Richard Petty takes a historic Plymouth to England
https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motora...233720510.html

July 2nd is Petty's birthday

 

Links tying some racing history together:
See post number 26 and the last post of this thread

 

Louise Smith, early NASCAR female Modified class driver was born 31 July in 1916.
By Justin Hyde

Everything that Louise Smith meant to NASCAR, beyond being the first woman to compete in the series when it was still a bunch of barnstormers in the 1940s and '50s, can be explained by the photo above. Already an experienced driver — despite the wishes of her husband — Smith was running in 1949 at the Occoneechee track in North Carolina when her car went airborne, rolled and took out several trees. Rescue workers needed a half-hour to cut Smith free, but she was soon back on the circuit. Between 1945 and 1956, Smith won 38 modified stock races, and stayed close to racing until her death in 2006. Here's a taste of how raw NASCAR could be in that era, via rare footage of 1953-54 races at the Peace Haven speedway, then one of the fastest half-miles of dirt in the nation. Compared to this, Eldora (Tony Stewarts track in California....if I got it right) looks like a holiday parade.
************************************************** **
LOUISE SMITH
Louise Smith raced for the love of her sport. "Money was nothing back then," she says. "Sometimes it seemed like the more you drove the less money you had. I remember one time Buck Baker and Lee Petty and I had to put our money together just to split a hot dog and a Coke. I won a lot, crashed a lot, and broke just about every bone in my body, but I gave it everything I had."

Louise was born in Barnsville, Georgia, but her family moved to a farm near Greenville, South Carolina when she was four. When she decided to learn to drive, Louise started her father's T-Model and had a wonderful time until she realized she did not know how to stop. So she drove the car through the chicken house and had the first of her spectacular crashes. "Needless to say, the chicken house was destroyed, and the car did not look good either. My father tanned me good," recalls Louise.

Louise met Bill France before he created NASCAR. "In those days 300 or 400 fans was a big crowd, and Bill thought I could put more people in the stands," says Louise. The fans turned out by the hundreds at Louise's first race to see a woman compete against the "real" drivers. "They told me if I saw a red flag to stop," she remembers. "They didn't say anything about a checkered flag." All the drivers except Louise went to the pits when the race ended. "I'm out there just flyin' around the track. Finally somebody remembered they told me not to stop until I saw the red flag. So they gave me a red flag." She finished third in that event and went on to win 28 modified races in 11 years much to the chagrin of Lee Petty, Buck Baker, Curtis Turner, Fonty Flock, Red Byron, and Roy Hall. house." Louise wishes he had not said that!

Louise Smith lives in Greenville, South Carolina and is a member of The Living Legends. She is the first woman to be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladaga.

In 1947 Louise wanted to race at Daytona. She acquired a special engine, hid it in the trunk of the family Ford, and headed for Florida. NASCAR officials assigned her number 13. "I went all down the line trying to trade that 13 off. They said, 'Aw, Lou, just follow us through that North Turn.' So I followed them, but when I got to the North Turn seven cars were piled up. I hit the back of one of them, went up in the air, cut a flip, and landed on my top. Some police officers turned the car back over, and I finished 13th."

"If you won a race, you sometimes had to fight. I remember grabbing a tire iron one time to help Buck Baker." After another race Louise and the guys stopped at a restaurant before heading to the next race. Louise was in the ladies room when she heard chairs slamming against the door. Everyone was arrested, and Louise had to pawn her diamond ring to get them out of jail.

Louise was known for her hard-charging style and her breathtaking crashes. At Hillsborough (N.C.) she became airborne coming out of the second turn, and it took 36 minutes to free her with an acetylene torch. At Mobile (AL) she tangled with Fonty Flock and ended up sitting on top of her car in the middle of a lake. Before another race, Buddy Shuman said, "Lou, you see that empty house up there on the bank? Be careful. Don't go up that bank and through that house." Louise wishes he had not said that!

Louise Smith lives in Greenville, South Carolina and is a member of The Living Legends. She is the first woman to be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame at T

 

Some vintage racing footage
https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/july-31-louise-smith-nascar-first-woman-driver-124804989.html

This 8mm film shows early NASCAR racing at Peace Haven Speedway, aka Winston-Salem Speedway on April 27, 1953 and April 19, 1954.
Peace Haven Speedway was one of the first NASCAR tracks promoted by Bill France and Alvin Hawkins, with a date on the inaugural championship tour on Oct. 31, 1948. And with drivers like Curtis Turner and Fonty Flock, it held the record as the fastest half mile dirt track in NASCAR from 1948 to 1950, and again in 1952.
The film consists of mixed clips from 1953 and '54 of the Modified Sportsman and Amateur divisions.
Shorty York won the Modified Sportsman feature in the 1953 race while Joe Kirby won the Amateur feature after Ralph Harpe was disqualified.

