Let's not forget those Good Ol' Days

[dpkimmel2001]

I thought maybe some of these old races could be fun to look @.

Today in History.....

September 22nd, 1968. - Richard Petty picks up his sixth Cup victory at Martinsville, winning the Old Dominion 500 by three laps over Cale Yarborough. LeeRoy Yarbrough finishes third, also three laps back. Petty leads 324 laps, the second most of his 15 victories at the half-mile short track. He took home the winners trophy and a whopping $5999.00 that day. I wonder if they handed out that grandfather clock back then? In 1970, Petty will lead 480 of the 500 laps of the Old Dominion 500.

Some other notables that day. 6th - David Pearson, 8 laps down; 8th - Donnie Allison, 9 laps back; 17th - a young Dave Marcis, 38 laps; possible start & park 40th place Paul Dean Holt, out after 1 lap with an oil pressure issue. He took home $275 for his efforts that day.

Three freakin laps over the second & third place cars. I wonder how we would have been rating that race way back when?

Wow, and today's fan get upset when they see someone break out into a two second lead.

 

[TexasRaceLady]

I agree, dp. Sometimes the "good old days" are not so good.

 

[dpkimmel2001]

I agree, dp. Sometimes the "good old days" are not so good.

Maybe it's not so much that they weren't so good, we just tend to remember them differently. Now while I was around back in 68' I wasn't attending races. By the time I did start going, similar results were still the norm & I enjoyed every race that I went to. I still do today. I think the competition is far better today than it ever was. Heck, just look at the number of winners this year. Look at the number of new winners this year. We had it pretty good way back when. I think it's even better today.

 

[FlFlash]

September 22nd, 1968. I wonder if they handed out that grandfather clock back then?

H. Clay Earles first started handing out the clock in the early 60's it was originaly a 4' clock ( grandmother? ) sometime in the 70's it became the larger "Grandfather" clock a clockmaker in Martinsville made them, and may still?
I've heard Petty has a room full of them

Great Idea for a Thread dp!

 

[TexasRaceLady]

H. Clay Earles first started handing out the clock in the early 60's it was originaly a 4' clock ( grandmother? ) sometime in the 70's it became the larger "Grandfather" clock a clockmaker in Martinsville made them, and may still?
I've heard Petty has a room full of them

Great Idea for a Thread dp!

Yes, the clock maker is local. Sure wish I had enough in the piggy bank to buy one.

 

[SST55]

Ned Jarrett won by something like 9 laps if I remember right.

 

[dpkimmel2001]

I always thought that was a very cool trophy. I didn't know its history though. The track has a long, long history to it and certainly has an old time feel to it. I like how they line up the cars on the front stretch before the race and hold the victory lane celebration @ the start/finish line. That is probably my favorite track. My wife & I have been going to Martinsville for years. Now, we only hit the fall race there. We'll be there again next month.

 

[MRM]

Remember back then, races were more of an endurance race. Parts weren't as reliable and not many drivers finished the whole race. If one driver had it going that day, he could wear them out. You also didn't have internet, 900 TV channels, and other things to pre-occupy folks. If fans saw a bad race, they weren't sitting in the stands thinking to themselves "I should have stayed home and watched the game."

Today, engines are pretty much bullet-proof and it's more about competition than outlasting the other guys. Most newer fans never knew of anything different in NASCAR.

I saw or listened to plenty of stinkers in my day when I was a kid. But I didn't think twice about it because that race was the only thing on my mind, not flipping to something else on TV because there wasn't anything else or going somewhere else to do something else.

 

[Whizzer]

Yes, the clock maker is local. Sure wish I had enough in the piggy bank to buy one.

Ridgeway Clock Company was located in Ridgeway, VA, and was a part of the Gravely Furniture Company. In 1960, Gravely began making Ridgeway Clocks exclusively and they were bought out several years ago by Howard Miller, a furniture and clock manufacturer located in Zeeland, MI. I tried to located he clock factory two years ago while on a trip to Martinsville but information given at that time indicated the clocks are no longer manufactured in Ridgeway.

