Before starting this column, I did a lot of research. It is one thing to listen to MRN, quite another to see the videos. IMHO, it was not the inital collision with the number 09 car that caused the problem at the race end, rather a case of Ryan being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That impact lifted the 99 car into the air, causing the 99 to go airborne and the carnage that resulted. I did not hear about the injuries on MRN due to the fact that I was working and catch a race in bits and pieces. Prayers to the families and friends of those injured.
I know that Talladega is know for “The Big One”, but two big crashes are too much for this writer. I do not care how safe the cars are. You play with fire and soon you get burned. I have been around the sport a long time and I for one do not want to see any more injuries or deaths.
Had to miss the column last week as I was running back and forth to Bay State Hospital in Springfield Ma. to spend time with my wife Janet.
She is diabetic and was suffereing from a severe infection in her legs. She is home now much to the relief of yours truly, Clancy the parrot and our poodles, Aliena and Natalie
Congrats to Mark Martin and crew on the win at Arizona. Mark now joins the ranks of the most senior citizens to win a Cup race. Mark is only 5 yrs younger than yours truly.. My favorite of the seniors has got to be Harry Gant. “The Skoal Bandit” drove the number 33 for several years and at one time the team was partially owned by Burt Reynolds. Also known as “Mr September”, he ran off a streak that has never been equaled.
Okay, here is a question for you good readers, How many Cup does Bobby allision have. Ths number is currently disputed. Check out www.stockcarhistoryonline.com for more information on this one.
This week’s race, brought to ten, the number of first time Cup winners at this track.
The first was opening day in 1969. Richard Brickhouse led a weakened field of Cup and Grand Am series cars to his first and only win. The field had been hurt by a strike of the Professional Drivers Association, a group which claimed that the tires brought to the track would not hold up under the speeds being run. A few years later, a Massachusetts native would claim his first win there Who was he?
I am sick of hearing the noise about the number 8 not being in competition. You want a number to miss? How about the number 28 that was run by Yates. Many modern era fans remember Davey Allison and the Texaco Star. How about the Golden Boy” Fred Lorenzen? The only number 8 that I would think of was the legendary Joe Weatherly.
Today GM announced that as part of it’s restructuring plan the Pontiac brand would be phased out. It has been 50 yrs since I first got behind the wheel of a Pontiac.
My dad had a fit as I slipped his 52 Catalina hardtop into gear that day. I can honestly say that I have never owned a Pontiac, A Buick, yes and even a Chevy, but no Pontiacs. More like an allergy to GM than anything else. Still I am sorry to see the demise of the brand.
Pontiacs go back to the earliest days of NASCAR. Photos of the beach course at Daytona show them sliding through the sand. Later on they served as drafting targets for Junior Johnson in the 1960 Daytona 500. He would draft on them, pop out the rear window and go right by. What was he driving?
No requiem for Pontiac could be sung without two of it’s greats of the later era. Richard Petty moved to Pontiac in the late 70s. He scored win #200 in a Grand Prix that sits in the Smithstonian museum. Some of Rusty Wallace’s wins also came behind the wheel of the #2 Miller Genuine Draft Grand Prix.
Trivia answers and complaints go to kokoracer@gmail.com See you on Facebook or in a right wing radical chatroom
John
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