreement. But Granatelli decided to sponsor Fred Lorenzen instead.  However, that partnership didn’t last long and Lorenzen soon lost the sponsorship to Richard Petty. The rest, as they say, is history.

    Jack Roush, owner of Roush Fenway Racing explained the significance of that partnership.

    “When Richard did the STP sponsorship deal it forever changed the business model in American motorsports,” said Jack Roush. “At a time when a lot of people were panicking about money, not unlike today, he and that company presented a solution that changed the face of racing.”

    Pistone’s passion for the sport is evident as he talks about his experiences and the drivers he competed against.

    When he moved his family to North Carolina to continue his career, his biggest competitors were the drivers who got their start running moonshine. According to Pistone, “Junior Johnson was the kingpin and Junior Johnson and I were good friends. Junior helped me a lot in the racing industry. He’s the one that got Winston into racing and Winston put NASCAR on the map. Junior used to help me out with parts. Anything I wanted, he gave me. That’s the only way I survived.”

    Who were the best drivers in NASCAR? According to Pistone, “Larry Frank (Pop), Curtis Turner, Fred Lorenzen and Junior Johnson were some of the toughest drivers in racing.”

    Of course, he didn’t get along with all the drivers.

    “Buck Baker was about the meanest guy I ever met in my life. He just didn’t like Yankees. Jack Smith, guys like Speedy Thompson, they didn’t like Yankees. I didn’t even know I was a Yankee because I didn’t know what history was. When I was in Chicago I threw my history books away so I didn’t understand what they were talking about when they started calling me a Yankee.”

    Another memorable driver was Joe Weatherly who Pistone called, “the comedian of NASCAR.  Joe used to pull so many jokes on us guys.”

    Some of Weatherly’s pranks included stealing all the keys out of everyone’s racecars before the race or stealing all the gas caps. Pistone fondly remembers the time he says “Weatherly messed with the wrong guy.”

    “That guy was my great friend, the late Larry Frank, who we used to call Pop.” Pop chased Weatherly through the parking lot running from rooftop to rooftop. He never caught Weatherly who was still boasting about how he got away the next day.

    “He better be glad Pop did not catch him is all I got to say,” recalls Pistone.

    The stories kept coming as he talks about AJ Foyt.

    You have to remember that back then, the rules weren’t so well defined. Finding the gray areas and seeing how far they could push the boundaries was just part of the sport.

    So what did Pistone think of Foyt?

    “He was a bigger cheater than I was,” he said laughing. Then he tells a story to illustrate his point.

    “Do you remember when Tommy Irwin went into the lake?” This happened at Daytona in 1960 during a qualifying run. Irwin escaped safely, but the incident scared Pistone.

    “I went out and bought a life jacket and an oxygen tube because I couldn’t swim.”

    But Foyt took advantage of the opportunity. “He took one of those (oxygen) tanks, put it in his car and filled it up with nitrous oxide and got away with it. Still laughing, Pistone said, “AJ was the best.”

    At the age of 82, Pistone is still active in the racing industry and shows no interest in slowing down. Pistone will tell you, “If you want to stay young you got to keep working.”

    His business ‘Tiger Tom Pistone Race Cars and Parts’ is thriving. Most days you’ll find him at his shop setting up cars and selling parts for all divisions of racing with an emphasis on Legend and Bandolero cars. He loves to mentor young drivers and is always there to lend a helping hand.

    When he’s not at his shop you’ll usually find him at the track.

    In 1987, Pistone took time off from his race car building and parts business to compete at Hickory Motor Speedway in a race for retired drivers. Showing that he still has what it takes, he took the checkered flag and drove into victory lane once again.

    In the early 1990’s, Pistone began his involvement with the INEX Legends series. This series is often a training ground for drivers hoping to progress to the NASCAR level.

    “When Humpy Wheeler first started it, he needed a technical director to help make the rules,” explained Pistone.  “So that’s how I got involved.  Then my grandsons got in it, and that’s what kept me in racing.”

    Pistone has been active in charities since 1957 and has his own foundation that he calls the Legends of Stock Car Racing. He works to raise money that will help former drivers and crew members who have fallen on hard times. It’s his way of giving back to those who helped make NASCAR what it is today.

    He recently teamed up with Jack Roush to help Steven Kraft, a NASCAR fan with stage four cancer. Pistone’s daughter had learned about the young man on Facebook and her father immediately wanted to do something to help.

    Pistone gives a lot of credit to Jack Roush for taking their idea and making it a reality.

    “Jack Roush is a good man. He helped my daughter Chrissy and I do a decal for David Ragan’s car in honor of Steven Kraft.   Jack Roush is a fine man and has all my respect and my family’s respect. He even texted me pictures of him and David holding the decal up so Steven could watch it from his hospital room. Thank you, Jack and David, for doing this special tribute!”

    It sounds like Pistone has done it all. But he has one more thing he would like to accomplish.

    His newest project is focused on helping one of his grandsons, Tommy III, pursue his NASCAR dream. They’re looking for sponsors now and plan to enter him in the Camping World Truck Series in 2012.

    The name of the team is the ‘Pistone Racing Team” and his crew chief will be the one Tommy III calls his “pint-sized hero, Grandpa Tiger Tom.”

    Tiger Tom and his wife Crystal raised Tommy III since he was 18 months old, after the loss of their son Tommy Jr. Tommy III has been through a lot in his young life. He battled with cancer at the age of 15 but won the fight and the Pistone family thanks God that he is still with them.

    Courage and strength of character are something he learned from his grandparents.

    “We had eight kids, four boys and four girls and we’ve lost a daughter and two sons. It’s not natural to outlive your children.  No parent should have to endure this horrific pain and huge loss and emptiness in your heart. “

    Tiger’s advice is to “cherish every day God gives you with your children or loved ones. Seize the day because a hug, a kiss or anything could be the last time.”

    Pistone is taking his own advice and living each day to its fullest. After all, there’s still one more dream he hopes to achieve. His ultimate goal is to win a championship with his grandson.

    Once a racer, always a racer.

    Achievements:

    1953 – 1955 Three consecutive championships at Soldier Field

    2010 – Inducted into the Racers Reunion Hall of Fame at Memory Lane Museum in Mooresville, NC

    2011 – Recipient of Smokey Yunick Achievement Award in Daytona, FL

    2011 – Recipient of Smokey Yunick Achievement Award at Charlotte Motor Speedway

    2011- Inducted into Jacksonville Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame on December 10, 2011

    2012 –Will be inducted into Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame on April 14, 2012

    Award from The Augusta International Speedway presented in an oak framed glass display with a picture of the Speedway in Atlanta and an original guardrail bolt

    A Special Thanks to Tiger Tom Pistone and his daughter Chrissy and to Racing Radio 740 The Game

  • NASCAR Beginnings: The Legend of Rockingham Speedway

    NASCAR Beginnings: The Legend of Rockingham Speedway

    I have to admit that sometimes I get a little jealous. I didn’t grow up as a fan of NASCAR. My childhood heroes were rock stars, not racecar drivers. And even though I attended races with my father as a young girl, it was more about spending time with my Dad than about the racing. Though the seed was planted at an early age, it didn’t flourish until many years later.

