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Lee Petty (42) Kicks Up Only Sand at Daytona in February, yet Tosses Up a Storm at Tulsa Later in August.

NASCAR drivers have a long and storied history in voicing their opposition to track promoters and their high handed demands for showmanship, and such griping at times boils to a head over the issue of track conditions. Pilots always complained of the ever dangerous track configuration at Langhorne, Pennsylvania and other circuits during the early days, and they took matters into their own hands on a Grand National stop at Tulsa, Oklahoma in August 1956.

The driver fraternity, fresh off an event at Oklahoma City the night before, arrives at the Tulsa Fairgrounds for the scheduled 100-miler night feature only to find a large oval dust bowl with only cones to separate the half mile racing strip from the hardpan dirt infield, and a pair of light fixtures over the main grandstand to serve for lighting. Angry with the arrangements, the drivers voice their complaints to the promoters, who in turn heatedly point to the paid crowd of 6.000 Sooners anxiously awaiting an official scoring NASCAR event.

The drivers, not wishing to disappoint the fans, climb in to start the race, yet visibility swiftly degrades as the rotating tires kick up an impermeable cloud of dust.  When the sun dips under the horizon, the racers only stand at lap 40 of a planned 200, yet the mounting dust and weak lighting reduces vision down to nearly zero. The drivers slog through ten more laps before Lee Petty (42 Petty  Enterprises Dodge) inexplicably skids to a halt at the start/finish line. Climbing out of his car before a stunned crowd, Petty immediately jumps the outer barrier, scrambles up the starter’s stand, grabs the red flag from the well, and then waves the same to the passing cars, thus stopping the event. The angry promoters, keeping a nervous eye on an even angrier crowd, orders the drivers back to racing, yet Petty and his colleagues refuse to continue the event. The crowd goes berserk with disbelief, vents its anger by hurling debris upon the track, and the promoters, after calling in the local authorities to restore calm, offer immediate refunds to its patrons.

NASCAR ultimately upholds Petty by not issuing a sanction against his rash move, and the Grand National makes its only visit to the Tulsa Fairgrounds. Fortunately, the Sooner track later earns its own acclaim after a subsequent relocation and skillful promotion develops the new three-eighth mile circuit as the now beloved Chili Bowl.

Jimmie Johnson Stands Alone as the Irresistible Force on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Circuit.

On an otherwise droll evening in Florida barely enlivened with a sheet metal rubbing feud between Tony Stewart (14) and Juan Pablo Montoya (42), Jimmie Johnson (48 Hendrick Chevrolet) ascended as a NASCAR immortal with his fifth place finish at Homestead.

Needing to only cross the line at P25 in the finale to claim the series’ championship, Johnson drove the race as if a teenager taking his first drivers’ test and still eked out a top five result, again speaking to his superior driving talent and unmatched chassis preparation. The unflappable and at time robotic Johnson simply stands above the crowd and now boasts a CV only bettered by Jeff Gordon among active drivers: an unprecedented fourth consecutive Cup championship (unfathomable by any standard) that ties with him Gordon at P4 on the all-time register.  More impressively, Johnson accomplished the feat in only his eighth season and with a mere 47 victories (already ranking him as an all-timer).

Underrated by the southern fan base and Madison Avenue while silently detested by his fellow competitors, the stunning feats by Johnson still outshine more showy personalities such as Earnhardt, Jr., Kyle Busch, and Tony Stewart.  Already possessing a career register that ensures his eternal memory as a racer, one must consider that Johnson’s star remains on the ascendant, and that he stands alone as the only active driver poised to enter the special pantheon shared by Petty, Pearson, and Earnhardt, Sr.

Sprint Cup Points Leader Jimmie Johnson Catches a Waft Off the Bitter Rose of Texas.

