I have enjoyed watching Rumrunners, Moonshiners and Bootleggers and The Real Hillbillys on TV along with Ultimate Factories about moonshine and, when I did watch them, so, so many memories came flooding back to me. Things I had not thought about in years. A lot of you might know I always called Farmington Dragway my home track and there's a reason for that. I grew up just about 20 miles north of the track in Yadkin County…right next to Wilkes County. Is there anyone alive who's never heard of Wilkes County and its glory days as the 'Moonshine Capital' of the World? Junior Johnson and all those old roundy round racers have been on every show they've ever done about moonshining, NASCAR and hillbillys and that's where I grew up!
This is the place where round track racing got its start, where the North Wilkesboro Speedway was built specifically to give moonshine runners a place to compete…where Junior Johnson said you "couldn't make nearly as much money racing as you could running moonshine!" Five hundred bucks a night running 'shine five or six nights a week made a purse won at a round track seem like just a little pocket change. Racing was for fun and bragging rights…you know…that same old 'my car is better, faster, quicker than yours.' The moonshine legends became so popular there were several movies about it…parts of Thunder Road was filmed practically in our back yards and depicted all our old crooked dirt roads where I got my start. Now those guys are in the NASCAR Hall of Fame!
When my 'Mama Woodruff' (grandmother) was growing up on the Shore farm right off the Old Stage Road in Yadkinville, her father made 'legal' moonshine for the government…it was easier to get corn to market in small quantities! Roads were practically non-existent in the 1800s…simple wagon ruts only. They already had to haul their tobacco to market so shipping corn as a distilled liquid was a boon to anyone who could get those contracts! However, during the days of 'prohibition' there was no 'legal' liquor being made anywhere in our country. That kept illegal moonshiners very much in demand.
I honestly do not know if my dad was ever involved in 'making' moonshine, but it would not surprise me if he had. He was a dare devil in many ways (at least now you know I got it honest!). He didn't necessarily haul moonshine like we think of hauling moonshine…special cars with false bottom floorboards and trunk bottoms…my dad delivered moonshine in a different way. He actually delivered it to peoples' homes, much like he delivered milk from the family dairy to peoples' homes in the mornings. He bought his first ever car with the money he made from that first Saturday night job…a model A Ford! I guess since most of the people I'm writing about are gone now, I can tell this story. My dad's last delivery every Saturday night was also his last stop…to his own home!
My granddad had a standing order for a gallon of moonshine every week and when my dad would finish his 'run' and go home, he would take his own father's money from under a flower pot on the front porch and set the jug down in the shrubbery. When my granddad got up around 3 am to go milk about 70 cows, he would get his jug and put it wherever he kept it and by the end of the week, he would be ready for the next one! He NEVER knew who was delivering that jug. He made his deal with the 'maker' not the delivery man. But for a poor farm boy who worked all the time, my father was one of few young men in the country who actually had his own car. (FYI…I take after my great granddad, my granddad, my dad and probably ALL their ancestors…I still LOVE good moonshine, the taste of it, the way it feels going down. But I don't let myself drink it except on special occasions and the reason I don't let myself drink it is because I love it SO much! Hell, I could never afford it! It's a shame we're losing the knowledge of how to make really good moonshine.)
Moonshine was so prevalent where I grew up everyone pretty much knew who was making it and running it, but no one ever told the law. Some families would not have had roofs, clothes, even food for their children had it not been for moonshine. It's true…some were too sorry to work and moonshine was easy money, but some did it just to survive. One of my mother's sisters lived on the 'far end' of Woodruff Road (remember that one from the last story?), the 'far end' came back out on Hwy 67 just a few miles west of the 'near end'…the end nearest Boonville (close to Steelman Motor Company and across the highway from the house where I grew up). Don't quit reading because this gets tedious…I just want you to know how close we REALLY were to REAL moonshining…at least in one place.
If you go straight from Boonville to Elkin on Hwy 67, just a few miles past the 'near end' of Woodruff Road, you will go down a long hill…Waterwheel Hill. Part of the way down that hill was Waterwheel Road (it is still dirt) that intersected with Woodruff Road about halfway between the near end and the far end! At the bottom of the hill, there's a long straight stretch…there used to be a gas station/store…I think it was called Vestal's Service Station…on the left side of the road and on the right, there were bottoms with creeks running through and a farm road coming from that aunt and uncle's farmhouse to the highway. The creek runs along the side of the road through what used to be my uncle's corn and tobacco fields but it came down through the woods to get to that point. His land went almost from Waterwheel Road to Wagoner's property on the far side.
All along that creek, on BOTH sides of my aunt and uncle's house and fields, there were woods as well as houses where other people lived. I don't know how much land they owned (a lot) but many of the people who lived on that stretch of Woodruff Road were share cropper/tenant renters. Whenever my cousins and I would go to the creek to work on our current 'swimming hole' they would say, "Don't go……(in a certain direction)" and we knew what they meant. We knew about the stills and there were times when the 'revenuers' had been out looking for them. The moonshiners moved the stills from one place on the creek (you have to have lots of water to make moonshine) to another spot on the creek every so often to keep those guys off their trail. We didn't always know where they had most recently moved the still. Several times we would run up on a still and we would just have to get the hell out of there in a hurry.
I don't know how closely my uncle was tied to those stills…some were on his property. For all I know he was paying those guys to do the moonshining for him. One of the families who lived near my aunt and uncle was the family of one of my best friends…I cannot tell her name and you will see why. The last time I saw her at a high school reunion, she would barely speak to me. She also treated me quite weirdly when I visited her at her home once so I never went back. I know when people get older, get married and have better (or different) lives than they had when they were growing up, sometimes they are ashamed of their former lives when they were children. I think that's why she treated me that way. (I don't believe anyone should be ashamed of their 'raising,' after all, they were born into it, it wasn't a conscious choice they made…just one they had to live with until they could change it.)
The reason I can't tell you her name is because she married into a racing family…they raced on circle tracks AND (later) in drag racing. One of the members of that family and his drag car was actually featured on www.draglist.com some time back! Don't ask, I won't tell, because people in our sport don't know their history. Don't y'all think I could write a book? (If I could stay alive long enough?)
A couple years after North Wilkesboro Speedway was built, the forward-looking Bill France formed NASCAR and the rest is history. But there are so many tales lived by so many people other than the Junior Johnsons and the Benny Parsons and those other 'famous' guys during those years. People like my dad was one of them. The people I've written about who hung around Steelman Motor Company…there were zillions of us…fans, anyone who supported any aspect of racing right down to the lowly fender lizards like me and, yes, even those folks who bought the moonshine.
By the time I became a teenager and got my drivers' license, Benny, Junior and others were already legends but they were still ACCESSIBLE. We could go to their shops and see their cars and ask stupid questions and go to the races and see them. They were even accessible in the pits back then. It was all much different than it is now. I've already written about loading up in an uncle's truck to go to Bowman Gray on Saturday nights in the summer. We didn't get to go to other tracks because regular folks, especially farmers, didn't go far afield for their entertainment…we had cows to milk (two times a day, seven days a week) and tobacco to get out of the barn or put in the barn or put in the packhouse or load on the truck or take off the truck! Not to mention chopping out that corn in the river bottoms!
Moonshining led to some drag racing as well and when they started building 'new' 421 between Yadkinville and Wilkesboro, there was an awful lot of 'straight' racing happening on that flat Carolina red clay and I was right in the thick of it! The great thing about racing at that particular spot was the construction crews came in and smoothed it all back out for us during the week! My dad had a 1959 Oldsmobile that would absolutely fly, after all, this WAS 1960! J It was red and white and I LOVED out-running some of those guys. Of course, there were still plenty of young men who ran moonshine then and they would bring some of their cars and no one outran them. You know, this story is just one of thousands. I was no different than all the other racing wannabes. If we could get other people to put their thoughts and actions down on paper, we would all be amazed at the things we could learn about them and from them…the history that is being lost every time we lose one of those people.
(Note: Some of the hometown boys from Yadkin and Wilkes counties have done a moonshine video (filmed partially at North Wilkesboro Speedway) and it is on YouTube…some time when you're looking for something to do, go there and find the 'Carolina Moonshine' video…from there, you can find several other moonshine and racing videos. Neat! AND very well done! By the way, have you heard? North Wilkesboro Speedway has RE-OPENED!!! FINALLY. And I hear it is VERY successful!!! Hallelujah and good for them…I hope they have MUCH continued success!)
I don't think it was any great surprise when Farmington Dragway opened its doors. And it was no surprise how successful it was. There was lots of drag racing all over the country by then…Old Dominion Dragway in Manassas, VA opened in 1953 and there were dirt drag strips popping up everywhere by then and people were racing on air strips and red clay long before the first paved drag strips came along. There were still even dirt drag strips in the '60s, the second track I ever went to was dirt…at Little River, SC, just south of the North Carolina state line near the coast. But all those same folks who did all that moonshining and outlaw racing now had places to race legally. This is just a little bit of my history…I didn't tell you about finding the hidden car keys and racing on dirt roads when I was 14 in a '56 Ford and some of the other crazy crap I did. I've loved cars all my life. For someone who always just wanted a souped-up street car, I'm probably doing pretty good to be driving anything, especially after that wreck on October 8, 2003!
The internet is a great place to put YOUR history. At least, when we're gone, all this stuff won't be lost forever. Every time we lose someone in our sport who hasn't had their story done somewhere, we lose a part of our history. And even if you don't have a million people who read it, at least it's there for those who care. I love reading the stories about how other people got into drag racing, their trials and tribulations and victories. I don't necessarily mean races won, but all their victories…personal and otherwise. Although I never actually won a race, I have had many victories.
Just being the ONLY person who EVER published a 'long time' successful drag racing magazine for the 'little guys' was a victory for me no one else in the world can EVER claim! I was able to be successful because I cared so much about the sport and the people and no one was willing to work that hard for that little amount of money! I started this story some time in 2009 and have finished it and posted it in October, 2010. I always was…I still am…I always will be…DRAG RACING'S MOST DEDICATED FAN! Becky White, Editor/Publisher…Quick Times Racing News, 1981-2005.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Way Things Were--In The Good Old Days!
I have a story for you (I actually wrote this in 2008) and it doesn't really have much to do with drag racing, per se, but it tells a little about me and a lot about racing history, especially where I come from…which is really where almost all round track racing came from. No one in drag racing ever bothered to ask me where I came from, what my credentials were, where did I get my knowledge (just where the hell did I get off thinking I knew something about racing! HA! Read on…) Don't get discouraged and stop reading because if you read the whole thing, you'll be going, "Gee whiz!" when you finish.
I grew up in a little one horse, one stoplight town…Boonville, NC… my father's family, the Woodruffs, came there in the 1800s. For the first five years of my life, I lived in a dinky little two-family house on Woodruff Road (remember the name of this road as you read). Many, many family members lived near by and we were farmers (I am still a farmer at heart) and our lives were pretty much ruled by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and one of the major milk processors, I don't remember which.
When I was five, we moved about a quarter mile off the dirt to just across the highway where Woodruff Road ended (one end of it anyway). We were only a mile out of town, but it wasn't much of a town and even our school days were governed by the need for kids to work on the farm, especially in tobacco. Only five houses away from our house was a garage, a fairly large garage by the standards of those days. No, I ain't telling you the years, at least not exactly! The name of this garage was Steelman Motor Company. The garage was started by Frank Steelman Sr and they fixed everyone's cars around who didn't fix their own, they fixed all kinds of farm tractors and other farm equipment AND…when the JUNIOR Frank Steelman got to be the age of legal driving…they built race cars. So if y'all have ever wondered why I've always LOVED race cars, the fact that I lived so close to this particular garage was probably the major reason.
One of our coaches and physical education teachers when I was in school was Mr. Bob Crissman, who was pretty much a local 'boy.' When he decided to quit teaching, he went to work for The Enterprise, a local newspaper. He also worked for the Elkin Tribune for a time. While I was going through some old stuff a few nights ago, I came across the 1984 3rd Annual Summer Racing Preview from The Enterprise. It was written by Bob Crissman. On the cover of this publication was a photo of Shorty York, N.C. # 9 from Boonville, NC with Steelman Motor Company on the quarter panel of their dirt track 1939 Ford with a flathead engine built by Frank Steelman, Jr (everyone just called him Frank Junior! He built the car and the engine).
On page 2, where the information is given about the photo, it also says this: "Another of his (Steelman's) cars, a 1937 Ford with a 292 engine, was driven by Ken Rush to a season championship at Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston-Salem, NC). Steelman's other drivers included Grand National greats Curtis Turner, Ned Jarrett, Bobby Isaacs and Ralph Earnhardt, father of Dale Earnhardt.
Also on page 2 was a column actually written by Junior Johnson titled Bonnett, Waltrip compete against each other. That is not the article I am going to reprint here, but I will reprint the first paragraph…"I am writing this racing column for Bob and The Enterprise right before the qualifying for the Atlanta race. So, I don't know at this point in time what the future holds in store for the Johnson-Hodgdon Racing Team in the Coca-Cola 500. (How many of you drag racers remember Warner Hodgdon's involvement in drag racing?)
Okay, on to the subject of this story. On page 10 of this special addition to The Enterprise, there was a story entitled: Steelman recalls dirt track battles by Bob Crissman and I am reprinting it here….
"It was a time of racing like we will never see again. A time when everybody drove dirt tracks, even the big name drivers. A time of rip-roaring, fender-bumping, smashups and chain-reaction wrecks."