    So as I write about the beginnings of NASCAR, I find myself wishing I could have been there to experience those historic moments in person. As any NASCAR fan will tell you, you haven’t experienced racing until you’ve seen it live and uncensored, up close and personal.

    It has been said that you can’t go back but every once in a while, an opportunity comes along to do just that. On September 7th, it was announced that NASCAR will reunite with Rockingham Speedway as the Camping World Truck Series returns to the historic track in April 2012.

    As varied as the drivers are, each race track also has its own unique personality, none more so than Rockingham Speedway.

    I could site facts and figures about the track but what I really wanted to know is what the fans think. So I began asking people to share their thoughts and memories of “The Rock.”

    I heard things like, “There’s not a bad seat in the house,” or “It’s a driver’s track,” and “There’s no other track like it on the circuit.”

    Perhaps the biggest endorsement came from a friend who said, “It’s the first track I went to and I will never forget it. It’s what got me hooked on NASCAR.”

    But the most memorable story was bittersweet. It reminded me that the history of NASCAR is filled not only with triumphs but loss, as well. His story goes back to February of 2001.

    “Of course those were sad days following Dale’s death, especially the next day when the reality of what had happened began to truly sink in. There was no intention of attending the next weekend’s race at “The Rock,” no tickets had been ordered ahead of time, no plans were made.

    “Tuesday afternoon I received a call from a friend to inform me that he had ordered tickets and knowing what a fan I was of Dale’s he asked if I wanted to go. It took no thought at all to blurt out a resounding, “Hell Yes!”

    “We met at his house early on Saturday morning, tossed our bags into his motor home, and lit out for the 12-hour drive to the sandhills of North Carolina. We arrived at Rockingham late Saturday afternoon and after a quick scouting mission we set up camp in the pine woods just across the highway behind the frontstretch grandstands.

    “Fully expecting many tears and a somber mood we were somewhat surprised to find that the fans in that campground were enjoying themselves, albeit on a much lesser scale than would most likely have been the case had the events of the previous week not occurred, but making the best of it none the less.

    “There were No. 3 banners and homemade signs at almost every camp bidding fond farewells to Dale.

    “By that time the evening’s campfires were being lit, their smell joining with the aroma of the pines in the misty air making for a somewhat surreal scene.  There was music in the distance and I’ll never forget hearing the song ‘Free Bird’ wafting through the woods adding to that surreal feeling.

    “I went into a storage compartment and broke out a fifth of the good stuff. I needed a drink. This wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought it might be. Several long draws on the bottle, as well as a few beers, took the edge off, and so with bottle in tow, we were off to do some exploring.

    “We stopped at many camps along the way where stories of Dale’s exploits were told and retold again. It was another thing that struck me, the friendliness, the brotherhood, the camaraderie. We were all racing fans and we were here to celebrate Dale.

    “I will admit that there were times when I felt more like an observer rather than a participant, but another toast, another pull on that bottle brought me back to the reality of what was going on.

    “Sunday dawned cold and bleak with a heavy mist in the air. A couple of fellows drove along the dirt path in front of our camp in a golf cart hawking newspapers from the week before telling of Dale’s passing. Damn.

    “After coffee, we decided to head across the highway to the track, although the outlook for a race that day wasn’t very promising at all. I put on my black Dale Earnhardt T-shirt, black jeans and black No. 3 cap and we joined the quiet procession. Very few spoke and some wept as we all just slowly walked to the gates.

    “I signed the Goodwrench hauler parked near the entrance, as almost everyone did, wishing Dale God’s speed. Some placed a hand on the side of the hauler as if it was a religious shrine, and I suppose on this day, in a way, it was.

    “As one would expect, there was to be a pre-race ceremony in honor of the fallen Earnhardt.

    “It was somewhat fitting that the skies were dark and heavy with rain that day as some preacher said some words of comfort that I don’t think anyone really heard. There were a lot of blank stares on expressionless faces.

    “After a bit, Darrell and Stevie Waltrip took to the mic and in a trembling voice Darrell read a passage from the Bible. He then asked everyone in the stands to join hands and express fellowship to the people on either side of them, which we all did as he again read a Bible passage.

    “There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, myself included.

    “As D.W. said his final goodbyes to Dale and left the stage, the skies ironically opened up with a brief but heavy rain as if the heavens themselves had to offer their own tears.

    “As the ceremony ended there was an unearthly quiet except for the sounds of jet dryers. After a couple of hours of track drying the cars were pushed to pit road, including a plain white No. 29 Goodwrench Chevy with a small black No.3 next to the 29.

    “The command was given to start the engines and it was as if the shroud had been lifted from Rockingham as those cars rolled onto the speedway. A few laps under the yellow and green flag and then the race was on at full song.

    “It was on lap one or two that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in an accident entering turn three that was almost identical to the one the week before that claimed his father.

    “There was an audible gasp from the crowd as the images of the Sunday before flashed into our minds. As we know, Junior wasn’t injured, but the similarities to Dale’s fatal wreck were unmistakable.

    “Then, again ironically, the skies opened up a second time, only this time heavily and persistently. The race was postponed, almost mercifully, until Monday.

    “It was only later that I learned Rusty Wallace, after the race was called, looked up at the skies and said, (paraphrasing) ‘That’s Dale up there saying, if I can’t race, ain’t nobody gonna race’.

    “As the fans filed out I sat in that rain and waited. I had one last gesture to attend to.

    “I pulled my Sharpie out and wrote ‘God’s speed Dale’ inside the red brim of my No. 3 cap and tossed it over the fence onto the frontstretch asphalt. I had said my goodbye to The Intimidator in the best way I knew how.

    “In a final bit of irony, it turned out Monday was sunny and the race was run. Steve Park in the No. 1 Pennzoil Chevy owned by the late Dale Earnhardt paid their own tribute by winning the race.

    “All in all, it was an experience I’ll never forget … and one I hope I’ll never have to experience again.”

    Special thanks to a dear friend, Mick, from Infield Parking, for sharing his experience.

  • NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Buck Baker

    NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Buck Baker

    Elzie Wylie “Buck” Baker was one of the most dominant drivers in NASCAR during the 1950s. His never give up attitude was the fuel for the fire that pushed him to be the best. Baker became the first driver to win consecutive Sprint Cup Championships in 1956 and 1957.

    His strategy was a mixture of determination and the belief that he was capable of winning any race.

    “You can’t let anyone think you’re not going to win a race,” he once said during an interview. “If you talk yourself out of believing you are a

    winnner, then you might as well stay in the pits and let someone else do the driving.”

    “There were times we left home without money to buy new tires. We didn’t know where the money was coming from. Heck, there’s times we didn’t have money to put gas in the truck to get to the track.”

    “But someone always came through for what we needed. We always could have used more and better equipment, but I’m talking about don’t let yourself believe you can’t be a winner.”

    Baker was born on a farm near Chester, SC on March 4, 1919. He didn’t grow up with dreams of racing but he always had a wild streak.

    It was a bull calf named Buck that inspired Baker’s nickname because he shared the same uncontrolled abandon as the animal. That recklessness continued into his teenage years when he began running moonshine for his cousin.

    He also supplemented his income with a variety of other jobs including working in a bakery and selling cars.