Ted Swaim driving the J.S. Pope #99 won the Modified Sportsman feature in '54, with Whitey Norman winning the Amateur feature after starting at the end of the field.

Drivers in this (Part 1) footage include -

Shorty York #111 (winner '53)
Ted Swaim #99 (winner '54)
Curtis Turner #14
Ned Jarrett #38
Glen Wood #22
Bill Myers #4 (coach model in '53 clips - coupe model in '54 clips)
Bobby Myers #1 in '53, #6A in '54
Wendell Scott #11
Pee Wee Jones #9
Jim Paschal #80
Slim Rominger #48
Perk Brown #0
Brice "Spider" Stultz (#24 in '53 clips - #24x in '54 clips)
Chicken Boggs #18 Jr.

Also in these races - Whitey Norman, Ralph Harpe, Bill Widenhouse, Sandy Lynch, James Stultz, Robert Barrier, Charles Woosley, Toots Jenkins, Bob DeHart, Ralph Ligouri, E.H. Weddle, Carl Burris, Gwyn Staley, Johnny Dodson, Speedy Thompson, Burley Myers, Fuzzy Clifton, Lester Willard, Johnny Capps, Joe Kirby, Ray Shores, Don Willis, Barry Boyd, Peanut Brown, Tommy Tuttle, and many more.

There are two parts to this film -

Part 1 is all Peace Haven Speedway (10:23). It's dirt track

Part 2 is a short clip of Peace Haven Speedway (:26), a short clip of motorcycles at the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds in Winston-Salem (:22), a long clip of Bowman Gray Stadium...(paved track, one foot guard rail) (4:35), and a long clip of exotic car racing at Virginia International Raceway (7:58). Both Bowman gray and VIR still hold races.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQXFe5MyzS4

Here's a silent film of Daytona on the beach 1952.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErW_bbkvesg
No sound on the 8mm film of the day. Lloyd Moore 1952 film captures two races at Daytona Beach on Feb. 9,1952. The first involved 118 combined modified and sportsman cars for a 24 lap event over the 4.1 mile beach course as Modified-sportsman Race. The cars went south for 2 miles on the blacktopped Route A1A, made a turn though the dunes, drove 2 miles on the sandy beach, and made a turn to the highway. Tim Flock initially won but was disqualified with Jack Smith getting the win.
The Grand National Race was scheduled for 48 laps but shortened to 37 because of impending tide. Marshall Teague won with

 

[h=1]Racing Down Memory Lane[/h] 44,198 views

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9RHlQG27Ns

NumberNineVideo
Published on Dec 9, 2012

Vintage stock car racing clips from all across New York State from the 50's, 60's and 70's as described below... 1.) Canandaigua - 4:01 (1954 Big Cars and 1955 Stock Cars) AMAZING quality film here. 2.) Evans Mills - 4:59 (1967 dirt and 1968 asphalt - 1st 2 years of operation) 3.) Fulton - 6:03 (Various clips throughout the 60's and early 70's) 4.) Lafayette - 5:24 (1951 black and white and 1952 color) 5.) Lancaster - 1:13 (About 1969 or 1970 - Sadly, a good portion was too dark to use) 6.) *Lebanon Valley - 2:54 (Approx 1970 - 1971. Again, a portion of the film was too dark to use) 7.) Monroe County Oval - 6:05 (Mid to late 50's and early to mid 60's) 8.) Naples - 1:07 (1953 - the last year the track ran. This is the only film footage of Naples I know of. Excellent quality and in color) 9.) Oswego - 5:05 (50's, 60's and real early 70's) 10.) Palmyra - 8:13 (1952 and 1953 covering Sportsman and midgets) 11.) *Paradise - 1:30 (Very early 70's bikes in excellent quality film. Neat stuff here) 12.) Perry - 1:51 (1966 with great coverage of Art Clark in his 1960 Impala) 13.) Shangri La - 1:00 (Mods and Late Models from the early 60's. 14.) Sharon - 2:59 (1953 from Sharon Springs, NY) 15.) South Seneca - 8:52 (There maybe be footage in here from every year the track ran) 16.) Spencer - 5:00 (1956 to about 1962. You'll love what I did with this because I had tons of footage to work with) 17.) *Syracuse - 3:51 (1950's, 1960's and 1970's. Includes the Wimble fire and USAC footage) 18.) *Utica Rome - 3:29 (1962 footage includes Richie Evans in his first car. Second year of operation for the track) 19.) Waterloo - 4:04 (Includes footage from the 50's, 60's and 70's. I like this piece because I had a bunch to work with) 20.) Watertown - 4:14 (1950's and 1960's footage from different angles of the track. Several wrecks in this) 21.) Weedsport - 4:04 (My favorite part of the whole DVD. All 1950's footage that kind of tells a story that I couldn't resist)