"Speaking was Boonville's Frank Junior Steelman who still operates his shop on Hwy. 67 where his dad ran it before he did. And a shop where some thirty to forty race cars were built over a 14-year span. They were built, primarily, to run on dirt tracks of the Forties and Fifties, before the days of the asphalt speedway. And where cars were built for racing and driven by some of the biggest names in racing of yesteryear in the early days of a sport which is being currently revived. But one which, from 1940 until 1948, flourished throughout the Carolinas like the proverbial green bay tree.
"In the 14 years I was in racing, we had some of the roughest, but the best drivers in the land," recalled Steelman at his Boonville garage and shop. "Our pit crew and mechanics were tops, too. They were Ralph Garner of Winston-Salem and my brother David Steelman. "Bobby Isaacs was my main driver," said Steelman. He came from over near Hickory, the Newton-Conover section.
"But I had a lot of other good drivers and we would race almost anywhere on the eastern seaboard: Richmond, VA Fairgrounds, back when it was dirt; Atlanta-The Lakewood Speedway; Knoxville, TN; Spartanburg, SC; Myrtle Beach, SC; Charlotte Fairgrounds; Hickory Speedway; North Wilkesboro Speedway; Bowman Gray in Winston-Salem; Concord, NC; South Boston, VA; Greensboro Fairgrounds; Asheville-Weaverville; Hillsboro; you name it. Bowman Gray was the only paved track. (Ed. Note: There was NO Charlotte Motor Speedway then.)
"We even went up to New York and raced," recalled Frank Junior. He smiled. "Our drivers were nearly all country boys from the south. They showed those Yankees how it was done!" He continued, "My dad built a 1939 Ford Coupe for Curtis Turner to drive at South Boston, VA. "You have heard of most all of our drivers. We had Pee Wee Jones, Ned Jarrett, Ken Rush, Ralph Earnhardt (Dale's dad), Curtis Turner, Bobby Isaacs, Shorty York: a lot of them won. Our main driver, I'd say, was Bobby Isaacs.
"About the only asphalt we ever raced on then was Bowman Gray. Ken Rush of High Point drove our car there at the stadium. It was a 1936 Chevy with a 427 Ford engine. Ken won the championship at Bowman Gray that year. There were no sponsors back then," recalled Steelman. "Of course, tires, paint, parts and equipment weren't nearly as high as nowadays and it didn't cost much to keep a car running.
Frank Junior recalled his first race. He had built the car, a '37 Ford. "Shorty York drove it for me at the old High Point dirt track. I don't think we won, but Shorty finished well up front. He was always in the thick of it." One of Steelman's racing career highlights came with the last race held on dirt at Hickory Speedway. "Bobby Isaacs drove my car and won," said Frank Junior grinning. Junior Johnson was driving for Ralph Earnhardt. He came in second. And that didn't happen very often." (There's a photo of Curtis Turner and Frank Junior beside the car Curtis drove for Frank in the early fifties.) (Note by Becky: They still run the Bobby Isaacs Memorial Race every year on Labor Day weekend at Hickory Motor Speedway.)
In this same publication, there is a photo of Buck and Buddy Baker with their car, Jonesville's Barney Hall, who was the MRN anchor man at the time, Richard and Lee Petty, Linda Hurst, Tim and Fonty Flock (remember them from the fifties?) and, of course, Junior Johnson. There is also a really neat Budweiser ad on the back of the publication. There was an article about Farmington Dragway's 22nd year with a photo of Wayne Dollyhigh's Corvette and an ad for Farmington Dragway.
Want to know where I got my interest in racing? Well, here it is folks. But that isn't all. Woodruff Road was a dirt road less than a quarter mile from Frank Junior's shop. What a perfect place to test dirt track race cars, the only difference being they weren't making left turns on a quarter mile track so they could really let 'em out! One of my mother's biggest complaints was about the red dirt on her white house! And where did I sneak off to every chance I got? You got it. Got any idea how many times I got switched with a keen little hickory branch all the way back to my house? My legs pretty much looked like I'd been in the briar patch with Br'er Rabbit most of the time. But it was worth it!
How many of you can say you KNEW ALL THESE GUYS? I met every one of them. From the time I was about eight, I was a fender lizard. Sometimes, they would even hand me a wrench or a screwdriver! I loved it. Before then, I was driving tractors and trucks on the farm. I loved to see those cars go flying up that dirt road. Of course, you could only see them when they first hit the dirt, then they were obscured in that cloud of red clay dust. But just to hear the sound of those engines was the most thrilling thing about living in the country working on the farm and slipping off to get closer and closer and learn more and more.
The pay us kids got for working in tobacco (in place of slaves), other than room and board and food and clothes and all that stuff, was to load up in my uncle Sam's Ford farm truck on Saturday night for our weekly trip to Bowman Gray Stadium and since my uncles and the Steelmans grew up together and worked on the farm equipment together and were friends, they were always welcome in the pits at the races. Things were definitely different then.
By the time I started dating, I knew how to change spark plugs and that was about all they would ever really let me do, but during my teen years. While the other girls sat about in the house with the old ladies, guess who was out under the shade tree with her head stuck up under a hood? For those of you who don't know, I do have a diploma in auto mechanics from Rowan Tech in Salisbury, NC (which is now Rowan-Cabarrus Community College) and I taught several extension classes in Auto Mechanics for Davidson Community College in the mid '70s.
When I found that old paper and read that stuff, a flood of memories came back to me so strong, it put tears in my eyes. Many of those guys are gone now. But the impression they all left on me will be with me until I'm gone. The town of Boonville was in Yadkin County. Yadkin County shared their borders with Wilkes County; at that time, Wilkes County was the 'Moonshine Capital of the World' and basically, the place where round track racing got its start. Round track racing came from the moonshine runners and a track was built for them to compete against each other…North Wilkesboro Speedway, the first round track anywhere around the area. The movie Thunder Road was filmed practically in our back yards. Guys like those already written about here as well as Benny Parsons and many others were already legends (some simply because they were so good at eluding the law!) by the time I was a teenager but they were always accessible to any of us. We could go to their shops (as long as we didn't go too often or stay too long). I may write more about that moonshine later…that is part of my history, too.
It is odd that I never cared anything about round track racing, I still don't. I always thought it was boring (I still do)…just to sit and watch cars go around and around and around was to me, well, I won't say. I think that's why I always enjoyed drag racing so much. There's SO MUCH going on, all the time. I have photos of all three of my girls before they were six months old at Farmington Dragway! Teresa was born the year Farmington (Sportsman Park Dragstrip) opened…1963.
But whether it's drag racing or roundy round, it's the people that make it, not the cars or the direction in which they're going. And I had some of the BEST people in the whole world to look up to when I was a kid…they are all my heroes, if for no other reason than that they let me hang around and ask questions and get in their way. They always were good to me and answered my questions even though I bugged the hell out of them. They even let me stand right beside their cars when they cranked them up. It's miracle I'm not even more deaf than I am! I just wanted to let y'all know why I've loved you all so much all my life! STILL Drag Racing's MOST Dedicated Fan! Becky
I grew up in a little one horse, one stoplight town…Boonville, NC… my father's family, the Woodruffs, came there in the 1800s. For the first five years of my life, I lived in a dinky little two-family house on Woodruff Road (remember the name of this road as you read). Many, many family members lived near by and we were farmers (I am still a farmer at heart) and our lives were pretty much ruled by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and one of the major milk processors, I don't remember which.
When I was five, we moved about a quarter mile off the dirt to just across the highway where Woodruff Road ended (one end of it anyway). We were only a mile out of town, but it wasn't much of a town and even our school days were governed by the need for kids to work on the farm, especially in tobacco. Only five houses away from our house was a garage, a fairly large garage by the standards of those days. No, I ain't telling you the years, at least not exactly! The name of this garage was Steelman Motor Company. The garage was started by Frank Steelman Sr and they fixed everyone's cars around who didn't fix their own, they fixed all kinds of farm tractors and other farm equipment AND…when the JUNIOR Frank Steelman got to be the age of legal driving…they built race cars. So if y'all have ever wondered why I've always LOVED race cars, the fact that I lived so close to this particular garage was probably the major reason.
One of our coaches and physical education teachers when I was in school was Mr. Bob Crissman, who was pretty much a local 'boy.' When he decided to quit teaching, he went to work for The Enterprise, a local newspaper. He also worked for the Elkin Tribune for a time. While I was going through some old stuff a few nights ago, I came across the 1984 3rd Annual Summer Racing Preview from The Enterprise. It was written by Bob Crissman. On the cover of this publication was a photo of Shorty York, N.C. # 9 from Boonville, NC with Steelman Motor Company on the quarter panel of their dirt track 1939 Ford with a flathead engine built by Frank Steelman, Jr (everyone just called him Frank Junior! He built the car and the engine).
On page 2, where the information is given about the photo, it also says this: "Another of his (Steelman's) cars, a 1937 Ford with a 292 engine, was driven by Ken Rush to a season championship at Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston-Salem, NC). Steelman's other drivers included Grand National greats Curtis Turner, Ned Jarrett, Bobby Isaacs and Ralph Earnhardt, father of Dale Earnhardt.
Also on page 2 was a column actually written by Junior Johnson titled Bonnett, Waltrip compete against each other. That is not the article I am going to reprint here, but I will reprint the first paragraph…"I am writing this racing column for Bob and The Enterprise right before the qualifying for the Atlanta race. So, I don't know at this point in time what the future holds in store for the Johnson-Hodgdon Racing Team in the Coca-Cola 500. (How many of you drag racers remember Warner Hodgdon's involvement in drag racing?)
Okay, on to the subject of this story. On page 10 of this special addition to The Enterprise, there was a story entitled: Steelman recalls dirt track battles by Bob Crissman and I am reprinting it here….
"It was a time of racing like we will never see again. A time when everybody drove dirt tracks, even the big name drivers. A time of rip-roaring, fender-bumping, smashups and chain-reaction wrecks."
"Speaking was Boonville's Frank Junior Steelman who still operates his shop on Hwy. 67 where his dad ran it before he did. And a shop where some thirty to forty race cars were built over a 14-year span. They were built, primarily, to run on dirt tracks of the Forties and Fifties, before the days of the asphalt speedway. And where cars were built for racing and driven by some of the biggest names in racing of yesteryear in the early days of a sport which is being currently revived. But one which, from 1940 until 1948, flourished throughout the Carolinas like the proverbial green bay tree.
"In the 14 years I was in racing, we had some of the roughest, but the best drivers in the land," recalled Steelman at his Boonville garage and shop. "Our pit crew and mechanics were tops, too. They were Ralph Garner of Winston-Salem and my brother David Steelman. "Bobby Isaacs was my main driver," said Steelman. He came from over near Hickory, the Newton-Conover section.
"But I had a lot of other good drivers and we would race almost anywhere on the eastern seaboard: Richmond, VA Fairgrounds, back when it was dirt; Atlanta-The Lakewood Speedway; Knoxville, TN; Spartanburg, SC; Myrtle Beach, SC; Charlotte Fairgrounds; Hickory Speedway; North Wilkesboro Speedway; Bowman Gray in Winston-Salem; Concord, NC; South Boston, VA; Greensboro Fairgrounds; Asheville-Weaverville; Hillsboro; you name it. Bowman Gray was the only paved track. (Ed. Note: There was NO Charlotte Motor Speedway then.)
"We even went up to New York and raced," recalled Frank Junior. He smiled. "Our drivers were nearly all country boys from the south. They showed those Yankees how it was done!" He continued, "My dad built a 1939 Ford Coupe for Curtis Turner to drive at South Boston, VA. "You have heard of most all of our drivers. We had Pee Wee Jones, Ned Jarrett, Ken Rush, Ralph Earnhardt (Dale's dad), Curtis Turner, Bobby Isaacs, Shorty York: a lot of them won. Our main driver, I'd say, was Bobby Isaacs.
"About the only asphalt we ever raced on then was Bowman Gray. Ken Rush of High Point drove our car there at the stadium. It was a 1936 Chevy with a 427 Ford engine. Ken won the championship at Bowman Gray that year. There were no sponsors back then," recalled Steelman. "Of course, tires, paint, parts and equipment weren't nearly as high as nowadays and it didn't cost much to keep a car running.
Frank Junior recalled his first race. He had built the car, a '37 Ford. "Shorty York drove it for me at the old High Point dirt track. I don't think we won, but Shorty finished well up front. He was always in the thick of it." One of Steelman's racing career highlights came with the last race held on dirt at Hickory Speedway. "Bobby Isaacs drove my car and won," said Frank Junior grinning. Junior Johnson was driving for Ralph Earnhardt. He came in second. And that didn't happen very often." (There's a photo of Curtis Turner and Frank Junior beside the car Curtis drove for Frank in the early fifties.) (Note by Becky: They still run the Bobby Isaacs Memorial Race every year on Labor Day weekend at Hickory Motor Speedway.)
In this same publication, there is a photo of Buck and Buddy Baker with their car, Jonesville's Barney Hall, who was the MRN anchor man at the time, Richard and Lee Petty, Linda Hurst, Tim and Fonty Flock (remember them from the fifties?) and, of course, Junior Johnson. There is also a really neat Budweiser ad on the back of the publication. There was an article about Farmington Dragway's 22nd year with a photo of Wayne Dollyhigh's Corvette and an ad for Farmington Dragway.
Want to know where I got my interest in racing? Well, here it is folks. But that isn't all. Woodruff Road was a dirt road less than a quarter mile from Frank Junior's shop. What a perfect place to test dirt track race cars, the only difference being they weren't making left turns on a quarter mile track so they could really let 'em out! One of my mother's biggest complaints was about the red dirt on her white house! And where did I sneak off to every chance I got? You got it. Got any idea how many times I got switched with a keen little hickory branch all the way back to my house? My legs pretty much looked like I'd been in the briar patch with Br'er Rabbit most of the time. But it was worth it!