    When World War II erupted, Baker did a stint in the Navy and served in Maryland. But even the regimented life of a serviceman did not change him. He still found a way to run moonshine for his pals in his spare time.

    After the Navy he moved with his wife and son to Charlotte, NC. Baker found work as a bus driver for Trailways. He had a family and a regular job but Baker was never the typical family man.

    One evening he was headed to Union, SC, with about 20 passengers on board. Somebody mentioned that there was a square dance in the town of Chester. They all took a vote and decided to take a detour to the dance.

    “The vote to go to the dance was unanimous among the passengers, who were singing and having a good time. So I parked the bus and we all went in. Meanwhile, the dispatcher had the police out looking for the bus.”

    They finally arrived in Union about three hours late.

    “The passengers were half drunk, hanging out the windows and waving and carrying on. Driving into the garage to park the bus, I almost ran over the owner of the company. He fired me on the spot but rehired me the next morning before it was time to make another run.”

    It was during this period of his life that Baker decided he wanted to try his hand at becoming a race car driver. He got a later start than most but competed in his first NASCAR race in 1949, at the age of 30.

    Baker found some success in those early years, racing mostly as an independent owner/driver and in 1952 he captured his first win in the Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) in Columbia, SC.

    Baker was known as a hard charger both on and off the track. His competitors knew that too much beating and banging on the track would be dealt with in the pits after the race.

    “My dad won his share of races on the track,” said Baker’s son Buddy, “but I don’t think he ever lost a battle in the pits.”

    In 1955 Baker finished second in the points standings and caught the eye of mulit-car team owner, Carl Kiekhaefer.

    “I saw that Buck was my top competition,” Kiekhaefer said.  “There is only one thing to do with a man like that — hire him!”

    In 1956 Baker won 14 races and his first Cup championship while driving for Carl Kiekhaefer who was partnered with legendary car and engine builder, Ray Fox.

    The following year, Kiekhaefer left NASCAR and Baker was on his own again. He partnered with Bud Moore as his crew chief and scored ten victories in 1957. Baker won his second Cup championship becoming the first driver to win consecutive championships.

    The following season Baker once again finished second in the points standings.

    One of Baker’s most controversial races was on December 1, 1963 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, FL. Although NASCAR awarded the winning trophy to Baker, the race was actually won by Wendell Scott.

    Hours after the event, NASCAR officials admitted that Scott had won the race. Wendell Scott went in the record books as the first and only African-American to win a NASCAR race in the premier Cup series. They gave him a trophy about a month later in Savannah, but it wasn’t the real thing. Baker got the real trophy.

    Years later, Baker would say, “Many racers gave him a hard time, including some of my friends, but I got along fine with him and tried to help him. He did as well as anybody with the equipment he had.”

    “By the time he was declared the winner, all the fans had left the track. I’ll always believe that I won the race, but I don’t want to take anything from Scott by saying that. It was OK with me, and I was happy for him.”

    Baker continued to race until 1976. In 636 starts, he won 46 times and ranks 14th on the all-time wins list.

    In addition to his two championships, Baker won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway three times. His last victory there came in 1964, at the age of 45. It would also be the final win of his career.

    Baker considered it his biggest accomplishment.

    “In 1964, I drove Ray Fox’s Dodge in the Southern 500. I was 45 years old at the time. Fox was concerned that I was too old to run 500 miles. Others had written me off as too old. I told Fox not to worry about the horse, just load the wagon. Buddy (Buck’s son) was there, and toward the end of the race, Fox was seriously thinking that I might need relief. Buddy told him there was absolutely no need to say anything to me, because I wouldn’t get out of the car. And he’s never been more right.”

    “It was the biggest thrill I had in racing. There was nothing left for me to prove to those who had said I was finished.”

    Baker was known as one of the most versatile racers of his time. He won races in NASCAR’s Modified, Speedway and Grand American series, raced in multiple makes of cars and won for eight different team owners.

    His son, Buddy once said, “There was a time in the modified division that nobody could beat him.”

    After retiring from NASCAR, Baker opened the Buck Baker Driving School in 1980. Many of today’s top drivers have attended his school including Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton and Ward Burton.

    Baker claimed that Jeff Gordon made the decision to race stock cars at his school.

    “He turned North Carolina Speedway about three seconds faster than the school car he was driving had ever gone. He drove to the motel and told his mother that stock car racing was what he was going to do for the rest of his life. I knew then that he was going to be a hell of a driver. I guess the rest, shall we say, is history in the making.”

    In 1998 Buck Baker was named as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers and in 2010 was honored as a nominee in the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

    Baker died on April 14, 2002 at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC, at the age of 83.

    His son, Buddy, followed his father’s path, winning 19 NASCAR Cup races and continued his legacy at the Buck Baker Driving School.

    He summed up his father’s life saying, “Throughout the entire racing world, I don’t know of anybody who would have said he didn’t give 110 percent from the time they dropped the green flag until the time the race was over.”

    “He was that same way in life, too.”

    Achievements:

    1982 – Inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame
    1990 – Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
    1992 – Inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
    1996 – Inducted into the Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame
    1998 – Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
    1998 – Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers
    2010 – Nominee to the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class
    2011 – Nominee to the NASCAR Hall of Fame
    2012 – Nominee to the NASCAR Hall of Fame

    Thanks to circletrack.com for Buck Baker quotes

  • NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Fred Lorenzen

    NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Fred Lorenzen

    Fred Lorenzen was NASCAR’s first “Golden Boy.”  His aggressive style on the track gained him the admiration and respect of his fellow competitors. Off the track, his blonde good looks and charisma made him a favorite among the women fans. His biggest following, however, may have been the youngsters who stood in line for his autograph. Lorenzen never turned them away. Each one would get an autograph personalized with their name and signed “Fred Lorenzen #28.”

    He was the consummate professional and used any tool available to gain an advantage out on the track. This included studying the weather, tire wear and gas mileage data.

    Richard Petty once said, “Fred Lorenzen was total concentration; before, during and after a race.”

    Lorenzen put it this way.

    “It’s just something I wanted to do,” he said. “When you decide you want to do something, you put your mind to it and you can do it. You’ve gotta really want it, though. I gave up everything to go racing.”

    Lorenzen was born in 1934 in Elmhurst, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His love of racing began at an early age. As a child, he used to sit in his backyard under a tent listening to radio broadcasts of the Southern 500. It was here that he found his heroes.

    His love of racing grew from that early age and before long he began building his own go-karts and racing them through his neighborhood. He had at least one close call with the law when he was 12 but “Fast Freddie” outran the police in his homemade go-kart. They soon caught up with him at his home and confiscated the go-kart but I’d be willing to bet that he felt like he had won his first big race.

    Lorenzen built his first car at the age of 13 and never looked back. After graduating from high school, he began racing modifieds and late models. His NASCAR debut was in 1956 at Langhorne Speedway where he finished a disappointing 26th due to a broken fuel pump.

    He continued to hone his skills drag racing and won the National Gas Eliminators at the age of 18. A few years later, he moved on to stock car racing.  Lorenzen won the USAC (United States Auto Club) Championship in 1958 and 1959.

