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Elliott, now the General Manager of Gresham Motorsports Park, was part of the famed No. 9 Ford  team that dominated the NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) ranks in the 1980’s. One of the best tire changers of the era, Elliott – along with brothers Bill and Ernie – won just about everything there was to win in the decade including the 1988 Cup championship.

Here’s Elliott changing the left front on the No. 9 Ford at Bristol in this 1987 Close Finishes photo. Note the uniforms and lack of safety gear on the over the wall pit crew members.

Happy Birthday, Dan.

For those of us who knew Kulwicki as a young, aspiring racer back in his native Wisconsin in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, it’s hard to believe he would have turned 55 on Monday, December 14.

Gone, but not forgotten.

Happy Birthday, Alan.

We’re not sure who this fella is, but seeing him catching a quick nap in the pit area at Pensacola reminded us just how exhausting this racing stuff can be at times. Throw in the balancing of the water bottle on his arm while snoozing, and this is one of our all-time Close Finishes classic racer/fan photos.

Catch up on your sleep quickly buddy – the 2010 short-track racing season gets underway in just a little over a month!

It’s time to head to Pensacola, FL and the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway. This is one of the best short-track events of every season and the race attracts hundreds of cars in multiple divisions. Of course, the headliner is Sunday’s 300-lap Snowball Derby.

Last year, Augie Grill (pictured below) spanked the field to win the Derby.

We’ll be OTJ at Pensacola spotting Richard Johns in the Snowflake 100. Can’t wait to be back and racing at Five Flags, one of our favorite places and where we got one of our greatest racing thrills ever spotting Rich Bickle to his fifth Derby win (nobody else has more than two).

Can't wait - See you there.

Ron Hornaday, Jr. won his fourth NASCAR Truck Series title in 2009. Since the Trucks rarely get their fair share of the NASCAR PR effort or publicity in the media, we’re giving it to Ron here in this Close Finishes photo.

Along with crew chief Rick Ren, Hornaday and his KHI team ruled the Truck Series roost this season.

Congrats to all!

for more info and photos of the event.

We’ll be at the Friday-Sunday, November 13-15 event full-time trying to bring the best racing experience to the fans attending the inaugural race. It’s an honor to be associated with such a great project.

Here’s a Close Finishes photo of INEX/600 Racing practice at GMP this past Saturday.

For more information about Gresham Motorsports Park and the World Crown 300, please log on to www.greshammotorsportspark.com .

The speedway will feature NASCAR Camping World Truck Series racing on Friday, the Nationwide Series on Saturday and the Cup crowd on Sunday.

NASCAR will repeat the process at Phoenix and Miami to ring down the curtain on the season in coming weeks.

Here’s a Close Finishes shot of the Texas 1.5-mile oval from the spotter’s stand at the track.

The exhibit had a ton of photos and artifacts from the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s and right in the middle of it all were images of my father’s racecars – including some that we only knew of in story and legend.

Here’s a car we had only heard about – a ‘roadster’ car of the late 1940’s with ‘Wild Bill’ Fitzgerald at the wheel. The shot above is Fitzgerald at speed at Lodi, WI and he is shown below with a checkered flag from the Manitowoc County Fairgrounds Speedway.

Sweet.

Many thanks to Greg Martell of Manitowoc for his role in the Museum exhibit and also for bringing to life the cars of Louie Close for us.

The first four spots – Bill France, Bill France, Sr., Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty – are a lock. The fifth spot is up for grabs with all who were initially nominated for induction as worthy recipients.

Our vote for the final spot – Darrell Waltrip.

Before he became a television ‘personality,’ DW (No. 11 above along with Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt at Bristol in this 1986 Close Finishes photo) was one heck of a race car driver winning just about everything there was to win in the 1980’s. Waltrip is also credited as being the first driver to attract national, mainstream sponsorship when he and Rick Hendrick debuted their ‘Dream Team’ with Proctor and Gamble’s Tide brand on the hood in 1987.

Waltrip’s driving career – along with the contributions he has made to the sport as a broadcaster – place him in the group with the other greats named above who will be included in the inaugural NASCAR HOF class.

Congrats to all who were nominated.

Whatever the case, this week’s Cup event on the two-mile oval will go a long way in determining who will be the 2009 champion. Make sure you catch (or DVR) the Pepsi 500 from California this Sunday, October 11, at 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC.

Goodyear brings as many as 5,000-6,000 tires to a NASCAR event depending on the number of divisions competing that week.

A more than $1,600 a set, the pile you see here in this Close Finishes photo is worth more than its weight in gold.

NASCAR’s oldest touring division, the ‘Mods’ put on an awesome show Saturday prior to the Truck Series race. Many at the track - including this writer - thought it was the most exciting race of the weekend.

Here’s a Close Finishes shot of pit road Friday as the Modifieds and their teams prepared for the event.

Awesome stuff.

Friday’s action will feature the NASCAR Camping World Series East stock cars in a 5:10 p.m. Eastern Time clash. Saturday, the Truck Series will go toe-to-toe in the Heluva Good 200 at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Then it’s the first race of the 2009 ‘Chase’ for the Cup cars Sunday at 2:15 Eastern.

Make sure you catch them all!

The garage area at Richmond will be packed with excitement this weekend at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into one of division’s most venerable raceways.

Adding to the drama will be the fight for the final spots in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the championship with a host of drivers battling for the final spots in the title battle.

Make sure you don’t miss this one Saturday night!

Here's a Close Finishes shot from the spotter's stand at the 1.5-mile Atlanta track.

Make sure you catch all the action from ‘Hotlanta’ this weekend!

Here’s a look at a short track braking system – a right-front assembly on a NASCAR Truck Series racer.

This is the heavy-duty stuff for short tracks, like what they used at Bristol last week. Note the big brake rotor, caliper and pads. Also, take a look at the three hoses used to funnel air to the red-hot assembly.

Neat stuff.

Few places stage the kind of races that Bristol does. We’re thinking a wheel barrow race would be a hoot there. That’s why we love working the races there and looking back at old photos of the place.

Here’s a shot of the Bristol pre-race from a couple of years ago. To see more Bristol photos from the past, including a gallery from our first race there in 1986, please click on the following Close Finishes Photo Gallery links.

Enjoy!

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=17

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=22

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=37

This is a MoPar four-cylinder engine from a GAS class drag car. It’s this kind of craziness you can find at any NHRA event that features a full complement of Sportsman and GAS classes.

In Charlotte, drag racing fans will be able to get an eyeful of these kinds of cars at the NHRA Nationals at ZMax Dragway at Lowes Motor Speedway, September 17-20.

We’ve been meaning to put these photos up of this very cool 1936 Chevy street legal stock car that we saw at a car show at Lowes Motor Speedway some time back, but we just got a little behind on our steering.

Wouldn’t it be totally awesome to tool around the streets of your local community in this baby?

Put yourself in the driver’s seat for a minute and enjoy!

The former half-mile Peach State Speedway oval is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation this summer transforming the 1967-vintage facility from shabby and worn out to one of the best, fan friendly racing, concert, exposition and event venues in the United States.

The facility will open in November with the 26 ^th -running of the famed World Crown 300 late model stock car race.

For more information about Gresham Motorsports Park, please click on the link to the track’s all-new web site –

www.greshammotorsportspark.com

When you are there, make sure you click on the FLICKR photo page to view dozens of images of the GMP facility renovation.

Racing posters and programs are an inexpensive hobby for the racing enthusiast. Posters like the 1950’s vintage item shown here, have great character and give a flavor of how the sport used to be. More current items are also great time capsules of the sport and again, can be picked up for just a few bucks at most racing trade shows or trackside vendors.

