Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: Rex White

  • 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Honors Five Iconic Wheelmen

    2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Honors Five Iconic Wheelmen

    Elliott, Lorenzen, Scott, Weatherly, White Officially Enshrined

    DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 30, 2015) – Five legendary drivers with distinct styles and contributions to NASCAR were enshrined into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina tonight during the Induction Ceremony held in the Crown Ball Room at the Charlotte Convention Center.

    Those who added their names to the list of now 30 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees, included: Bill Elliott, Fred Lorenzen, Wendell Scott, Joe Weatherly and Rex White.

    The group makes up the Hall’s sixth class in its history.

    Bill Elliott – a fan-favorite with a record 16 NASCAR Most Popular Driver Awards – compiled numerous accolades that put him near the top of many all-time NASCAR lists. In his 37-year driving career, “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville” notched 44 wins (16th in NASCAR history) and 55 poles (eighth), but his most prestigious accomplishment came when he won the 1988 premier series championship. Elliott always performed on the biggest of stages, winning the Daytona 500 twice and the Southern 500 three times.

    “One thing I look at out here today is one common bond with all these racers, it’s the hard work and the dedication all these guys had,” Elliott said. “I mean, for me to stand up here among the guys that have already been here, it’s just totally incredible.”

    Fred Lorenzen – one of the first “outsiders” to capture the fancy of NASCAR’s early southeastern crowds – was one of the sport’s first true superstars, even though he never ran more than 29 of the season’s 50-plus races. The Elmhurst, Illinois, native won 26 races from 1961-67, with his best overall season coming in 1963 as he finished with six wins, 21 top fives and 23 top 10s in 29 starts. The victor of the 1965 Daytona 500 and World 600, Lorenzen boasts the fifth-highest career winning percentage (16.86) in NASCAR history.

    “Dad always said, ‘The sky is the limit and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,’” said Lorenzen’s son, Chris, who spoke on his behalf. “That has been dad’s most important saying in life, and he certainly lived by it. He also believed people made their own luck and that luck just doesn’t fall upon people.”

    A true trailblazer, Wendell Scott was the first African-American to race fulltime in NASCAR’s premier series, as well as the first to win a NASCAR premier series race. Scott posted 147 top 10s in 495 starts, as well as finished four seasons in the top 10 of the championship points standings. He won more than 100 races at local tracks before making his premier series debut, including 22 races at Southside Speedway in Richmond, Virginia, in 1959 en route to capturing both the Sportsman Division and NASCAR Virginia Sportsman championships.

    “The legacy of Wendell Scott depicts him as one the great vanguards of the sport of NASCAR racing,” said the late Scott’s son, Franklin, who accepted the induction on his behalf. “Daddy was a man of great honor. He didn’t let his circumstances define who he was.”

    Joe Weatherly claimed consecutive premier series championships in 1962-63 and won 25 career races before his untimely death in January 1964 at Riverside (Calif.) Raceway. Known as the “Clown Prince of Racing” due to his jovial personality, Weatherly displayed impressive versatility beyond his premier series dominance. A decade earlier in 1952-53, he won 101 races in the NASCAR Modified division, capturing that championship in 1953. He even tried his hand in NASCAR’s short-lived Convertible Division from 1956-59, winning 12 times.

    “He loved his family and he was very generous, but I am sure there are many memories the fans could share as well, maybe ones of the practical jokes he enjoyed playing on fellow drivers,” said Joy Barbee, Weatherly’s niece. “He definitely had a sense of humor, he loved a good laugh and he loved to have a good time. He always had a big smile on his face; he was a character to be around and definitely lived up to the title given to him – the ‘Clown Prince of Racing.’”

    One of the greatest short-track racers ever, consistency was the hallmark of Rex White’s NASCAR career. He finished among the top five in nearly half of his 233 races and outside the top 10 only 30 percent of the time. Of his 28 career wins in NASCAR’s premier series, only two came on tracks longer than a mile in length. Driving his own equipment, White won six times during his 1960 championship season, posting 35 top 10s in 40 starts. He finished in the top 10 six of his nine years in the series, including a runner-up finish in 1961.