    His big break came in 1960 when he received a phone call that would propel him into the big leagues. The call was from Ralph Moody asking Lorenzen if he would like to drive for him. This wasn’t the first time Moody had approached him, but this time Lorenzen had the good sense to say yes to the offer.

    He teamed up with Holman-Moody to drive full time in the NASCAR Grand National Division (currently Sprint Cup), driving the now famous white and blue No. 28 Ford. Ralph Moody would soon become not only his car owner but a good friend as well.

    During his first season, the rookie faced off against veteran driver Curtis Turner and won the Rebel 300 at Darlington Raceway.

    In turn two on the final lap, at 130 miles an hour, Lorenzen faked high then dove low. While Turner was frantically trying to run him into the guardrail, Lorenzen passed him on the inside, taking the lead and the victory away from Turner.

    After the race he would forever be known as “Fearless Freddie.”

    It was one of Lorenzen’s favorite victories.

    “That race was extra special because the track is so very, very special and because I was able to beat Curtis Turner,” he said. “You’ve got to remember that for a kid like me, names like Curtis Turner, Joe Weatherly and Fireball Roberts were hero stuff.”

    The next year he entered only 16 of the 62 races on the 1964 schedule. Lorenzen won eight of those races, five consecutively. In all, he finished in the top 13 in four different seasons while running a partial schedule.

    In 1965, he won two of the sport’s biggest events, the Daytona 500 and the World 600.

    One of his most memorable races came in 1966 at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he drove a rather unique car nicknamed “The Yellow Banana.”

    There was a Ford boycott for much of the season and NASCAR looked the other way when it came time to inspect this unusual car. Attendance was down and they were desperate to put fans in the empty seats.

    The car was owned and prepared by Junior Johnson. The front of the car was sloped downward, the roofline and windshield were lowered and the tail end was kicked up. Even though it obviously didn’t come close to fitting NASCAR specifications, they allowed Lorenzen to compete.

    He crashed while leading the race on lap 139.

    A crew member was heard to say, “No wonder, I ain’t never seen anybody who could drive a banana at 150 miles an hour.”

    After the race, he was told to never bring the car back again.

    During his brief career, Lorenzen found continued success, setting new records along the way and earning another moniker, “The Elmhurst Express.” When the win was on the line, Lorenzen didn’t stop for anyone.

    His career total of 158 starts includes 26 wins and 32 poles, but no championships.

    The partial schedules probably explain the lack of championship trophies. One can only imagine what he might have accomplished if he had competed full time. Some think he may have given Richard Petty a run for his money.

    But Lorenzen doesn’t seem to have any regrets.

    “I didn’t really want to (run a full schedule),” Lorenzen said. “It’s too much traveling. I get tired of traveling. You’re gone all the time. These guys that are doing it right now, I don’t see how they do it. You’re never home.”

    At the time, Lorenzen was not getting paid to win championships. He was getting paid to win the big events with the big payoffs. The larger races got the best news coverage which translated into more car sales.

    While he may not have won any Cup championships during his career, Lorenzen owned the record books.

    1)    Between 1962 and 1964 he became the first driver to win the same 500 mile race three years in a row (The Atlanta 500).

    2)    In 1963, he became the first driver in NASCAR history to win over $100,000 in a single season. What makes it even more remarkable is that    he only competed in 29 of the 61 races on the schedule and finished third in the points standings.

    3)    In 1964 Lorenzen set a record winning five consecutive starts. The record was broken by Richard Petty who won 10 in 1967.

    4)    In 1966, he became the first driver in NASCAR history to win races at all five of the south’s original superspeedways.

    5)    Before his first retirement in 1967, Lorenzen became the sports all-time superspeedway winner with 12 wins.

    6)    He was the first driver to win at Martinsville Speedway four consecutive times. Fred Lorenzen was also the very first recipient of the coveted Martinsville Grandfather Clock on September 27, 1964.

    In 1967, at the age of 33, Lorenzen retired while at the pinnacle of his career. He said he had accomplished all that he had set out to do and was burned out.

    “I hated the traveling,” he said, “that’s why I quit. It wasn’t fun anymore.”

    There’s no question that the death of his friend and teammate Fireball Roberts in 1964, also took its toll on Lorenzen.

    After Roberts’ death, Lorenzen said, “He was a god to me. When Fireball died, it turned my whole racing career around. He was like Santa Claus was to all the little kids. I thought Christmas had been taken away.”

    “His passing changed my whole meaning of racing. When I was a kid, back in Illinois, I listened on the radio to Fireball Roberts driving in the Southern 500. I can’t tell you how much his death hurt me.”

    Lorenzen returned to racing for a short stint in 1970-72. He couldn’t recapture his glory days but managed 11 top-five finishes and two poles.

    In 1972 Lorenzen retired for the final time and began a successful career in real estate.

    In recent years, his health has deteriorated and he suffers from dementia. But Lorenzen still has vivid memories of his days racing.

    His family is proud of all that he has accomplished, but Amanda and her brother didn’t need trophies to tell them how special he is.

    His daughter Amanda says, “Growing up we played pool and ran around in his trophy room. We knew Dad had won on all the speedways and was a real success in stock car racing in his time. However, he was just our Dad, our Dad the hero.”

    “It wasn’t until just recently as Dad’s health has begun to decline and we have stepped in to preserve his legacy that we realized our dad was and still is hero to many. We receive so many wonderful letters from fans sharing their stories and memories. It’s been a really special thing to learn about our Dad. We are truly proud and thankful for all.”

    She encourages fans to continue to show their support by sending cards and letters to her Dad at the address below.

    Oakbrook Healthcare Center

    Attn: Fred Lorenzen #332 2013 Midwest Road Oak Brook, IL 60523

    Lorenzen was once asked how he wanted to be remembered.

    “As a good driver,” Lorenzen said. “If you want to be the best and be good, you’ve got to put everything else aside and go for it. Anybody can go to the top if they want to bad enough. If you want it bad enough, you’ve gotta give everything else up and go for it.”

    Achievements:

    1978 – Inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame

    1991 – Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame

    1998 – Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.

    2001 – Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

    2011 – Nominee to the NASCAR Hall of Fame

    Special Thanks to Fred Lorenzen’s daughter, Amanda.

    Thanks also to Rick Houston/NASCAR.com, Steve Samples and Tom Higgins/The Charlotte Observer for Fred Lorenzen quotes.

  • NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Richie Evans

    NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Richie Evans

    On Tuesday, June 14, 2011, the NASCAR Hall of Fame announced the 2012 class of inductees. Richard “Richie” Evans was named as part of this new class and joins fellow legends Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Inman and Glen Wood as part of an elite group.

    For those who only follow the Sprint Cup Series, his name may be unfamiliar. But a close look at his record makes it immediately obvious why he was included in such a prestigious class.

    Evans won nine National Modified Championships, including eight consecutive championships from 1978 to 1985. His eight straight championships still stand as a record in any NASCAR division to date.  He has been hailed as the best to ever drive the asphalt modified circuit.

    During his career he won more than 400 feature races and over 30 track championships. One of his best seasons was in 1979 when Evans ran 60 races capturing 54 top five finishes that included 37 victories.

    The International Motorsports Hall of Fame lists his achievements as “one of the supreme accomplishments in motorsports.”