Bill Shrewsberry gave me this photo of him and his wheelstanding LA Dart drag car back in the 60’s at a Chrysler Corporation function my dad took me too.

Pretty cool stuff.

Enjoy.

Here’s a couple of tickets from the inaugural 1959 Daytona weekend. Many times, finds like these can cost less than a dollar each.

Next time you’re looking for something special for the fan that has everything, think about getting them some old tickets or pit passes.

The three wins this year mark just the sixth time Martin has won three or more Cup races in a single season. A 27-year Cup veteran, Martin’s best season came in 1998 when he took home seven checkered flags. Martin also had five victories in 1993 and four wins each in 1995 and 1997.

Martin had no wins in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Here’s a Close Finishes shot of Martin after a win you won’t see on the NASCAR honor rolls – a 1985 American Speed Association victory at Captial Speedway in Oregon, WI.

Way to go, Mark. Keep it up.

These carburetors are all shined up and ready to help someone go very, very fast. Sometimes, it’s cool to just look at the parts that make a car what it is and marvel at the technology and craftsmanship that go into its creation.

Cool stuff, especially if you are a car nut.

Enjoy.

Here, Matt Kobyluck (40), Sean Caisse (03), Max Gresham (18) and Jonathan Smith (16) mix it up on the tight 4/10-mile SoBo oval. Gresham, making his first-ever NASCAR start, was the best of this group finishing fifth. The Joe Gibbs Racing development driver will compete in three more NCWE events this season.

‘Nuff said.

Close Finishes photo.

Buddy Baker was the first to win in the 600 in consecutive years in 1972-73. Darrell Waltrip did it in 1978-79 while Neil Bonnett drove his way to two wins in NASCAR's longest event in 1982-83.

Waltrip returned to do it in 1988-89 and Dale Earnhardt captured the 1992-93 600's, the 1993 classic the first night race in the history of the event.

Jeff Gordon won the 1997-98 Coca-Cola 600's while Jimmie Johnson became the only three-peat winner in 2003-04-05.

Kahne, who also won both the spring Coca-Cola 600 and the fall 500-miler at Lowes Motor Speedway in 2006, is shown here at Martinsville in a Close Finishes photo from that year.

Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 takes the green flag Sunday at 5:35 p.m. Eastern Time.

This week, it’s Charlotte times two as the NASCAR Nationwide and Cup Series invade the famed 1.5-mile Lowes Motor Speedway oval for the 50 ^th Coca-Cola 600 Weekend.

The Nationwide cars have a 300-miler Friday night with the Cup cars pushing off in NASCAR’s longest race Saturday evening.

Look for a Close Finishes column looking back at the opening of the then Charlotte Motor Speedway this Wednesday and for more images of the track all week long.

Ted Musgrave won the first event in 2003 and Matt Crafton is the defending race winner having scored his first-ever NCWTS career victory in the process.

Here’s a Close Finishes shot of action in the Truck Series garage prior to the 2006 event at Charlotte.

Don't forget to catch the Truck Series race at Charlotte in person or on SPEED, MRN or SIRIUS NASCAR 128 this Friday night.

Here’s a Close Finishes look down the main straight and into Turn 4 from the main grandstand roof spotter’s stand of the current Lowes track layout. The second shot from the same vantage point is the start-finish line. It’s wide open through here!

Look for more shots of Charlotte – old and new – all this week on CloseFinishes.com.

Pictured here are the front row starters for the 1958 Southern 500 at Darlington. Eddie Pagan (far right) and his No. 45 1958 Ford captured the top spot in qualifying with an average speed of 116.952 miles per hour. The middle of the front row occupied by the legendary Fireball Roberts and his No. 22 1957 Chevrolet (center) while the outside spot went to Joe Weatherly (left) and the No. 12 1958 Ford.

Roberts went on to win the race – the 18 ^th win of his career at the time. In all, Roberts only competed in 10 NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) events in 1958 winning six of them in the famed Frank Strickland owned No. 22 Chevy. Roberts’ average winning speed was 102.585 in the 1958 Darlington race, an event that took 4 hours, 52 minutes and 22 seconds to complete.

Weatherly and Pagan didn’t fare as well as Roberts in the 1958 Southern 500 as Weatherly finished 29 ^th (engine) and Pagan 36 ^th (crash) in the 48-car final rundown.

This photo is from the Dargan Watts collection is courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Photo ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

For more great racing, vintage, muscle car and hot rod photos, please visit the CloseFinishes.com Photo Gallery.

Here’s a photo of one of the local Punta Cana ladies dressed in a native Dominican costume.   Any wonder why I am smiling?

Two days later, Richard Brickhouse would drive the same car to a win in the event after Glotzbach and several other top drivers boycotted the event because of questionable racing surface conditions and extreme tire wear.

Here’s a Close Finishes look at a gear room at a NASCAR shop near Charlotte. Note the number of housings in the first photo – all of them in various stages of completion.

In the second Close Finishes photo below is the gear rack where multiple rear gears of various ratios are stored in their ‘bucket’ ready to be installed in a housing or sent to the track as an alternative to the one already in the car.

In recent years, NASCAR rules have limited the number of gears teams can use at any given race. That's allowed teams to spend less money on gears and not have to stock as many for various tracks and racing conditions.

Dotter went on to make 209 career Busch Series starts winning once – the Granger Select 200 at New River Valley Speedway in Dublin, VA on May 5, 1992.

Dotter, who has also made 73 career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career starts, has focused on team ownership in the past decade fielding hundreds of Truck Series entries. It has been the privilege of this writer to spot many of those entries over the years.

Recently, Dotter had gall bladder surgery and is currently recovering. In typical hard-charging Dotter style, Bobby was back at work days after the surgery and will be in Kansas with the Truck Series this weekend guiding a pair of entries driven by Chad McCumbee and Butch Miller.

Here’s longtime friend Dotter in a 2005 Close Finishes photo.

Turner’s win was one of 22 he scored in 47 NASCAR Convertible Division starts in 1956. Joe Weatherly was scored second in the Asheville-Weaver Speedway event followed by Glenn Wood, Gwyn Staley and Jimmie Lewallen.

Here’s a shot of Turner’s Peter DePaolo-owned No. 26 Ford convert in the pit area along with the No. 12 of Weatherly. Many thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for this photo.

On Saturday, Martin captured the Subway 500 at Phoenix International Raceway breaking a winless streak of 97 races dating back to 2005. The victory was his 36 ^th in 730 career Cup starts – a total that includes 244 Top-5 finishes. The Phoenix win was also Martin’s 400 ^th - career Top-10 Cup effort.

Long before Martin ever ascended to Cup fame, he was a standout short-track racer pounding ovals throughout the Midwest. Here’s a couple of Close Finishes photos of Martin from the 1980’s.

Congrats on the win, Mark.  

Ford, angry over engine rules that they said favored other makes – especially the Dodges and Plymouths with their ‘Hemi’ powerplants – folded their tent and pulled away from the sport. That left the door open for the Mopars to win 34 of the 49 NASCAR Grand National events contested that year. Meanwhile, the FoMoCo drivers would win 11 times in 1966 – including two by Mercurys, while the GM crowd was nearly shut out winning just one time when Bobby Allison wheeled a J.D. Bracken owned Bowtie to a win at Beltsville (MD) Speedway on August 24.

Here’s a Close Finishes shot of a current NASCAR Nationwide Ford powerplant turned out by Roush Yates Engines.

This year’s event packed the 1.5-mile Lowes oval with every kind of car, truck, part and parcel of automotive goodies. Scattered among the endless points of interest were a line of Cobras, engines galore like the spotless and potent Chevy 502 shown here, and multiple examples of cool cars from the past like a fleet of Mercury Comets.