 

Briefly, Curtis Turner 50's driver, Nascar Hall of Fame
See post 9 of this Tampa Racing.com thread

 

An award from the Daytona Beach Rotary Club
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=susdiHJ4Vuo

Who was Smokey?
Smokey Yunick was the most pioneering figures in racing history. Smokey was one of the earliest innovators in engine dynamics and safety. But his tinkering often found him at odds with NASCAR officials.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEmLjNPg-Fc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ibu-1axB_Y

Smokey Yunick Hot Vapor engine and other videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDL65UUjOss&list=RDvDL65UUjOss#t=58

Open and honest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf1EjjjzdSc

Smokey Yunick v1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ibu-1axB_Y

Interviews conducted at "Smokey's Best Damn Garage in Town" which
was torn down a couple years ago......but I know where it was.... (wink)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6uRu_LDmRo

About Tony Stewart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT2G0iRwxaI

About AJ Foyt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGoMKX-Hra4

About Bill France
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F2LrKoYXMk

 

Links tying some racing history together:
See post 26 and the last post in this thread

 

See also post number 6, this Tampa Racing.com thread-Bob
Briefly, Curtis Turner 50's driver, Nascar Hall of Fame
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA-b-Nopab8

https://www.facebook.com/groups/CurtisTurnerMuseum/

http://www.CurtisTurnerMuseum.com/
Sign up for E-newsletter free to the public, on
Curtis Turner Museum!

https://www.facebook.com/p…/Pops-in-the-Hall/557628631013853

Curtis Turner was born in Floyd, VA April 12, 1924, and died October 4th, 1970.He was a Legend in the early days of stockcar racing, dirt racing and a big part in the beginnings of NASCAR as well as a NASCAR driver.

NASCAR sanctioned races won in his career were 55, which included the 17 Grand National races now called Sprint Cup, and the Convertible Division of which he won 38, 22 of which were won in 1 year. No small feat.

Curtis Turner did a great deal for the entire sport of racing. What many people don't know is that Curtis Turner won 360 stockcar races in his lifetime, racing in other events, or events sanctioned by USAC /MARK/ARCA as well as NASCAR. By 1957, he had won more races than any other driver by that time in his life. RACING, HE LOVED IT-LIVED IT! He was also the first NASCAR driver to appear on the cover of a national magazine, Sports Illustrated in 1968, where we was named the 'Babe Ruth of Stockcar Racing'.

Curtis had such a confident air and way of driving that he excited the racing fans and kept them coming back for more. Hence, the reason the only 2 stockcar drivers ever paid 'show money' back then, were Curtis Turner as well as Fireball Roberts.

During the 4 year ban imposed by Bill France against Curtis for trying to form a Union, he continued to race in other Racing organizations such as MARK, ARCA and USAC, continuing an impressive list of accomplishments such as his win at Pike's Peak and the breaking of a record there.

Curtis Turner was President of, and built the Charlotte Motor Speedway, now called Lowes Speedway in Charlotte, NC. With some tricks up his sleeve, he fought every resistance he could muster to insure his beloved track would be built and finished-even at legal gunpoint. However, because of his perseverance, the 1st Charlotte 600, which was scheduled to run originally May 29, 1960, did have its inaugural race which he promoted, June 19th, 1960.

When Race Sales began to decline in the 60's, Bill France invited Curtis back to drive a race car again in NASCAR, this time being paid as an entertainer on the track with his daredevil driving that the fans went crazy for. It worked for NASCAR as their sales soared when Curtis Turner was at the wheel.

Sincerely,
Margaret Sue Turner Wright,
Curtis Turner's Daughter

 

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