How many of you can say you KNEW ALL THESE GUYS? I met every one of them. From the time I was about eight, I was a fender lizard. Sometimes, they would even hand me a wrench or a screwdriver! I loved it. Before then, I was driving tractors and trucks on the farm. I loved to see those cars go flying up that dirt road. Of course, you could only see them when they first hit the dirt, then they were obscured in that cloud of red clay dust. But just to hear the sound of those engines was the most thrilling thing about living in the country working on the farm and slipping off to get closer and closer and learn more and more.
The pay us kids got for working in tobacco (in place of slaves), other than room and board and food and clothes and all that stuff, was to load up in my uncle Sam's Ford farm truck on Saturday night for our weekly trip to Bowman Gray Stadium and since my uncles and the Steelmans grew up together and worked on the farm equipment together and were friends, they were always welcome in the pits at the races. Things were definitely different then.
By the time I started dating, I knew how to change spark plugs and that was about all they would ever really let me do, but during my teen years. While the other girls sat about in the house with the old ladies, guess who was out under the shade tree with her head stuck up under a hood? For those of you who don't know, I do have a diploma in auto mechanics from Rowan Tech in Salisbury, NC (which is now Rowan-Cabarrus Community College) and I taught several extension classes in Auto Mechanics for Davidson Community College in the mid '70s.
When I found that old paper and read that stuff, a flood of memories came back to me so strong, it put tears in my eyes. Many of those guys are gone now. But the impression they all left on me will be with me until I'm gone. The town of Boonville was in Yadkin County. Yadkin County shared their borders with Wilkes County; at that time, Wilkes County was the 'Moonshine Capital of the World' and basically, the place where round track racing got its start. Round track racing came from the moonshine runners and a track was built for them to compete against each other…North Wilkesboro Speedway, the first round track anywhere around the area. The movie Thunder Road was filmed practically in our back yards. Guys like those already written about here as well as Benny Parsons and many others were already legends (some simply because they were so good at eluding the law!) by the time I was a teenager but they were always accessible to any of us. We could go to their shops (as long as we didn't go too often or stay too long). I may write more about that moonshine later…that is part of my history, too.
It is odd that I never cared anything about round track racing, I still don't. I always thought it was boring (I still do)…just to sit and watch cars go around and around and around was to me, well, I won't say. I think that's why I always enjoyed drag racing so much. There's SO MUCH going on, all the time. I have photos of all three of my girls before they were six months old at Farmington Dragway! Teresa was born the year Farmington (Sportsman Park Dragstrip) opened…1963.
But whether it's drag racing or roundy round, it's the people that make it, not the cars or the direction in which they're going. And I had some of the BEST people in the whole world to look up to when I was a kid…they are all my heroes, if for no other reason than that they let me hang around and ask questions and get in their way. They always were good to me and answered my questions even though I bugged the hell out of them. They even let me stand right beside their cars when they cranked them up. It's miracle I'm not even more deaf than I am! I just wanted to let y'all know why I've loved you all so much all my life! STILL Drag Racing's MOST Dedicated Fan! Becky
Sunday, May 16, 2010
My First Trip to 'Thunder Valley'
For years I had heard all the stories about THUNDER VALLEY DRAGWAY, the dragway between the mountains where the sound of power echoed and reverberated around and around until it was deafening. For someone like me, someone who was always crazy about cars and, especially drag racing, that sounded like a place I would love to be! But for years I was either pregnant and barefoot or struggling so hard to feed my girls, there was no money to do such things. My first ever trip to a national event was to Rockingham Dragway but that was like going nowhere compared to that first trip to Bristol Dragway. I managed to take my girls to Rockingham in1973, of course we had to take our own food and sleep in the car but, we got to go.
That trip just made my love affair with drag racing, fast cars and mega motors even worse! I have a photo of Mendy standing at the fence on the 'spectator' side watching the dragsters get pushed down the track to crank them and get pushed back to the starting line! I never had to sit on the spectator side but one other time, it was boring to me…just sitting and watching! I wanted to be where the real action was…in the pits. We drove the same car to Rockingham I drag raced at my home track…Farmington Dragway…a 1967 Dodge Coronet 440 convertible, which by the way, I recently, FINALLY sold! (Farmington opened in 1963, the year my daughter Teresa was born and I have photos of all three of my girls there before they were six months old!)
Boy, things changed so fast in drag racing over the next few years, it was impossible to keep up. I couldn't afford to go to the drag races, but I DID manage to see Don Carlton and Lee Edwards' last match race…May 2, 1975 at Farmington. I met the man who had been my hero for many years. Don was an anomaly in our sport. There had never been anyone like him before and never has been since. I thank God I was able to spend several hours with him then because he was a busy man and I never got to talk to him again (he may have been glad of that since I asked him a least a million questions). But, in 1979, I went to work for Farmington Dragway, doing their P.R. and writing race reports for the local weekly wipe…the Davie County Enterprise. They were an IHRA track so I also got lots of stuff printed in the Drag Review, which as we all know was/is IHRA's house organ.
One of the stories I wrote for the IHRA paper was about Danny and John Shortridge and the TCI team. For those of you who don't remember, TCI stood for Torque Converters, Inc. in Ashland, MS…thanks Bill…the premier torque converter company at that time. That was in 1980 (before QTRN). Well, Bill Taylor, TCI owner and Danny and his bunch were so happy with the story, they sent us four FREE passes to the IHRA SummerNationals at Thunder Valley Dragway. Hell, I didn't have any money, I didn't know how I would ever get up enough money for gas, etc. The girls wanted to go, too, because they had become friends with all the young folks in the sport…Dean Sox, Kurt Johnson and the Denton twins to name just a few.
We busted our butts rounding up money. We still had to take our own food, but I wasn't about to sleep in the car up there. I didn't have a credit card so I couldn't even make a reservation anywhere and I wasn't sure we were going to get to go anyway since IHRA owner Larry Carrier said I couldn't get in on a TCI pass. I don't know why, but that man got the red @$$ at me from the gitgo! I think he thought a woman didn't have any business doing what I was doing…he didn't have enough sense to realize how good I was for the sport. (I guess I was in good company…he also hated Shirley Muldowny!) I not only had a story printed in the Enterprise EVERY week, I sent stories to every paper within 300 miles of Farmington, most were small papers, but large papers, too…like the Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel. I did individual stories on all winners and runners up and sent them to their hometown papers, like the Bull City Bugle in Stuart, VA and so many others. Sometimes even when Farmington didn't even get to race, I still wrote a story for the paper! (I have scrapbooks full of that stuff!) I did learn, as the years passed, Larry Carrier was intimidated by anyone who was his intellectual superior, especially women.
This was in the great days of drag racing when we had WINSTON DRAG RACING. I always said R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company ruled my life one way or another from birth until I was in my 40s…I was born and raised on a tobacco farm not far from the company and when I got off the farm, I dealt with them in drag racing. I worked with Jeff Byrd and the folks at Reynolds for the three years I worked at Farmington (yes, the same Jeff Byrd who is the President of Bristol Motor Speedway even now). So, I called Jeff and told him what was going on and he sent me four Winston Drag Racing passes. When I got to Bristol, no one said a word and I went right on in…for three glorious, wonderful days! I'm probably the only person in the history of drag racing who had to have TWO sets of tickets to get in one race!!! My beginnings were NOT easy!
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. We still had to get money to go (It's a damn good thing gas was a lot cheaper then than it is now!!!) Norman wasn't paying me anything to work for the track, it was just a deal we made so I didn't have to pay to get into the races, so…no money there. I ran a garage and we really struggled, if I had enough work, the girls would help after school. We did just about anything…mainly car detailing, but I did a lot of mechanic work and body work and painting…anything to keep us fed and clothed. I even cleaned saddles and leatherwork for the local horsey folks! It just so happened I had a whole car to paint with very little bodywork so that was good money, I also had a Hemi charger I was helping a guy with and I managed to round up several complete detailing jobs. The girls even borrowed on their $5 a week allowance from their grandma!!! Anyway, we scraped up enough money to go to Thunder Valley. We were SO excited!
We only had two things to worry about…a place to stay when we got there and getting there. I had a '65 Impala (we called it an 'antelope') with a 327/300 with a Carter AFB 4-bbl that was just starting to cruise at 120. It wasn't the engine I was worried about…it was everything else. That car was absolutely falling apart! You could NOT ride very far in it with the windows rolled up…you'd simply pass out from the fumes. There were so many holes in the floorboard, your feet would get wet in a hard rain! We even scooped snow up in the floor one time going to granny's for Christmas! But, what the hell…we were going to Bristol! We had not heard top fuel cars since 1974! Alcohol, yes, T/F no.
Hwy 421 to Hwy 321…if you haven't done that ride, you missed a lot of driving. Those roads were so crooked, the racers would go I-77 to I-81 just to stay off those roads. Dee Greer told me when she and Shirl used to come to Farmington from Kingsport, TN in the '60s to race, there were no interstates…there weren't even any four lane roads! So basically, 421 through Shady Valley was about the only way to go. There was no such thing as an enclosed trailer then, you either flat towed with a tow bar or pulled your car on flat open trailers. She said on the way to the track, they could lean out the truck windows and wax the race car going around those curves!!! HA! I don't doubt it, I never went through Shady Valley but once and it's the only place I EVER had to stop a car in the middle of the road and put it in first gear because the hill was so steep and the curve was so tight! I don't know how they ever got back and forth all those trips. It was almost as bad as going up the mountain to get to Cedar Hill Dragway (Richlands, VA)! Lordy, it's easy to get off the subject!
We drove on past the track to the Sunset motel…have you ever noticed there was a Sunset Motel in every little podunk town with a drag strip? Anyway, it was a DUMP, it was always a DUMP, I think it was built as a DUMP. Worse part was, we not only stayed there once, we actually stayed there twice! But it was only a mile or so from the track and it was a CHEAP dump! Cheap was good back then (no such thing now!). We got booked in and took off back to the track so we wouldn't miss any more action!!! Well, no one told me I needed a pit parking pass to get my car in. It was really hard to get a pit pass back in those days. Bristol has changed a LOT over the years and I'm not going to tell you about the layout, but there was this HILL! It was a horrible HILL. We had to park out front (where the offices were then) and walk up that hill and down the other side. Bristol had a reputation for making blisters on your feet and by the time we got over the hill, we already had blisters!!!
Mendy recently told me the blisters are about the only thing she can remember about that first time and we still had two more days to go! AND we still had no idea exactly WHERE the track actually was! We just followed the noise and found it. I didn't have a photo pass so I had to run Jeff down and beg. He was such a pushover. He also gave me a pit parking pass so we wouldn't have to walk over that hill on Saturday. Of course, I don't think any of us COULD have walked that hill again, especially since we had to walk it to get back out to the car that night. I really did not think we were going to make it…if you never did Bristol 30 years ago, you have no idea what you missed. You would not believe the shape our feet were in. With what I paid for antibiotic cream and bandaids, we could have slept in a MUCH nicer dump!
As I said, we'd never been in the pits at a national event before so we only had close-up experience with alcohol engines. I don't care who you are, what you've done or where you've been in your lifetime, if you have never stood near a top fuel car when they fire it up or when they hit the fuel, you have never lived! Or maybe I should say you've never experienced LIFE. There is nothing that can compare to that 'feeling.' Except maybe blasting off in a space ship! But I doubt it. I will NEVER forget the expressions on my kids faces the first time they experienced that. Indescribable! The force. The power. It's unblieveable. Of course, I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I got on that starting line…I FELT important, whether I was or not. Of course all the other photographers just laughed at me because of my 'el cheapo' camera…being a woman didn't help much. I think I threatened their manhood! I had stepped into 'their' domain and they didn't want me there. Boy…were they in for a surprise! No matter how hard Carrier…and others…tried, they just couldn't get rid of me.
I grew up where it's flat…close to the river…and those Tennessee hills absolutely wore me (and everyone else) out. The only flat places on the whole property were the pits (some of them) and the track (and some racers weren't too sure of that). But I loved it. Even though I got to drive over 'the hill' the next day instead of walking it and got in okay, we had a time getting back out that night. Behind the tower across the creek, there was this parking area. Some of it was pits but just before you started up that 'hill,' part of it was fenced off into a spectator parking area. For my first trip to Bristol, the spectators who parked there that year were motorcycle riders. Now, don't get me wrong, I've known lots of motorcycle riders over the years…many of them quite nice, I've even been one myself, at times.
But after a full HOT day of beer and drag racing, those guys were NOT nice, especially when they saw four good looking women in a beat up old Chevy! It didn't matter that three of them might be WAY under age! My girls were GOOD spectators… the type of spectators who would not leave until THE END. I used to tell people my three had to stay and watch the last thing that went down the track on Saturday night even it was a cockroach carrying a candle! Now you need to remember…things were different then…IHRA's big show night was Saturday night! The ONLY thing that has remained the same about drag racing now and drag racing then is that two cars race each other down the drag strip. Back then, there was very little association between most of the people on the 'spectator' side and the people on the pit side.
I HATED to be on the spectator side…it was scary! One of our illustrious folks who worked in P.R. in drag racing told me his son was conceived under the trees on the pit side at Bristol (His initials were D.D.)! He was probably in the MAJORITY! J On Saturday nights, you could sit on the spectator side high up on the 'concrete' seats and get high by just BREATHING! Things are just different now! I always let the kids watch the 'last thing,' but I made them hang on to my belt loops until we got to the car. There was such a crush of people all trying to get out the gate all at the same time and I was terrified someone would grab one of them. On this particular evening (remember…first national event we'd been to in six years, never on the pit side), I had to drive right past that motorcycle parking area.