    Evan’s left his father’s farm at the age of 16 to work in a garage in Rome, New York.  He soon ventured into the world of racing as a drag racer but eventually switched to stock cars. In 1965 he began running in the Modified division.

    Evans was not only a gifted driver but often spent 100 hours a week working on his own cars, leaving nothing to chance.

    “Working with the car and working on it in the garage every week is an advantage,” Evans once said. “While I’m working on the car, I’m thinking about every lap I rode in that thing. It’s not like the mechanic who stood and watched it during the feature and then has to make some decisions.”

    Nicknamed the “Rapid Roman,” Evans won his first NASCAR Modified Championship in 1973 at the age of 32. He won his second title in 1978 and continued his reign as “king” of the modified division through 1985.

    Evans was a winner in more ways than one.  He won the Most Popular Driver award nine times and was highly regarded by even the competitors he raced against each week. He was well known for his down to earth manner and his willingness to help others.

    In the eyes of his fans, Evans was a true star.

    Once before a race at Daytona, Paul Newman was sitting next to Richie Evans on the pit wall talking when a seven year old boy spotted his favorite driver. He walked over to the pair and when he got there, Paul Newman said “I don’t give autographs.”  The boy innocently answered, “I wanted Richie’s autograph.” Evans just smiled and gave the boy his autograph.

    Richie Evans never competed in the highest levels of NASCAR.  But don’t make the mistake of thinking that this meant he wasn’t good enough. Richie Evans was, and still remains, one of the best racers in any NASCAR division.

    In 2010, Tommy Baldwin and Steve Park teamed up to race a Richie Evans tribute car at Daytona to pay their respects to this legendary driver.

    “Having Richie Evans along for the ride for this weekend and honoring him is something special to all of us,” said Baldwin, “especially in the NASCAR short track community around the country.  Richie was somebody we all looked up to and when he came to town, we knew we had to beat him to win.  He made us all work harder and I think that prepared a lot of us for the Sprint Cup level.”

    Evans had already clinched his last championship when tragedy struck. On October 24, 1985, Evans was killed during a practice session in a crash at Martinsville Speedway.  A heartbroken racing community mourned the death of one of their own.

    Tony Siscone, a fellow modified racer, summed up the shock and sorrow that many were feeling.

    “Good old Richie just did it to us again. He left under his own conditions and lived his life on his own terms.”

    Accomplishments:

    • Named #1 on NASCAR’s Modified all-time Top 10 list.
    • Only retired number in NASCAR in any series — #61 on the Whelen Modified Tour.
    • Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.
    • Selected by fans as NASCAR‘s Most Popular Driver in Modified Division nine times.
    • International Motorsports Hall of Fame 1996.
    • National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame 1986.
    • New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame.
    • New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame inaugural 1998 class.
    • FOAR SCORE Hall of Fame: 1986 – inaugural class.
    • Oswego Speedway Hall of Fame 2000.
    • As part of the 25th anniversary of the NASCAR Weekly Series in 2006, Evans was named one of the series’ All Time Top 25 drivers.
    • 2010 nominee to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
    • Evans’ #61 was retired at his home track – Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York in 2008.
    • 2011 nominee to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
    • 2012 Will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame

    Thanks to Area Auto Racing News and allthatmatters.org for quotes.

  • NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Cale Yarborough

    NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Cale Yarborough

    On Tuesday, June 14, 2011, the NASCAR Hall of Fame announced the 2012 class of inductees. It should come as no surprise that Cale Yarborough’s name is at the top of the list. Yarborough received the highest percentage of votes with 85 percent.

    Driver, car owner, businessman, author and actor, Cale Yarborough has done it all. This hard-charging three-time Cup champion was known for giving 100 percent from the first to the last lap.

    Richard Petty said of Yarborough, “It didn’t make no difference if he was two laps behind or 20 laps ahead, he drove that car as hard as he possibly could.”

    Cale Yarborough ruled NASCAR in the 1970’s with three consecutive Sprint Cup championships from 1976-78. No one had ever shown such dominance and his record stood until 2008 when Jimmie Johnson won the championship for the third straight year.

    During those three years, Yarborough won 28 races – nine in 1976, nine in 1977 and 10 in 1978. He not only won those championships, but by a huge margin. In 1978, Yarborough won by a margin of 474 points.

    His 31-year career total of 83 victories ranks fifth all-time and his 69 poles rank third all-time. Yarborough won the Southern 500 at Darlington five times.  He also managed to win the Daytona 500 four times (1968, 1977, 1983-84), second only to Richard Petty’s seven.

    William Caleb Yarborough was born in the small town of Timmonsville, South Carolina in 1939. He was the oldest of three sons born to Julian and Annie Mae Yarborough. As a small boy, he attended races in the nearby towns of Florence and Columbia with his father and fell in love with racing. Yarborough remembers the first Southern 500 in Darlington in 1950. His father had been looking forward to it and he was hoping his Dad would take him to see it.

    “We’d certainly talked about the Southern 500,” Yarborough remembers. “I don’t know whether he was going to take me or not.”

    Sadly, he never got the chance to go. That summer Yarborough lost his father when he was killed after his small plane crashed. Yarborough made it to the Southern 500 the next year, crawling under the fence to get in. He had a ticket but was too excited to wait in line.

    “I wasn’t sneaking in to be sneaking in,” he said. “I was just too anxious to get inside and see my heroes.”

    It seems like no coincidence that Yarborough made his racing debut at that very same track in 1957. It was not the start he had envisioned. Yarborough finished in 42nd place after a broken hub took him out of the race.

    Yarborough only drove in three more races over the next four years but in 1962, he earned his first top ten finish when he placed tenth in the Daytona 500 qualifying race. Over the next few years, he drove for various owners on a limited schedule including Herman Beam, Holman Moody and Banjo Matthews.

    In 1965, he ran in 46 races and captured his first win at Valdosta, Georgia. That year he also had one of the scariest moments of his career at the Southern 500 while trying to pass race leader, Sam McQuagg.

    “We went in the corner side by side, and for some reason my car just got airborne,” said Yarborough. “I went over the hood of his car, never even touched the guardrail, and went out into the parking lot. I ended upside of a telephone pole.”

    In 1966, Yarborough began to find some success. He won both the Atlanta and Firecracker 500 while driving for Bud Moore and finished out the season driving the No. 21 car for the Wood Brothers team.

    Yarborough started to make a name for himself after his partnership with the Wood Brothers and won six races in 1968 including his first Daytona 500 win. That year also saw him in victory lane for the first time at the Southern 500. Yarborough considers it the biggest of his 83 career wins. This was the track where he had watched so many of his heroes race as a young boy. More importantly, it was the last race on the old track before it was repaved.

    “It’s still hard to drive today,” Yarborough says, “but back before they changed it, it was almost impossible to race on. The difference between the old track and the new one is like night and day.”

    “I think Jeff [Gordon] ought to have to win six to equal my five,” he jokes, “because my first one was on the old track, and it was twice as hard to win.”

    Finally, in 1973, Yarborough was able run a full schedule. He won four races that year, including the Southeastern 500 at Bristol International Speedway, where he led every lap from start to finish. What makes it even more unusual is that the race took two weeks to complete because of rain.

