Sunday, January 5, 2020

The 1 was not a lonely number in Cup racing

Some car numbers have been big on the NASCAR tour (think 3, 11, 24 and 48, among others), but I was just thinking of No. 1.

 The number 1 has never won a NASCAR Cup championship, although Jamie McMurray captured Daytona 500 (2010) and Brickyard 400 (July 2010) Cup victories driving the 1. The car number has captured just 20 Cup victories, including four each by McMurray, Donnie Allison and Billy Wade.

 Other notable drivers who raced the 1 included Buddy Baker, Kurt Busch (one win in the 1), Steve Park (two wins), Paul Lewis (one win), Rick Mast and Martin Truex Jr. (one win in the 1.) All-time great David Pearson started 10 races in the 1 and posted one win. Eddie Gray also won once in the 1.

 Other well-known drivers who started races in the 1 included A.J. Foyt, Geoff Bodine and Davey Allison.

 Bit of trivia: Lloyd Dane gave the 1 its first Cup win on Sept. 23, 1956 at Portland (Ore.) Speedway.

 My favorite memory of the 1 came in early May of 1991 when Mast gave Harry Gant a not-so-legal double bump to victory in the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Harry was running on fumes.

 I later asked Rick about it, and he asked why he would help Harry? "The cars were owned by the Jackson brothers (Leo and Richard), both cars were Oldsmobiles and both cars were sponsored by U.S. Tobacco."

 Even Mast had to admit those were all good reasons. But he wouldn't admit anything.

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Saturday, December 21, 2019

Remembering Junior Johnson


YOU MAY HAVE HEARD that Robert Glenn "Junior" Johnson Jr. died recently. I hadn't seen Junior since 2005, but I saw him pretty often from 1990 through about 2001.

 Junior was one of my favorite car owners. He'd won six Winston Cup championships, three each with Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip, and he'd had winning teams with Bill Elliott and others. Junior's 11 team was one of the most important in NASCAR's top series.

 Before that, he'd been one of the best drivers ever, winning 50 Cup races. He was one of the main reasons that Winston hooked up with NASCAR from 1971 until 2003; he'd introduced the two parties.

 He's a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and other halls of fame.

 But, to me, his teams and wins were not as important as his relationship with the media. While Elliott was tough to talk to by beat reporters (he was great with TV guys), Junior was always available to us and open with us.

 When Darlington Raceway wanted me to do a program story on Elliott, I talked to Elliott, but I also talked to Junior. And I got more out of Junior.

 I remember one phone interview that ended with Junior inviting me to visit his farm in Ronda, N.C. I never had the chance to do that, and I've always wished I had.

 The last time I saw Junior was 2005, when the Winston Cup Museum opened in Winston-Salem, N.C. Sadly, we didn't talk. I had too many other people to deal with.

 Among all the people I met on the NASCAR tour, Junior was one of the good guys.

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Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Are tires that important?


YEARS AGO, TWO COUPLES WERE TALKING, and someone mentioned that engine power was the most important thing in racing.
I said that the three most important things in racing are "tires, tires, and, of course, tires." It's an old axiom in stock-car racing.

 This woman asked why tires would be that big a deal.

I mentioned that tires were the only thing touching the track. You bust a tire or you lose rubber, and you aren't going anywhere.

 She looked at me with a strange look and didn't say anything.

 MORE TIRES: You probably remember Dale Earnhardt's bad luck in the 1990 Daytona 500. He busted a tire on the last lap, and Derrike Cope won the race.

 Several years later, we were in the Richard Childress Racing shop, and that tire was hanging on the wall. It was totally shredded. That shop is now the RCR museum.

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