It couldn’t have been a prettier weekend in Charlotte, and the Auto Fair provided the right kind of outdoor compliment. Hope you got to see it. If not, start planning on being there next year.

That’s why we’re pretty excited when the Food Lion Auto Fair rolls around every spring in Charlotte. There will be tons of Mopars in the car corral this weekend at Lowes Motor Speedway just outside Charlotte. All kinds – some totally sweet, some survivors, and some, well – in need of help.

Regardless of what shape they're in, we’ll probably stop and look at most of them because there’s nothing better than walking away a day at a great car show.

 Here's three Close Finishes images from past Auto Fairs - a 69 Cuda at top - the famed 426 Hemi in the middle, and a pair of brightly pained Dodges below - a Charger and a Coronet.

Enjoy.

For 10 years, this reporter had the opportunity to cover AK’s racing efforts back in our native Wisconsin. We both broke into Cup at the same time too.

Nice fella, damn good racer.

Here are some swell Close Finishes shots from back in the day to remember Alan by. The first is a shot of Alan in his ASA days in 1984 (do you believe we shot black and white back then?), the second another ASA image, this one after a less than successful effort at Milwaukee in 1989, and the final one - Alan at Bristol in 1992 - his Cup championship season.

Thanks for all the great memories, Alan.

That said, we’re dusting off some of our favorite photos from past Auto Fairs to get you in the mood for this year’s event. Hot rods, Customs, Classics and more – we’re stoked.

Want more? Here’s a couple of links to photo galleries from past Spring Auto Fairs. Give them a look, enjoy, and hopefully we’ll see you this weekend at Lowes Motor Speedway!

Here’s the links – Once there, just click on any photo to enlarge.

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=19

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=35

After a couple of weeks on the short tracks, it’s back to superspeedway racing this weekend as the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series tackle the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway just outside Dallas/Fort Worth.

Both divisions will be making their 17 ^th appearance at the track, which opened in 1997 with Jeff Burton capturing the Cup event while Mark Martin took home the winner’s laurels in the then NASCAR Busch Series race.

Carl Edwards is the defending champion at Texas on the Cup side while Kyle Busch is the defending Nationwide winner.

Check out the crew member under the car and the look on the face of the M&M above him. We don’t know what’s going on under there, but it’s got to be something unusual.

Melts in your mouth, not in your hands?

Wanna see more? - Click on the following link to a 37-image Close Finishes photo gallery of the 2006 NASCAR Cup/Truck Spring event at Martinsville. Once there, just click on any photo to enlarge.

As always, Enjoy!

Here's the link -

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=28

Rich Bickle set the event record of 75.296 average MPH in 1997 wheeling Darrell Waltrip’s No. 17 DieHard Chevy to a win in the Hanes 250 at Martinsville. Bickle, who started from the pole, led 204 of the 256 laps contested beating Ernie Irvan, Mike Bliss, Jimmy Hensley and Bobby Hamilton to the finish. Bickle won $31,875 for his efforts.

Here’s a Close Finishes shot of Bickle celebrating the win in Victory Lane that day – September 27, 1997.

If you didn’t get your fill of short-track racing, you’ll get another swing at it this weekend when the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series invade Martinsville (VA) Speedway.

On the NASCAR circuit since 1949, the venerable .526-mile paperclip-shaped oval has hosted 120 Cup and 20 Truck Series races. Denny Hamlin is the defending champion of the Spring Cup race while Dennis Setzer ruled the Truck Series event last March.

Both events will be shown live on FOX this weekend. Check your local listings for the start times in your area.

Pictured here is Rusty Wallace as he unbuckled after scoring his first-ever NASCAR Winston (now Sprint) Cup victory at Bristol International Speedway on April 6, 1986. Wallace had just bested Ricky Rudd, Darrell Waltrip, Harry Gant and Bill Elliott to cop his first Cup triumph and had pulled up to the Unocal pumps for fuel (that’s what they did in the bad old days before you went to Victory Lane) when we snapped this photo.

Fortunately, we were in the right place at the right time to snap this priceless shot.

The second Close Finishes image here is of Wallace posing with the trophy that day – a first for him - and a thrill for us at the first-ever Cup race we worked.

Seems like just yesterday.

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the racing at Bristol on Saturday and Sunday.

Carl Edwards (99) won the pole with a time of 15.746 seconds for the August 23, 2008 Sharpie 500 at BMS, just a tick better than the 15.835 clocking for David Reutimann’s No. 44 Toyota.

Edwards would go on to win the race despite an amazing run by Kyle Busch. Busch dominated the race leading the event from Lap 55 through the 469 ^th circuit, but a late-race bump up between he and Edwards set the stage for Edwards’ win and some pretty interested post-race antics between the two drivers.

Edwards has now won two of the last three Bristol Cup events (Jeff Burton grabbed last year's Spring race).

Look for more rough and tumble action  this weekend when both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide divisions invade the half-mile Bristol oval.

The shot above is from a NASCAR Modified Sportsman race just after the track opened in the early 1960’s. The cars are shown on the pace lap heading through Turn 1. Note the big dirt embankment outside the track where thousands of seats now reside.

The second shot below is a Close Finishes photo that was taken in 2006 as the starting line up for the Cup race headed into the same first turn. Gone is the dirt hill and the asphalt racing surface has been replace by concrete. The cars are just a little more sophisticated too and there are plenty of fans to watch - both in the stands and in the infield.

Many thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for the top photo.

The track was still asphalt and the facility featured open vistas out both ends of the track. Grandstand seating was on the front and back straights only and the day of our first race – the April 6 Valleydale 500 – the crowd was announced as 34,500, a new record for the facility. Here's a shot of Turn 3 from the grandstand the day before when Morgan Shepherd won the Busch Series race.

Flash forward 23 years and Bristol is now the Roman Coliseum of stock car racing. Seating 160,000 fans and featuring a half-mile ribbon of white concrete racing surface, Bristol is the track all others is compared to. The shot of the same Turn 3 below was taken from the press box during the Truck Series test in 2007 - the first activity on the new racing surface.

Amazing stuff.

There are several Bristol galleries in the Photo Gallery section of CloseFinishes.com, including a link below to the 2007 resurfacing project of the track (photos that once and for all dispel the notion that the track is banked 36 degrees).

Give them a look when you can. – Here’s the link –

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=37

Throughout this week, we’ll feature shots of the famed ‘Mountain Empire’ track. Here’s a couple of shots to get you going – a racing shot of Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace from our first Cup event in 1986, and a crowd card trick photo from 2006.

Make sure you check our Feature Photo section all week for more vintage and current Bristol photos.

Here’s one of Jack’s shots prior to the July 7, 1963 Speedorama 200 NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) race at Rambi Raceway (now Myrtle Beach Speedway). Shown in the pit area here are the cars of Joe Weatherly (2), Jimmy Pardue (54) and Jim Massey (#96).

Weatherly had the best day of the three, finishing third behind winner Ned Jarrett and runner-up Buck Baker. Massey also had a good day coming home seventh while Pardue’s Ford lost and engine late in the race, but stull managed to finish 11 ^th .

Check out the small box trucks in the background of the photo. They were the forerunners of the big 18-wheeler race transporters that we have today and were starting the show up instead of station wagons and pick up trucks as tow vehicles at this time. Also, note the lack of big tool boxes and multiple crew members pouring over the cars.

Then, of course, there our favorite - chrome bumpers and trim still on the cars. Things were definitely different back then.

As always, thanks to Jack and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for this great photo.