    Yarborough finished second in the points standing in 1973, behind Richard Petty. In 1974, he captured ten victories but again finished second to Petty in points. But Yarborough was not to be denied.

    With nine victories in 1976, Yarborough won the first of his three consecutive championships, driving for the legendary Junior Johnson. According to Johnson, winning with Yarborough was easy.

    “When you got a driver you know is going to give you everything he’s got,” Johnson said, “you can take away 30% of the car and he’ll still give you enough to beat everybody.”

    One of Yarborough’s most memorable moments was in 1979 at the Daytona 500. It was the first stock car race ever televised in its entirety. Yarborough and Donnie Allison were fighting for the lead and wrecked when Yarborough tried to pass for the lead during the final laps. The wrecked cars slid into the infield and both drivers jumped out of their cars. Fists started flying with Bobby Allison joining in to help his brother. The entire episode was captured on television and has become one of the most notorious NASCAR fights in its history.

    Yarborough retired as a driver in 1988, ending his driving career with a phenomenal 83 wins. He remained on the NASCAR scene as a car owner until 2000. He had limited success as an owner and recorded only one win with John Andretti in 1997. After leaving NASCAR, he opened a successful Honda dealership in Florence, South Carolina.

    Cale Yarborough was a small town boy with big dreams. He joined the ranks of the heroes he watched race as a young boy to become a NASCAR legend. He remains one of NASCAR’s most beloved drivers and an integral part of its history.

    *Achievements:

    1967 NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver Award
    1976 Cup Championship
    1976 Five Consecutive Race Wins – Single Season Record
    1977 Cup Championship
    1978 Cup Championship
    1980 Won 14 Pole Positions – Single Season Record
    1984 First driver to qualify at the Daytona 500 at over 200 mph
    1986 Wrote his autobiography, with William Neely: ‘Cale: The Hazardous Life and Times of the World’s Greatest Stock Car Driver’
    1993 Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
    1994 Inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame
    1994 Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
    1996 Inducted into the Court of Legends at Charlotte Motor Speedway
    1996 Talladega Walk of Fame inductee
    1998 Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers
    2009 Monument on the Darlington Legends Walk
    2010 Nominee NASCAR Hall of Fame
    2011 Nominee NASCAR Hall of Fame
    2012 Will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame
    4-Time Winner of the Daytona 500
    5-Time Winner of the Southern 500
    83 Career Wins (Fifth All-Time)
    69 Poles (Third All-Time)

    Trivia:

    Yarborough appeared in two episodes of the TV show ‘The Dukes of Hazzard,’ playing himself.

    1979: ‘The Dukes Meet Cale Yarborough’
    1984: ‘Cale Yarborough comes to Hazzard’
    1983: Yarborough appeared in the Burt Reynolds movie, ‘Stroker Ace’

    Thanks to darlingtonraceway.com and NASCAR Hall of Fame for Cale Yarborough quotes.

    *NASCAR statistics as of May 31, 2011

  • NASCAR Beginnings Featuring ‘Mad’ Marion MacDonald, Herman ‘The Turtle’ Beam & More

    NASCAR Beginnings Featuring ‘Mad’ Marion MacDonald, Herman ‘The Turtle’ Beam & More

    The best thing about researching NASCAR history is the little nuggets you find along the way. Many

    of these jewels never find their way into an article, but they are all worth remembering. Some of the names you’ll recognize and some may be unfamiliar. Not everyone can be a star, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a story to tell.

    If you think racing in NASCAR is more competitive today than it’s ever been, you might want to think again. Back in the day, some drivers would do anything for that little extra advantage.

    “Mad” Marion MacDonald is a perfect example. He was born in Florida in 1918 and learned to drive in the family orange orchard.

    “One day I hit the railroad tracks and my car jumped a four-foot gate on the other side. After that I never opened that gate again,” he said.

    MacDonald began his flirtation with racing In 1938 when he went to work for Bill France at his gas station in Daytona Beach. He had his own unique way of doing things. No one can say for certain where he got his nickname, but there are plenty of tales to choose from.

    At age 21 he entered the beach road course at Daytona driving his personal car. He tied himself into the car with a rope and had a knife taped to the dash so he could cut himself free if an emergency arose. During a pit stop, MacDonald grabbed a hamburger from one of his crew during a pit stop and continued to eat it as he raced around the track. Maybe he was simply hungry or maybe he just loved showing off for the fans.

    Later in that same race, MacDonald came upon a stalled car. The driver had climbed out of the car and to avoid hitting him Mad Marion had to go high. The next thing you knew, he was up on the dunes on two wheels, as he drove past the stunned driver.

    But the story doesn’t end there. MacDonald had figured out that taking the turn on two wheels improved his speed so he repeated the maneuver throughout the race, taking several of the turns on two wheels.

    Most would agree that going fast is the best way to win races. It may surprise you to know that at least one driver took the opposite approach.

    Herman “The Turtle” Beam drove in the Grand National series from 1957 to 1963. His claim to fame comes from holding the record for the longest streak of races without a DNF, with 84. Beam was a master at getting the most out of a dollar. He built his own cars, towed them himself and knew exactly what he had to do to make a little money.

    Gene Glover, a fellow racer, said of Beam, “he knew the distance to each racetrack, how many gallons of gas it took to get there, what you had to do to qualify for the race, how much money the race paid for each position, and where he thought he could finish.”

    “They called him ‘Herman the Turtle’ because he had good equipment, but he just didn’t want to drive fast, so he just got down on the apron and stayed out of the way. A lot of times, he’d end up with good finishes.”

    This may sound a little crazy, but you have to remember that back in those days, it wasn’t unusual for half the field to fall out of a race with mechanical issues or due to crashes. Beam’s survival strategy often netted good results. In 194 races, he had 57 top ten finishes.

    “Everybody respected Herman and his mechanical abilities,” Johnson City racer Paul Lewis said. “He was very intelligent and very articulate, and he always had good equipment.”

    “He just didn’t like to drive fast.”

    Many of today’s drivers have been groomed from an early age to appeal to the corporate sponsors that have allowed NASCAR to flourish. For the most part, we never get to see the men or women behind this polished image. But NASCAR history is littered with colorful characters. What you see is what you get. Their antics both on and off the track speak of a time when racing was fueled by testosterone and you never knew what was going to happen next.

    Joe Weatherly had a short but significant career. He only ran two full seasons in NASCAR’s premier series and won Cup championships both seasons, in 1962 and 1963. He was known for his hard racing and famous for his practical jokes. “The Clown Prince of Racing,” Weatherly never missed an opportunity to have some fun.

    In the days before cars had start switches, Weatherly would sneak along pit road and steal the keys to all the cars. When the command, “Gentlemen, start your engines,” was given, Joe’s car was the only one to fire up. In Darlington for a race, Weatherly came up with one of his most well-known pranks. He paid a farmer $100.00 for a mule. The next day, Weatherly proudly rode the mule, complete with race stickers, in the Darlington parade.

    Then there’s the story of Jim Vandiver who put new meaning into the phrase “running from the law.”