The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, seemingly already in the mail pouch for defending champion Jimmie Johnson, took its predictable strange twist at Texas on Lap 3, when a wobbly Sam Hornish, Jr. (77) breaks loose on the Turn 2 exit, slides up the track, and nudges Johnson out of shape.  Johnson fights hard to save his chassis, but another tap by the spinning Hornish finally finishes off the 48 car, which skids down the banking and slams hard against the backstretch inside wall. As Johnson limps to the garage for repairs, all of the other Chase contenders climb up on the wheel like a pack of jackals surrounding wounded prey.

Meanwhile, the race devolves to a two car grudge match against the bully brothers, Kyle (18) and Kurt Busch (2 Penske Dodge), with the younger Kyle seemingly with the stronger car. Ky. Busch leads most of the way through the midrace, yet the fuel demon climbs out of the crypt as the field must come back to the lane for service with about seventy laps to go. As always, racing at TMS involves a bit of pit strategy on the final fuel window … a crew must decide whether to short pit, run full blast with hopes for a late race caution (high odds at TMS), or feather the pedal and try to survive.

During the final stops, Ku. Busch runs his car two more laps longer than brother Ky. before taking on his last can of fuel, and the extra distance proves the difference. The front four cars, lead by Ky. Busch, all feather the pedal over the closing laps, yet Ku. Busch slowly edges his way up from P4 up to P2 in order to force his younger brother to expend more fuel in order to maintain his lead cushion. Ky. Busch, aware that his brother has a pair of laps on him in the fuel tank, presses forward with hope in his heart, yet his car gives up the ghost with three laps remaining.  Brother Kurt steams past Kyle, then feathers the 2 car home for his first ever victory at Texas.

Johnson suffers a miserable afternoon running in the rear as a backmarker and finishes at P38, yet more notably, teammate and Chase contender Mark Martin (5), survives the fuel melee to finish fourth, thus closing the margin from him to Johnson down to a mere 73 points. Jeff Gordon (24) takes his P13 finish the hardest, for a top five result truly would have put the pressure on the 48 car. Johnson, by no fault of his own, clearly now has no room for error in the final two events.

The Mighty and Now Beloved Chrysler 300s of the Fifties Failed To Win Over NASCAR, Bill France, or the Series' Southern Fans.

Millionaire and somewhat eccentric northerner Carl Kiekhaefer turned NASCAR upon its ear in 1955 after buying his way into the series with the mighty Chrysler C-300 and 300B, a pair of beautiful Hemi-powered juggernauts that dominated the tracks and swept up 45 of 90 Grand National races over two seasons.

Although drivers Tim Flock, Buck Baker, and Herb Thomas tittered with glee as they pocketed the prize money, the powerful Hemis did not sit well with the southern NASCAR establishment, who clearly viewed the wealthy Kiekhaefer as a northern interloper intruding upon their cultural treasure.  Kiekhaefer, who made his immense fortune by devising the Mercury outboard motor, did not suffer the snobbery and set out to crush his competition.

Beginning with a win by driver Buck Baker at Atlanta on March 23, 1956, Kiekhaefer’s entries triggered a remarkable stretch of racing performances that resulted in sixteen consecutive victories, a team owner record that likely will stand for NASCAR eternity. The Chrysler 300B ended its wondrous run on June 3 at a rural half-mile dirt oval speedway located in the California Central Valley town of Merced (by coincidence, our own hometown NASCAR track). Herb Thomas (300-B Carl Kiekhaefer Chrysler) held off Harold Hardesty’s 1956 Chevrolet in a hundred lap NGN event for his forty-eighth and final Grand National career victory.

Trouble shortly thereafter bubbled up for Kiekhafer and his powerful cars. Flock quit his team in a snit soon after the NASCAR West Coast tour, and upon the series’ return to the South, bristling fans began to hiss and jeer Kiekhaefer and his entries despite their racing success (Buck Baker spoke on the record about his seething anger regarding his treatment by fans after his 1956 racing victories).  In the following 1957 season, Big Bill France, anxious to rid his NASCAR franchise of the ‘northern intruder’, implemented a series of technical rule changes that utterly debilitated the mighty Chrysler 300s. Kiekhaefer battled with France over the unfavorable treatment for a brief spell before exiting the sport out of fear that the negative publicity would harm his own Mercury Outboards enterprise.