I have seen their grandfather clocks in furniture stores in the Raleigh area.

 

[dpkimmel2001]

Ned Jarrett won by something like 9 laps if I remember right.

Flashback 1965 - Ned Jarrett wins the coveted Southern 500 by a margin of victory of fourteen laps over Buck Baker. I think that is the record margin of victory in NASCAR.

6 times in Ned Jarrett's career he led every single lap of a race. What would we have been complaining about then? I remember when Jeff Burton led every lap @ New Hampshire in the fall 2000 race. You'd have thought the world was going to come to an end after that. Of course, that was the day that the field was running a restrictor plate at that track after the deaths of both Kenny Irwin, Jr & Adam Petty earlier that year at that same venue.

 

[John Galt]

So, he won by X laps??? Why doesn that make it a bad race? Every race doesn't end with a wheel-to-wheel battle to the finish, no more than the championship doesn't always end in a point spread counted on fingers and toes (Though according to Brian Z., that's the ONLY way competition should end.)

I was a fan in those "Good ol' days," and never once do I remember the race feeling like a parade, or that the whole thing was manipulated or contrived. If there was a yellow flag it was because or a wreck, NOT because of a piece of phantom debris or because a car came within six inches of the wall.
There was good racing thoughout the field and not just between the first two cars.

Whether a race was "Good" or "Bad" didn't depend on how many cars finished on the lead lap, or is it was a photo finish. It depended on what there isn't nearly enough of anymore, good, hard racing.

"Don't forget the "Good ol'days?" I'm trying to forget this new NA__AR, thank you very much!

 

[Greg]

The cars weren't clones.
Tire's weren't as good, brakes weren't as good, it was more of marathon.

Saturday night late models were more of my first love.


In the early 70,s the field would include
Chevy IIs, and Falcons chopped down like skateboards, with cut out hoods for the carbs.
Almost every model of a Chevelle made before 73.
Fairlanes a few pre 74 Mustangs, and Camaros. Even 55 Chevrolets.


The cars were more likely to be one of a kind hand built pieces. Even cars of the same model year had a unique personality of it's own. There was real shade tree tech involved, hand fab art at work.


The sounds were unique too, some ran cross overs. Some sounded exotic, some where just loud, some made a high pitch wine. The cam thumps were more varied too.


There were guys in the pits known as "Hickey" "Cooter" "MadMan" etc. They was crude, and rough, but a hell of lot more interesting than today's corporate drivers.


The O.P makes a good point, competition is tighter now, but I don't think that is the full measure.


It really was the good old days, I cherish the memories.

 

[FlFlash]

You mean like these:

A very very young Flash

First Latemodel

 

[robbybee]

Richard Petty twice won the Daytona 500 Race by TWO LAPS!

 

[robbybee]

Thanks for sharing those, Flash!

That's awesome!

Is that a 57 Chevy?

 

[klemmabyna]

Flashback 1965 - Ned Jarrett wins the coveted Southern 500 by a margin of victory of fourteen laps over Buck Baker. I think that is the record margin of victory in NASCAR.

6 times in Ned Jarrett's career he led every single lap of a race. What would we have been complaining about then? I remember when Jeff Burton led every lap @ New Hampshire in the fall 2000 race. You'd have thought the world was going to come to an end after that. Of course, that was the day that the field was running a restrictor plate at that track after the deaths of both Kenny Irwin, Jr & Adam Petty earlier that year at that same venue.

that '65 southern 500:

http://www.racing-reference.info/race/1965_Southern_500/W

here's the deal about the good ol' days. there were few, if any, multiple car teams. only a few were chasing the series title. kind of like any regional touring short track series today, minus the nascar mega-teams support. the excitement was generated by a handful of stars racing against a field of the best local racers. and this was back when backyard engineers were allowed to experiment. the excitement wasn't necessarily provided by close racing, but instead it was about how your hometown hero fared against the few legends that visited the local racing venue.

jmo

 

[Greg]

@ FlFlash, yes you nailed it.
Thanks for posting

The jalopy journal also has tons of good photos. If those interest anyone, their historical threads are loaded, with similar photos.