    Jim Vandiver began racing in NASCAR’s top division in 1968. His Cup career spanned 14 seasons with 24 top ten finishes. But he’s most famous for an incident that happened at the 1973 Darlington Southern 500. During the race, he spun and brought out a caution. He came to a stop in turn 3, jumped from his car, ran up the banking and disappeared from the track. It seems that two deputy sheriffs had been standing in Vandiver’s pit, waiting to arrest him after he finished the race.

    Vandiver was in the middle of a child custody dispute and was supposed to be in court the same day as the race. He thought his lawyer had taken care of things, but the judge had charged him with contempt of court. He had been tipped off ahead of the race that the law would be waiting for him.

    “When the field got slowed down I jumped out of my car,” Vandiver said, “ran across the track and jumped the wall. When I got to a chain linked fence it was like someone knew I was coming because right there the fence had been cut like somebody done snuck into the race so I went right through it to the road outside the track.”

    I’d like to leave you with two more stories. NASCAR is all about statistics. New records are set and old records are broken. However, there are a couple of NASCAR finishes that were so unique that it is unlikely they will ever be repeated. Both happened in the 1950’s.

    On September 30, 1956, at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, there was a 200 lap race with 24 cars in the field. On lap 181, Curtis Turner took the lead. There were only 14 other cars left in the race. Suddenly a huge crash broke out behind Turner and he was the only one to get through it unscathed.  He pulled into his pit and the race was called. To this day, it’s the only race that has ever ended with just one car running.

    Raleigh Speedway was the site of another unusual finish. The 100 mile race took place on September 30, 1952 and two sets of brothers would accomplish something that had never been done. Fonty Flock finished first and Herb Thomas took second place. But it’s the third and fourth place finishes that will amaze you. Fonty’s brother Tim finished third and Herb’s brother Donald finished in fourth place.

    From the astounding to the hysterical, NASCAR history is a treasure trove waiting to be explored. You never know what you’re going to discover but one thing is certain. You always leave with a smile on your face.

    Thanks to legendsofnascar.com, Tom Higgins and laidbackracing.com, Patty Kay at insiderracingnews.com and David Scercy at bleacherreport.com

  • NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Wendell Scott

    NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Wendell Scott

    Wendell Oliver Scott, born in 1921 in Danville, Virginia, was an American stock car driver and a pioneer of NASCAR.  On March 4, 1961 in Spartanburg SC, he broke down racial barriers to make his first start in the NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) division.  Scott went on to become the first and to date, the only, African-American to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup event.

    A look into his life gives us insight into a tumultuous part of NASCAR and American history.

    Scott didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life but was sure of one thing. Whatever it was, he would be his own boss.

    As a youngster he loved going fast, racing his bicycles against other kids and speeding around town on roller skates. Scott also grew up learning about cars at his father’s side. His Dad worked as a driver and mechanic for two wealthy white families and was well known for his prowess behind the wheel.

    Eventually Scott quit high school, became a taxi driver and later served in the segregated Army in Europe during World War II. After the war, he ran an auto-repair shop and ran moonshine on the side.

    Like others before him, he used the moonshine business to hone his driving skills and learn how to build fast race cars. Scott was only caught once and was sentenced to three years probation but continued to make whiskey runs.

    On May 23, 1952, a set of unusual circumstances gave Scott his first racing start.

    At that time the races in Danville were run by the Dixie Circuit, a competing organization to NASCAR.  In order to bring in more money, they decided that they needed a gimmick. Their idea was to bring in a black driver who was fast enough to compete with the usual white drivers. They chose Wendell Scott.

    That first race wasn’t a success. His car broke down and many spectators booed him. But at that moment, Scott realized this was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

    The next day brought Scott back down to earth. He repaired his car and decided to tow it to a NASCAR-sanctioned race in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The NASCAR officials refused to let him compete telling him that black drivers weren’t allowed.

    He left the race with tears in his eyes but he didn’t quit.

    A few days later he went to another NASCAR event in High Point, North Carolina but was once again told he couldn’t race. They suggested he get a white boy to drive his car.

    “I told ’em weren’t no damn white boy going to drive my car,” Scott said.

    Instead, he left the track and decided to avoid NASCAR races for the time being.

    He raced with the Dixie Circuit and at other non-NASCAR speedways and won his first race at Lynchburg, Virginia, only twelve days into his racing career.

    As time passed, he still got boos but more and more fans began rooting for him. Although some of the drivers were prejudiced and would wreck him deliberately, many drivers came to respect Scott. They saw him as a driver no different from themselves, just another hard-working guy who loved racing.

    Soon, some of the newspapers began writing positive stories about Scott and his popularity increased.

    Scott understood, though, that in order to really succeed in the sport, he had to gain admission to NASCAR. He didn’t know NASCAR founder and president, Bill France, so Scott found a less direct way to get into NASCAR.

    He towed his racecar to a local NASCAR event at Richmond Speedway and asked the steward, Mike Poston, to grant him a NASCAR license. Poston was only a part-timer in NASCAR but he did have the authority to issue licenses.

    Poston told him, “We’ve never had any black drivers, and you’re going to be knocked around.”

    “I can take it,” Scott told him.

    Poston approved Scott’s license but his decision wasn’t popular.

    Scott finally met Bill France for the first time in April of 1954. The night before they met, the promoter at a NASCAR event in Raleigh, North Carolina, had given gas money to all of the white drivers who came to the track but had refused to pay Scott. Scott approached France at the Lynchburg speedway and told him what had happened.

    France immediately reached into his pocket, gave Scott thirty dollars and assured him that NASCAR would never treat him with prejudice.

    “You’re a NASCAR member, and as of now you will always be treated as a NASCAR member.”

    In 1961, Scott moved up to the NASCAR Grand National division.

    On December 1, 1963, driving a Chevrolet Bel Air purchased from Ned Jarrett, he won his first race at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida — the first and only top level NASCAR event won by an African-American.

    Ironically, Scott almost didn’t make the race.

    Scott didn’t have enough cash in his pocket to make the long trip. So he asked Jarrett if he could borrow $500.00.

    “He was a race-car driver and I was a race-car driver,” Jarrett said.

    “But he was having a tough time because of his race at that particular period. He wasn’t going to get a lot of help. I thought he was a good race-car driver and he could be good for the sport.”

    Wendell had won the race, by two laps over Buck Baker, but it wasn’t without controversy. NASCAR waved the checkered flag over Baker and awarded him the trophy.

    Hours later, NASCAR officials admitted that Scott had won the race. They gave him a trophy about a month later in Savannah, but it wasn’t the real thing.

    Buck got the real trophy.

    He continued to race competitively through the rest of the 1960s but was forced to retire due to injuries from a racing accident at Talladega, Alabama in 1973.

    Scott achieved one win and 147 top ten finishes in 495 career Grand National starts.

    He died Dec. 22, 1990, after a long battle with spinal cancer.  In 1999, Scott was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

    I’m so glad we never gave up,” said Scott’s Widow Mary.

    “When Ned Jarrett and all of those old drivers came to Scott’s funeral, they told us he had the respect of all the drivers. I’d say all of those older guys learned to like him and respect him. They knew he was a genuine person and he stood for what he believed. He didn’t give up.”

