remember when......

S

speedwayphoto

Guest
Enjoyed VaDirt's post "what brought you in", brought back alot of memories.... so I thought why not start s post of old memories.... ( some of us may date ourselves with these..)

Remember when......
18 second pit stop were unheard of, except maybe for the Wood Brothers.

rarely was the entire top ten on the lead lap.

Bias-ply tires. ( you haven't seen racing until you see Earnhardt, Richmond, Baker, etc smokin the right rear on a short track.....)

you could go to an autograph signing at a 7-11 and wait in line for like 20 minutes to get an autograph ( of a top 10 driver no less.)

you could go to a Busch Race and see drivers that SOMEDAY would race on Sunday, not the NEXT day....

when there were rivalries..... and they MEANT something- Petty/Pearson, Earnhardt and (pick one) Waltrip, Wallace, Rudd, Bodine, Richmond, etc..... Yarborough/Baker, Waltrip/Allison.... on and on....

These tracks- N. Wilkesboro, Ontario, Riverside, Texas World, Richmond Fairgrounds......

You could tell the size of the track by it name- Raceway, Speedway, Superspeedway,
 
speedwayphoto said:
Enjoyed VaDirt's post "what brought you in", brought back alot of memories.... so I thought why not start s post of old memories.... ( some of us may date ourselves with these..)

Remember when......
18 second pit stop were unheard of, except maybe for the Wood Brothers.

rarely was the entire top ten on the lead lap.

Bias-ply tires. ( you haven't seen racing until you see Earnhardt, Richmond, Baker, etc smokin the right rear on a short track.....)

you could go to an autograph signing at a 7-11 and wait in line for like 20 minutes to get an autograph ( of a top 10 driver no less.)

you could go to a Busch Race and see drivers that SOMEDAY would race on Sunday, not the NEXT day....

when there were rivalries..... and they MEANT something- Petty/Pearson, Earnhardt and (pick one) Waltrip, Wallace, Rudd, Bodine, Richmond, etc..... Yarborough/Baker, Waltrip/Allison.... on and on....

These tracks- N. Wilkesboro, Ontario, Riverside, Texas World, Richmond Fairgrounds......

You could tell the size of the track by it name- Raceway, Speedway, Superspeedway,
Click to expand...
Richmond Fairgrounds, you mean Richmond International Raceway?
 
no.... I meant Fairgrounds..... didnt they change to RIR after lengthening it?
 
speedwayphoto said:
no.... I meant Fairgrounds..... didnt they change to RIR after lengthening it?
Click to expand...

Yep. It's still the same racetrack and it still puts on one hell of a show. :D

Richmond is the best track I've ever gone to. Went one time, now I go twice a year every year.
 
I've got some videos of Bristol in the 80s --- before concrete and radial tires.

Not only can you see the smoke from the right rear, but you can hear the tires squeal. Also, the cars ran right up next to the wall. *sigh*
 
I remember back in the 80's my brother-in-law, my uncle and I went up to Bristol early one Sunday morning, bought tickets at the gate for $25 and went in and watched the race. On the concrete bleachers no less...
 
Even though I'm very new to nascar, I would have loved to have been a fan then. espn classic will show old races every now and then and I can't get enough. It seems like it was much more exciting even just 10 years ago.

I think you nailed one thing in particular. The rivalries. There does not seem to really be any now. What the hell happened? It seems so much more watered down and I have only been a fan for a few years and I can tell that it has gottn lame from what it used to be.
 
I remember when Grand National was the top class, race cars started out with a window price sticker on them, drivers had "real" jobs to support their racing habit and Richmond was dirt. Speaking of which, my son Speedway Photo, will probably tell ya'll I'm older than. LOL
 
My most memerable race would be the last race at Riverside Ca. I went as a crew member for Struer Brothers (Glen was the driver I think) car owned by Phil Dayton, we didn't make the show, but the crew was loaned to Doug Taylor, used to own a Busch team sponcered by Channel Lock, driver was Carry Earnheart. Anyway, Doug, unknown by us, borrowed the tire changers from D K Ulrick's crew to change his tires during the Southwest Tour race and he inturned loaned us to D K Ulrick to pit for Irnie Irvin. I ended up being the guy handing the gas can to the gas man for Irvin in the Kroger Grocery, white number 2 Chevy. This is my high light/low light/ any light in the Winston Cup Series. It was a blast, I got to meet all the big dogs in Cup at the time and wander any where in the pits and stop and shot the bull with anyone, it was great. Most memerable person I met at the time, Kyle Petty, probably 15 or 16 at the time. Don't know why, but he stuck out in my mind.

A few years later, we had a whale of a time with Darrell Waltrips crew in the Holiday Inn in Phoenex AZ, we had a ton of fun, not sure we should have lived through it. LOL Duane
 
sledge said:
Even though I'm very new to nascar, I would have loved to have been a fan then. espn classic will show old races every now and then and I can't get enough. It seems like it was much more exciting even just 10 years ago.

I think you nailed one thing in particular. The rivalries. There does not seem to really be any now. What the hell happened? It seems so much more watered down and I have only been a fan for a few years and I can tell that it has gottn lame from what it used to be.
Click to expand...

Yeah, enjoy that ESPN Classic.

MASN airs ESPN Classic from time to time. I imagine they'll show the Awards Ceremony.
 
It's good to be back among family and old friends but it says I gotta post twelve times or so before it will let me post a pic. Well, after this I'm one closer. LOL
 
Thanks again. Ya'know, I thought about just posting 12 responses to this thread so I could post some models. That would be so "Smokey Yunick", wouldn't it? LOL
 
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