Harvick, who had just been tabbed to replace the late Dale Earnhardt in the now No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevy after Earnhardt had died a couple weeks earlier at Daytona, was making just his third Cup start at the time.

Harvick, who now has 290 Cup starts and 11 career divisions wins to date, beat Jeff Gordon, Jerry Nadeau, Dale Jarrett and Terry Labonte to earn his first win at Atlanta.

This 2006 photo of Harvick was made available courtesy of Russ Lake.

Shown here in a 1984 Close Finishes photo, Kulwicki competed in the American Speed Association and ARTGO ranks throughout the early 1980’s against the finest Super Late Model drivers of the day – Dick Trickle, Mark Martin, Bob Senneker, Joe Shear, Mike Eddy and Rusty Wallace to name a few – winning more than his share of races. Locally, Kulwicki was a regular visitor to a number of Wisconsin racetracks such as Slinger, Wisconsin Dells, LaCrosse, Wisconsin International (Kaukauna) and Capital (Madison) Speedways.

It was the late heyday of Wisconsin Late Model short-track racing where you could see these stars – along with Southern visitors like Bobby and Davey Allison, Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt in the mix at some special events – as many as two to three times a week every summer.

Times were good, the beer and brats went down easy. We were all a lot younger. T he racing was a lot better. And, Alan was still here.

The win was the first of the season for Jarrett, who would go on to victory seven times in 1997. The effort nearly earned Jarrett the Winston Cup title, but he fell short of the crown by 14 points to Jeff Gordon.

Here, Jarrett is shown in a Russ Lake photo at Daytona in 2006.

On Sunday, 43 cars will take the green flag in the 100 ^th Cup race to be held at the track. Bobby Labonte is the winningest active driver at the track with six victories, one more than Bill Elliott and two wins better than Jeff Gordon. Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards both have three Cup wins to their credit at Atlanta while Mark Martin and Tony Stewart each have taken top honors twice. Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick all have one win each at Atlanta in NASCAR Cup competition.

Sunday’s historic 100 ^th Cup event at the Atlanta oval will take the green flag at approximately 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time.

Remember to ‘Spring Ahead’ Saturday night and change your clocks thanks to the beginning of Daylight Savings Time – After all, you don’t want to miss the start of the race!

The first models were bulky and heavy and most drivers didn’t want the cameras in their cars because of that. Eventually, the technology caught up and we have a wide array of cameras – like the one in the ‘TV Panel’ of Matt Kenseth’s car shown here – positioned throughout the vehicles.

Next time you see an in-car camera shot, give a little nod of thanks to Ken Squire and the people who worked to bring those pictures to you. Racing on television wouldn’t be the same without them.

Here’s an example.

This Wynn’s Friction Proofing sticker was secured for the low, low price of 10 cents at a Charlotte area yard sale some years ago. Wynn’s was very active in racing back in the day, sponsoring winner’s stickers and paper checkered flags for the race victors at tracks all across the country.

Cool stuff for any collection, and you can’t beat the price!

March 3, 1991 was a big day for Kyle Petty.

Kyle’s No. 42 Mello Yello Pontiac started from the pole and led 380 of the 492 laps en route to winning the Goodwrench 500 at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham. Petty beat Ken Schrader, Harry Gant, Ricky Rudd and Bill Elliott to the checkered flag.

Here’s a mid-1980's Close Finishes photo of Petty at Bristol in the No. 7 Ford. Note the autograph. By the time this one got signed, Kyle was already in the No. 21 Wood Brothers ride.

Teams have to stock thousands of parts – many of them like these radiators – in multiples to keep up with the demands of the circuit. Here, 12 radiators are stored on a cart specifically made to house them at the Germain Racing NASCAR Truck Series team shops.

The price of these 12 radiators alone would feed most families for a year.

Jarrett came home first in the thin 16-car starting field completing all 200 laps on the South Carolina half-mile dirt oval. G.C. Spencer was second completing 178 laps while Bob Derrington was one lap behind in third. Gene Hobby was fourth, 30 laps behind Jarrett while fifth-place finisher Dick Hutcherson completed 160 laps – a whopping 40 circuits behind the winner Jarrett.

Here’s a shot of Jarrett’s familiar No. 11 Ford at a car show prior to a race in Myrtle Beach, SC in 1964. Sweet ride.

Many thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for this image.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years to the day since Ricky Rudd captured the Miller High Life 400 at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway on February 26, 1984.

Rudd, who survived a violent crash in his Bud Moore Ford two weeks earlier in the then Busch Clash at Daytona, led twice in the final 100 laps of the event including the last 19 to take the victory – just the third of his 23 career NASCAR Cup Series triumphs. Darrell Waltrip was second followed by Terry Labonte, Bill Elliott and Neil Bonnett.

Here’s a Close Finishes shot of Rudd in Moore’s potent No. 15 Ford a couple of years later – 1987 – at Bristol.

After the race, Martin’s Roush Racing Ford is said to have carburetor spacer plate/intake manifold issues. While the victory is allowed to stand, crew chief Robin Pemberton is fined $40,000 and the team docked 46 points from their season total.

The infraction ultimately costs Martin the Winston Cup championship that year as Earnhardt notches 4,430 points to take the 29-race season title over Martin by 26 points.

Pictured here is Martin’s 1985 American Speed Association ‘Hero Card.’ Dig that crazy mustache and the very cool Ford Thunderbird 'Shorty' drove back in the day.

Here’s a great example of the ‘Roadster’ racer style of cars that populated the dirt tracks in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Back in the day, you could see these cars race at county fair ovals (usually used for horse racing) just about anywhere throughout the country.

The first race cars my father Lou built right after World War II were this kind of car. Based on a Model T or Model A Ford chassis, the original car was all but carved up with the fenders, bumpers and any other non-essential speed item that added weight being removed.

This example, shot by Close Finishes at the Lowes Motor Speedway Auto Fair a couple of years ago, is a real beauty with the leather cockpit cover and massive side pipes topping off the restoration. While I wasn’t around when my dad built and campaigned these cars, the stories of how successful they were are part of our family racing history and ultimately set the stage for my career in racing.

A winner many times according to the stories, my older brother Lou (Jr.) still has a scar on his leg from brushing up against the side pipe in Victory Lane one day.

Cool stuff.

Perhaps the coolest speedway on the NASCAR tour - Las Vegas Motor Speedway - is the next stop on the 2009 racing schedule for the Cup and Nationwide Series this weekend.

The 1/5-mile oval shown in these Close Finishes images has been significantly updated with fan amenities including the Neon Garage, the neatest infield attraction in all of NASCAR in our opinion.

If you are heading to Vegas this weekend, spend the couple of extra bucks to visit the infield attraction. There’s rooftop garage viewing, which includes glass panels where fan can look right down into the garage stalls. Top it off with live music, exhibits and plenty of concessions, and the Vegas infield is our number-one attraction on the circuit.

And, by the way – did we mention that Vegas can be a lot of fun away from the track too?

If you are going, enjoy!

In case you missed it, Bobby Allison waved the green flag on the 51 ^st Daytona 500 this past weekend. On this day in 1978, Bobby ended a 67-race winless streak by steering his Bud Moore Ford to a victory in the Daytona 500.

Allison, shown here in a 1987 Close Finishes photo at Bristol with Dale Earnhardt, grabbed his first 500 besting Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons, Ron Hutcherson and Dick Brooks. Allison averaged 159.73 miles per hour in winning the race which was slowed five times for 24 caution laps.

This 1957 Chevy Stocker was on display at the Lowes Motor Speedway Auto Fair outside Charlotte last fall. We loved the cool touches like the painted, not decaled lettering, chrome accents, and basic color pallet.

