The relevance of 218

Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

I should have immediately realized the relevance of Feb. 18, but I didn't. Until I looked at Facebook.

There, I was reminded that Dale Earnhardt Sr. died on Feb. 18, 2001. Earnhardt was important to me, since he appeared on the cover of three books I wrote, and his car was on the cover of a book I co-wrote.

I have a quick story about Feb. 18. A friend of mine, Ron Glancy, said that he'd signed up for an Earnhardt poster that year, and he got it after Dale's death. His poster was No. 218 in the issue, and Ron wondered about the significance of 218.

Then he realized that Dale died on Feb. 18, also written as 2/18.

Not a huge deal, but interesting. That story, by the way, is in my book Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

I have watched just two full NASCAR races (both Daytona 500s) since Earnhardt died. It's not so interesting anymore.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

More entries from TARJ

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

EDITOR@WORK blog entries 

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn•

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 12-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!

HMS NOTEBOOK: Woman sought clues about her racing dad

Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(NOTE: Appeared in the Hickory Daily Record in 2012. LINK)

HMS NOTEBOOK: Woman seeks clues about her racing dad

Tom Gillispie Aug 15, 2012 

HICKORY, N.C. -- Tina Hedrick is looking for information on her father, Richard Spears, who raced Street Stocks and other divisions at Hickory Motor Speedway from 1977 to 1980.

She’d love to show pictures of Spears to his grandchildren and tell them about his racing career.

She says she’s contacted HMS promoter Kevin Piercy, who says he has heard of Spears but has no information about him. She talked to crew chief Tim Peters, but he has no photos of Spears.

She found an article that says he drove a No. 44 car to victory in a March 1978 Street Stocks race, and another article said he won a demolition derby in a No. 40 Imperial.

“I would love to show the boys (pictures) of him racing,” she said. “One of his grandsons is hooked on watching demolition (derby), and I can see my dad grinning now.”

If you have information on Richard Berry Spears, who died six years ago, you can contact me at nc3022@yahoo.com or Hedrick at tshedrick@embarqmail.com.

Your famous photos

If you have photos of yourself and a well-known or local racecar driver (or team owner or crewman), you’re invited to email them to sports@hickoryrecord.com.

You’ll need to identify everyone pictured, with first and last names, and must include your name and contact info, including a phone number where you can be reached.

You may be contacted, and the photo might be featured in the newspaper or at www.hickoryrecord.com.

Remember, the photos must be high resolution (200 DPI or higher). And please put NASCAR PHOTO in the subject line.

Latest HMS results

Jesse LeFevers, Hickory’s 2011 track champion, won the first Late Model race last Saturday, with Josh Wimbish, Trey Gibson and points leader Austin McDaniel filling out the top four.

McDaniel won the second race (his sixth win of the year), followed by LeFevers, Wimbish and Pietro Fittipaldi.

In a 19-car field, Monty Cox got his first Limited Late Model win since early in the season. Next were Landon Huffman, points leader Shane Lee and Chris Lewis.

Charlie Neill won the 14-car Renegades race, followed by Carroll McKinney, Kenneth Roberts and Gregory Austin. Points leader Darby Crouch was fifth.

In a seven-car field, points leader Kevin Eby got his seventh Street Stocks win of the season. Marshall Sutton was second, followed by Mike Newton and Mark Whitten.

In a five-truck Super Trucks race, points leader Jeremy Birch won, followed by Jason Cochran, Trey Pitts, Whitney Lail and Chase Campbell.

Trivia question

Who won Grand National (now Sprint Cup) titles in 1962 and 1963?

HMS points leaders

Through Aug. 13, Hickory’s points leaders were:

4-Cylinders: Todd Harrington by 26 points over Donnie Harmon.

Hobby Stocks: Jason Byrd by 14 points over David Hasson.

Late Models: McDaniel by 72 points over LeFevers.

Limiteds: Lee by 60 points over Jeremy Pelfrey.

Renegades: Crouch by eight points over Barney Arnette.

Street Stocks: Eby by 56 points over Sutton.

Super Trucks: Birch by four points over Cochran.

Upcoming at HMS

Saturday is Advance Auto Night, with Late Models, Limiteds, Street Stocks, 4-Cylinders and Sportsman Racing Classics running.

The Bobby Isaac Memorial race (321 Lawnmower/Hickory Daily Record Night is Sept. 1. A 150-lap Late Model race is scheduled along with Limiteds, Street Stocks and Sportsmen Racing Classics.

National leaders

>>> Anthony Anders, a part-time racer at Hickory, was 12th in NASCAR’s national Division I/Asphalt standings through Aug. 14. McDaniel was 27th, while LeFevers was 50th.

>>> Also through Aug. 14, McDaniel was 10th in North Carolina’s Division I/Asphalt standings, while LeFevers was 12th, Wimbish was 19th and Gibson was 20th.

>>> Lee, in Limited Late Models, was 11th nationally in NASCAR’s national Division II/Asphalt standings through Aug. 14. Also in the standings were Pelfrey (28th), Zach Bruenger (32nd), Travis Byrd (36th) and Cox 66th.

>>> Eby  was 59th in NASCAR’s national Division III/Asphalt standings.

UARA-Stars at Tri-County

Several full- and part-time Hickory Motor Speedway racers competed in last Friday night’s UARA-Stars race at Tri-County Motor Speedway.

Ronnie Bassett Jr., who won last year’s Dwight Huffman Memorial race at Hickory, finished second to Garrett Campbell.

Other HMS drivers included Sean Rayhall (third), Dillon Bassett (sixth), Ben Rhodes (10th), Cory Joyce (14th), Tyler Church (16th), Roger Powell (18th), Kyle Moon (19th), Chandler LeVan (22nd), David Garbo Jr. (24th), Dillon Houser (25th), Super Trucks driver Thomas Beane (27th), Grant Wimbish (30th) and Jeremy Burns (31st).

Happy birthday

Newton native Jerry Punch, an ESPN commentator, will be 59 on Monday and Winston Kelley, the director of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, will be 45 on Tuesday.

Worth quoting

Sprint Cup driver Marcos Ambrose (on SiriusXM NASCAR radio), after winning Sunday’s Watkins Glen race: “Richard Petty has 200 wins… I’ve got two. So I’m catching him.”

Trivia answer

Joe Weatherly won titles in 1962 and 1963, but died in 1964 during a race at Riverside, Calif., as he was pursuing a third straight championship.

Tom Gillispie, the author of “Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.”, writes about racing at Hickory Motor Speedway for HDR Sports. You can reach him at nc3022@yahoo.com or search Facebook for the HDR / The Inside Line page.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

More entries from TARJ

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

EDITOR@WORK blog entries 

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn•

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 12-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!