but this was the first place we saw places selling gas for $4.99 a gallon for unleaded regular. This was the one time I wish I had a diesel powered car as diesel was cheaper than gasoline. Some stations were totally out of regular, some had a $10 restriction, others had a 10 gallon restriction, and it wouldn’t get any better during the trip.
The massive “oil panic” caused by Hurricane Ike was well under way, despite the fact that only 10 oil rigs out of the more than 3400 oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico had problems and even with the price of oil dropping well below $100 a barrel . Once we got into Augusta, we went to the hotel that we’ve been staying in for the past couple of years when we attend the reunion. A decent dinner, some relaxation and then a good night’s sleep was in order.
We watched the news before we grabbed some breakfast the next morning and found out what all the hubbub was about with the gas prices. If the prices shot up that high and fast for gas overnight, they should drop correspondingly, in theory. Wrong! Anyways, we made our way over to the Diamond Lakes Regional Park for the drivers’ reunion only to see there weren’t many cars in the parking lot and not many cars on display like in years past. The high gas prices along with the additional burden of Ike kept a lot of folks away, both car owners and fans. Even the media wasn’t in attendance this year. But for those of us who were there, we had a pretty good time. Like previous reunions in Augusta, Rex White and Reverend Bill Brannon were in attendance along with the folks from the Augusta International Raceway Preservation Society (AIRPS), Frances Flock, some vintage and local dirt track drivers, and fans along with a car show and car owners that was going on outside.
The cars in the show were from a wide variety of types and styles. There were some vintage Mustangs and Camaros, some new Mustangs, a couple of F-100 Ford pick-up trucks, a 33 Willys, some “pimped out” rides with lots of bling, and an assortment of Fast and Furious wannabes. My pick of the bunch had to be the Willys and the vintage cars and trucks. Sitting outside the community center was one of only 12 remaining Eschelman cars. They looked like the old pedal cars some of us enjoyed as kids only these were unique in that they had a 3.5 hp lawnmower engine in them. They had a throttle cable like a lawn mower and used two chains which ran to two sprockets on the rear to provide the driver power. The car still has the original exterior paint and has won awards in some car shows because of its uniqueness.
Once inside, I ran into Rick, AKA Short Track Fan, and we caught up on what’s been going on since last we saw each other at the North Wilkesboro Historic Marker dedication. And then I went and hooked up with my friend and mentor Rex White and caught up on a few things that are going on with him before we got talking about the good old days.
While Rex is known for being the man who gave Chevy hope as the 1960 Grand National Champion, Rex didn’t always drive a Chevy. In his last year of racing, after GM pulled the plug on their support of the various GM race teams, Rex ran several races driving a Mercury Marauder. The big Merc didn’t handle like the Chevies did and wasn’t much of a race car in Rex’s opinion. It was a car he had gotten through Bud Moore and Bill Stroppe who had some success with those Mercuries with Darrell Dieringer and Parnelli Jones behind the wheel. The car was painted up in Rex’s traditional white and gold color scheme and still had the #4 on it. There are not many pictures of that Mercury around. Rex told me he had recently autographed a picture sent to him from Germany in which he was sitting in the driver’s seat of that Mercury. And the only reason he knew it was a Mercury was because it was the first car he raced in which he had a shoulder harness as part of the seat belt system. Anyone who has an actual photo of that car has a real keepsake.
One of the other things going on with Rex is he recently completed a deal with a card company which has produced a limited edition baseball-style card with Rex’s current picture on it along with his autograph. Only 750 of those cards are going to be available, so you Rex White fans will want to get some of them. Rex still has copies of Gold Thunder and All Around The Track available too. Rex recently did an interview with a journalist from Montgomery New York about a race he had won there. It was a road race which was run on an airport. That’s not so unusual as they did that a few times throughout the years in both stock and open wheel cars. The main difference is that it was the only road race in the history of NASCAR which was run on a counter-clockwise track. All the oval races are run counter-clockwise. The road races are normally run clockwise. This one race was the exception. And Rex is very proud of it and the trophy they gave him. It’s a pretty good size trophy (about 3-1/2 foot high) and constructed of a lot of marble.
As with past Augusta reunions, I got to talking with some of the other “seasoned” drivers, owners, and mechanics that were there to get their take on what’s going on now and there was no shortage of opinions. Like past years, some opinions were filled with colorful language and others not so colorful but they all had the same message. They’re not happy with what’s happened to racing or NA$CAR since HRH King Brian, the Emperor of all Things NA$CAR, took over. I think just about everything I’ve mentioned previously about the history, traditions, and a whole lot more were expressed by these gents. One of them said not to be surprised if the Big 3 pull the plug in 2010 because of the lack of “branding” with the cars. With all the cars looking the same, there’s no way to tell them apart except by the decals and that takes away from part of the excitement of what’s supposed to be stock car racing. I know, they haven’t been stock in quite a while, but even the lack of the stock appearance is turning folks off and there were several in the group who agreed wholeheartedly. One gent asked me if we could be sure if HRH was actually from the loins of Bill Jr. because he sure didn’t act like a France. This got a few good healthy laughs from the group
.