And they WEREN'T just parking there…hell, they were there for the duration…lock, stock, leathers and party supplies. By the time we left the press parking area, those guys (and gals) were just beginning to fly. When they saw those four good looking gals in the beat up Chevy, they thought their motorcycle Gods had sent them presents! Hey, I was just as scared as my good lookin' girls! Traffic was moving so slow, it felt we were moving backward. It was hotter'n Hades and the heat at Bristol is ALWAYS sticky. There was absolutely NO breeze and the Hells Angels were trying to get to the four good lookin' girls! They were climbing on the hood and the trunk and trying to get the doors open. (Hey, I used to go to the fiddler's convention at Union Grove and was never that scared!) I made Teresa, Mendy and Candace roll up their windows. They were so scared, they didn't even argue.
I thought we would never get out of there…we were dying in that car! Besides the heat and no AC (they didn't put AC on souped up antelopes in the mid 60s!), we were being gassed to death! We may as well have been taking part in a government experiment to figure out just how much carbon monoxide, etc. four good lookin' girls could handle and still have one able to drive!! But the alternative was having the Hells Angels climbing into the car or dragging us out of it. They were knocking on the windows (glad they weren't wearing their knucks) and the roof, it sounded like we were under a bowling alley. We were barely creeping along but just about the time the two wheeler guys were becoming very irate because we wouldn't stop and play with them, we finally got over the hill. Thank you, God! The next day, I found another way out of that place! And used it, too!
On Friday, Jeff gave me a white jacket and we were so excited to be there, the four of us went through the Pro pits and got many, many autographs on that jacket. I still have it; after Jeff took over the operations there, I took the jacket for him to see. I think he enjoyed looking at all those signatures…many of those guys were his friends and many were gone even then. Those are the people who helped make this sport and all of us who we are today. Even though they may be gone and some people have forgotten how important they were (and are) to us, they left their imprint on our minds and souls forever.
What a weekend! We met so many people and had such a good time. Our good friends, Warren Johnson and Jerome Bradford won Pro Stock that weekend and when Jerome came out of the tower with the check, Teresa, Candace and Mendy were standing there waiting for him. He hugged all three of them with this big goofy grin on his face…after all, this WAS the race that clinched his and Warren Johnson's SECOND IHRA Pro Stock championship in a row! One of the photographers (I think it was Johnny Beech) yelled, "Hey Jerome, are those your girls?" And he said, "Yeah, can't you tell?" I was scared to death that photo was going to show up in Drag Review, but it never did! And I would give my eye teeth to have a copy of it!
I have forgotten a lot of drag races, drag racing weekends and even some people I met (and actually tried to forget some others!), but this one race will always be in the forefront of my mind…Mendy and Candace's, too, even if only for the blisters. But they do remember other things, one of the friends they made that weekend was Scott Kalitta. Now he's gone, but they will always remember his friendship and his love of drag racing. I love drag racing and I always will; when a story was published about me in the mid-90s (Bracket Racing U.S.A.), it was titled DRAG RACING'S MOST DEDICATED FAN. I was then…I am now…I always will be…drag racing's most dedicated fan. Becky White, Editor/Publisher, Quick Times Racing News - 1981-2005. I have written this in May, 2009.
That trip just made my love affair with drag racing, fast cars and mega motors even worse! I have a photo of Mendy standing at the fence on the 'spectator' side watching the dragsters get pushed down the track to crank them and get pushed back to the starting line! I never had to sit on the spectator side but one other time, it was boring to me…just sitting and watching! I wanted to be where the real action was…in the pits. We drove the same car to Rockingham I drag raced at my home track…Farmington Dragway…a 1967 Dodge Coronet 440 convertible, which by the way, I recently, FINALLY sold! (Farmington opened in 1963, the year my daughter Teresa was born and I have photos of all three of my girls there before they were six months old!)
Boy, things changed so fast in drag racing over the next few years, it was impossible to keep up. I couldn't afford to go to the drag races, but I DID manage to see Don Carlton and Lee Edwards' last match race…May 2, 1975 at Farmington. I met the man who had been my hero for many years. Don was an anomaly in our sport. There had never been anyone like him before and never has been since. I thank God I was able to spend several hours with him then because he was a busy man and I never got to talk to him again (he may have been glad of that since I asked him a least a million questions). But, in 1979, I went to work for Farmington Dragway, doing their P.R. and writing race reports for the local weekly wipe…the Davie County Enterprise. They were an IHRA track so I also got lots of stuff printed in the Drag Review, which as we all know was/is IHRA's house organ.
One of the stories I wrote for the IHRA paper was about Danny and John Shortridge and the TCI team. For those of you who don't remember, TCI stood for Torque Converters, Inc. in Ashland, MS…thanks Bill…the premier torque converter company at that time. That was in 1980 (before QTRN). Well, Bill Taylor, TCI owner and Danny and his bunch were so happy with the story, they sent us four FREE passes to the IHRA SummerNationals at Thunder Valley Dragway. Hell, I didn't have any money, I didn't know how I would ever get up enough money for gas, etc. The girls wanted to go, too, because they had become friends with all the young folks in the sport…Dean Sox, Kurt Johnson and the Denton twins to name just a few.
We busted our butts rounding up money. We still had to take our own food, but I wasn't about to sleep in the car up there. I didn't have a credit card so I couldn't even make a reservation anywhere and I wasn't sure we were going to get to go anyway since IHRA owner Larry Carrier said I couldn't get in on a TCI pass. I don't know why, but that man got the red @$$ at me from the gitgo! I think he thought a woman didn't have any business doing what I was doing…he didn't have enough sense to realize how good I was for the sport. (I guess I was in good company…he also hated Shirley Muldowny!) I not only had a story printed in the Enterprise EVERY week, I sent stories to every paper within 300 miles of Farmington, most were small papers, but large papers, too…like the Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel. I did individual stories on all winners and runners up and sent them to their hometown papers, like the Bull City Bugle in Stuart, VA and so many others. Sometimes even when Farmington didn't even get to race, I still wrote a story for the paper! (I have scrapbooks full of that stuff!) I did learn, as the years passed, Larry Carrier was intimidated by anyone who was his intellectual superior, especially women.
This was in the great days of drag racing when we had WINSTON DRAG RACING. I always said R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company ruled my life one way or another from birth until I was in my 40s…I was born and raised on a tobacco farm not far from the company and when I got off the farm, I dealt with them in drag racing. I worked with Jeff Byrd and the folks at Reynolds for the three years I worked at Farmington (yes, the same Jeff Byrd who is the President of Bristol Motor Speedway even now). So, I called Jeff and told him what was going on and he sent me four Winston Drag Racing passes. When I got to Bristol, no one said a word and I went right on in…for three glorious, wonderful days! I'm probably the only person in the history of drag racing who had to have TWO sets of tickets to get in one race!!! My beginnings were NOT easy!
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. We still had to get money to go (It's a damn good thing gas was a lot cheaper then than it is now!!!) Norman wasn't paying me anything to work for the track, it was just a deal we made so I didn't have to pay to get into the races, so…no money there. I ran a garage and we really struggled, if I had enough work, the girls would help after school. We did just about anything…mainly car detailing, but I did a lot of mechanic work and body work and painting…anything to keep us fed and clothed. I even cleaned saddles and leatherwork for the local horsey folks! It just so happened I had a whole car to paint with very little bodywork so that was good money, I also had a Hemi charger I was helping a guy with and I managed to round up several complete detailing jobs. The girls even borrowed on their $5 a week allowance from their grandma!!! Anyway, we scraped up enough money to go to Thunder Valley. We were SO excited!
We only had two things to worry about…a place to stay when we got there and getting there. I had a '65 Impala (we called it an 'antelope') with a 327/300 with a Carter AFB 4-bbl that was just starting to cruise at 120. It wasn't the engine I was worried about…it was everything else. That car was absolutely falling apart! You could NOT ride very far in it with the windows rolled up…you'd simply pass out from the fumes. There were so many holes in the floorboard, your feet would get wet in a hard rain! We even scooped snow up in the floor one time going to granny's for Christmas! But, what the hell…we were going to Bristol! We had not heard top fuel cars since 1974! Alcohol, yes, T/F no.
Hwy 421 to Hwy 321…if you haven't done that ride, you missed a lot of driving. Those roads were so crooked, the racers would go I-77 to I-81 just to stay off those roads. Dee Greer told me when she and Shirl used to come to Farmington from Kingsport, TN in the '60s to race, there were no interstates…there weren't even any four lane roads! So basically, 421 through Shady Valley was about the only way to go. There was no such thing as an enclosed trailer then, you either flat towed with a tow bar or pulled your car on flat open trailers. She said on the way to the track, they could lean out the truck windows and wax the race car going around those curves!!! HA! I don't doubt it, I never went through Shady Valley but once and it's the only place I EVER had to stop a car in the middle of the road and put it in first gear because the hill was so steep and the curve was so tight! I don't know how they ever got back and forth all those trips. It was almost as bad as going up the mountain to get to Cedar Hill Dragway (Richlands, VA)! Lordy, it's easy to get off the subject!
We drove on past the track to the Sunset motel…have you ever noticed there was a Sunset Motel in every little podunk town with a drag strip? Anyway, it was a DUMP, it was always a DUMP, I think it was built as a DUMP. Worse part was, we not only stayed there once, we actually stayed there twice! But it was only a mile or so from the track and it was a CHEAP dump! Cheap was good back then (no such thing now!). We got booked in and took off back to the track so we wouldn't miss any more action!!! Well, no one told me I needed a pit parking pass to get my car in. It was really hard to get a pit pass back in those days. Bristol has changed a LOT over the years and I'm not going to tell you about the layout, but there was this HILL! It was a horrible HILL. We had to park out front (where the offices were then) and walk up that hill and down the other side. Bristol had a reputation for making blisters on your feet and by the time we got over the hill, we already had blisters!!!
Mendy recently told me the blisters are about the only thing she can remember about that first time and we still had two more days to go! AND we still had no idea exactly WHERE the track actually was! We just followed the noise and found it. I didn't have a photo pass so I had to run Jeff down and beg. He was such a pushover. He also gave me a pit parking pass so we wouldn't have to walk over that hill on Saturday. Of course, I don't think any of us COULD have walked that hill again, especially since we had to walk it to get back out to the car that night. I really did not think we were going to make it…if you never did Bristol 30 years ago, you have no idea what you missed. You would not believe the shape our feet were in. With what I paid for antibiotic cream and bandaids, we could have slept in a MUCH nicer dump!
As I said, we'd never been in the pits at a national event before so we only had close-up experience with alcohol engines. I don't care who you are, what you've done or where you've been in your lifetime, if you have never stood near a top fuel car when they fire it up or when they hit the fuel, you have never lived! Or maybe I should say you've never experienced LIFE. There is nothing that can compare to that 'feeling.' Except maybe blasting off in a space ship! But I doubt it. I will NEVER forget the expressions on my kids faces the first time they experienced that. Indescribable! The force. The power. It's unblieveable. Of course, I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I got on that starting line…I FELT important, whether I was or not. Of course all the other photographers just laughed at me because of my 'el cheapo' camera…being a woman didn't help much. I think I threatened their manhood! I had stepped into 'their' domain and they didn't want me there. Boy…were they in for a surprise! No matter how hard Carrier…and others…tried, they just couldn't get rid of me.
I grew up where it's flat…close to the river…and those Tennessee hills absolutely wore me (and everyone else) out. The only flat places on the whole property were the pits (some of them) and the track (and some racers weren't too sure of that). But I loved it. Even though I got to drive over 'the hill' the next day instead of walking it and got in okay, we had a time getting back out that night. Behind the tower across the creek, there was this parking area. Some of it was pits but just before you started up that 'hill,' part of it was fenced off into a spectator parking area. For my first trip to Bristol, the spectators who parked there that year were motorcycle riders. Now, don't get me wrong, I've known lots of motorcycle riders over the years…many of them quite nice, I've even been one myself, at times.
But after a full HOT day of beer and drag racing, those guys were NOT nice, especially when they saw four good looking women in a beat up old Chevy! It didn't matter that three of them might be WAY under age! My girls were GOOD spectators… the type of spectators who would not leave until THE END. I used to tell people my three had to stay and watch the last thing that went down the track on Saturday night even it was a cockroach carrying a candle! Now you need to remember…things were different then…IHRA's big show night was Saturday night! The ONLY thing that has remained the same about drag racing now and drag racing then is that two cars race each other down the drag strip. Back then, there was very little association between most of the people on the 'spectator' side and the people on the pit side.
I HATED to be on the spectator side…it was scary! One of our illustrious folks who worked in P.R. in drag racing told me his son was conceived under the trees on the pit side at Bristol (His initials were D.D.)! He was probably in the MAJORITY! J On Saturday nights, you could sit on the spectator side high up on the 'concrete' seats and get high by just BREATHING! Things are just different now! I always let the kids watch the 'last thing,' but I made them hang on to my belt loops until we got to the car. There was such a crush of people all trying to get out the gate all at the same time and I was terrified someone would grab one of them. On this particular evening (remember…first national event we'd been to in six years, never on the pit side), I had to drive right past that motorcycle parking area.
And they WEREN'T just parking there…hell, they were there for the duration…lock, stock, leathers and party supplies. By the time we left the press parking area, those guys (and gals) were just beginning to fly. When they saw those four good looking gals in the beat up Chevy, they thought their motorcycle Gods had sent them presents! Hey, I was just as scared as my good lookin' girls! Traffic was moving so slow, it felt we were moving backward. It was hotter'n Hades and the heat at Bristol is ALWAYS sticky. There was absolutely NO breeze and the Hells Angels were trying to get to the four good lookin' girls! They were climbing on the hood and the trunk and trying to get the doors open. (Hey, I used to go to the fiddler's convention at Union Grove and was never that scared!) I made Teresa, Mendy and Candace roll up their windows. They were so scared, they didn't even argue.