This was one of approximately 10 great old racecars and racecar reproductions that we saw at Lowes last Fall. That’s the beauty of Auto Fair – you never know what you are going to stumble across in the maze that is row after row of the most incredible cars you’ll ever see.

Just in case it’s not on your calendar, the 2009 Spring Auto Fair is set for the Lowes facility Thursday-Sunday, April 2-5.

And... To check out another cool retro stocker - a 1934 Ford Coupe and vintage Cab Over matching hauler - click on the following Close Finishes Image Gallery link. Once there, just click on any photo to enlarge.

Enjoy.

Here's the link - 

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=42

The February 17, 1974  event was shortened to that distance prior to the race by NASCAR as a bow to the ‘Energy Crisis’ of that year. In a scoring quirk, NASCAR dropped the first 20 laps from the race and scored the initial lap as Lap 21 to preserve the ‘500’ distinction in the name of the event.

Petty’s STP-sponsored Dodge beat Cale Yarborough, Ramo Stott, CooCoo Marlin and A.J. Foyt to the checkered flag in a race that took just 3-hours, 11-minutes and 38-seconds to complete.

This Close Finishes archive photo is from a 1960’s Chrysler Corporation press kit.

Matt Hawkins

(Kathy Bond Photo)

Here’s a Close Finishes photo of the famed raceway from the spotter’s stand high above the main-straight grandstand looking southeast over the Cup garage area. That’s pit road in the foreground and Turn 3 in the distance.

Bobby Hamilton (No. 4) tucks in behind Rich Bickle (No. 07) to draft by Stan Boyd (No. 89) in the 2003 Florida Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Craftsman (now Camping World) Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Hamilton drafted his way to a fourth-place finish right behind Rick Crawford, Travis Kvapil and Robert Pressley in a three-wide dash to the checkered flag. Bickle was headed to an 11 ^th -place finish but was involved in a crash in Turn 4 of the final lap and was credited with 19 ^th . Boyd, who rolled off last in the 36-truck starting field, finished 16 ^th .

Close Finishes Archive Photo.  

That’s the No. 29 Studebaker of Nelson Stacy up in the top groove with the No. 50 Ford of Cale Yarborough in the middle and the No. 7A Chevy of Bobby Johns on the bottom of the February 23 Modified-Sportsman race that year.

Man, check out the headlight bays, chrome bumpers and trim, rock screens over the grilless and no window nets.

Amazing stuff.

Check out this classic Daytona International Speedway decal from the early 1960’s. Decals and stickers are a great, inexpensive way to start a young person collecting racing memorabilia. We got this one for our son Sam out of a bin at The Milwaukee Mile for 10 cents in the middle 1980’s.

We have no idea what it is worth – or even if we would sell it. Either way, its totally radical and a great example of the kind of promotional items racing organizations pumped out more than 40 years ago.

To see more vintage items and photos, please click on the following Close Finishes link –

  http://www.closefinishes.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000005/000567.htm

Also, don’t forget to check out the more than 30 photo galleries of all kinds of race cars and hot rods in the Close Finishes Photo Gallery. Just click on the following link, open any gallery, and click on the photo to enlarge.

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/index.php

As always, thanks for supporting Close Finishes.

The action was fast and furious in the 1995 Goody’s 300 NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Here, a trio of Ford Thunderbirds battle for position in the tri-oval with Chad Little (97) leading Rich Bickle (54) and Mark Martin (60). Little would go on to win the season-opening Busch race with Michael Waltrip second, Terry Labonte third and Kenny Wallace fourth.

Bickle missed a wild last-lap wreck to finish fifth while Martin took the checkers eighth.

Note the stock appearing bodies of the cars, the lack of the now double yellow no passing zone line on the bottom half of the race track, and the lack of paint or safer barriers on the outside retaining walls.

Close Finishes photo.

Here’s a cool Close Finishes photo of a 1930’s vintage Plymouth stock car owned by Wisconsin good buddy Le Larson.

A racer himself ‘back in the day,’ Larson has dedicated much of his life collecting racing artifacts of all kinds – including several ‘modified’ style cars – at his home near Brooklyn, WI.

Here’s a big shout out to Le, and to all the other Wisconsin racers who are battling through winter and getting ready for another great racing season.

As part of the Copper World Classic, the 80-lap, 80-mile race drew 33 entries that day and was won by Mike Skinner. Skinner – wheeling the Richard Childress Racing black No. 3 Goodwrench Chevy - beat Terry Labonte by a scant .09 seconds for the victory with Kenny Schrader, Joe Bessey and Geoff Bodine completing the top-five finishers.

Since that first day, the Truck Series has grown into one of the most exciting and successful racing series in the world and will open its 15th racing season on Friday, February 13, at Daytona International Speedway.

Photo courtesy of High Sierra Photo.

Alan Kulwicki wheeled this Ed Whitaker owned Pontiac in the 1985 NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series race at The Milwaukee Mile.

Kulwicki, who made his first-ever NASCAR career start and finished second in the same car and same race one year earlier, captured the pole for the 1985 Milwaukee Busch bash with a speed of 112.711 miles per hour. It was the first NASCAR pole of Kulwicki's career.

The Greenfield, WI native didn’t have any luck in the race, however, as an engine failure late in the event dropped him to a 14 ^th -place finish. Jack Ingram won the race.

Close Finishes Photo.

In this photo, Ramo Stott (7) leads eventual 1970 Daytona 500 winner Pete Hamilton (40), Bobby Allison (22) and Bobby Isacc (71) during the 1970 classic. Hamilton’s win in a Petty Superbird was his only Daytona 500 triumph. Meanwhile, Allison’s Dodge finished third on this day while Isacc was fifth and Stott eighth.

This was a publicity photo that came in a 1971 Dodge press kit that my father Lou – a factory service tech for Chrysler at the time – got from the company.

Mopar rules!

Here’s a very cool promotional item from the past.

Bowman Gray Stadium had a water based decal to promote the track during the 1950’s. Please note the football goal post in the center of the track as the facility on the campus of Winston-Salem (NC) State University was often used for football games. This decal is from the Marty Little collection and was made available to Close Finishes by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Located near Eden, NC, Draper Speedway was a place where you could always see some rock ‘em, sock ‘em stock car racing action in the early 1950’s.

Here, a pair of classic 1940 Ford stockers driven by Carl Burris (0) and Al Blackman (10) get together and are about to go out of the ball park (no retaining walls back then) at Draper.

This photo is from the Clyde Mangum collection was made available to Close Finishes by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com .

Fredricksburg, VA driver Runt Harris takes the ride of his life during this crash at Strawberry Hill at the Virginia State Fairgrounds in 1951. Harris, who also competed in eight NASCAR events from 1951-1962, was not hurt after his No. 90 modified stocker pounded the fence, but he probably wore the emotional scars of this wreck until he died at the age of 73 on June 30, 1990.

Thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for making this Toni Rose photo from the June Rose Hudgins collection available to Close Finishes.

Jimmy Thompson’s career spanned the NASCAR Strictly Stock, Convertible and Grand National (now Sprint Cup) era from 1949 through 1962.

While never a winner in 77 combined starts in the three divisions, he did have success in the NASCAR Modified Sportsman Series (now Nationwide) when he wheeled a Marion Cox-owned 1956 Modified Ford to a victory in the 1961 NASCAR Modified-Sportsman race at Daytona International Speedway. Cox (at right in the Pure jacket) is also seen here celebrating the win with Thompson.