The move of the Southern 500 had some mixed emotions. All agreed that the race never should’ve been moved to Fontana in the first place. Some were happy it was returning to the South and others weren’t happy that it wasn’t going back to Darlington. This led into a discussion on Fontana having a play-off date and that it was undeserved. The discussion was interrupted when there was an award ceremony conducted and then the dedication ceremony outside for the new benches which were being dedicated in memory of Riverside International Raceway and North Wilkesboro Speedway. Riverside was considered to be a sister track to the Augusta road course. North Wilkesboro played a big influence in the design of the short track at the Augusta complex and was a big influence overall in NASCAR back in the day. The Augusta complex held 8 different tracks within it’s boundaries and could swallow up the track at Daytona and it’s amenities. When funds become available, more benches will be added to remember the great tracks which are no longer around and there are plans to repave a portion of the road course so that it can be used as a bike, walking, and jogging trail. When I heard this I smiled and Henry Jones from AIRPS said “No Mike, it won’t be 45 feet wide like in the old days” which gave us both a chuckle. It’s good to know the track is being remembered and still serving a useful purpose going into the future.
One interesting story came from a gent who worked on Richard Petty’s crew during the 1969 season. Some older fans will remember this was the year that The King drove a Ford because of some major problems with Plymouth. Well, here’s the rest of the story. Ford was happy to have him in their fold; however, they weren’t that happy. Since The King had embarrassed the folks at Ford on several occasions, or so they perceived it as such, they sent Richard two tractor trailer loads of parts and told him that was what he was going to use. He could only get his parts through Ford and nobody else. One soul who was a little more sympathetic to Richard’s plight told him to check out David Pearson’s #17 car and he did. There was a world of difference between what Pearson had and what The King had. But despite the attempt to hamstring The King, he proved that it was more about the man than the machine and pulled off some good finishes and a win or two in his Torino. Eventually, the problems with Plymouth were solved and The King returned to driving Plymouths. But for a while, The King was a blue oval driver.
We went and checked out the show cars again and spent a fair amount of time checking out the vintage cars and trucks. There was a ’57 Chevy there which was beautiful right down to re-done leather interior. It wasn’t a Bel Air, so I could only guess that it was a Model 210. But still, it was pristine and a sight to behold. There was a old Corvette, either a ’61 or ’62, which was in the process of being restored. It looked like a previous owner had added a spoiler to the back of it. One car that really caught my eye was a ’33 Willys. It had a nice red color but what really grabbed your eye was all the chrome under the hood and the supercharger on top of the engine. I wished they had fired it up because that thing looked like it would command your attention. It looked loud just sitting there. It took me back to my youth and my love of cars like Big John Mazmanian’s Candy Apple Red ’40 Willys, which was a terror on many a drag strip in the ’60’s. On the other area where the race cars were, there was a vintage dragster there along with a few dirt track cars. It looked empty as compared to previous years, but with the price of gasoline being what it is right now, I can’t says as I blame folks for not showing up. It was sort of sad not seeing JB Day, Frank Warren, and Pam Trivette (Fireball’s daughter) this year. But economics is economics and the high price of gas had a definite impact.
It came time for the raffle and it was pretty good.
Rex White won a few things he wanted and
yours truly won a couple of things. I haven’t quite
figured out what I’ll do with watermelon scented
protectant but I‘ll do something with it. The gift
certificate for the Oyster Bar came in handy and
fulfilled my consumption of raw oysters on the
half shell which I do once a year. Once things
finally wound down, I helped Rex out with his
books and cards and loaded them into Reverend
Brannon’s car and we parted ways with Rex
heading back home and me heading to the
oyster bar before heading down to see my dad
in Jacksonville Fla. While it was somewhat
disappointing that the attendance and exhibitions were down this year, it made things a little more intimate in being able to have more one on one discussions with those in attendance.
Normally I like to recognize our military folks for the good deeds they’re doing out there with humanitarian efforts but this time I’d like to recognize NASA and the celebration of their 50th anniversary. There have been a lot of military folks involved in NASA since its’ beginnings and several of them have made the ultimate sacrifice in helping our space program. While some folks may remember Challenger, I remember the Apollo fire which took the lives of Gus Grissom, Roger Chaffee, and Ed White and the shock America felt then. Not to say we weren’t shocked with the losses of two space shuttles. Through the years, folks have said the space program was a waste of money but without it, things like Teflon, Kevlar, Velcro, and many other products wouldn’t have been discovered. Advances in medicine and medical monitoring have been made thanks to the space program. So to all those who’ve done so much through all these years and for those who gave their lives in the conquest of space, my thanks to you and all you have given us.
Motherhood, Apple Pie, and John Wayne
Mad Mikie
Curmudgeon at Large
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