June 8
June 8, 2006
My dad’s birthday. He’s 63 today. I credit my dad with my love for racing. My parents divorced in the early 70’s and my mom had custody of me and my two younger brothers. Dad would get us about every other weekend. We would typically go somewhere to eat or to a movie or something. What we most looked forward to, though, was going to Birmingham International Raceway (BIR) on Friday nights to watch the stock car races. We would usually stop at my grandparent’s house on the way. They lived not too far from the fairgrounds and it was always nice to see Grandmaw and Paw Paw.
I can remember like it was yesterday…pulling up in the parking lot and rolling the windows down to see if we could hear the sounds of any cars already on the track. I would get so excited! We’d pay for our tickets and walk in under the green grandstands. The smell of hot dogs and popcorn in the air. Man, those hotdogs tasted so good. I never wanted to wait in line when we first got there….nope….I wanted to check out who was on the track!
Usually there were four main divisions of cars at BIR, the Bomber division, the Baby Grand or “Mini Stock” division, the Limited Sportsman, and the Late Model Sportsman. Bombers were just as they sound…just about anyone with an old Buick or Pontiac could get out there and mix it up. The Baby Grand division featured 4 cylinder cars like Pintos and Hondas. They always sounded like a ‘hive of bees’ when they would gas it coming off turn 4. Then there was the Limited Sportsman division. The cars here were Chevy Novas and Ford Fairlanes mostly. This was the division in which I first saw future Cup drivers Davey Allison, Waymond “Hut” Stricklin Jr. and Steve Grissom. Finally there was the featured act of the night, the Late Model Sportsman division. These cars were mostly Chevy Cameros. Many of my favorites from this class are names you’ve never heard of…guys like Jerry Goodwin, Casper Miles, Dave Mader III and Henry Brooks. Then there were drivers who later had some Cup success. As for as my brothers and I, our favorite weekly campaigner was a driver out of Chatsworth, GA named Jody Ridley.
He drove a blue and white Ford #98. How thrilling it was to hear his name announced during driver introductions! Man was he good. Jody went on to limited Winston Cup success, getting a win in Junie Donlevy’s #90 Ford. It would be the veteran Virginia car owner’s only win in the Cup Series.
We also had the great fortune of seeing some of the mega stars of NASCAR at an early stage in there careers. These would include members of the famed “Alabama Gang” Bobby and Donny Allison, Neil Bonnett and Red Farmer. Although Red never had a long career in the Cup Series, he remains a legend to fans and drivers alike to this day. In fact Tony Stewart hangs out with Red at the Talladega short track when the Nextel Cup Series is in town and they even go fishing together.
Red Farmer always drove a Ford #F-97. His long-time sponsor has been Long Lewis Ford, and I can still see the gold and white paint scheme with red numbers. His son Mike used to raced too. Famed crew chief and FOX broadcaster Larry McReynolds also got his start there at the 5/8ths mile oval…as a mechanic on his aunt’s car!
The most memorable night at BIR I guess would have to be when a car went over the guard rail in turn one and through a chain link fence. Unfortunately he had to be cut from the car and had been impaled by a portion of the fence. Thankfully he was ok. I just remember the long delay while they got him out. There was also the night we got to meet Jody Ridley out in the parking lot…where he had just caught a snake! That reminds me…the highlight of a night at the races was always a trip down into the pits. I can still smell the still hot rubber from the tires and the racing fuel. Wow…
June 7, 2006
I have been tinkering with the site a lot. I have tons more to add, it’s just going to take a while. If you have a minute, check out the pictures from my trip to the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last year. Yes, those are the American Idols! They were guests at the speedway and sang the national anthem. I don’t know why I have gotten hooked on that show. Could have something to do with the fact that 4 out of the last finals have included a contestant from Birmingham, AL (my home town). The only two males to win have been from there (Ruben Studdard and this year’s Taylor Hicks). That has nothing to do with racing, just thought I’d share…
This weekend’s race is at Pocono (or as my wife calls it “Hokey-Poe”). That reminds me….she sure has put up with a lot from me over the years with this whole racing thing. We just celebrated our 11th anniversary and I’m am a very lucky and blessed man to have her.
What were we talking about? Oh Yeah, Pocono. BIG triangle (2.5 miles in length). Three distinct turns, and the longest straightaway in NASCAR. Turn 1 is banked 14 degrees and is a pretty tight corner. You can literally be 5-6 cars wide coming down the front straightaway, but by the time you get to turn 1, you better be down to double file. Turn 2 is the dreaded “tunnel” turn, the spot under which the infield entrance tunnel exists. Banked only 8 degrees, it’s one of, if not the most treacherous corner in NASCAR racing. Turn 3 is wide and sweeping, but almost flat (6 degrees). It actually feels to the drivers as if it’s banked the opposite way. The fast line is right around the bottom, trying as best you can to keep your rpm’s up, or risk losing time down that very long front straightaway.
Driver’s used to shift at Pocono. A typical pattern would be to down shift before picking up the throttle in turn 1 and stay in 3rd gear all the way around to the start-finish line and shift back into high gear. Some guys would shift a lot more than that, say, 3 times a lap, all in an effort to keep maximum rpm’s and maintain optimum speed. BUT….last year, NASCAR mandated that all teams must run the same rear gear. That all but eliminated the need to shift. If you do, you risk over revving and blowing the engine. I like Pocono. I really do. I just don’t understand why in the world we need 2 races there in about a month. Either spread the dates out, or take one away and use it somewhere else. I really think the latter is what will eventually happen.
Enough babbling….Let’s have fun watching the race from Hokey-Poe…
June 6, 2006 [6-6-06 (eek!)]
I’ve got my new website up and running and that is a good thing. It will be much easier for me to keep this one updated without having to bother other people to do it. Year 2 of Pit Pass is going well so far. I’m really pleased with the interviews we’ve had and with the great edition of co-host Brad Locke. My brother Mark also joins us often from his home in Jacksonville, Florida. He’s always got a unique take on the sport.
I’ll try to keep this blog updated diligently. Thanks very much for stopping by. If you would, shoot me a quick email and let me know you were here. –s
March 24-26, 2006
I was in Bristol Tennessee for the Sharpie Mini 300 Busch Series race and the Food City 500 Nextel Cup race. Throughout the weekend I was able to interview stars such as Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Scott Riggs, Robby Gordon and Kyle Busch, as well as Raybestos Rookie of the Year contenders Reed Sorenson, Clint Bowyer and J.J. Yeley.
Nextel Cup qualifying was SNOWED OUT on Friday, and the Busch race had to be halted for about an hour and a half on Saturday due to snow. I never thought I would ever see a snowball fight during a race between fans and race teams…but it happened! It snowed the morning of the Cup race on Sunday as well, but the event wasn’t delayed. All-in-all it was a great trip to the Tri-Cities area of Northeast Tennessee.