This photo is from the Nina Cox / Archie Downs collection and it was made available to Close Finishes by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Buddy turned 68 on Sunday, January 25. The son of racing great Buck Baker, Buddy made his first NASCAR start on April 4, 1959 wheeling a 1958 Chevy owned by his father to a 14 ^th -place finish on a half-mile dirt track at Columbia, SC (Buck finished 19 ^th that day)

Buddy would earn his ‘chops’ for several years as young drivers did back then before he eventually scored his first win beating Bobby Isacc, Dick Hutcherson, Charlie Glotzbach and G.C. Spencer to the finish line in the 1967 National 500 at Charlotte.

In all, Buddy would make 700 cup starts notching 19 victories, 202 top-five and 311 top-10 finishes before retiring after the 1992 Winston 500 at Talladega. He would later go on to a long and distinguished racing broadcast career – one that continues today on SIRIUS Satellite Radio NASCAR Channel 128.

Named one of the 50 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR History in 1998, Buddy was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1995 and the NMPA Hall in 1997.

Above all, Buddy Baker was – and is – a Hall of Fame person and it has been our distinct pleasure to cover his career as a journalist and work with him as the same over the past 24 years.

Happy Belated Birthday, Buddy.

Earlier in January, 1947, NASCAR founder Bill France announced he would stage a series of stock car races under the National Championship Stock Car Circuit banner. Using the slogan of "NCSCC: Where The Fastest That Run, Run The Fastest," the division staged its first race on today’s date – January 26 – in 1947. The legendary Red Byron won the event   billed as the "Battle of the Champions," on the Beach-Road course at Daytona.

Shown here is a Daytona Modified Sportsman event from just a few years later. This shot of the February   24, 1956 NASCAR event is a good representation as to how the older late 1930’s and early 1940’s model racers looked as they roared along the Atlantic Ocean coastline south of Daytona. Pictured here are Curtis Turner (49jr), Earl Moss (91), Dean Pelton (42), and J.V. Hamby (211). This is a John Ward photo from the Larry Jendras, Jr. collection. It was made available to Close Finishes by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com )

Back in 1961, there were no limits to how many pit crew members you could bring to a race and no worries about how much they cost you. In fact, most teams had trouble getting guys to come and pit their cars ‘back in the day.’

Here, Jim Paschal was able to get enough people to work on his No. 14 Pontiac to finish second in the NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) race at Rambi Speedway (now Myrtle Beach) on July 22, 1961.

Many thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for this photo.

On this date – January 22 – in 1978, Cale Yarborough wheeled an Oldsmobile to a victory in the Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway. Benny Parsons, David Pearson, Neil Bonnett and Dave Marcis completed the top-five finishers.

The triumph was a long time coming for Oldsmobile as Yarborough’s was the first win for the brand in NASCAR Cup competition since Lee Petty made the hard left turn into Victory Lane in the 1959 Charlotte spring event.

Yarborough went on to win 83 career cup events. In the photo above, Cale is seen wheeling a Junior Johnson fielded Chevy during the 1973 season.

Nelson Stacy was one of the first ‘Northerners’ to have success in NASCAR during the early years of the sport. The Cincinnati, OH driver made his first NASCAR start in a 1952 Strictly Stock event at Daytona, OH but didn’t compete in the division again until 1961 starting 15 events that season.

Stacy stunned the NASCAR community winning the Southern 500 that year beating Fireball Roberts and David Pearson to the checkered flag.

In 1962, Stacy was even more impressive winning three times – Darlington, Charlotte and Martinsville – in just 15 events. The 1958, 1959 and 1960 ARCA champion seemed destined for NASCAR greatness, but Stacy, already in his middle 40’s and a grandfather, only raced in 14 more events from 1983-1965 closing out his career with a 24 ^th -place finish in the 1965 Firecracker 400 at Daytona.

On a personal note, Stacy’s 1961 Ford Starliner was the first NASCAR stock car this writer ever saw up close when it was displayed at the local Ford dealership in Manitowoc, WI that summer. I was eight years old at the time.

Safety appointments weren’t always a consideration in the early days of stock car racing. In fact, helmets were originally optional equipment as drivers braved the dangers of the sport often losing the battle in the process.

After a bad crash by Bernard Alverez on today’s date - January 20, 1952 - at Palm Beach Speedway in West Palm Beach, FL, NASCAR mandated the use of one such safety improvement - roll bars. Since then, the sport has been much safer.

In this shot, Ralph Rose walked away from his No.Z-1 stocker after a crash in the early 1960’s thanks to roll bars which were by this time standard on almost all race cars. Thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for providing Close Finishes this photo from the June Rose Hudgins collection.

Check out this vintage Close Finishes photo of these super late model stock cars waiting to go into battle in 1985.

The event was the annual Oktoberfest Weekend at Capital Speedway in Oregon, WI. That’s Pete Seitz in the 57, Bobby Gunn in the 94, Jimmy Back in the 61 and Ricky Bilderback in the 02.

Note the sloped front air dams, laid back windshields, flat sides and flared wheel wells on these cars. These babies ripped and toured the Capital half-mile paved oval in just under 18 seconds – still a pretty fast time at the track now known as Madison International Speedway.

Ah, the memories.

For the record, Back took the win on this day.

Here’s another great photo from yesteryear courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

This 1950’s shot from the Jim Skinner collection shows the starting lineup at Gamecock Raceway (now Sumter Speedway) in South Carolina. That’s Hambone Mathis (77) on the pole with Charlton McLeod (89) to his outside. Female racer Liz Singletary (14) is pictured on the inside of the third row.

As always, many thanks to Jack allowing Close Finishes to use this image.

On this January 15, 1949, Teague drove a 1939 Ford Modified to a win in the NASCAR season opener on the Beach Course. Teague bested the field of 75 cars on that day.

The Daytona Beach native would later compete in 23 NASCAR ‘Strictly Stock’ races between 1949 and to 1952 winning seven of them. His NASCAR numbers would have been considerably better, but a dispute with Bill France, Sr. after the 1952 season led to Teague leaving the division to compete in AAA and USAC events – then the major race sanctioning bodies in American racing.

Teague was the first to realize the potential of the low slung Hudson Hornet, Along with head mechanic Smokey Yunick, they convinced the Hudson automobile company to sponsor their efforts. Along with assistance from Pure Oil, they are regarded as the first sponsorships in NASCAR. The investment paid off as Teague was named the AAA Driver of the Year in 1951 and was recognized as the AAA National Stock Car Champion in 1952 and 1954.

Teague also raced in the Indy 500 in three times with his best finish a seventh in the 1957 event.

Teague perished on February 11, 1959 while trying to drive the Sumar Special – a radically modified Indy Car – to a world closed course speed record at the all new Daytona International Speedway.

In the photo above, the famed driver is shown with his wife after winning a AAA/USAC stock car event at The Milwaukee Mile in 1952. This photos was made available to Close Finishes by the late Al Krause, cherished friend and longtime Milwaukee Mile historian.

The final NASCAR race at the dirt half-mile oval proved to be a historic one as Wendell Scott became the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR top division race when he drove his way to a win over Buck Baker, Jack Smith, Ed Livingston and Richard Petty on December 1, 1963.

Here’s an action shot from the Jacksonville Speedway Park from the middle 1950’s. Piggy Bennett (86) is shown leading Weldon Adams (18), and Larry Flynn (14) during a weekly short-track event. Bennett went on to have an outstanding career and is in the Jacksonville Speedway and Georgia Racing Halls of Fame.

The Jacksonville track – originally located in the rough and tumble west side area of town at the corner of Lennox Avenue and Plymouth Street, was moved to the Pecan Park area of town in the early 1970’s. It shut down for good later in the decade.