 

[FlFlash]

Thanks for sharing those, Flash!

That's awesome!

Is that a 57 Chevy?

55, it's Larry Flynn's old Latemodel, dad bought it after Larry and him built a 65 Chevelle for LM. We ran it as a Bomber/Hobbystock 4 bbl 355 CI, cast iron manifolds, flat top pistons, flat tappet cam ( no roller lifters or rocker arms ) 10" Firestone rain tires on dirt and 8" track re caps on asphalt....yes we ran the same car on dirt and asphalt. Best driving car I ever had, they had it set up to drive itself Won a pile of races and lil wood trophys.
Wish I had a color pic it was Gold on top black on the bottom and originaly number #14 ( remember Smokey Yunick's #13 same paint job )

 

[robbybee]

here's the deal about the good ol' days. there were few, if any, multiple car teams. only a few were chasing the series title. kind of like any regional touring short track series today, minus the nascar mega-teams support. the excitement was generated by a handful of stars racing against a field of the best local racers. and this was back when backyard engineers were allowed to experiment. the excitement wasn't necessarily provided by close racing, but instead it was about how your hometown hero fared against the few legends that visited the local racing venue.

jmo

And they also ran 3 or 4 times per week!

 

[dpkimmel2001]

Today in History.....

September 23nd, 1973. - Bobby Allison passes Richard Petty on the last lap in a hard fought battle @ North Wilkesboro Speedway taking home the $7,425 winners purse. They swapped the lead six times during the race and together led 383 of the 400 laps. Only two cautions for nine laps with a margin of victory of 1.5 sec. All of this in front of a crowd of 16,500.

Other notables in the field that day..... 11th place Coo Coo Marlin, 17th place Richard Childress, and some guy named Darrell Waltrip finishing in the final 30th place position collecting $75 for himself and car owner Bud Moore.

 

[FlFlash]

some guy named Darrell Waltrip finishing in the final 30th place position collecting $75 for himself and car owner Bud Moore.

Dang maybe DW and Bud should have done the Start and Park thing:

400 laps 1/2 mile each lap 200 miles approx 5 mpg so it took 40 gals of fuel @$1.25 ( price of race gas back then ) so thats $50 most likely 50-50 driver owner split so DW got $12.50 and Bud got $12.50......yep big money in this here racing thing

 

[dpkimmel2001]

An interesting story I was reading this morning from Tom Higgins.....

Asphalt issues, early flag sparked fan riot in 1961
By Tom Higgins


Imagine winner Jamie McMurray, runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr., Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and their crews being held hostage for ransom by fans, angered over the pothole pratfall taken by NASCAR last weekend during the Daytona 500.

Unthinkable?

Certainly so nowadays.

But just such a thing happened many years ago, and I was there as a young reporter to see it.

The date: Aug. 13, 1961.

The site: Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, a half-mile track in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The event: The Western North Carolina 500.

Trouble developed almost immediately after the green flag as the speedway’s asphalt began tearing apart.

Flying pieces of pavement soon were pummeling the race cars and even some fans among an estimated 10,000 on hand.

Rather than going to the press box, I sat in a concrete grandstand along the frontstretch with my new bride. I vividly recall an acquaintance from high school in nearby Burnsville, Louetta Randolph, being hit in the temple by a baseball-sized bit of asphalt that had flown over the fence. Louetta, dazed, was taken to an Asheville hospital as a precaution. She wasn’t seriously hurt.

The race rolled on with Junior Johnson dominating in a Pontiac. Junior seemed able to avoid the potholes better than his rivals, perhaps traceable to experience from his years of hauling moonshine on rutted, backwoods roads.

