Singer/Racer Marty Robbins

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#17D500winner

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I was at a cousins last night and she was showing me some the Nascar stuff which her husband had collected when this caught my eye.

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Country singer Marty Robbins, who drove in 35 NASCAR Winston Cup races before his death in 1982, got his first Cup car in 1968, in a trade with Bobby Allison, a car builder at the time.

"Marty offered me a late-model sportsman car, a trailer, a pick-up truck, a Black Angus bull and a Lincoln Continental with a lizard-skin roof," Allison said. "That sounded like a pretty even trade to me, so we put the deal together."

There's an article here http://www.nascar.com/2001/NEWS/10/17/duskey_robbins/

For the record, I'm not in anyway suggesting that a Nascar race be held in the "Streets of Laredo."
 
Very cool 17D. I never heard of him, but he overcame a lot to race. Turning down RoTR honers was very honorable.
 
FenderBumper said:
Very cool 17D. I never heard of him, but he overcame a lot to race. Turning down RoTR honers was very honorable.
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You've never heard of Marty Robbins :eek: "A white Sports Coat", "Streets of Laredo", "El Paso."
 
One of the stories shared there was about a race in which Marty’s car was running, shall we say, MUCH better than normal. During the race he was clocked doing 188 miles per hour, which was around 14 miles per hour faster than he qualified. He was running up front with the leaders and passing cars that he normally wouldn’t pass. Once the race was over Marty told NASCAR that they should check his carburetor because it was running too fast. NASCAR determined that it was indeed an illegal carburetor and he would not retain his finishing position, nor the purse of $1,300 for the infraction. Marty’s response? He laughed and said, “It was worth it. In fact, I would have paid that much money for a picture of Joe Frasson’s face when I passed him.”

http://www.mopardealer.com/marty.htm

He promised Richard Petty and David Pearson that he wouldn’t drive a race car like they do if they’d promise not to sing like he did
 
FenderBumper said:
Nope. Dems all Greek to me, other than the excellent Taco sauce.
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That's cool. I guess I just thought that a person of your advanced years would have heard of him :D or maybe it's the Culture Club and Frankie Goes To Hollywood that works for you ;) Relax.
 
#17D500winner said:
That's cool. I guess I just thought that a person of your advanced years would have heard of him :D or maybe it's the Culture Club and Fankie Goes To Hollywood that works for you ;) Relax.
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Who the hell is Fankie? You foreigners confuse the hell out of me.
 
Must be my age but I seen Marty race a couple of times at Charollette. Not really competative but always thought it was neat that he was a singer and a driver, kinda like Elvis in the movies.
 
dirtguru said:
Must be my age but I seen Marty race a couple of times at Charollette. Not really competative but always thought it was neat that he was a singer and a driver, kinda like Elvis in the movies.
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Good analogy, but Marty was a better driver and Elvis had nicer looking babes.
 
I had been listening to and liking his music but didnt know who he was the first time I saw him at the track. He was just Marty, another driver with grease on him and a couple of skint up knuckles. He loved racing and was grinning every time I saw him.
 
I'm pretty sure it was 1954, might have been 53.. We lived in Pigeon Forge. Marty was playing in Gatlinburg, in a summer spin-off from the Opry. He dated my sister, and had supper at our home with the family many times that summer. We were all just kids at the time. He seemed like a nice guy to all of us. I enjoyed watching his performances throughout his life.
Betsy.
 
A local boy done good. He grew up here in Glendale just outside of Phoenix. His wife's name was Marizona. I kinda dig that name, but I am being partial, of course.

Robbins was a country singer who moonlighted as a NASCAR driver. I can't think of any NASCAR drivers right now who sang country music on the side other than Kyle Petty.
There are others, I'm sure.
 
I don't think I ever saw him race, I was just a kid at the time but I do remember him from the MRN coverage. I remember him getting a WGN (called Sprint Cup now) top 10.

My neighbor used to say that he would run the Fairgrounds and then show up at the Opry afterwards. The line from Mandrell 'I was country when country wasn't cool' fitted Robbins too. But he was Nascar when Nascar wasn't cool as well, as unconventional his 'Streets of Laredo classic. Respect sums up my thoughts.
 
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