Augusta. Their ranks are thinning out. Hoot Gibson and WM Fulmer were two who passed away since the last reunion and they were remembered. There was also the street naming ceremony. This year, racer Weldon Adams had a street named after him. His family was there for the presentation and was happy about him being remembered.
Frances Flock, widow of legendary driver Tim Flock was there. She had a variety of Tim Flock memorabilia that she was selling. For those of you who don't know who Tim Flock was, he was an early legend of stock car racing probably remembered more for his co-driver Jocko Flocko than his actual racing exploits. But Tim was a heck of a driver and a multi-time winner at several tracks. Tim was also a two time Grand National champion, one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers, and has been inducted into a half dozen Halls of Fame. Frances also has a web site up, www.timflock.com which she tries to keep updated with various pictures of Tim and the family through the years. So check it out and learn a little more about Tim Flock and his career. One thing I can add from what I read in the book "Full Throttle” was that Tim was also blackballed along with Curtis when Curtis was pushing for the drivers' union.
One of the additions to the Augusta International Raceway Monument was what is called the wings. Listed on there is a variety of drivers including those who raced on the ½-mile track they use to have there. One name I noticed that wasn't on there was my buddy Rex White. So I asked Rex if he'd raced on the ½-mile track. He told me he had, but he had run there in the Sportsman Division, not the Grand National Division. He really liked that little ½-mile track. His winning percentages there in the Sportsman cars were pretty good. There's a good shot on the AIRPS site taken at the ½-mile track with Pearson, Ned Jarrett, and Dick Hutcherson racing back in 1965. But the plans for the monument include further expansion to include more drivers in various categories, to remember fallen drivers from around the US, and also from other racing series. So the expansion plans will continue for several more years as will the drivers reunions.
Frank Warren was there again this year. After having a street named after him last year, Frank had a house built there and he and his wife Annette moved up from Naples Florida to their new house. Frank was busy talking with a lot of race fans and also Rex White's co-author Anne Jones. Could Frank be looking at writing a book? That's a good possibility.
Anne and I have been exchanging e-mails for over two years and talked on the phone one time and finally got to meet face to face. It's nice to finally put a face with the voice and the e-mails. Anne's got a book out that she worked on with her husband about the Atlanta Braves and she is working on her mystery novel. So she's staying busy. But you can probably expect to see another racing book or two from Anne sometime down the road.
I overheard one veteran driver talking about how things were going downhill with NA$CAR and he mentioned Frances Flock and how she receives absolutely no money, help, or assistance of any sort from NA$CAR or the France family and how it was a damn shame. I have to agree. In the military, we took care of our own as best we could. With the amount of money the France family has made off of these drivers over the years, you'd think they'd do something to help them out. But they like to hide behind that old "independent contractor" clause. Just ask Bobby Allison how long it took him to pay off his medical bills from his last big accident. He did all of it without any assistance from NA$CAR or the Frances. Maybe Curtis Turner and Tim Flock had the right ideas about taking care of the drivers and their families.
JB Day was there again this year. For those of you who aren't familiar with JB, he's the man who hosts the Raymond Parks birthday party every year. I was listening to him talk about the car he was building for David Pearson to race and how he went about doing things and how one of David's competitors was doing things. It seems Pearson's competitor has a connection to Roush Racing and they were assisting in building the race car. The funny thing was JB saying how they were trying to make the car as light as possible and were laying out plastic rivets and weighing each individual rivet. JB on the other hand just did things the way he's been doing them for years. And even with all the high-tech help from Roush, David Pearson is still winning in the cars that JB acid dips and builds the old fashioned way.
Not knowing me from Adam, I asked JB what he thought about the current state of affairs with NA$CAR. He doesn't like what he sees. The cars are heading towards being like IROC and if they don't change things soon, he gives NA$CAR 10 years before they collapse. This is like déjà vu for me. I've said the same things and to have a man who's been in the racing business since the early days tell me the same thing I've been saying makes you wonder just how many more folks there are out there who have the same feelings and are making the same observations. Remember folks, you can learn from history and from these legends.
One of the unusual things at the reunion was a Toyota Camry COT stretched limo. It's a one of a kind car that Racing Limos brought to the event. They're based in Naples Florida, where Frank Warren use to live, and were joking with Frank that they're not sending up a car from Naples to chauffeur him around Augusta. The interior was pretty neat and looked a lot more comfortable than some folk’s living rooms I have been in. Racing Limos was an associate sponsor on Kenny Wallace's Busch car last year.
