Nascar Trivia

I found your site but didn't have all that much time reading it all. Man, what a wonderful site to think back on.

So, I'll say Rex White since I saw his name and picture more than any of the others.
 
Both Rex White and Fred Lorenzen are great guesses and they both raced at Augusta but neither were involved in the development of the Augusta complex.

Thankfully they are both still with us. Yes, Rex has visited the memorial and we are still working on getting Fred into town.

Another clue. In our research we are finding that this same gentleman, in a very strange way, was also partially responsible for the ultimate closing of the facility, which occured in 1970.

Henry
 
Sorry, it wasn't Joe Weatherly but that was close!

Joe Weatherly and this mystery Vice President/Driver were good friends with Ned Jarrett.

Henry
 
No not Curtis, but I understand from the old timers that he use to land at the drag strip which was on the property next to the 1/2 mile oval. When he took off he would "buzz" the 1/2 mile track and scare the "heck" out of anybody that was still there. Can't you see that happening today?

Henry

PS. Thanks for all the positive comments on the tribute site. I decided to add it to the bottom of my post for others to enjoy. There are no commercials and there are no pop-ups.
 
:) There are hundreds of stories about Curtis and Joe and their flying episodes and especially their parties. :)
 
Marvin was another Augusta driver (and one of my personal favorites) but he was not involved in developing the tracks. Good guess.

This should be the clue that brings back the memories.

This driver and Vice President passed away the same racing season that the "Augusta 510" was run.

Henry
 
Lets do this so the group can move on to more trivia. The Driver who was the Vice President at the Augusta International Speedway was none other than Glenn "Fireball" Roberts.

The Augusta National Sprots Center was incorporated in 1959 and the then current Super-Star of NASCAR, "Fireball" Roberts became Vice President. The name was quickly changed to the Augusta International Speedway after the Augusta National, home of the masters, said no way were they going to allow the original name.

The developers, including "Fireball" wanted the biggest and the best racing facility in the nation and they had it for a short period of time. Beginning in 1959 construction began on the 1/2 mile dirt oval (later paved) the NHRA sanctioned 1/4 mile drag strip. a micro-midget track, a kart track and a motorcycle "scramble" track and then the 3 mile road course which brought the total to six different tracks. The lakes in the infield of the road course were to be converted to hydro-plane racing and a 2 mile tri-oval was also on the drawing boards which would have brought the total to 8 tracks. A feat that still has not be accomplished today. The biggest and the best was in place for a short period.

Roberts was instrumental in the design of the road course and getting a race date. He and a lot of others felt like the future of stock car racing in this country were road courses that could be completely viewed from the grandstands. Remember, in those days NASCAR was racing on anything and everything including dirt, speedways, road courses and airports. The future had not yet been decided.

Roberts won the "Augusta 510" in November 1963 and of course we lost him in July 1964 and so began the death of the Augusta International Speedway Complex. No more race dates were obtained for the brand new road couse. The 1/2 mile operated until 1970 along with the other tracks and that was it!

All that remains today is the 3 mile road course which is being converted into Diamond Lakes Regional Park. A monument sits in that park and the name of Glenn "Fireball" Roberts and the other 95 drivers that drove the road couse will be added to the monument this summer.

I want to turn the next trivia question back over to "boB" since he let me take his turn.

A blink of an eye and the death of Roberts changed NASCAR forever.

Henry
 
Too bad he died in a different kind of fireball. I had guessed (in my mind) that it was Fireball, but didn't feel confident enough to answer.
 
kat2220 said:
Too bad he died in a different kind of fireball. I had guessed (in my mind) that it was Fireball, but didn't feel confident enough to answer.
Click to expand...
Ok, since Historic turned it over to Bob and since you guessed it correctly in your mind I think that whichever one of you is the first to think of a question gets to post it.......:)

Lets keep it going as we are approaching 500 posts. :)
 
Kat,

Go ahead with a question.
I've got enough heavy wet snow outside that needs to be moved before it warms up too much and gets even wetter and heavier this morning.
And the tractor needs a couple of things fixed before I go to work. Things never seem to break on the nice days. Have yet to figure out why that is!
 
OK, and thanks boB.
This should be a piece of cake.

What driver is enshrined in the Country Hall of Fame in Nashville?
 
kat, we are all learning here.

Am trying to get some facts together before posting a question concerning a NASCAR "Rookie of the Year". It is another very interesting NASCAR "rules change" story.

Someone else go ahead and put up a trivia question if you have one before I can get back to the thread.
 
At what Track was there a still hiding under a ticket booth by the FDA in the '60s?
 
The one I am aware of is Middle Georgia Speedway in Byron, Georgia just outside of Macon. There may be several answers to this one! :) :) :) :)
 
Sorry Buckster, not the one I had in mind, but please tel Jr's crew to make a 'shine run to my house and I'll leave the $$ in the mailbox ;)

I (or somebody) need to figure out a handle for HistoricMustang.........Musty? naw, sounds dirty.....HM?, naw doesn't feel right......


That's the one I had in mind Stang so it's your turn again.
 
OK, I am headed out to eat oysters with my lovely wife for valentines but will pop one up Sunday AM. The NASCAR "Rookie of the Year" mess up.

 
Tim is not the driver I am thinking about but he could possibly have also been denied the title. Did Tim pass away while meeting all the requirements? I am not sure.................

This driver did have the title denied sevral years after we lost Tim Richmond.
 
Sorry, it is not Kyle, although they did race against each other! Click on the link in the former post for a photo of his race car as it may help.
 
Wild guess here, based on the fact that I know several drivers of that era won ROTY awards in the 47, but would that have been Harry Gant in 1980?

Were there not some questions about his previous racing experience or something of that nature?
 
boB, it is not Harry Gant and this example is NASCAR doing the "rules" thing in the biggest way. This link will hopefully provide a photo that might narrow things down a bit. I removed his name from the drivers suit but the "team" is still visible.

What a driver and what a shame:

 
buckaroo, you are correct. Before the big money really hit NASCAR Winston Cup in the mid to late '90's the Rookie candidates usually did not run the entire schedule. NASCAR required that the "declared" candidates run a certain number of races (believe it was 13 or 14) and the average finish from these races would determine who won the Rookie of the Year award. Only two drivers competed the necessary events in 1990 - Jack Pennington and Rob Moroso.

Rob Moroso was killed in a tragic off track accident (I believe in October 1990) and missed the last few races. At the end of the season Jack Pennington (an independent who competed in 14 events that season) finished one position ahead of Rob.

Now comes the big NASCAR awards program at the end of the season and the award is given to Rob because of a little known "clause" in the process that states the NASCAR officials have a final say so no matter what the figures indicate. The media went wild with the decision which is exactly what NASCAR wanted. Jack told NASCAR what they could do with their series and he refused to again compete in a NASCAR race. He was offered several rides for a few years but turned all of them down and returned to the Saturday night circuit where he had spent 17 years trying to make the "big show". I believe he is still doing his thing on Saturday nights!

I read somewhere that he was considered "The Last of the Bold Breed".

buckaroo, it is now your turn!
 
Okay, here goes...

Driver Danny Weinberg led only one lap in his career, but that one lap was enough to win the race. Weinberg raced from 1951 to 1964, winning his one and only race at where on October 28, 1951?
 
Buckster, since there has NOT been a response, it may just be your turn to ask another question?
 
Yes, I am kinda running out of brew waiting for the next brain exercise.
 
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