    “Words can’t express how honored I am to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame along with the other Hall of Fame members, especially my 2015 fellow inductees,” White said. “No driver wins a championship by himself and nobody enters the Hall of Fame alone. I am the symbol of a team effort.”

    Each of the five inductees had an inductor who officially welcomed them into the hall. The inductors for the five inductees: Ray Evernham for Bill Elliott; Amanda Gardstrom (daughter) for Fred Lorenzen; Wendell Scott Jr. for Wendell Scott; Bud Moore for Joe Weatherly; and James Hylton for Rex White.

    Active drivers introduced each inductee during tonight’s program: Kasey Kahne for Bill Elliott; Tony Stewart for Fred Lorenzen; Jeff Gordon for Wendell Scott; Brad Keselowski for Joe Weatherly; and Kevin Harvick for Rex White.

    In addition to the five inductees enshrined on Friday night, Anne B. France was awarded the inaugural Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.

    France, paired with her husband, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., created what today is one of the largest and most popular sports in the world. Anne played a huge role in the family business. “Big Bill” organized and promoted races; she took care of the financial end of the business. She first served as secretary and treasurer of NASCAR, and when Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, served in the same roles for the International Speedway Corporation. She also managed the speedway’s ticket office. France remained active in family and business life until her passing in 1992.

    Prior to tonight’s Induction Ceremony, long-time Charlotte Observer reporter Tom Higgins was awarded the third Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence.

    Higgins was the first beat writer to cover every race on the NASCAR schedule, a role he held from 1980 until his retirement in 1997. He started his journalism career in 1957 at the weekly Canton (N.C.) Enterprise where he covered racing for the first time. Higgins joined the sports staff at The Observer in 1964 as an outdoors writer and soon began covering stock car racing as well. He has continued to write motorsports nostalgia columns for the newspaper and its website ThatsRacin.com since his retirement.

    About NASCAR
    The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States. NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, one local grassroots series and three international series. The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) governs the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, the premier U.S. sports car series. Based in Daytona Beach, Fla., with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and follow NASCAR at www.Facebook.com/NASCAR and Twitter: @NASCAR.

    About NASCAR Hall of Fame
    Conveniently located in uptown Charlotte, N.C., the 150,000-square-foot NASCAR Hall of Fame is an interactive, entertainment attraction honoring the history and heritage of NASCAR. The high-tech venue, designed to educate and entertain race fans and non-fans alike, opened May 11, 2010 and includes artifacts, hands-on exhibits, 278-person state-of-the-art theater, Hall of Honor, Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant, NASCAR Hall of Fame Gear Shop and NASCAR Media Group-operated broadcast studio. The venue is opened 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. seven days a week and has an attached parking garage on Brevard Street. The five-acre site also includes a privately developed 19-story office tower and 102,000- square-foot expansion to the Charlotte Convention Center, highlighted by a 40,000 square-foot ballroom. The NASCAR Hall of Fame is owned by the City of Charlotte, licensed by NASCAR and operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority. www.NASCARHall.com.

  • ‘You got to learn how to be a good loser and it will make you a better winner.’ – Rex White

    ‘You got to learn how to be a good loser and it will make you a better winner.’ – Rex White

    Recently, I was honored to hear NASCAR Hall of Famers, 1960 Grand National champion Rex White and 1988 Winston Cup champion Bill Elliott, speak in the media center before the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After the tumultuous events at the end of the race that resulted in behavioral penalties for Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart, I couldn’t help but remember some timely words of advice from these two legends.

    “Any driver is going to lose more races than he wins, White said.  “You got to learn how to be a good loser and it will make you a better winner.”

    While today’s corporate sponsored NASCAR often bears little resemblance to its blue collar beginnings, the essence of racing remains unchanged.  There is only one goal; to win.  It’s that competitive passion that grabs you and doesn’t let go until the checkered flag waves. But therein lies the rub; there can be only one winner each race.

    Bill Elliott put it another way, saying, “Some days you just got to take your licks and go on to the next race.”

    But what does being a good loser mean?