I thought we would never get out of there…we were dying in that car! Besides the heat and no AC (they didn't put AC on souped up antelopes in the mid 60s!), we were being gassed to death! We may as well have been taking part in a government experiment to figure out just how much carbon monoxide, etc. four good lookin' girls could handle and still have one able to drive!! But the alternative was having the Hells Angels climbing into the car or dragging us out of it. They were knocking on the windows (glad they weren't wearing their knucks) and the roof, it sounded like we were under a bowling alley. We were barely creeping along but just about the time the two wheeler guys were becoming very irate because we wouldn't stop and play with them, we finally got over the hill. Thank you, God! The next day, I found another way out of that place! And used it, too!
On Friday, Jeff gave me a white jacket and we were so excited to be there, the four of us went through the Pro pits and got many, many autographs on that jacket. I still have it; after Jeff took over the operations there, I took the jacket for him to see. I think he enjoyed looking at all those signatures…many of those guys were his friends and many were gone even then. Those are the people who helped make this sport and all of us who we are today. Even though they may be gone and some people have forgotten how important they were (and are) to us, they left their imprint on our minds and souls forever.
What a weekend! We met so many people and had such a good time. Our good friends, Warren Johnson and Jerome Bradford won Pro Stock that weekend and when Jerome came out of the tower with the check, Teresa, Candace and Mendy were standing there waiting for him. He hugged all three of them with this big goofy grin on his face…after all, this WAS the race that clinched his and Warren Johnson's SECOND IHRA Pro Stock championship in a row! One of the photographers (I think it was Johnny Beech) yelled, "Hey Jerome, are those your girls?" And he said, "Yeah, can't you tell?" I was scared to death that photo was going to show up in Drag Review, but it never did! And I would give my eye teeth to have a copy of it!
I have forgotten a lot of drag races, drag racing weekends and even some people I met (and actually tried to forget some others!), but this one race will always be in the forefront of my mind…Mendy and Candace's, too, even if only for the blisters. But they do remember other things, one of the friends they made that weekend was Scott Kalitta. Now he's gone, but they will always remember his friendship and his love of drag racing. I love drag racing and I always will; when a story was published about me in the mid-90s (Bracket Racing U.S.A.), it was titled DRAG RACING'S MOST DEDICATED FAN. I was then…I am now…I always will be…drag racing's most dedicated fan. Becky White, Editor/Publisher, Quick Times Racing News - 1981-2005. I have written this in May, 2009.
More Four Wide!
I wrote this before the St. Louis race and had almost decided to NOT post it here but as long as there is another 'four wide' race in the future, there are STILL things which need to be worked on and worked out. Thank you Arlene Johnson! Arlene sent me a link to the www.nitromater.com message board where I made headlines with my 'Four Wide? Why? (Why not?).' I never understood why some people who don't know anything about drag racing want to get on a message board and let the world know how little they know. You can keep your mouth shut and people won't know how stupid and ignorant you are, but you can open your mouth and let the whole world know! Posting on internet message boards is the WORST place in the world for talking about things you know nothing about! Most of the comments on nitromater.com were good. ALL the emails I have received agreed with me. But I kind of get a kick out of being talked about on TV, especially when the people doing the talking are AFRAID to say who they're talking about! At least they did pay me a few compliments and said some really not-so-nice things about some other writers.
Anyone who has ever read anything of mine KNOWS I believe there isn't a lot of difference between a racer who runs 4 seconds and a racer who runs 40 seconds. Some people may think that is off the wall, but just think about and you'll see just how true it really is. Even sponsors know this…if they were just advertising for the big guys, they'd be out in a heartbeat…there aren't enough 'big' guys to keep them in business, the sponsors are just using the 'big' guys to get to the little guy racers AND the spectators! The biggest difference between the 4 and the 40 is money. Top Fuel is not necessarily more dangerous than Street…they just have more and better rules and more and better safety equipment. Money is the name of the game…the Pros just push the envelope harder.
IF I WERE A RACER AND SOMEONE TOLD ME I WOULD HAVE TO RUN 4 WIDE FOR WINNER, RUNNER UP AND THIRD AND FOURTH PLACE, I WOULD TELL THEM TO KISS MY YOU-KNOW-WHAT! The following is a quote from someone on nitromater.com, "Let me make it as simple as possible. Why should the guy in lane 1 worry about what is going on in lanes 3 and 4 if lane 2 is beating him to where he needs to lift? He can't see them in lanes 3 and 4. HE HAS NO IDEA WHERE THEY ARE!!!! There is a wall there. He is going to drive it thinking he has a chance for second place when he has no chance at all. KABOOM!!!! WRECK!!!! If points are on the line they (racers) will do things to (maybe) be second when they should not have done it in the first place. If points aren't on the line they lift, knowing they just load up and get ready for the next race that means something…POINTS!!" What kind of an idiot race is that? If you want to run for third and fourth, just bring them back and run for third and fourth. I think any racer who had to run this way got scrued…except maybe the winner. MY opinion. How would YOU like to do it that way?
Were the Sportsman racers running at ZMax's 4-Wide happy with it? Were they more upset with track conditions and the way eliminations were run than anything else? Were they more upset because Super Stock, Stock and Comp were parked on the one side of the track and Super Gas, Super Comp and Super Street were parked on the other side? Were they more upset because Super Stock, Stock and Comp had to run the two left lanes? Were they more upset because Super Gas, Super Comp and Street had to run the right two lanes? Were they more upset because track conditions were poor to start with and sometimes, there was more than an hour of NO run time on two lanes at a time? Were they upset because there was little, if any, track clean up or prep between rounds and they let the track get cold, etc. If running four cars at the same time is so safe, why couldn't officials take some of that down time and clean and prep the track???
Were the Sportsmen racers upset enough for a whole group to go to the tower and complain? Yes. Did they get the standard, "Don't like it? So what? Run anyway!" Of course! Were there many who said they would not go back? Yes. We know they will, but who always gets the shaft at a race like this? Yes, I know they keep racing, no matter what they have to put up with, but it is the love of the sport that keeps racers coming back…certainly NOT the way they get treated (OR the money)! It's a proven fact racers will put up with just about anything to get to race. Was NHRA advised they could not run 4-Wide in Sportsman because it is important to take your opponent through by as little as possible at the finish line just as in bracket racing and that's impossible to do with 4-Wide and 3 competitors to watch at one time? It can't be done safely OR sanely!
It doesn't matter the Pros voted 61 to 2 to NOT run a 4-Wide again. It doesn't matter they've even said they will boycott the next 4-Wide for points. They will run it, even though most are very much against it…for ALL the reasons I outlined in my FIRST 4-Wide. But one of the MOST important things I left out are the sponsors (a whole paragraph didn't get put on the blog…still learning). Maybe that's because they got left out of this race…at least by NHRA. AND to top it off…racers did not get the chance to mention their sponsors as much as they usually do because they just didn't get the air time. When four cars are going down the track at the same time, how are the announcers going to mention sponsors with all the other information they have to talk about? It IS a consideration and it is a VERY important consideration…what would we do without them? Announcers only have a few seconds, it's hard enough for them to say what they need to about TWO cars! I think ALL the sponsors got scrued more than anyone. Did someone say, "We're going to have this track locked down by 5 p.m. Sunday afternoon!?" Duh! Y'all heard that on TV, right? I thought the whole point was to keep everyone there spending money as long as possible…NOT have them out on the road on the way home three or four hours earlier than you need to! Right? Well, maybe not.
Every racer knows the difference from lane to lane...track condtions, rollout, something moves a photocell, not to mention the fact that in one lane you're looking right at the tree and in the other lane, you're having to look at it over your hood scoop..how in the world would you ever be able to figure FOUR lanes when you can't even depend on two? Especially Pro Stockers? I can't even imagine what they were going through at that race. You start out a race on Sunday and the right lane is the best lane and all the faster racers are lining up to run it. Then something changes...weather, sun, clouds, a tiny bit of water, a car gets sideways and messes up the sticky and the groove. Then they're all trying to get the left lane. What about four lanes? Would you feel confident racing that way? I wouldn't! And I know you guys and gals well enough to know you wouldn't have any confidence left either! It was all a good advertisement for ZMAX and NHRA but for no one else!
It has taken NHRA YEARS to get the TV coverage and the fan base they have now. They have, of course, ALWAYS catered to the top 2% of their racers and, YES, that 2% brings the spectators. But you have to make (and keep) those fans happy. And, "NO," I didn't see any spectators leaving after seeing 4-Wide! I wouldn't have left either. It was a history-making race, no doubt about it…if only for the controversy. But I would not go back, I would feel cheated. It was just too confusing. I know a lot of spectators only go to see wrecks and drink beer, but there are serious fans who actually go because they love drag racing…not to mention all the TV viewers. They DID vote 70% to NOT come back! If THEY don't come back, we are in deep doodoo. Why take the chance? You can have all the exhibition and show races you want in a year's time. In the process, IF you have good announcers who really know the sport, they can train your fans all the ins and outs of drag racing so they can eventually understand it better. But to try to do it at an NHRA race where championships are on the line…that AIN'T the time and place to do it.
Yes, I watched the qualifying and the race on TV. I did not enjoy it. It was confusing, even for me and I've been involved with and watching drag racing for over 50 years!!! Most of it in person. When it's confusing on TV and you have a kazillion cameras hanging over every part of the action bringing it all to you right in front of your eyes, announcers trying to keep you up on what's going on in every shot and it's hard to understand, think about the spectators! Of the fans who took the time to vote on whether they liked it or not…a whopping 70% said they did not! Any way you look at it and no matter how much you discuss it, IT HAS NOT RECEIVED GOOD REVIEWS. A new movie or a Broadway play receiving reviews as bad as this race did would shut down in a heart beat! Got comments? Post them here. And please give your name…don't be afraid. I'm not! IF you would like to email me a letter you want me to comment on, send that to my email address quicktimesracingnews@gmail.com and I will answer your letter, THEN put it on the blog with my answer. Make sure you put in your letter you want it and my answer to be on the blog…I won't put it on here otherwise.
I had trouble believing the stuff I heard from people at the Las Vegas race! I understand most of it though. Racers have always had to back down. I like what Morgan Lucas said more than anything else I heard and I wish I could quote it but I didn't record it! These Pro racers keep talking about what Bruton has done for drag racing??? Would someone PLEASE tell me what Bruton Smith HAS done for drag racing? Yes, Bruton HAS 'spent' a LOT of 'money' IN drag racing but I can tell you right now, if it had not been for Jeff Byrd, none of that would have ever happened. I will NOT go into details because of Jeff's illness and my respect for him and his family, but NHRA and you racers have Jeff to thank for all this! One day, I will explain all that to you, but not right now. I respect Jeff Byrd and Bill Bader Sr. more than I respect any other people in drag racing so I will just keep my mouth shut for now.
It was said NHRA got bulldozed into this race by Bruton. I can understand that. Bruton Smith has already gotten so big in drag racing, NHRA is afraid of him. Soon, he will control NHRA (IF he doesn't already)…after all, he couldn't BUY NHRA, so he just set about putting himself into a position of control (think about NASCAR!). He started building the biggest and best drag strips in the country…tracks NHRA really cannot do without now because of the TV coverage. If you know ANYTHING about NASCAR, you will realize history is just repeating itself…only the name of the game has changed. The France family would not let Bruton get involved in NASCAR in any other capacity than as a track owner, so he built the biggest, the best, the most expensive tracks in the country to have control over the organization. Some smaller tracks, he bought and shut down just to get their race dates…North Wilkesboro Speedway…the HOME of circle track racing is one of them. It doesn't bother Bruton Smith to DESTROY the history of round track racing as long as he gets what he wants which is what happened with Wilkesboro. Look around guys…it's happening again…only NHRA is the target. He already has a strangle hold on them because of TV coverage…it's ONLY gonna get worse.
I will say this…there were a lot of comments about the safety aspects of 4-Wide. But when I wrote about all those people standing around on the starting line all the time, no one said a word! If you are all so worried about safety, what about that part of it? I would NOT be afraid to BET there were…at the very least, 30 people on the line during the final run of Top Fuel and it was probably more like 40 or 50! You want dangerous? That's it! The insurance companies used to have rules about how many people could be standing around starting line during a race. Any more comments? These are just my opinions. I am still… 'drag racing's most dedicated fan!'
Anyone who has ever read anything of mine KNOWS I believe there isn't a lot of difference between a racer who runs 4 seconds and a racer who runs 40 seconds. Some people may think that is off the wall, but just think about and you'll see just how true it really is. Even sponsors know this…if they were just advertising for the big guys, they'd be out in a heartbeat…there aren't enough 'big' guys to keep them in business, the sponsors are just using the 'big' guys to get to the little guy racers AND the spectators! The biggest difference between the 4 and the 40 is money. Top Fuel is not necessarily more dangerous than Street…they just have more and better rules and more and better safety equipment. Money is the name of the game…the Pros just push the envelope harder.
IF I WERE A RACER AND SOMEONE TOLD ME I WOULD HAVE TO RUN 4 WIDE FOR WINNER, RUNNER UP AND THIRD AND FOURTH PLACE, I WOULD TELL THEM TO KISS MY YOU-KNOW-WHAT! The following is a quote from someone on nitromater.com, "Let me make it as simple as possible. Why should the guy in lane 1 worry about what is going on in lanes 3 and 4 if lane 2 is beating him to where he needs to lift? He can't see them in lanes 3 and 4. HE HAS NO IDEA WHERE THEY ARE!!!! There is a wall there. He is going to drive it thinking he has a chance for second place when he has no chance at all. KABOOM!!!! WRECK!!!! If points are on the line they (racers) will do things to (maybe) be second when they should not have done it in the first place. If points aren't on the line they lift, knowing they just load up and get ready for the next race that means something…POINTS!!" What kind of an idiot race is that? If you want to run for third and fourth, just bring them back and run for third and fourth. I think any racer who had to run this way got scrued…except maybe the winner. MY opinion. How would YOU like to do it that way?