This photo is from the Jacksonville Speedway Hall of Fame collection and was made available to Close Finishes by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

In the first of two 1987 Close Finishes shots, the Fenton, MO driver is shown above wheeling a Super Late Model Stock Car in the Miller Lite Nationals at Slinger (WI) Superspeedway. At the time, Schrader was one of the top ‘young’ stars in NASCAR at age 32 having broke into the Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) ranks in 1984 behind the wheel of an Elmo Langley Ford at Nashville.

In addition to heading back to the short tracks whenever he could, Schrader piloted the car below – the No. 90 Ford Thunderbird NASCAR Winston Cup entry fielded by legendary car owner Junie Donlavey. This Close Finishes shot was taken at Bristol in 1987 – where Schrader started seventh and finished 17 ^th .

Schrader, who has 732 career Cup starts dating through the end of last season, does not have a Cup ride for the 2009 campaign. It is rumored he may run the entire ARCA slate this season. You can also be sure Schrader will show up at a short track near you.

In this photo, Cotton Owens and his No. 6 Pontiac and Emanuel Zervakis in the No. 85   Chevrolet battle their way through the turn in the 1961 Daytona 500. Note the stock windshields, side glass and vent windows, bumpers, grilles, and side moldings on the cars.

On this day, Owens rolled to a fifth-place finish while Zervakis came home 18 ^th . Thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for this great photo.

It's hard to believe Martin is 50 given we got our first glimpse of the gifted driver when he competed in and won the National Short Track Championships at Rockford (IL) Speedway when he was just 17 years old.

Since then, Martin, who made his NASCAR debut on April 5, 1981 at North Wilkesboro (NC) Speedway (he started fifth and finished 27 ^th ), has competed in 975 NASCAR events. That total includes 722 Cup races, 230 Nationwide events, and 23 Truck Series clashes.

In those events, he’s scored 90 wins (48 Cup, 35 Nationwide, 7 Truck) and earned almost $72 million in prize money.

In his 722 Cup starts, Martin has a whopping 396 top-10 finishes and a stellar career finishing average of 13.3. He has led 11,650 laps.

The all-time leader in victories in the Nationwide Series, Martin’s numbers are even more impressive finishing in the top five in nearly half of his starts (110 out of 230) and his Truck record includes a six-win season in 2006 when he competed in just 14 events.

Throw in another five IROC championships where he finished in the top five in 37 of his 47 career starts, and it’s easy to see why ‘The Kid’ from Batesville, Arkansas is considered one of the greatest drivers of all time.

Shown here are a trio of photos of Martin that we shot earlier in his short-track career. The one at top right shows Martin wheeling a 1987 Ford Thunderbird at Capital Speedway (Oregon, WI) in the ASA Capital 300 that year.

Below are two photos of Martin from the 1985 season - one in the cockpit of his Miller American Ford Thunderbird - and the second a Victory Lane shot after winning the ASA race at Capital that year.

Many thanks to Mark for the good times and racing memories. Happy 50th birthday, buddy!

Of course, our comment was the payouts need to be higher. Then we remembered the image of a check we’d seen – the 1953 point fund payout for Mutt Simpson.

Simpson, a Concord, NC driver, competed regularly in local events across the Carolinas at tracks like Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte (NC) and Rambi Speedway in Myrtle Beach (SC) during the 1950’s. While we couldn’t find a record of exactly which NASCAR event(s) he competed in during the 1953 season, his efforts garnered the princely sum of 70 cents in the season-ending point fund.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Many thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for the image of this check from the Brian Simpson collection.

Many go to work every day and then spend countless hours in race   shops during the evening preparing their cars for the upcoming season. At the short-track level, that means doing everything including building the chassis and hanging the bodies.

Here’s a vintage Close Finishes shot of Wisconsin racer Rich Lofy and his super late model chassis he constructed during the off season. Taken in the late 1980’s, this image gives you a great idea just what’s under the skin of a stock car. It also gives you an idea as to just how much work goes into building a racer.

By the way, notice the snow on the ground. Sure glad we don't live in Wisconsin anymore!

The 1955 NASCAR Modified Sportsman race at the old Daytona beach course always featured plenty of action. The division, forerunner to the now NASCAR Nationwide Series, always put on a great show as evidenced by this shot of Speedy Thompson (M-1) leads Bill Tanner (3), Vince Conrad (27x), and James Bennett (19) battling their way through the sand turn and back on to Highway A1A.

Of special note in this photo is the interior sand barrier and the wooden posts designed to protect the fans from the cars. Also interesting is the crowd - at least five deep at the fence line.

Thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for allowing Close Finishes access to this shot from the Speedy Spiers collection.

McQuagg began racing in 1956 wheeling a 1934 Ford stocker at Valdosta (GA) Speedway. The Columbus, GA   native would make his Grand National debut in 1962 starting ninth and finishing 12 ^th .

In all, McQuagg competed in 62 NASCAR events through 1974, his biggest moment coming when he piloted a Ray Nichels prepared Dodge Charger to a win in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway. It was his only career victory in NASCAR’s top series.

Best always,

John and Gail Close

Need proof? Here’s a shot of Jack Evans 1953 Studebaker that the Opalocka, FL driver piloted to a fifth-place finish in the 1963 Daytona Modified-Sportsman race.

Way cool.

Thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for allowing Close Finishes access to this shot from The Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers collection.

While Crider never won a Grand National event, he was an accomplished short-track racer. The Abbeyville, SC driver won countless ‘modified’ events throughout the Southeast United States in the early 1960’s. Here’s one of Crider’s machines – a late 1930’s Ford Sedan that he raced at Savannah – during that period.

Thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for allowing Close Finishes access to this shot from the Ron Brown collection.

The huge Chrysler was still pounding the speedway in 1963 as Neil ‘Soapy’ Castles drove this leviathan to a fourth-place finish in the July 7, 1963 NASCAR Grand National event at Rambi Speedway in Myrtle Beach, SC. Castles finished 10 laps behind race winner Ned Jarrett. Castles’ car was owned by fellow Charlotte, NC driver Buck Baker.

In all Castles competed in 498 NASCAR events from 1957 through 1976. While he never scored a win, he did notch 51 top-five finishes in his career and in six seasons from 1965-1970, Castles finished in the top-10 in points five of those years (best – fourth in 1969, worst 12 ^th in 1968).

Castles also made 54 NASCAR Convertible division starts in his driving career.

The cars of Rick Mast (22), Kenny Burks (02) and Eddie Falk (04) make hard contact with each other and the outside guard rail opening while Eddie Lawson (16) spins to the inside in this April 5 event – the first NASCAR race Close Finishes ever covered professionally.

Slipping through the mess are Ken Bouchard (10) and Jimmy Hensley (63). Morgan Shepherd won the event with Dale Earnhardt second and Brad Teague third.

Note this was one of the most dangerous places on the Bristol track in 1986. At that time, the only way teams accessed the infield was through the gate in the wall at the exit of Turn 2. Teams would park their haulers outside the track and use smaller trucks to haul (some teams pushed) their equipment around the sharp corner of the gate entrance and down the steep Bristol banking.

The following day, the grassy hill outside the track was packed with overflow spectators and a record crowd of 32,000-plus was announced. Rusty Wallace won his first Cup race - the 1986 Valleydale 500 that day.

Today, Bristol Motor Speedway holds more than 160,000 fans, Rusty is retired, and we're still writin' racin'.

Amazing stuff.

Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, it wasn’t unusual for top NASCAR stars to show up at American Speed Association events. That was especially the case when the ASA tour invaded places like The Milwaukee Mile.