    It’s a concept that most athletes and particularly racers, simply don’t understand. They are taught that winning is everything and in their minds, losing equals failure. Accepting a loss gracefully means acknowledging defeat. Or does it?

    Dale Earnhardt is famously quoted as saying that “second place is just the first loser.”

    The seven-time NASCAR champion, however, was no stranger to losing. Over the course of his Cup career he competed in 676 races, winning 76 times but losing 600. It took 20 attempts before he finally won the coveted Daytona 500 in 1998.

    Earnhardt earned the title of The Intimidator on the track and was arguably one of the most aggressive drivers in the history of the sport. No one hated losing more than him but he learned to accept the losses as a necessary evil and move forward once the checkered flag flew. A perfect example is his 19th heartbreaking loss of the Daytona 500.

    In 1997, Earnhardt was running second in the final laps of the Daytona 500 when he wrecked. Jeff Gordon, in third place, was trying to pass and Earnhardt made contact with the wall, got sideways and flipped his car in the chain reaction that ensued. After repairs, including taping the back deck onto the No. 3, Earnhardt was back in the car.

    “I got in the ambulance and I looked back at the car,” Earnhardt said, “and I said ‘man, the wheels are still on that thing.’ I got out of the ambulance and asked the guy inside the car that was hooking it up and said, ‘see if it will crank’ and he cranked it up and I said, ‘get out, give me the car back.’ So I drove it back around here and we taped it up.”

    “I don’t know that we could have won the Daytona 500,” Earnhardt continued, “but we was sitting there, ready for a shot. I think Gordon was a little impatient at that point but still he went on and won the race, he was running his race. That’s the way it goes.”

    The most passionate and successful champions in any sport refuse to be defined by their losses. Instead of placing blame on others they look inward, dig deeper and refuse to give up. No one expects these fierce competitors to accept losing gracefully but when a bad finish causes a driver to lose control of his emotions and engage in potentially dangerous behavior, it only compounds the significance of the loss.

    Michael Jordon, six-time NBA champion once said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

    Six-time Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson, who has been eliminated from this year’s championship battle, echoed those sentiments, saying “I truly believe that those moments make you stronger.”

    “It’s great medicine for the 48,” he elaborated. “I don’t want to be in this position. But it’s great medicine to sit and watch this championship unfold. It’s going to motivate me, Chad (Knaus, crew chief) and the team, all of us on the 48 team. We’ll come back next year and be ready to roll.”

    Perhaps it’s all about perception. Loss is inevitable but it is also transitory. It can be viewed as failure or as an impetus to future success and that mindset is what truly separates the winners from the losers.

     

  • A Great Day for the Hall of Fame, but the Procedure is Flawed

    A Great Day for the Hall of Fame, but the Procedure is Flawed

    The NASCAR Hall of Fame nominations usually make me yawn. Year after year, mostly because of the Hall’s policy of only naming a few to the Hall and the fact that it includes drivers, owners, mechanics, and the front office people, it seems that those truly deserving of getting in the Hall aren’t accepted. This year was different. The five who will be inducted in January—Bill Elliott, Wendell Scott, Rex White, Joe Weatherly, and Fred Lorenzen—are all drivers for the first time. It is the process that I have always thought made no sense.

    First of all, there is no earthly reason why drivers, owners, crew chiefs, front office people and the media should not be grouped separately because each segment does very different things. There should be nominations in each category and separate voting. Maybe NASCAR should look at Major League Baseball and the National Football League. I feel sure that would be a better system.

    I know little about the NFL Hall mainly because I’m not a big football fan, but I can speak about the MLB Hall. Players and managers have to be retired for five years. Terry Labonte has two starts this year and Bill Elliott last raced in 2012. Both are worthy of induction. In fact, you won’t find a bigger fan of either driver than this writer, but the rule of “what have you done for me lately” has seemed to influence voters. What logic is it that Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett should be inducted before Fred Lorenzen, Bobby Isaac, Buddy Baker and others? Why were legends like Dale Inman, Maurice Petty, Cotton Owens and Bud Moore forced to compete with more visible drivers? It makes no sense, even though each person mentioned is very worthy of induction into the Hall.