Were the Sportsman racers running at ZMax's 4-Wide happy with it? Were they more upset with track conditions and the way eliminations were run than anything else? Were they more upset because Super Stock, Stock and Comp were parked on the one side of the track and Super Gas, Super Comp and Super Street were parked on the other side? Were they more upset because Super Stock, Stock and Comp had to run the two left lanes? Were they more upset because Super Gas, Super Comp and Street had to run the right two lanes? Were they more upset because track conditions were poor to start with and sometimes, there was more than an hour of NO run time on two lanes at a time? Were they upset because there was little, if any, track clean up or prep between rounds and they let the track get cold, etc. If running four cars at the same time is so safe, why couldn't officials take some of that down time and clean and prep the track???
Were the Sportsmen racers upset enough for a whole group to go to the tower and complain? Yes. Did they get the standard, "Don't like it? So what? Run anyway!" Of course! Were there many who said they would not go back? Yes. We know they will, but who always gets the shaft at a race like this? Yes, I know they keep racing, no matter what they have to put up with, but it is the love of the sport that keeps racers coming back…certainly NOT the way they get treated (OR the money)! It's a proven fact racers will put up with just about anything to get to race. Was NHRA advised they could not run 4-Wide in Sportsman because it is important to take your opponent through by as little as possible at the finish line just as in bracket racing and that's impossible to do with 4-Wide and 3 competitors to watch at one time? It can't be done safely OR sanely!
It doesn't matter the Pros voted 61 to 2 to NOT run a 4-Wide again. It doesn't matter they've even said they will boycott the next 4-Wide for points. They will run it, even though most are very much against it…for ALL the reasons I outlined in my FIRST 4-Wide. But one of the MOST important things I left out are the sponsors (a whole paragraph didn't get put on the blog…still learning). Maybe that's because they got left out of this race…at least by NHRA. AND to top it off…racers did not get the chance to mention their sponsors as much as they usually do because they just didn't get the air time. When four cars are going down the track at the same time, how are the announcers going to mention sponsors with all the other information they have to talk about? It IS a consideration and it is a VERY important consideration…what would we do without them? Announcers only have a few seconds, it's hard enough for them to say what they need to about TWO cars! I think ALL the sponsors got scrued more than anyone. Did someone say, "We're going to have this track locked down by 5 p.m. Sunday afternoon!?" Duh! Y'all heard that on TV, right? I thought the whole point was to keep everyone there spending money as long as possible…NOT have them out on the road on the way home three or four hours earlier than you need to! Right? Well, maybe not.
Every racer knows the difference from lane to lane...track condtions, rollout, something moves a photocell, not to mention the fact that in one lane you're looking right at the tree and in the other lane, you're having to look at it over your hood scoop..how in the world would you ever be able to figure FOUR lanes when you can't even depend on two? Especially Pro Stockers? I can't even imagine what they were going through at that race. You start out a race on Sunday and the right lane is the best lane and all the faster racers are lining up to run it. Then something changes...weather, sun, clouds, a tiny bit of water, a car gets sideways and messes up the sticky and the groove. Then they're all trying to get the left lane. What about four lanes? Would you feel confident racing that way? I wouldn't! And I know you guys and gals well enough to know you wouldn't have any confidence left either! It was all a good advertisement for ZMAX and NHRA but for no one else!
It has taken NHRA YEARS to get the TV coverage and the fan base they have now. They have, of course, ALWAYS catered to the top 2% of their racers and, YES, that 2% brings the spectators. But you have to make (and keep) those fans happy. And, "NO," I didn't see any spectators leaving after seeing 4-Wide! I wouldn't have left either. It was a history-making race, no doubt about it…if only for the controversy. But I would not go back, I would feel cheated. It was just too confusing. I know a lot of spectators only go to see wrecks and drink beer, but there are serious fans who actually go because they love drag racing…not to mention all the TV viewers. They DID vote 70% to NOT come back! If THEY don't come back, we are in deep doodoo. Why take the chance? You can have all the exhibition and show races you want in a year's time. In the process, IF you have good announcers who really know the sport, they can train your fans all the ins and outs of drag racing so they can eventually understand it better. But to try to do it at an NHRA race where championships are on the line…that AIN'T the time and place to do it.
Yes, I watched the qualifying and the race on TV. I did not enjoy it. It was confusing, even for me and I've been involved with and watching drag racing for over 50 years!!! Most of it in person. When it's confusing on TV and you have a kazillion cameras hanging over every part of the action bringing it all to you right in front of your eyes, announcers trying to keep you up on what's going on in every shot and it's hard to understand, think about the spectators! Of the fans who took the time to vote on whether they liked it or not…a whopping 70% said they did not! Any way you look at it and no matter how much you discuss it, IT HAS NOT RECEIVED GOOD REVIEWS. A new movie or a Broadway play receiving reviews as bad as this race did would shut down in a heart beat! Got comments? Post them here. And please give your name…don't be afraid. I'm not! IF you would like to email me a letter you want me to comment on, send that to my email address quicktimesracingnews@gmail.com and I will answer your letter, THEN put it on the blog with my answer. Make sure you put in your letter you want it and my answer to be on the blog…I won't put it on here otherwise.
I had trouble believing the stuff I heard from people at the Las Vegas race! I understand most of it though. Racers have always had to back down. I like what Morgan Lucas said more than anything else I heard and I wish I could quote it but I didn't record it! These Pro racers keep talking about what Bruton has done for drag racing??? Would someone PLEASE tell me what Bruton Smith HAS done for drag racing? Yes, Bruton HAS 'spent' a LOT of 'money' IN drag racing but I can tell you right now, if it had not been for Jeff Byrd, none of that would have ever happened. I will NOT go into details because of Jeff's illness and my respect for him and his family, but NHRA and you racers have Jeff to thank for all this! One day, I will explain all that to you, but not right now. I respect Jeff Byrd and Bill Bader Sr. more than I respect any other people in drag racing so I will just keep my mouth shut for now.
It was said NHRA got bulldozed into this race by Bruton. I can understand that. Bruton Smith has already gotten so big in drag racing, NHRA is afraid of him. Soon, he will control NHRA (IF he doesn't already)…after all, he couldn't BUY NHRA, so he just set about putting himself into a position of control (think about NASCAR!). He started building the biggest and best drag strips in the country…tracks NHRA really cannot do without now because of the TV coverage. If you know ANYTHING about NASCAR, you will realize history is just repeating itself…only the name of the game has changed. The France family would not let Bruton get involved in NASCAR in any other capacity than as a track owner, so he built the biggest, the best, the most expensive tracks in the country to have control over the organization. Some smaller tracks, he bought and shut down just to get their race dates…North Wilkesboro Speedway…the HOME of circle track racing is one of them. It doesn't bother Bruton Smith to DESTROY the history of round track racing as long as he gets what he wants which is what happened with Wilkesboro. Look around guys…it's happening again…only NHRA is the target. He already has a strangle hold on them because of TV coverage…it's ONLY gonna get worse.
I will say this…there were a lot of comments about the safety aspects of 4-Wide. But when I wrote about all those people standing around on the starting line all the time, no one said a word! If you are all so worried about safety, what about that part of it? I would NOT be afraid to BET there were…at the very least, 30 people on the line during the final run of Top Fuel and it was probably more like 40 or 50! You want dangerous? That's it! The insurance companies used to have rules about how many people could be standing around starting line during a race. Any more comments? These are just my opinions. I am still… 'drag racing's most dedicated fan!'
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Four Wide? Why? (Why Not?)
Once again, someone has proved you cannot just come in and change the face of drag racing overnight! Even if you do think you have more money than God (and the ego to match!). The other 'worst' time someone tried to make major changes to our entire sport was 1988, when Billy Meyer bought the International Hot Rod Association. It didn't work then and it won't work now. I don't know where Bruton got the idea to build a 4-wide drag strip and I especially can't figure how or where he got the idea people would like a 4-wide race. It may be good for exhibition races, match races and shows in general, but the fans have enough trouble taking in everything that's happening when TWO cars are racing, let alone four. Bruton was so excited at his race, he told the world he was going to build two more lanes at his Las Vegas track! This from the man who (it is rumored to have) said he hated drag racing and would never have drag racing at his track again! (I guess anyone can change their mind.) He said he did this to help NHRA…where did he get the idea it WOULD help NHRA?
All my reasons for NOT having 4-wide drag racing have already been stated…by nearly every racer, every team owner and by most fans. When I went to ESPN.com and voted my 'NO,' it was 69% NO and 31% YES. I personally did NOT like it for all the same reasons as everyone else, one of which is safety. There are several priorities in drag racing…the first being to make money. After all, it IS a business. The second priority is safety…for EVERYONE…fans as well as racers and all the other folks…team crew members, NHRA employees, sponsors…ANYONE who is inside those pits or in the stands. It is bad enough when one car has problems, worse when two are involved. Four…God forbid! We don't NEED to put ourselves in any position where that could possibly happen! Third priority, keeping the sponsors happy. Can't do this stuff without them!
And fourth, but definitely NOT the least…the fans. The spectators. Can't do it without them either. A MAJOR, MAJOR part of the income. Drag racing is a HARD sport to understand, it always has been, it always will be. It has taken years and years and years to acquire the amount of spectators we have now and TV has been a HUGE part of that. But TV can do just as much harm just as it can help…sometimes more…IF and when something goes wrong. You KNOW how bad TV will hurt our sport if something goes wrong and they play it up wrong in the wrong way. Spectators STILL don't understand a lot of the stuff about drag racing and it is really hard to catch everything that happens in 3-, 4-, 5- and/or 6-seconds with TWO cars running. It is IMPOSSIBLE with four. I'm really worried they will just give up and stay away. They will have to pay the same amount (or more) to attend a 4-wide race and it will be over in half the time and they will miss half of it because it's just too much to take in! I think it will be a detriment to our sport.
I absolutely did NOT like the way they did the finals and I don't think the racers liked it and I'm SURE the spectators didn't like it. I think the racers got cheated having to settle for third and fourth place without the benefit of running it the usual way. What do you think about that? Would you like to do that at your track? Why not just flip a coin the way they used to do at Shuffletown Dragway when it got too late to finish the race because of the curfew? It would have been just as fair to flip that coin at ZMax as it was to run it the way they did! I also think the spectators felt cheated as well.
I haven't heard much about what the 'little guy' racers thought about 4-wide racing, but I can't believe they enjoyed it. It seems to me there would be four times as much confusion as usual…how could someone concentrate with all that stuff going on? That is one of the things the Pro racers have complained about. And, if you missed it, they voted to NOT run 4-wide again at a points race…I think that confusion had a lot to do with that. By the way, have you noticed HOW MANY PEOPLE there are milling around the starting line when the Pros are running? What happened to all those insurance company rules about a having a limited number of people going up with each car and having a limited number of people on the starting line at ANY time? I don't care HOW you look at it…that's just as dangerous a place to be as anywhere…the insurance companies used to know that. What happened? I bet there were as many as 30 people on the line at any given time when the Pros were running at the Spring Nationals in Houston! I couldn't believe it!
I wonder how many of the little guy racers went on ESPN and voted. I wish they'd actually done a survey with the vote so we could see how many racers or other people involved in the sport voted as opposed to how many fans voted which way. That would have been much more interesting than the way it was done. If any of you would like to make a comment here on my blog, you are welcome to do so. I would like to know what more of YOU think about all this.
All my reasons for NOT having 4-wide drag racing have already been stated…by nearly every racer, every team owner and by most fans. When I went to ESPN.com and voted my 'NO,' it was 69% NO and 31% YES. I personally did NOT like it for all the same reasons as everyone else, one of which is safety. There are several priorities in drag racing…the first being to make money. After all, it IS a business. The second priority is safety…for EVERYONE…fans as well as racers and all the other folks…team crew members, NHRA employees, sponsors…ANYONE who is inside those pits or in the stands. It is bad enough when one car has problems, worse when two are involved. Four…God forbid! We don't NEED to put ourselves in any position where that could possibly happen! Third priority, keeping the sponsors happy. Can't do this stuff without them!
And fourth, but definitely NOT the least…the fans. The spectators. Can't do it without them either. A MAJOR, MAJOR part of the income. Drag racing is a HARD sport to understand, it always has been, it always will be. It has taken years and years and years to acquire the amount of spectators we have now and TV has been a HUGE part of that. But TV can do just as much harm just as it can help…sometimes more…IF and when something goes wrong. You KNOW how bad TV will hurt our sport if something goes wrong and they play it up wrong in the wrong way. Spectators STILL don't understand a lot of the stuff about drag racing and it is really hard to catch everything that happens in 3-, 4-, 5- and/or 6-seconds with TWO cars running. It is IMPOSSIBLE with four. I'm really worried they will just give up and stay away. They will have to pay the same amount (or more) to attend a 4-wide race and it will be over in half the time and they will miss half of it because it's just too much to take in! I think it will be a detriment to our sport.
I absolutely did NOT like the way they did the finals and I don't think the racers liked it and I'm SURE the spectators didn't like it. I think the racers got cheated having to settle for third and fourth place without the benefit of running it the usual way. What do you think about that? Would you like to do that at your track? Why not just flip a coin the way they used to do at Shuffletown Dragway when it got too late to finish the race because of the curfew? It would have been just as fair to flip that coin at ZMax as it was to run it the way they did! I also think the spectators felt cheated as well.
