Beach Brawl
The only Daytona 500 to end in a fist fight.
Eastbound And Down
Jerry Reed
1979 — Richard Petty winning the 1979 Daytona 500 was overshadowed by Carl Yarborough and Donnie Allison having lost.
((( NASCAR )))
yT.
[FROM THE TOP]
“EASTBOUND AND DOWN” — Jerry Reed’s theme song written for Burt Reynold’s movie, “Smokey and the Bandit,” in 1977.
BEACH BRAWL — The end of the 1979 Daytona 500 was unlike any that had been seen before. Sure, maybe at the small town, weekend track in the woods, but never at Daytona. Never had anyone seen the likes of Carl Yarborough and Donnie Allison ending the DAYTONA 500 in a fist fight on the infield of turn four. NASCAR’s most famous race, and 1979 might be the most famous of them all. Yarborough and Allison, at the time two of stock car racing’s biggest stars, out of their cars, helmets off, and throwing punches, each blaming the other for their crashing out of the lead on turn three of the last lap, allowing a pleasently surprised Richard Petty to coast to his sixth DAYTONA 500 win. Six Daytonas … that’s why they called him “THE KING.”
ON THE SAND — Before 1959’s Inaugural 500, races in Daytona were on the flat sand alongside the surf, turnning through the deep-sand dunes, and onto the coarsely paved A1A.
WENDELL SCOTT — NASCAR’s first black champion, Wendell Scott, was the subject of “Greased Lightning” (1977), a Hollywood depiction of the legendary racer, portrayed by Richard Pryor.
THE BIRTH OF NASCAR
Dec. 14, 1947 — The dream of NASCAR started on a mild December day at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida. Leading the effort was Bill France Sr., a 38-year-old racing enthusiast who had been promoting races on the Daytona Beach sand since the late 1930s. France Sr. and 35 other influential leaders within the motorsport that was rising as entertainment to those who appreciated the automotive talent of those who ran moonshine. The drivers with as much nerve as skill to outrun the law on the narrow backroads of the Carolina hills. Homegrown weekend races, on small dirt tracks were organized in many rural, Southeastern towns, and France’s meeting was to consolidate and coordinate stock car racing under one, unified banner. It was called the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).
Caldonia
Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five
1945 — Let the Good Times Roll
((( Juke Joint Rock )))
Louis Jordan
At the same time moonshine runners were bringing their hot rods out of the shadows to race (legally) on weekend dirt tracks throughout the south, saxophone-led, juke bands were choosing to Rock rather than Swing.
FIRST “STRICTLY STOCK” RACE
June 19, 1949 — While NASCAR ran its first race more than a year before this occasion– Feb. 15, 1948, on the beach road course in Daytona – this date holds significance for the first race under the NASCAR “Strictly Stock” banner – the eventual predecessor to the NASCAR Cup Series. The inaugural track of choice to begin the eight-race run that year came at a 0.75-mile dirt track known at the time as Charlotte Fairgrounds Speedway. With 13,000 in attendance, a field of 33 took to the track for 197 laps, where No. 34 driver Jim Roper, in his 1949 Ford Lincoln, eventually prevailed en route to the first victory in the series.
FIRST LAST-LAP PASS FOR THE WIN
Feb 15,1953 — Every sport has that Hollywood-style ending. In football, it’s the Hail Mary. In basketball, it’s the half-court shot at the buzzer. In racing, the equivalent feat likely comes from passing the leader on the last lap of the race to snap victory from the jaws of defeat. For Bill Blair, such an opportunity presented itself as Fonty Flock (pictured) ran out of fuel on the last lap on Daytona’s Beach-Road course to give the former the win. The race was the first NASCAR Grand National race to be determined by a last-lap pass.
FIRST DAYTONA 500
Feb. 6, 1959 — Beach racing certainly brought public spectacle. The problem, however, was that the spectacle was becoming almost too big. Spreading land usage from an expanding population and ever-increasing race crowds made for crowding circumstances. And so, Bill France Sr. looked to find a solution. Initial proposals and talks in 1953-54 eventually led to land clearing in 1957 and the first practice on the 2.5-mile tri-oval on Feb. 6, 1959. Two weeks later, Lee Petty crossed the checkered flag ahead of 58 other eager racers in front of a crowd of 41,921. And so, the “Great American Race” was born.
AFRICAN AMERICAN (NASCAR) HISTORY
Dec. 1, 1963 — The 42-year-old mechanic and World War II veteran came close to winning several times previously. Heading into the 1964 NASCAR Grand National Series, Scott had already pocketed 34 top-10 and five top-five finishes. In fact, his pole win on July 20, 1962, at Savannah Speedway marked the first time a Black driver claimed the pole position in qualifying. However, a win still eluded him. Not for long, though. In what would be the only NASCAR win of his career, Scott became the first Black driver to win in NASCAR’s national series with his showing in the 1964 Jacksonville 400 at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida.
The year the gloves (and helmets) came off.
“Race With The Devil”
Black Oak Arkansas
1977 —
((( ? )))
yZ.
In its 20-years running on the Super Speedway, there was no more dramatic and end to a Daytona 500, than in 1979, when Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough ended their race throwing blows on the infield at turn four. While the fists were flying, Richard Petty went on to win, after thinking he would have to be satisfied with finishing third.
FIRST RACE TELEVISED START TO FINISH
Feb. 18, 1979 — Richard Petty only led 12 laps – and avoided an on-track incident between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison on the last lap – to capture the win during the second race to open the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. However, the race marked another crown achievement for a sport looking to grow on a national scale. To the joy of television viewers across the country, CBS Sports presented the first flag-to-flag telecast of the Daytona 500. It was the first time in history that a 500-mile NASCAR event was televised by a major network in its entirety. When a fight broke out between Yarborough and the Allison brothers after the incident, it only added to the spectacle.
alligator
24 Hours of Daytona
Gatorback Moto X
Bike Week
Drag Racer (Barbara Hansen)
sg.
Richard Petty w/Wife (1966)