Daytona Winner Bill Blair and Hard Luck Runner-Up Fonty Flock Both Drove a Strictly Stock Version of Oldsmobile's 1953 model.

Long before Bill France constructed his famous speedway on the western outskirts of Daytona Beach, the series ran its winter classic on the already esteemed Daytona Beach and Road Course.  The 4.2 mile circuit consisted of a southerly two-mile paved asphalt section (Highway A1A) and a more spectacular two mile dash north along the ocean upon the hard packed sands of Daytona Beach. In 1953, the event was a scheduled 39-lap festival for a distance of 160 miles.

T. Fontell Flock (14 Frank Christian Oldsmobile) put his Olds on the pole and easily gapped the field during a Daytona era when drivers only stopped for mechanical trouble and not regular fuel service. Running free and clear to the cheers of a jubilant beach crowd with over a minute margin to spare, Flock sped by the white flag, sprinted back down Highway A1A, and turned back north onto beach for the final time.  Moments later, Flock’s Oldsmobile sputters due to lack of fuel and slows as the driver feathers the pedal in order to nurse his car back up the beach towards the finish. Meanwhile in the background, Bill Blair (2 Bill Blair Oldsmobile), who worked his way up to P2 from his starting sixth position,  turns onto the beach, takes notes of Flock’s predicament, and charges up the hard sand with the scent of victory in the air. As Flock desperately creeps toward the finish, Blair roars past in an utter surprise and steals the trophy, his only win in 1953 and the last in his NASCAR Grand National career. Flock’s fuel pressure finally expires as he coasts across the line with an agonizing second place finish, thirty seconds behind Blair but still minutes ahead of third place runner Tommy Thompson.

Rising Star David Pearson (3) Emerges as the Speediest of All at the World Center of Speed.

The blistering Florida heat bears down upon another Firecracker 250 at Daytona as the fans come out to witness a showdown between popular driver favorites Glenn (Fireball) Roberts and Joe Weatherly, yet the series’ fastest rising star seizes his chance to step forward into NASCAR legend.

As anticipated, Roberts (22 Smokey Yunick Pontiac) dominates the early and mid portions of the contest as the event proceeds caution free, prompting the media to predict a new series’ speed record in excess of 150 miles per hour for the winner.  Roberts seems to have all well in hand until eighteen laps remain, when he agonizingly drops a right rear tire on the Turn 3 exit. Roberts breaks loose into a spin, slides up the banking, yet keeps his car off the fence and avoids damage. Fred Lorenzen (28 Holman-Moody Ford) dives low to avoid Roberts and rushes into the lead, closely tailed by the hard charging David Pearson (3 John Masoni Pontiac).

Both cars race nose-tail over the closing moments until with two laps remaining, Pearson, the 1960 Rookie of the Year and clear heir apparent to series’ icons Buck Baker and Lee Petty, pushes his Daytona Kennel Pontiac past Lorenzen on the Turn 2 exit. Lorenzen gamely battles back against the young South Carolinian on the final lap, yet clever blocking by Pearson on the backstretch provides him with enough room in Turns 3 and 4 to prevail by a narrow car length for the dramatic victory.

Pearson establishes a new series’ and track record with an average speed of over 154 miles per hour (the race only endured Roberts’ caution condition) and becomes the first driver to win twice at the ‘Big Four’ tracks; Daytona, Darlington, Atlanta, and Charlotte. The Early Era promptly ends.  The New Era promptly begins.

Lee Petty (42, 1959 Oldsmobile, middle car) Noses out John Beauchamp's Thunderbird in the Final Metres at Daytona.

Racing the 500 mile distance for the first time at Big Bill France’s spanking new 2.5 mile circuit at the Beach, the drivers treat the fans to a memorable photo finish that still brings smiles to old timers and hardcore racing enthusiasts.