I haven't heard much about what the 'little guy' racers thought about 4-wide racing, but I can't believe they enjoyed it. It seems to me there would be four times as much confusion as usual…how could someone concentrate with all that stuff going on? That is one of the things the Pro racers have complained about. And, if you missed it, they voted to NOT run 4-wide again at a points race…I think that confusion had a lot to do with that. By the way, have you noticed HOW MANY PEOPLE there are milling around the starting line when the Pros are running? What happened to all those insurance company rules about a having a limited number of people going up with each car and having a limited number of people on the starting line at ANY time? I don't care HOW you look at it…that's just as dangerous a place to be as anywhere…the insurance companies used to know that. What happened? I bet there were as many as 30 people on the line at any given time when the Pros were running at the Spring Nationals in Houston! I couldn't believe it!
I wonder how many of the little guy racers went on ESPN and voted. I wish they'd actually done a survey with the vote so we could see how many racers or other people involved in the sport voted as opposed to how many fans voted which way. That would have been much more interesting than the way it was done. If any of you would like to make a comment here on my blog, you are welcome to do so. I would like to know what more of YOU think about all this.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Drag racing! REALLY?
From Becky to my friends: I know most of y'all have always thought I was weird, but what the heck! Now I'm going to prove it. Before I go any farther, let me tell you this...I DON'T CARE WHO GETS MAD OVER WHAT I'M WRITING HERE! I grew up on a farm. I LOVE gardening. I LOVE eating!!! And so do most of you. However, if you really want to keep eating MEAT you will read this email and follow my advice. It may sound horrible to start with, but if you read it all the way through, you will change your mind. I am asking every one of you to STOP CONTRIBUTING MONEY TO THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES or HSUS!!!!!! Now wait...I'm not a horrible person...I love my kitties and Mendy's horses and we would have many more animals if we take care of them. I am sure you are wondering why someone who is in drag racing is writing about farming and HSUS...after all, they are two completely different worlds...rght? WRONG! And I will tie all this together for you.
The HSUS uses ONLY 4%...FOUR percent...of YOUR contributions to help animals!!! WOW! Didn't know that, did ya? Want to know what the other 96% is used for? Putting farmers...namely beef, pork, chicken, turkey and all other meat proucers out of business!!! YES! That's right! If you had previously known that, would you have contributed to them? NO!!! Can you imaqine Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter without a turkey, chicken or ham? No? Can you imagine Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day weekends without grilling steaks, burgers, dogs, chicken breast, etc? NO! Can you imagine NOT having a warm beef stew or chicken pie in the winter when it's cold and snowy? NO? Can you imagine having a big salad in the summertime or a stir without saute'd chicken pieces? No? Well, you'd better wake up. HSUS has ALREADY introduced legislation in California to stop the production of animal products in that state. IF that passes, Washington, D.C. is next on their agenda. THAT, my friends, is what YOUR contributions to the Humane Society has gotten you. And if you keep sending them money they will only get bigger and bigger. And they will use ANY MEANS they can, INCLUDING money laundering, bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice and HIRING crooked lawyers to reach their goals! They are no't honest in ANY of their dealings.
What does that have to do with drag racing? Follow this from the National Cattlemans Business Association: "The non-profit center for Consumer Freedom is reporting a lawsuit which is now pending against HSUS filed by FELD ENTERTAINMENT (sound familiar?) who owns Ringling Brothers Circus. Allegations named in the lawsuit against HSUS iinclude: bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice and money laundering. A federal court JUDGE found HSUS and two of its corporate lawyers and others named in the lawsuit PAID FOR 'now impeached testimoney!' That means the testimoney they gave in the lawsuit again Feld Entertainment was all lies and has now been thrown out of the lawsuit! Now you're REALLY asking how is this involved with drag racing? Feld Entertainment owns IHRA and most of you have either raced or are still racing some, either with IHRA or at an IHRA sanctioned track. Do you think Feld Entertainment is worried about a lowly second-rate drag racing sanctioning body when they have all this other bigger stuff going on to worry about? I don't think so. And that may bite you in the butt in the long run!
So even if you CAN'T support IHRA all the time, you CAN STOP contributing money to an association who is literally screwing with the entire nation's economy. Can you imagine what would happen to the US economy if all the farmers who grow and sell MEAT as their entire business or even part of it get put out of business? And don't think it stops there...DAIRY products are next! Can you imagine a life without ICE CREAM? I can't! It's my all-time FAVORITE food! Not to mention, cheese and yogurt and butter and all the things I make with those wonderful HEALTHY foods! Eggs will be next! Can you imagine NOT having EGGS to eat? You can't even make a cake without eggs!!!!!!!! We HAVE TO STOP these zealots in their tracks! We CANNOT let this continue. IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE contributing to the welfare of animals, DON'T give any more money to the Humane Society...buy a bag of dog or cat food and take it to your local animal shelter. EVERY COUNTY in the US has an animal shelter. Call them and ask them what they need...cat liter, bedding, etc. You can also donate money to them and SPECIFY what you want that money to be used for...food, veterinary services, spaying and neutering, medicines, etc. PLEASE, PLEASE do NOT contribute any more money to the Humane Society of the United States. When they send you crap in the mail, throw it in the trash. Don't even use the 'free' address labels they send you, that's just more 'free' advertising for them. Every time you put one of their address labels on something, you're actually advertising for them! If you want to use the labels, cut off the part that says where it came from!!! And DON'T pay for them...they will have to stop mailing them out if no one pays for them. Remember...animals are NOT receiving the money you donate to HSUS!
WE ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO CAN STOPS GROUPS LIKE THIS. THEY ARE FANATICS. THEY DON'T HAVE A LIFE OF THEIR OWN SO THEY THINK THEY NEED TO MEDDLE IN EVERYONE ELSES. THEY ALL NEED TO BE INSANE ASYLUMS...NOT OUT HERE TRYING TO MAKE LEGISLATION WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY CONTROL OUR LIVES IF THEY ARE ALLOWED TO KEEP DOING THIS CRAZY STUFF! All of you know me and you know I would NEVER advise you to do something like this unless I KNEW it was wrong. I hope you will send this to EVERYONE you have an email address for. We need to get this message out as quickly as possible.
I would recommend you watch RFDTV. SUPPORT OUR FARMERS! Go to their website and just look at all the wonderful programing they have. www.RFDTV.org They have a list on the website that tells you what channel RFDTV is on with all the different TV programming we have now! I am going to put this on my blog so if you want to tell someone else about it, it is: http://quicktimesracingnews.blogspot.com.
Thanks, as always your friend, Becky White
The HSUS uses ONLY 4%...FOUR percent...of YOUR contributions to help animals!!! WOW! Didn't know that, did ya? Want to know what the other 96% is used for? Putting farmers...namely beef, pork, chicken, turkey and all other meat proucers out of business!!! YES! That's right! If you had previously known that, would you have contributed to them? NO!!! Can you imaqine Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter without a turkey, chicken or ham? No? Can you imagine Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day weekends without grilling steaks, burgers, dogs, chicken breast, etc? NO! Can you imagine NOT having a warm beef stew or chicken pie in the winter when it's cold and snowy? NO? Can you imagine having a big salad in the summertime or a stir without saute'd chicken pieces? No? Well, you'd better wake up. HSUS has ALREADY introduced legislation in California to stop the production of animal products in that state. IF that passes, Washington, D.C. is next on their agenda. THAT, my friends, is what YOUR contributions to the Humane Society has gotten you. And if you keep sending them money they will only get bigger and bigger. And they will use ANY MEANS they can, INCLUDING money laundering, bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice and HIRING crooked lawyers to reach their goals! They are no't honest in ANY of their dealings.
What does that have to do with drag racing? Follow this from the National Cattlemans Business Association: "The non-profit center for Consumer Freedom is reporting a lawsuit which is now pending against HSUS filed by FELD ENTERTAINMENT (sound familiar?) who owns Ringling Brothers Circus. Allegations named in the lawsuit against HSUS iinclude: bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice and money laundering. A federal court JUDGE found HSUS and two of its corporate lawyers and others named in the lawsuit PAID FOR 'now impeached testimoney!' That means the testimoney they gave in the lawsuit again Feld Entertainment was all lies and has now been thrown out of the lawsuit! Now you're REALLY asking how is this involved with drag racing? Feld Entertainment owns IHRA and most of you have either raced or are still racing some, either with IHRA or at an IHRA sanctioned track. Do you think Feld Entertainment is worried about a lowly second-rate drag racing sanctioning body when they have all this other bigger stuff going on to worry about? I don't think so. And that may bite you in the butt in the long run!
So even if you CAN'T support IHRA all the time, you CAN STOP contributing money to an association who is literally screwing with the entire nation's economy. Can you imagine what would happen to the US economy if all the farmers who grow and sell MEAT as their entire business or even part of it get put out of business? And don't think it stops there...DAIRY products are next! Can you imagine a life without ICE CREAM? I can't! It's my all-time FAVORITE food! Not to mention, cheese and yogurt and butter and all the things I make with those wonderful HEALTHY foods! Eggs will be next! Can you imagine NOT having EGGS to eat? You can't even make a cake without eggs!!!!!!!! We HAVE TO STOP these zealots in their tracks! We CANNOT let this continue. IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE contributing to the welfare of animals, DON'T give any more money to the Humane Society...buy a bag of dog or cat food and take it to your local animal shelter. EVERY COUNTY in the US has an animal shelter. Call them and ask them what they need...cat liter, bedding, etc. You can also donate money to them and SPECIFY what you want that money to be used for...food, veterinary services, spaying and neutering, medicines, etc. PLEASE, PLEASE do NOT contribute any more money to the Humane Society of the United States. When they send you crap in the mail, throw it in the trash. Don't even use the 'free' address labels they send you, that's just more 'free' advertising for them. Every time you put one of their address labels on something, you're actually advertising for them! If you want to use the labels, cut off the part that says where it came from!!! And DON'T pay for them...they will have to stop mailing them out if no one pays for them. Remember...animals are NOT receiving the money you donate to HSUS!
WE ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO CAN STOPS GROUPS LIKE THIS. THEY ARE FANATICS. THEY DON'T HAVE A LIFE OF THEIR OWN SO THEY THINK THEY NEED TO MEDDLE IN EVERYONE ELSES. THEY ALL NEED TO BE INSANE ASYLUMS...NOT OUT HERE TRYING TO MAKE LEGISLATION WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY CONTROL OUR LIVES IF THEY ARE ALLOWED TO KEEP DOING THIS CRAZY STUFF! All of you know me and you know I would NEVER advise you to do something like this unless I KNEW it was wrong. I hope you will send this to EVERYONE you have an email address for. We need to get this message out as quickly as possible.
I would recommend you watch RFDTV. SUPPORT OUR FARMERS! Go to their website and just look at all the wonderful programing they have. www.RFDTV.org They have a list on the website that tells you what channel RFDTV is on with all the different TV programming we have now! I am going to put this on my blog so if you want to tell someone else about it, it is: http://quicktimesracingnews.blogspot.com.
Thanks, as always your friend, Becky White
Thursday, February 25, 2010
In Memory of Norman Drouillard Sr...Owner/Operator Farmington Dragway for Many Years
Norman Drouillard Sr. passed away on December 8, 2009 at 6:10 pm. If you raced at Farmington Dragway in the past 30-something years, you probably knew who he was. If you didn't race there, you may never have heard his name. Norman was the kind of person you loved to hate. He could make you so mad so fast you didn't know what to think. I know this because I worked for him and I want to tell you what that meant to me. This is MY story, but it is too intertwined to separate, so this IS my personal memorial to Norman.
In April, 1979, after several years of barely coping with life with at least one year of that being in severe deep depression, I decided to go to the drag strip one day. Farmington Dragway was my home track…it opened in 1963…the same year my first daughter was born. I have pictures of all three of my girls at that track before they were six months old! Talk about the glory days! Anyway, I'm getting off track. At that time, I was living seven miles from the track…if the wind was blowing in the right direction, I could hear the cars. I thought…just maybe…going to the track might help get me out of the funk I had been in for so long because I had ALWAYS loved cars and racing!
I did not intend to work a deal with the owners, but when I got to the track, the first person I saw…the guy who was working the gate…was good friend Larry Allen and that brought a smile to my face. We talked a few minutes and I asked him who the owner or operator was and he told me Jerry Joyce and Norman Drouillard and it just so happened they were close enough for Larry to point them out to me. I went over and introduced myself and I don't know what in the world made me do it and I don't remember the whole conversation, but basically I said, "Hey, if you'll let me in free every week, I will write a story and put it in the local paper for you. Five bucks I can use to pay on rent or groceries for my kids!"
Talk about balls! I didn't know if I could even write a story, much less get it printed anywhere!!! I just figured I could get all that straightened out later!!! But they didn't know that. They said something like, "Sure, we'll give it a try!" Norman was all for getting something for nothing and he got a LOT of something that year for 'almost' nothing. I got in free, kids were all under 16 so they got in free and I got a hot dog once a week! And I worked my heart out! I was, at that time, in school at Rowan Technical College (now Rowan-Cabarrus Community College) in Auto Mechanics. After being at the track a couple weeks, I KNEW I had just about bit off more than I could chew.
A woman. Writing about drag racing? What a hoot! At least that was the general attitude. But I kept on plugging and plugging and, finally, some of the folks realized I really wasn't there looking for a boyfriend or husband and slowly, people started accepting me. I'm telling you all this for a reason. I met an awful of people real fast! But there were also people racing in '79 I knew from the early 60s! I worked my heart out all year and graduated in the top of my class at school. I would go home from the track and type up my stories on my old Royal typewriter my dad bought me about 1957 or '58. I would do five or six different stories…each with a different headline and each going to a different small town newspaper. I mailed them out on Sunday and took one to the Davie County Enterprise on Monday…deadline day.