Johnson started on the front row with fellow Pontiac driver Joe Weatherly, the pole winner at 65.704 mph. Junior grabbed the lead on the first lap and didn’t relinquish it. He eventually charged three laps ahead despite having a large chunk of asphalt puncture a hole in the windshield right in front of his face.

Relatively feeble efforts were made to repair the pavement, all to no avail.

With the race under a red flag on the 208th of the scheduled 500 laps, NASCAR official Pat Purcell told the drivers and their crews the race would end after 50 more laps. The drivers were to get a final red flag and the checkered flag simultaneously.

Best I recall, no announcement of the decision was made on the track’s loudspeakers.

So it was a surprise to many fans when Johnson was flagged the winner on Lap 258.

And it riled about half those in the crowd at the speedway, destined to shut down in 1969. Some started screaming and yelling in protest.

“I’ve seen half a race, I want half my money back!” one obviously inebriated guy kept hollering.

Not surprisingly, promoter Gene Sluder had left the premises much earlier with the gate receipts.

The protest grew in intensity.

It quickly became a riot when a large logging truck was pushed onto the cross-over point leading to the infield and pit road. The track had no tunnel, so the competitors were trapped inside.

A would-be mediator appeared from the midst of the irate throng. He was picked up and thrown into a pond.

Additional law enforcement officers – from the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office and the N.C. Highway Patrol – were summoned. But they were outnumbered and could do little.

As dusk neared, a few crewmen went to the spot where the route out was blocked, hoping to reason with the fuming fans.

It didn’t work.

Some people had come to the speedway atop a long, low-lying ridge hoping to see controversy.

At the time, NASCAR founder Big Bill France was battling a group of drivers – led by pioneers Curtis Turner and Tim Flock – who wanted to affiliate with the Teamsters Union.

It had appeared a showdown would take place at the WNC 500. But Turner and Flock weren't at the track that day.

Rowdies decided to create their own controversy.

Finally, one of them made a big mistake.

“I remember it vividly,” says Johnson. “We’d lost patience, and one of the crew fellers, Pop Ergle, went to the gate to tell 'em we were coming out.

“A riot ringleader had a two-by-four, and he poked Pop in the belly with it. Well, Pop, who worked for the team owned by Bud Moore, was a giant of a guy at about 6-6 and 285.

"Pop took the board away from the guy and started swinging it. Before long, the place cleared out and we left.”

Not a single refund – and no ransom – was paid.

From here.

 

[Benevolent One]

An interesting story I was reading this morning from Tom Higgins.....



From here.

That's a funny story and one I certainly never expect to see duplicated today.

 

[dpkimmel2001]

Today in History.....

October 18th, 1964 - Richard Petty finishes third in the National 400 despite crashing and failing to finish the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fred Lorenzen wins by a lap over Jim Paschal, and Petty is another lap back. Of Petty's 555 top-five finishes in the Cup series, six are DNFs.

What a stat! 555 top-five finishes and six are DNF's. That sure goes a long way in telling how far those fields used to be spread out. And we complain today when someone gets a one second lead on the field.

Oh, and Fred..... He took home $11,185.00 that day. 16 of the original 44 cars were still running at the end of this one with only seven of those within ten laps of the winner. Of those there were only two cars that were even on the same lap racing for position and they were four laps down.

1964 National 400

 

[FlFlash]

Today in History.....

October 18th, 1964 - Richard Petty finishes third in the National 400 despite crashing and failing to finish the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fred Lorenzen wins by a lap over Jim Paschal, and Petty is another lap back. Of Petty's 555 top-five finishes in the Cup series, six are DNFs.

What a stat! 555 top-five finishes and six are DNF's. That sure goes a long way in telling how far those fields used to be spread out.

LOL, that would have made a great trivia question!

 

[dpkimmel2001]

LOL, that would have made a great trivia question!

Mentioning 555 top-five finishes would have been a dead giveaway, I think.