    It has been 50 years since Scott’s first race in NASCAR’s premier series. His achievements will be honored on ESPN on February 20th with a movie entitled “Wendell Scott: A Race Story.”

    The film will air at 9 p.m. ET shortly after the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 race. It was produced by the Emmy Award-winning NASCAR Media Group in conjunction with ESPN Films and Max Siegel Inc.

    The docudrama will contain seldom seen historical footage plus interviews from members of Scott’s family and memories shared by some of stock car racing’s past legends.

    “Wendell Scott faced overwhelming challenges throughout his life and as a pioneer in his sport,” said John Dahl, executive producer, ESPN Films. “The film captures his strong sense of determination and honor with a poignant look at his struggles as well as an examination of his legacy.”

    Scott will always be remembered as the man who prepared the way for future generations of minorities in stock car racing.

    But what we should never forget is this. Wendell Scott was at heart simply a racer.

    All he wanted was a chance to prove himself out on the track. The real testament to his success is that he did just that and earned the respect of the other drivers in the process.

    Achievements:

    1963 – The first and only African-American to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup event.

    1999 – Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame

    2000 – Inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame

    Thanks to Brian Donovan – “Hard Driving: The American Odyssey of NASCAR’s First Black Driver” and NASCAR for quotes.

  • NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Dave Marcis

    NASCAR Beginnings Featuring Dave Marcis

    Dave Marcis was one of the last of a dying breed. He chose to walk his own path as an independent owner/driver with little or no factory support. The life he led was not an easy one but Marcis was never afraid of a little hard work.

    If you look at his statistics alone, you won’t see a lot of wins or any championship titles. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll soon discover why he is one of the most respected drivers in NASCAR history.

    Dave Marcis was born in the small town of Wausau, Wisconsin on March 1, 1941. Often described as hard working, stubborn and opinionated, Marcis was determined to do things his way. He set himself apart from the other drivers right down to his shoes. If you mention Marcis’s name, people will likely remember two things; his work ethic and the wingtip shoes he wore to protect his feet from the heat while driving his racecar.

    His first NASCAR start was in 1968 at the Daytona 500. Over the course of his career, he set two records at Daytona International Speedway that still stand today. Marcis has the most career starts at 33 and the most consecutive starts at 32, from 1968-1999.

    He remembers his first race in Daytona and how Smokey Yunick came to his aid when he was having problems with his car. Yunick was famous for reading between the lines of the rule book and thinking outside the box.

    “When I went to my first race in Daytona, I went and talked to Smokey about how to fix the problems I was having. He gave me a set of special push rods to put in the engine and said I should order some more,” Marcis said. “He gave me a part number, and when I called the company, they said there is no such thing. Yet I had a set in my hand that Smokey gave me.”

    In a career that lasted over 30 years, Marcis made 883 career starts that included five wins and 222 top ten finishes. He ended his career at the Daytona 500 in 2002, at the age of 60.

    When Marcis retired, he was second on the all times starts list in NASCAR behind Richard Petty. Since then, Ricky Rudd has passed him, putting Marcis in third place on the list today.

    Marcis drove for some of the top teams of the day including Nord Krauskopf, Penske Racing and Osterlund Racing. His best season was in 1975 when he drove Krauskopf’s K&K Dodge Charger, and finished second in the points standings.

    In 1978, driving for Rod Osterlund, Marcis had 30 starts and finished in the top 10 an unbelievable 24 times. However, at the end of 1978, he abruptly left Osterlund Racing and decided to field his own team. He was replaced by the late Dale Earnhardt who became a close friend.

    Between 1974 and 1982, Marcis finished out of the top ten in points only twice. By the mid 1980s, however, his performance took a downward turn as it became more difficult to compete with the big money of the factory teams.

    Marcis began testing cars for Richard Childress including Dale Earnhardt’s No. 3 GM Goodwrench car. In return he received cars, engines, technical support and sponsorship.

    Throughout his career Marcis also did most of the testing for the IROC series along with Dick Trickle and Jim Sauter. He was originally hired by Mark Donohue, winner of the 1972 Indy 500. Donohue gave Roger Penske his first win of the historic race and won the inaugural IROC championship. Marcis’s association with IROC lasted for 30 years.

    Marcis may have retired from NASCAR in 2002 but he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.  He took his love of racing and turned it into a successful business venture named ‘Street Rods by Dave Marcis.’

    Among his racing buddies, Marcis is quite well known for his huge appetite. His second love led him to open a hotel/restaurant in Wisconsin called Camp 28 Resort Hotel.

    The end of Dave Marcis’s career closed a chapter in NASCAR history. The day of the independent owner/driver is almost extinct but Marcis has no regrets when he looks back on his life.

    “I think what I accomplished, the way I did it and the money I had to do it with, I personally think I done very well. I think that I was a good racecar driver, a hard racecar driver. I never gave up. I raced hard every lap, harder than I should have in a lot of instances.”

    He went on to say that “a lot of people said I raced them too hard, even if I was a lap or two down. But I always had hopes of getting that lap back and getting some better finishes. I believed that the spectators came to see a race, and I raced. I always put my heart and soul in it, and I raced hard, hard, hard all the time.”

    Marcis treasures the friendships he formed along the way.

    “To me, the guys today, when they reach our age, they’re not going to have a lot to talk about.” They fly to the races and they fly out.”

    “We were in a caravan and we used to eat in the same restaurants. The fans would meet us there and get autographs. That’s just how it was. It’s just completely different today.”

    His memories tell a story of days gone by when fierce competitors on the track became lifelong friends off the track.

    “What are they going to talk about when they retire? Us guys, we could sit around and talk for weeks,” Marcis said. “At Rockingham, after practice was over in the evening, Buddy Baker and a bunch of us, we’d go in the pine trees over there, get a crow call and shoot crows. Down at Darlington, in some of them ponds, we’d go fishing and catch bass. It was just a whole lot more fun.”

    Marcis’s life is a reflection of a time when it wasn’t all about fame and fortune. It was about accomplishing extraordinary things with little money, great determination and tremendous ingenuity.

    “Radioman” Doug Taylor of Taylor Communications remembers a conversation with Dave Marcis at Daytona in 1975. At the time Taylor was working to provide better two-way radio communications between drivers and their pit crews. Although the driver helmets had speakers in them, the engine noise made communication iffy, at best.

    “Dave approached me at Daytona back in 1975 and said that his two-way radios didn’t work.  At the time my system worked but only on the Yellow Flag laps. Dave showed me what he had been working on and I about died laughing at first. But the more he talked, the more I listened.”

    “What Dave had was a tiny transistor radio earpiece that he had in his ear with bubble gum pushed around it to seal out the noise. He told me he knew he was on the right track, but just couldn’t perfect it.”

    “He suggested that I take his idea and use my engineering expertise to make a better design.  I came up with the ear mold which fit inside the driver’s ear and shut out all outside engine noise. It provided clear communication with no distortion. I used about 30 different ear mold models over 25 years.”

    The legacy of Dave Marcis is best summed up in his own words.

    “We have done so much, with so little, for so long, that now we can do almost anything with nothing.”

    Accomplishments:

    Daytona 500 Most Career Starts – 33
    Daytona 500 Most Consecutive Starts – 32
    IROC Test Driver – 30 Years