My darling bride, Dixie, and our kids, made a spontaneous trip to the Darlington Raceway Museum.
Why you ask?
- We have all lived the vast majority of our live in South Carolina.
- The track is only 40 miles away.
- I've been on the oval once.
- The family has never been there.
- It's a NASCAR icon.
- It's cool.
Here's my son in front of Curtis Turner's #26 '56 Ford. Curtis is one of my favorite racing personas. He's also one of the top wining NASCAR drovers of all time. Curtis grew up in Virginia, and relocated to Charlotte, NC. There he initiated the building of what is now Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. Prior to that, Curtis made a lucrative living from lumber and running moonshine. On occasion he raced wearing a silk suit and a tie. He usually raced after a week or two of wild partying and drinking with fellow NASCAR drivers such as his good friend, Joe Weatherly. Curtis is also known for landing his plane in the middle of Easley S.C once. Right on the main drag. What compelled him to make such a brazen act? He and the crew were low on Crown, and needed to acquire a fresh bottle from the house of one of the passengers. He was grounded for a year as a result....
Here's my daughter in font of Fred Lorenzen's '66 Ford. Fred was one of the "new breed" of NASCAR drivers in the 60's. Fred actually slept the night before the race, rather than drinkin' and sinkin' rental cars in hotel pools. He irritated the heck out of Curtis turner. In Fred's first season as a factory driver, Fred outdualed Curtis Turner at Darlington. Fred actually created a never before traveled groove on the high banks. In turn two on the final lap, with room for only one and a half cars to proceed, at 130 miles an hour with the wall fast approaching, Lorenzen did the impossible. He faked high, drove low, and while Turner was hopelessly trying to run him into the outer guardrail, Fred Lorenzen somehow passed on the inside. The maneuver frustrated Turner so much that he slammed his car into Lorenzen during the victory lap.
Now what's really noteworthy about Fred's '66 Ford pictured here? It had an extra illegal gas tank under the dash (pictured to the right of my daughter). That gave him an extra 12 laps or so over the other drivers. Back in the 60's it was only cheating if you got caught....
Here's a photo of my daughter in what's left of Darrell Waltrip’s car from the 1991 Southern 500. The car flipped eight times, end-over-end. Amazingly, Darrel escaped with only a few bruises thanks to the safety equipment. Equipment that is a far cry from 30 years earlier when drivers used an intertube and a belt to tie themselves to the door...
Here's my son in front of his favorite car. Cale Yarborough’s #11 Oldsmobile. Why is it his favorite car ? Because my cars always bears the number 11....
And here's a gratuitous pic of my daughter in front of some of the Southern 500 trophies. She thought the museum was "wild!"
(Please note that these antidotal stories are from my memory of NASCAR racing, not from the museum, and some details are therefore a slight bit debatable.)