Rev. Bill Brannon, the chaplain of Atlanta Motor Speedway, was present again this year and had a funny story about this year's spring race at Atlanta. Every year, they have a group called the Racing Reverends who race against each other for the honors of doing the invocation at the spring race. Well, Rev. Bill lost this year and another reverend named Charlie won the race and the honors. Come time for the race, Bill and Charlie were up on stage during the intros and when it came time for the invocation, Bill positioned Charlie where he was supposed to be to do the invocation. Well, when they announced who was saying the invocation, they said it was Rev. Bill Brannon who was doing it. Somebody in the booth wasn't paying attention. Bill got a few calls asking him was that him saying the invocation and he said no it wasn't. I guess the folks controlling the action there at Atlanta Motor Speedway need to pay better attention to who's saying the invocation next time.
Rick the Sign Man had a great time. He was talking to Frances Flock, then Frank Warren, Rex White, then Rev Bill Brannon. Rick had a good time talking to folks and hearing some great stories and getting opinions of various folks. The folks from Save the Speedway were trying to drum up some support for their efforts to save North Wilkesboro Speedway and its history plus for their upcoming event celebrating the racing heritage of Wilkes County itself on the 29 th. Rex White and Frank Warren will be there and maybe a few mystery guests.
Henry Jones from the AIRPS group was a busy man trying to keep things organized and on the clock. I don't envy him having to do that. But Henry and his wife really enjoy the event and are some great people. Absent were two folks I really wanted to meet. My fellow writer and curmudgeon Don Hamm, who was unable to make it because of his recent health problems, and former writer Patty K. Patty is going to be undergoing cataract surgery on the 19 th, so say a few prayers for her and some wishes for a speedy recovery.
Pam Trivette, Fireball Roberts daughter, and her husband Rick were there again this year and were in great spirits. Rick had trimmed back what they usually bring with them sticking primarily to t-shirts, photos, and cards. So if you want a Fireball Roberts die-cast, you'll have to get it from their web site at www.fireball22.com . The web site is going to be updated with some film clips some time soon, so you can see Fireball in action.
As usual, at the end of the day, the raffle was held, first the 50-50 raffle then the raffle for other goodies. I had my good luck charm with me and she won a $20 gift certificate at Auto Zone, which is a good thing since she enjoys keeping the car clean and making sure it's running properly.
We headed off to Myrtle Beach for a few days R&R, checking things out and enjoying ourselves. Not a lot of kids around since they were back in school. There was a retired pro wrestler who stayed at our hotel and his knees were shot. He was in such bad shape he had to have a handicapped plate to help him out so he didn't have to walk that far. Now what does a pro wrestler have to do with NA$CAR? Well, besides NA$CAR becoming the WWE on Wheels, the wrestlers are treated the same as the drivers. Independent contractors. So they have the same amount of help the racing drivers do from the sanctioning or promoting body once they're put on the shelf. As we were heading out of town, we passed the Myrtle Beach Speedway. I had looked for it before, but couldn't find it. So now I have something to look forward to exploring on my next trip to Myrtle Beach.
Something I like to do from time to time is
mention companies who help support the troops
and their families. So here's a big salute to the
fine folks at Golden Corral. If you ever ate in a
chow hall, it's almost like a Golden Corral, but
the food and atmosphere are better at Golden
Corral. And no, I don't get any sort of kickback
for mentioning them. Good food at a good price
and it fills the stomach.
And I want to send my condolences out to Slick
Owens, Rex White's old crew chief, over the loss
of some of his family members over the last year.
You're in our thoughts and prayers Slick.
To see all my photos from the Augusta Driver's Reunion please click here.
Want to chat with other race fans about this article and other NASCAR stuff?
Motherhood, Apple Pie, & John Wayne
Mad Mikie, Curmudgeon at Large
Gotta comment, question or want to say hey there...email Mike here
Go visit our home page, called appropriately The Pits & check out our photos & pages.
Our most popular page; Race Recon is where you get all the info you need to go to the
races including local camping, hotels, bars, restaurants, tracks, golf & other important race weekend information. We also have attending a NASCAR Race tips, tailgating tips
& recipes, stories, trivia, quotes & more! While you are surfing see if you are a
adventures with the tailgating race fan at NASCAR tracks.