 

[robbybee]

And in 1973, Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 by Two Full Laps.

Would y'all consider that sort of domination boring?

 

[dpkimmel2001]

And in 1973, Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 by Two Full Laps.

Would y'all consider that sort of domination boring?

It was probably great for the Petty fans.

 

[FlFlash]

And in 1973, Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 by Two Full Laps.

Would y'all consider that sort of domination boring?

Can you imagine being in second racing your butt off already a lap down and he comes up behind you to lap you again .... I may very well have Stuffed the King into the fence

 

[Greg]

And in 1973, Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 by Two Full Laps.

Would y'all consider that sort of domination boring?

Petty was not dominant that day. Buddy Baker led most of the day in the K and K Dodge. He blew up late and Petty inherited the + 2 lap lead very late in the race.


Not a classic, but no worse than a 2011 fuel mileage win, just a different form of attrition.


I wasn't there, I saw it on MRN, as a Petty fan I remember listening.

 

[kkfan91]

Petty was not dominant that day. Buddy Baker led most of the day in the K and K Dodge. He blew up late and Petty inherited the + 2 lap lead very late in the race.


Not a classic, but no worse than a 2011 fuel mileage win, just a different form of attrition.


I wasn't there, I saw it on MRN, as a Petty fan I remember listening.

But at least there is competition in a fuel mileage win, clearly a race where a guy finishes third without even finishing must have been awful after awhile.

 

[Joniki]

I have completely enjoyed every bit of this post. It is always great to see a solid post that brings out the good things in fans.

Thank you DP.

I spent this last Sunday at the Winchester 400. 35 CRA cars started the race and 15 cars finished. There were only 6 cars on the lead lap. I have been to several NASCAR races this year and the Winchester 400 was far better racing than I have seen all year.

Can you imagine what the fans would say if this would happen at Dega this weekend?

 

[kkfan91]

I have completely enjoyed every bit of this post. It is always great to see a solid post that brings out the good things in fans.

Thank you DP.

I spent this last Sunday at the Winchester 400. 35 CRA cars started the race and 15 cars finished. There were only 6 cars on the lead lap. I have been to several NASCAR races this year and the Winchester 400 was far better racing than I have seen all year.

Can you imagine what the fans would say if this would happen at Dega this weekend?

Yeah they would complain that the racee was boring and that it is entirly NASCAR's fault because no one was even close to each other.

 

[FlFlash]

I have completely enjoyed every bit of this post. It is always great to see a solid post that brings out the good things in fans.

Thank you DP.

I spent this last Sunday at the Winchester 400. 35 CRA cars started the race and 15 cars finished. There were only 6 cars on the lead lap. I have been to several NASCAR races this year and the Winchester 400 was far better racing than I have seen all year.

Can you imagine what the fans would say if this would happen at Dega this weekend?

Quit Teasing me! It's always been one of my dreams to head up there for a couple weeks and catch the action at Winchester and Eldora.

Can you imagine Cup cars at Winchester??? 37 degree lightening fast half mile Wooohoooooo!!!

 

[Joniki]

Quit Teasing me! It's always been one of my dreams to head up there for a couple weeks and catch the action at Winchester and Eldora.

Can you imagine Cup cars at Winchester??? 37 degree lightening fast half mile Wooohoooooo!!!

Why haven't you done it?

The racing is excellent and you can get a very nice room for $50. I personally love the sprint cars. The modifieds are scary fast.

I got to spend a few minutes with Mike Kline, Hank Laur and Scott Sorg. What a blast from the past.

 

[dpkimmel2001]

Today in history.....

1997: Mike Skinner wins the NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka exhibition race at Suzuka Circuitland, a 1.394-mile road course in Suzuka City, Japan. Skinner leads 26 of the 125 laps and beats second-place Mark Martin by 3.742 seconds. Randy Lajoie finishes third. Martin, starting from the pole, leads a race-high 51 laps.