Jack Smith (47 Bud Moore Chevrolet) at first seems class of the field during the midrace before Lee Petty (42 Petty Enterprises Oldsmobile) and John Beauchamp (73 Roy Burdick Ford) both seize the point with thirty-five laps remaining.  Both cars sprint away from the rest, eventually putting a lap over the entire field, and appear evenly matched over the closing laps. The duo enter the white flag lap side by side, yet Petty, running with a bit more speed on the inside line, pulls ahead on the backstretch and beats Beauchamp into Turn 3 as both cars close in upon lapped racer Joe Weatherly (42). Petty maintains a two-car length margin as all three vehicles shovel through the final turn, yet as the drivers enter the tri-oval, Beauchamp, still on the outside line, turns his Thunderbird hard left down the banking for one final rush at the leader. Beauchamp’s momentum carries him up along the inside of Petty’s Olds, and both racers cross the line side-by-side in a remarkable finish.

Everyone in the press box fumbles with their thoughts for a pregnant moment over the final race result until impresario France makes an executive decision to declare Beauchamp the winner. As the race announcer declares France’s fiat over the DMS speakers, many in the press area and and the pit lane, especially Petty Enterprises, heatedly contest the call, prompting the normally bull-minded France to visit the local newspaper in order to inspect the race photos. After a cursory review, France immediately rules the Daytona result as provisional pending a race investigation, and both he and the local media spend overnight and the next day pouring over the pictures.  Some reporters on Daytona +2 begin openly speaking of how Petty held off Beauchamp’s hard charge for the win, and that France botched the race call as the latter takes another day to review even more photos and television footage. Finally, three days after the race finish, a sheepish France reappears with hat in hand, ruefully admits his mistake regarding his hasty race ruling, and then belatedly awards the victory to Petty.  Both Petty and Beauchamp assert later that the 42 car reached the flag first.

Mark Martin (5) Takes A White Flag Toss-n-Tumble at Talladega.

NASCAR adds a strange twist to the fall Talladega event just moments before the start by prohibiting bump drafting in the turns, a complexion that leaves the drivers wary and prompts cautious, no-frills driving for the first fifty laps. The drivers finally starting dicing at about Lap 60 and a slew of drivers including Denny Hamlin (11), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (88), David Stremme (12), and Jamie McMurray (26 Roush Fenway Ford) take turns at leading the point.

Despite a wide host of drivers pushing their way to the lead in the closing laps, the ‘big wreck’ seemingly stays away, and McMurray, clearly sporting the strongest car, assert his dominance at the front with nineteen laps to go. The lead pack sets the table for a last dash to the flag, yet with five laps remaining, Marcos Ambrose (47), running in the midpack, gets pushed into the rear bumper of Ryan Newman (39).  The bump turns Newman hard left and his car soars airborne as the same skids down onto the apron. In a remarkable moment, Newman’s car flips nose-over-tail while in midair and crashes upside down upon the hood of Kevin Harvick (29), also involved in the melee. Newman skids up the banking, bounces off the wall, and then rolls back down the hill with a pair of flips along the way. With a crushed rollcage pinning him inside the wreckage, Newman must wait for track crews to cut away his roof before walking away in a snit over restrictor plate racing.

Race Control red flags the race before launching a Green-White-Checker finish, and McMurray seizes the lead. On the final lap to home, Brad Keselowski (09) turns Kurt Busch (2) left towards the apron. A mad scramble ensues before the collected car of Martin Truex, Jr. (1) breaks loose and left hard into the side of Chase contender Mark Martin (5).  Martin soars airborne upon contact and takes a rough tumble as McMurray dashes home for his first Cup victory  in over eighty starts.

Chase leader Jimmie Johnson (48) survives the afternoon by running in the back until the final laps before taking advantage of cars running out of fuel to promote up to sixth position before Martin’s final wreck.