I know I'm writing a lot about me, but it is so you will understand. My first BIG story was on Jack McClamrock…a man who had been my hero since I first saw him race…probably in 1963. Norman was the publisher of the King Times-News so naturally a lot of my stuff got printed there. I can't remember the dates or even the years of the stories I did, but I did stories on a lot of racers and they were printed in a lot of papers. I even had newspaper folks do a couple stories on me…what I was doing was VERY unusual…women weren't supposed to be doing stuff like that… I don't know if it was because we were supposed to be pregnant and barefoot all the time or just too dumb to know 'stuff' about cars and racing…probably a little of both. After all…this WAS 1979! I met all the folks from IHRA and had lots of stories printed in Drag Review. And for that, I ended up with an invitation to the IHRA banquet in November that year.
Man, there was NO way I could EVER afford to do anything like that. I told Norman how disappointed I was that we couldn't go and he actually gave me a check for $100!!! (A lot of money back then.) But not enough. My girls took their allowance money, Teresa made me a velvet dress as her Home Ec project in school as well as a dress for her to wear. My mother bought dresses for Candace and Mendy and, somehow or another, we ended up at the Graystone Lodge in Gatlingburg, TN. I had done a story that year on Margie and Eldee Hutchins and they offered us a free ride to and from. We had never been anywhere like that, but I would never gone without those girls. I thought I was, as the saying goes, pooping in high cotton. I can't even begin to tell you how I felt. Even my girls had a wonderful time. It was the beginning of a new life for us all.
1980 was an even better, busier year. I got SO involved in drag racing and I wrote more and more and more. I feel this may have actually saved my life. I had been so deep in depression before I didn't know how I could ever pull myself up out of that hole and I'm so thankful this happened. We had a blast. The neighbors of Farmington Dragway tried to close the track that year and I went to all the meetings and spoke and wrote newspaper articles about all the things that went on in the meetings and the way we 'racing folks' were being treated. I think, through the stuff in the newspaper, they kind of got shamed into dropping the whole deal. There would probably never have even been anything in the local paper if it had not been for me because the newspaper folks surely would not have sent anyone to cover that. In 1980, I got paid $15 a week and a hot dog!!! Jerry and Mark would publish a special paper every few months for the track, especially when something extra was going on and I wrote a lot of stories for it.
Before the end of that year, I met a guy named Barry Jenkins who talked about publishing a drag racing magazine. Some of the racers pointed him in my direction and we talked but I never even considered the fact he was serious. However, in early 1981, he called me and said he'd sold enough ads to print one issue! WOW! Could I come to Pageland, SC and help him put it together. That's how Quick Times Racing News got started and he chose the name for it. So now I was writing stuff for the Quick Times as well as the drag strip. I was getting stretched out pretty thin because Candace was in art class, Mendy was in gymnastics, Teresa was graduating that year and I was teaching Auto Mechanics for Davidson County Community College…only an extension class one night a week, but there was just too much do.
However, I was in seventh heaven…life seemed to be agreeing with me and my girls for the first time in a long time. One weekend in July, when I got to the track, Norman said I would have to pay to get in…I was still working there! I can't even tell you how bad that hurt. Now maybe guys don't get their feelings hurt that way but I can't tell you how much that hurt. I left the kids there…they were all still under 16…and I went to Shuffletown. For the first 30 miles, I cried. Then I got mad. DON'T MAKE ME CRY! It makes me mad when I feel weak!!! So the rest of the way down there AND back to get the girls, all this stuff was going through my mind about the past three years and how hard I had worked and how much it had all meant to me. So the first 'nasty' editorial I ever wrote about a track operator, I wrote about Norman Drouillard Sr! (And that wasn't the only time!)
Needless to say, that went over like a lead balloon with him and I was pretty much banished from Farmington. Well, not actually, but I still had to pay to get in and I didn't write for them any more after that. I struggled with that damned paper I was trying to do…by myself now!!!
I had told Barry I needed to find a printer closer to home because leaving the girls and going to Pageland and putting the paper together, getting it printed, then bringing it home and getting it ready to mail (I always did all the mailing) was just too much. He said for me to go ahead and find someone and he would do the traveling. So I made a deal with the newspaper in Kernersville to typeset and print the paper and I would just go down and do the layout, bring it home and mail it. That was in August and as the deadline for the September got closer, I kept calling Barry and he kept saying he'd be here, yada, yada, yada. He never showed up and his name was not on the September issue or any issues after that.
Norman did not speak to me again until about 1984. K&K Insurance was killing the small tracks and I got on their ass and after I harassed them in Quick Times for months, things started to change. A new insurance company started insuring drag racing and prices finally came down. I was walking through the pits at Rockingham that spring and who did I meet? Norman and Norman and Mark. I thought, "Oh shit." Norman looked straight at me and said, "I want to thank you for all the stuff you've been writing about our insurance problems, it has really helped all the small track operators!" I was dumb-struck…he could do that to you! I didn't know what to say and by the time my brain got back to functioning, they had already walked off. I just turned around and watched them…my mouth was probably still hanging open!
We kind of became 'okay' again. I always took a few minutes to go talk to Norman when I was at Farmington. I could tell Norman things I didn't think I could tell anyone about stuff that was going on in drag racing and he confided in me many times. I got a lot of ideas from the things we talked about and I gave him some good ideas, too. The point in writing this is to let everyone know I DO REALIZE if it had NOT been for Norman (and Jerry Joyce), I wouldn't have even known I could do the things I ended up doing. I NEVER had any idea I COULD do the things I ended up doing! Hell, the only things I had ever written were papers in school and letters to far away friends. Norman gave me a chance to live a life most people only dream about. Thanks, Norman.
In April, 1979, after several years of barely coping with life with at least one year of that being in severe deep depression, I decided to go to the drag strip one day. Farmington Dragway was my home track…it opened in 1963…the same year my first daughter was born. I have pictures of all three of my girls at that track before they were six months old! Talk about the glory days! Anyway, I'm getting off track. At that time, I was living seven miles from the track…if the wind was blowing in the right direction, I could hear the cars. I thought…just maybe…going to the track might help get me out of the funk I had been in for so long because I had ALWAYS loved cars and racing!
I did not intend to work a deal with the owners, but when I got to the track, the first person I saw…the guy who was working the gate…was good friend Larry Allen and that brought a smile to my face. We talked a few minutes and I asked him who the owner or operator was and he told me Jerry Joyce and Norman Drouillard and it just so happened they were close enough for Larry to point them out to me. I went over and introduced myself and I don't know what in the world made me do it and I don't remember the whole conversation, but basically I said, "Hey, if you'll let me in free every week, I will write a story and put it in the local paper for you. Five bucks I can use to pay on rent or groceries for my kids!"
Talk about balls! I didn't know if I could even write a story, much less get it printed anywhere!!! I just figured I could get all that straightened out later!!! But they didn't know that. They said something like, "Sure, we'll give it a try!" Norman was all for getting something for nothing and he got a LOT of something that year for 'almost' nothing. I got in free, kids were all under 16 so they got in free and I got a hot dog once a week! And I worked my heart out! I was, at that time, in school at Rowan Technical College (now Rowan-Cabarrus Community College) in Auto Mechanics. After being at the track a couple weeks, I KNEW I had just about bit off more than I could chew.
A woman. Writing about drag racing? What a hoot! At least that was the general attitude. But I kept on plugging and plugging and, finally, some of the folks realized I really wasn't there looking for a boyfriend or husband and slowly, people started accepting me. I'm telling you all this for a reason. I met an awful of people real fast! But there were also people racing in '79 I knew from the early 60s! I worked my heart out all year and graduated in the top of my class at school. I would go home from the track and type up my stories on my old Royal typewriter my dad bought me about 1957 or '58. I would do five or six different stories…each with a different headline and each going to a different small town newspaper. I mailed them out on Sunday and took one to the Davie County Enterprise on Monday…deadline day.
I know I'm writing a lot about me, but it is so you will understand. My first BIG story was on Jack McClamrock…a man who had been my hero since I first saw him race…probably in 1963. Norman was the publisher of the King Times-News so naturally a lot of my stuff got printed there. I can't remember the dates or even the years of the stories I did, but I did stories on a lot of racers and they were printed in a lot of papers. I even had newspaper folks do a couple stories on me…what I was doing was VERY unusual…women weren't supposed to be doing stuff like that… I don't know if it was because we were supposed to be pregnant and barefoot all the time or just too dumb to know 'stuff' about cars and racing…probably a little of both. After all…this WAS 1979! I met all the folks from IHRA and had lots of stories printed in Drag Review. And for that, I ended up with an invitation to the IHRA banquet in November that year.
Man, there was NO way I could EVER afford to do anything like that. I told Norman how disappointed I was that we couldn't go and he actually gave me a check for $100!!! (A lot of money back then.) But not enough. My girls took their allowance money, Teresa made me a velvet dress as her Home Ec project in school as well as a dress for her to wear. My mother bought dresses for Candace and Mendy and, somehow or another, we ended up at the Graystone Lodge in Gatlingburg, TN. I had done a story that year on Margie and Eldee Hutchins and they offered us a free ride to and from. We had never been anywhere like that, but I would never gone without those girls. I thought I was, as the saying goes, pooping in high cotton. I can't even begin to tell you how I felt. Even my girls had a wonderful time. It was the beginning of a new life for us all.
1980 was an even better, busier year. I got SO involved in drag racing and I wrote more and more and more. I feel this may have actually saved my life. I had been so deep in depression before I didn't know how I could ever pull myself up out of that hole and I'm so thankful this happened. We had a blast. The neighbors of Farmington Dragway tried to close the track that year and I went to all the meetings and spoke and wrote newspaper articles about all the things that went on in the meetings and the way we 'racing folks' were being treated. I think, through the stuff in the newspaper, they kind of got shamed into dropping the whole deal. There would probably never have even been anything in the local paper if it had not been for me because the newspaper folks surely would not have sent anyone to cover that. In 1980, I got paid $15 a week and a hot dog!!! Jerry and Mark would publish a special paper every few months for the track, especially when something extra was going on and I wrote a lot of stories for it.
Before the end of that year, I met a guy named Barry Jenkins who talked about publishing a drag racing magazine. Some of the racers pointed him in my direction and we talked but I never even considered the fact he was serious. However, in early 1981, he called me and said he'd sold enough ads to print one issue! WOW! Could I come to Pageland, SC and help him put it together. That's how Quick Times Racing News got started and he chose the name for it. So now I was writing stuff for the Quick Times as well as the drag strip. I was getting stretched out pretty thin because Candace was in art class, Mendy was in gymnastics, Teresa was graduating that year and I was teaching Auto Mechanics for Davidson County Community College…only an extension class one night a week, but there was just too much do.
However, I was in seventh heaven…life seemed to be agreeing with me and my girls for the first time in a long time. One weekend in July, when I got to the track, Norman said I would have to pay to get in…I was still working there! I can't even tell you how bad that hurt. Now maybe guys don't get their feelings hurt that way but I can't tell you how much that hurt. I left the kids there…they were all still under 16…and I went to Shuffletown. For the first 30 miles, I cried. Then I got mad. DON'T MAKE ME CRY! It makes me mad when I feel weak!!! So the rest of the way down there AND back to get the girls, all this stuff was going through my mind about the past three years and how hard I had worked and how much it had all meant to me. So the first 'nasty' editorial I ever wrote about a track operator, I wrote about Norman Drouillard Sr! (And that wasn't the only time!)
Needless to say, that went over like a lead balloon with him and I was pretty much banished from Farmington. Well, not actually, but I still had to pay to get in and I didn't write for them any more after that. I struggled with that damned paper I was trying to do…by myself now!!!
I had told Barry I needed to find a printer closer to home because leaving the girls and going to Pageland and putting the paper together, getting it printed, then bringing it home and getting it ready to mail (I always did all the mailing) was just too much. He said for me to go ahead and find someone and he would do the traveling. So I made a deal with the newspaper in Kernersville to typeset and print the paper and I would just go down and do the layout, bring it home and mail it. That was in August and as the deadline for the September got closer, I kept calling Barry and he kept saying he'd be here, yada, yada, yada. He never showed up and his name was not on the September issue or any issues after that.
Norman did not speak to me again until about 1984. K&K Insurance was killing the small tracks and I got on their ass and after I harassed them in Quick Times for months, things started to change. A new insurance company started insuring drag racing and prices finally came down. I was walking through the pits at Rockingham that spring and who did I meet? Norman and Norman and Mark. I thought, "Oh shit." Norman looked straight at me and said, "I want to thank you for all the stuff you've been writing about our insurance problems, it has really helped all the small track operators!" I was dumb-struck…he could do that to you! I didn't know what to say and by the time my brain got back to functioning, they had already walked off. I just turned around and watched them…my mouth was probably still hanging open!
We kind of became 'okay' again. I always took a few minutes to go talk to Norman when I was at Farmington. I could tell Norman things I didn't think I could tell anyone about stuff that was going on in drag racing and he confided in me many times. I got a lot of ideas from the things we talked about and I gave him some good ideas, too. The point in writing this is to let everyone know I DO REALIZE if it had NOT been for Norman (and Jerry Joyce), I wouldn't have even known I could do the things I ended up doing. I NEVER had any idea I COULD do the things I ended up doing! Hell, the only things I had ever written were papers in school and letters to far away friends. Norman gave me a chance to live a life most people only dream about. Thanks, Norman.
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