"NASCAR Ain't The Way It Used To Be" People

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PettyBlue

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Check out this lineup of Grand National drivers of the 1965 season from the Summer issue of Racing Pictorial magazine-

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Racers all.
 
Thanks so much, the '65 issue is one that I'm missing. The middle bunch are USAC though, that's why Goldy and the other Hemis show up in the early season publication. I've never seen that Tiger Tom dark colored '64 before. All I've ever seen is the light blue one. I might just have to build that one. Could you scan and post the black and white stock car photos from that issue? Please, please, pretty please with STP on it.:D
 
Thanks so much, the '65 issue is one that I'm missing. The middle bunch are USAC though, that's why Goldy and the other Hemis show up in the early season publication. I've never seen that Tiger Tom dark colored '64 before. All I've ever seen is the light blue one. I might just have to build that one. Could you scan and post the black and white stock car photos from that issue? Please, please, pretty please with STP on it.:D

LOL Who could deny that? :D
 
Man, that is some list....... and really shows the way NASCAR was back in the day. I mean, you have several Hall of Famers in there, and easily some of the best the business has ever seen. But you will also notice a few names that unfortanetly aren't there...... names like "Fireball" Roberts, Jimmy Pardue, and Joe Weatherly, all of which died before the 65 500....... Can you imagine if the 2 time and defending series champ, one of the most popular drivers in the series, and a crowd favorite ALL died in one season now????

On top of that, you have one of my heroes, "Tiny" Lund, winner of the previous 500 in what would go down in history as the Cinderella story to end them all......

then you have GC Spencer...... one of the backbones of the sport...... though most don't even know who he is.....(even though DW lists him as one of his heroes growing up in Ky) He was one of many successful "independents" of that era, who became a car owner during the later part of his career..... In fact, it was his car, driven by Connie Saylor that was one of the first to flip due to aerodynamics at the 500 when NASCAR downsized the cars. His team was later bought by a guy named Larry Mclure..... Some of you may remember a certain number 4 Kodak car that had some success at Daytona with a couple of drivers a few years later.......

Then there's Ned Setzer.... if you ever watched a race in the ashville weaverville area, you know what a terror he was on the short tracks.... he battled with men like Harry Gant, Boscoe Lowe, Sam Ard etc, and whooped them..

Then as dad said, many of the middle section is filled with the USAC stock car drivers...... You have "The Godfather", Sal Tovella...... if Im not mistaken, he holds the record for wins in the USAC Stock series. Which wasn't an easy fact considerin at the time he had to compete with the likes of Curtis Turner, AJ Foyt, and many others.....

Also in that mix is one of ARCA's most successful driver, Jack Bowsher, who was the head of what became a racing family along the lines of the Petty's in NASCAR......

Then theres Earl Balmer.... who well.... his bigest impact to the sport was at Darlington, literally...... as he nearly tore down the press box at Darlington....

To me, that list is a snapshot of NASCAR back then..... no "overnight" success stories..... no cookie cutter personalities, no multi million dollar sponsorship deals, just a bunch of men who loved to go fast, loved to compete, and loved to race........ People from all walks of life, all in different phases of their career, from retiring to just making a name for themselves..... all holding hundreds of wins at the local level, all who payed thier dues....... all who need to be remembered in one form or another.

That is one thing I think NASCAR needs to at...... yea it's easy to praise the Petty's, Peasons, Allison's...... but there were sooooo many drivers that gave their lives ( some literally) for the sport, and are all but forgotten...... just because they didnt put up hall of fame numbers, doesn't in my opinion make the accomplishments of the Bobby Johns, GC Spencers, JD Mucduffies etc any less in helpin to build the sport where it ( unfortunately or fortunatly, depending on how ya look at it...) where it is today...........:beerbang:
 
might be a lil off, but as near as I can figure, the drivers pictured here account for 656 wins, 16 NASCAR Championships, 15 Daytona 500 wins........
 
happy to help, Mitchum. The summer '65 issue is devoted mainly to Indy, but one of the covers has a couple nice pics-

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There are a few other b&w pics but most are too small to be of value to a modeler. Here's a page with a nasty wreck from a Daytona qualifier:

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You might already have the '64/'65 Annual, but it has some great color reference pics including ol' Elmo before he swapped a race car for the pace car-

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..and "Wendall" (sic) Scott

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happy to help, Mitchum. The summer '65 issue is devoted mainly to Indy, but one of the covers has a couple nice pics-

There are a few other b&w pics but most are too small to be of value to a modeler. Here's a page with a nasty wreck from a Daytona qualifier:

You might already have the '64/'65 Annual, but it has some great color reference pics including ol' Elmo before he swapped a race car for the pace car-

..and "Wendall" (sic) Scott

Thanks, I've got both of the '64 books but not either of the '65's. That's a great shot of the record setting Dodge that I didn't have. Thanks again
 
Awesome pics.

Drivers in those days were working man racers. Some had jobs in addition to racing. And almost all of them worked on their own cars. I bet half of the current Cup drivers have never turned a wrench on anything they've ever raced.
 
Man, it look like they brought those cars from the dealership and then converted them into racing cars.

Kinda sad I was born after that era. :(
 
Man, it look like they brought those cars from the dealership and then converted them into racing cars.

Kinda sad I was born after that era. :(

that was the way it was done back then..... ya get a car, rip out everythin that don't look like a racecar, and then ya got..... a racecar......lol. But make no mistake, when Holman Mody, Smokey Yunick, The Woods, and all the rest got done with those machines, there was very little left that Detroit would actually recognize......
 
Man, it look like they brought those cars from the dealership and then converted them into racing cars.

Kinda sad I was born after that era. :(
I remember reading this one time, but can't find it now. I believe it was Buck Baker who once took a Hudson Hornet off the showroom floor, drove it to the track and raced it, changing nothing but the tires.
 
I remember reading this one time, but can't find it now. I believe it was Buck Baker who once took a Hudson Hornet off the showroom floor, drove it to the track and raced it, changing nothing but the tires.

sounds like fun.
 
Dealers would donate a car in exchange for having the name of their dealership applied with temporary paint. Before the car hit the track, they'd cover the front of it in masking tape to keep the paint from getting chipped up, then come Monday the tape would come off, the car cleaned up and put back on the lot. :D
 
Actually, we bought these cars at the hobby shop and turned them into race car models. LOL

The winner of the first 500 mile stock car race was used as a parts chaser and company hack until a few days before the race and beat'em with hard compound tires when all those fast Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles were sittin' in the pits changing tires every twenty laps or so.

Smokey Yunick did the same thing five years later with four dollars worth of tires ( $1 each) that didn't even need a tire change all day! Long story but a good one.
 
Mitchum, do you have a book from Sportgame Inc called "Chrysler Corporation Stock Car Racing Stable Of The Late 60's"? It's loaded with great color photos aimed specifically at modelers.
 
the funny thing was...... lets just say you didn't leave your personal car unattended at places like Darlington in the pits...... you might come back and find all manner of parts "missin"........lol. Can you imagine that nowadays????
 
I heard that the big Hudsons and Oldsmobiles were so hard on tires at the first Darlington race that teams were buying spare tires from spectators by halfway through the race. :D
 
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