    There are many who deserve to be honored. Having segments would allow many deserving people to have a chance at gaining Hall membership. At its present rate, some greats will never have a chance to enter the hall in their lifetimes. I find this to be a shame. There should be a segment or section for the lesser series stars and the media. Newspaper writers like Tom Higgins, David Poole, Monte Dutton, Thomas Pope and many more were as big a part in making the sport grow as others. Car owners—they’ve already entered the Woods and the principals in the Petty organization as well as Moore and others, but shouldn’t that be a different category? Why are the founders, current team owners (Rick Hendrick), track owners (Bruton Smith), and others competing with the stars of the sport? Why are present owners with no retirement in their future being considered? I cannot find a logical explanation.

    Regardless of my problem with the only five person induction and the lack of categories or segments, I was pleased this year. The five to be inducted are very worthy. If you’ve never had a chance to go to the Hall of Fame, I highly recommend it as a venue to be seen. I learn something every time I go, and I’ve been following this sport for the better part of 50 years. I just wish they would take my suggestions. The voters got it right this year. Elliott, Scott, White, Weatherly, and Lorenzen should be in the Hall and now they are. That’s a great job.

  • NASCAR Champions Featuring Rex White

    NASCAR Champions Featuring Rex White

    Cup Champion: 1960
    Born: August 17, 1929
    Hometown: Spartanburg, S.C.
    Career: 1956-1964

    Rex White is a perfect example of what it takes to achieve success. He grew up while the country was in the grip of the Great Depression and spent much of his youth working long hours on a farm. He also suffered from polio as a child but none of this deterred him from his dream.

    “Most of the lessons I have learned have stayed with me all my life. The biggest one was how to conquer fear,” White wrote in his autobiography, “Gold Thunder.”

    White was born in Taylorsville, N.C. but later moved to Maryland and began racing on the short tracks in the area. In1956, he entered his first race in the NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup). He was winless during his first two seasons but in 33 races, he captured 20 top-10 finishes.

    In 1958 White moved to Spartanburg, S.C. and joined forces with his friend Louis Clements. Clements became his partner and chief mechanic. Together, they evolved into a formidable team.

    They quickly found success with two wins that first year and 17 top-10s that included 13 top-five finishes. White was ranked seventh in the point standings at the completion of the season.

    White’s consistency and ability to run up front paid off in 1960 when he won the Grand National Championship. He competed in 40 races with six wins, three poles and 35 top-10s, including 25 top-five finishes. His dominance during the season earned him the title of stock car driver of the year and the most popular driver award.

    The following season, White had another impressive year. He took home seven wins and finished second in the point standings. In 1962 his eight victories earned him a fifth place spot at the end of the year. He finished the 1963 season in ninth position.

    Rex White retired in 1964 after running in only six races, stating that he couldn’t make enough money to make a living. His total career earnings were $223,51. In comparison, Denny Hamlin’s first place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2013 paid $322,350.

    His career may have been short compared to today’s standards but it was significant. He finished in the top-10 70 percent of the time. His 28 victories places him 23rd on the all-time list of premier series winners and his average finishing position of 8.983 is the fourth best in the history of NASCAR.

    White remains active in the racing community and enjoys making appearances where he can interact with his fans and sign autographs. If you love the history of NASCAR, pick up his autobiography entitled “Gold Thunder,” the nickname of his famous No. 4 gold and white Chevy. It’s a slice of stock car racing history from White’s unique perspective of NASCAR’s beginnings.

    Accomplishments:

    1960 – NASCAR Grand National Series Champion (Now Sprint Cup)
    1960 – The Most Popular Driver Award
    1960 – Driver of the Year Award
    1974 – Inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame
    1998 – Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers
    2003 – Inducted into Georgia Racing Hall of Fame
    2003 – Received Smokey Yunick Pioneer Award
    2004 – Author – Gold Thunder: Autobiography of a NASCAR Champion
    2008 – Inducted into Talladega Walk of Fame
    2011 – Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
    2014 – Nominee to the NASCAR Hall of Fame