Here’s a Close Finishes photo of Darrell Waltrip and his No. 17 Superflow Camaro doing battle with Dale Earnhardt’s GM Goodwrench Camaro in a late 1980’s event at the Mile. Neither won that day as Wisconsin short track legend Dick Trickle took the checkered flag.

Yarbrough, shown here in February 1962 prior to the Modified Sportsman race at Daytona International Speedway, drove this 1956 Ford fielded by E.A. McQuaig to the win in that event. On the Grand National (now Sprint Cup) side of the ledger, Yarbrough posted 14 victories and 65 top-10 finishes in 198 career starts.

This photo is from the Dale Hardie collection and was made available to Close Finishes by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Originally opened as Southland Speedway in 1952, Troy Ruttman won the inaugural event – a AAA sanctioned Indy Car race – on July 4 of that year. The Raleigh oval – a paperclip design with 1,850-foot straights and 16-degree banking in the turns - was the second superspeedway NASCAR raced on (Darlington was the first) when Fonty Flock won the Raleigh 300 on May 30, 1953.

The first track to host a NASCAR night race, Raleigh Speedway quickly fell on hard times as local residents complained about the noise. Eventually, the protests led to the track shutting down after the 1958 events. The track then sat fallow until it was demolished in 1968 and is now the site of an industrial park.

In this photo, the famous M-3 Fish Carburetor car of Banjo Matthews is shown here setting a new track record in qualifying for the 1957 Independence Day event. Note the officials standing on the race track as Owens zooms by.

Many thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for making this Taylor Warren photo from the Marty Little collection available to Close Finishes.

Check out the car barrel rolling down the track. While the driver walked away, you can be sure he was shaken up just a little bit.

Many thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.come ) for this photo from the Bert Dew collection.

And while there were plenty of big cash 18-wheeler transporters like those shown above, there were a few shining examples of the past such as this ‘bread truck’ hauler like the one pictured below (we were particularly amused by the generator mounted on the front, always a plus in a collision).

Anyway, we thought you’d get a good laugh off of this one too.

Look for a full Derby image gallery on Close Finishes later this week.

Allison was a champion racer well before he captured the 1983 NASCAR crown winning a Modified title way back in 1962. The leader of the ‘Alabama Gang,’ Allison was as friendly a competitor as you’d ever meet off the track and one of the fiercest on it.

By the 1988 season, Allison was a veteran superstar of NASCAR having competed in 717 races heading into the June 19 event at Pocono. His career record included 85 wins and a staggering 336 top-five and 446 top-10 finishes. At Pocono, Allison was involved in a crash on the first lap and suffered life-threatening injuries. While he recovered, he never raced again.

We were fortunate enough to spend time with Allison the Tuesday (June 14 ^th ) previous to his Pocono accident when he competed in the Slinger Nationals at Slinger, WI. There, we ate bratwurst as Allison gave this fledgling race writer a great interview for a story. We later snapped several photos – including this one.

To this day, we remain friends with Bobby and our admiration for his accomplishments – both on and off the track – are of the highest degree.

The Greenfield, WI driver later went on to win the 1992 Cup championship – the last individual owner and single-car team to do so.

Before hitting the big time, Kulwicki was a standout short-tracker winning multiple open competition, ARTGO and ASA Late Model events. Here’s one of Kulwicki’s ‘hero cards’ from the era that we dug up out of the Close Finishes history vault – a 1985 ASA example – showing Kulwicki and his then familiar Hardees Ford Thunderbird.

Kulwicki never lived to defend his 1992 NASCAR title passing away in a plane crash en route to Bristol on April 1, 1993.

Isaac – shown here in the potent Sportsman machine (note his name is misspelled on the door) he drove in the early 1960’s – won three Grand National races in 1968 behind the wheel of Nord Krauskopf’s potent K&K Insurance Dodge Chargers.

A year later, Isaac dominated the Grand National division winning 17 of 50 events, but came up short in the point’s chase finishing sixth. The 1970 season produced Isaac’s one and only Grand National title as he sped his way to 11 wins and an amazing 32 top-five finishes in 47 starts.

The 1970 championship season was the last time Isaac competed full-time in the Grand National/Winston Cup ranks.   On August 12, 1973, Isaac was leading the Talladega 500 when he pulled his car off the track and quit the race saying he had heard a voice telling him to get out of the car.

He raced just 19 times over the next three season before calling it quits for good.

Thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for this great photo.

The Norfolk, VA driver wheeled a Bud Moore entry winning 12 of those 105 starts and posted 59 top-five finishes – 56.1 percent – and 80 top-10 efforts (76.1 percent). That's getting it done.

Weatherly’s quest for a third-straight title ended in tragedy when he died in an accident in the fifth race of the 1964 season at Riverside.

Here, Weatherly - a former motorcycle champion (note the Harley suit) is shown in an early 1950’s photo at Princess Anne Speedway in Norfolk. Thanks much to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for this photo.

Here’s an awesome Close Finishes shot of Darrell Waltrip in the cockpit of his Western Auto Chevy in 1992. Waltrip, a three-time NASCAR Cup titlest, captured the crown in 1981, 1982 and 1985. He finished his Cup career with 84 wins in 809 starts after the 2000 season.

First, through no fault of my own, I’ll turn 56 on Thanksgiving Day. That sure is hard to believe given the ‘lifestyle’ I’ve led at times over those 56 turns of the calendar.

In some ways, it’s even harder to believe I have been involved in racing 55 of those years. My mom, Kay, carried me to my first race when I was six months old in the summer of 1953 and I’ve been hooked on the sport ever since.

Here are two photos to attest to that.

The first photo above is a shot of me in the seat of our family race car – the 11-7, a 1937 Chevy coupe - that we raced four to five times a week throughout eastern and central Wisconsin. The shot is from 1959 and was taken in front of my dad’s Phillips 66 station in Manitowoc, WI. That’s the driver, Les Petersen, and my dad, Lou Close (far right), with me in the picture.

I was six years old at the time.

The second photo above was taken in 1958 at the old Apple Creek Speedway near Appleton, WI. On this night, our car won the feature event (we did that a lot back then). Les was signing autographs for fans after the race when mom got this shot of Les and I.

Check out the 'cool' go-kart racing helmet I had at the time (don't laugh too hard).

To say I have had a lifetime of great memories from racing and have had the good fortune to work in the sport for the last 23 seasons is an understatement. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about that - and my long departed parents - who loved the sport and instilled that passion for fast cars in me.

Now that’s something to really be thankful for.

Here’s wishing everyone a great Thanksgiving Holiday.

As always, thanks for supporting Close Finishes.

The legendary quarter-mile track, located in the middle of a football stadium on the campus of Winston-Salem State University, has long been heralded as NASCAR’s longest running weekly racetrack hosting its first division event – a NASCAR Modified Sportsman race on May 18, 1949 (won by Fonty Flock).

Bowman Gray hosted NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) races from 1958-1971 with Bob Welborn winning the first event and Bobby Allison the last. In between, several drivers dominated the action with Rex White winning six times (including four in a row in 1961-62) while Glen Wood and Junior Johnson visited Victory Lane four times each.

The track also hosted five NASCAR Convertible Series races with Welborn winning twice, Curtis Turner twice, and Wood once.

In this photo, the Myers brothers – Bobby (6-A) and Billy (4) – have the jump on the field with their front-row starting positions in a Saturday night special at Bowman Gran in 1952. The star-studded field also included Wood (22), and Turner (20).

This Jack Cansler photo from the Clyde Mangum collection was provided to Close Finishes by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Kenseth is shown here in a 1992 Close Finishes photo making his way through Turns 3-4 in an all-star event at Jefferson (WI) Speedway.

Kenseth would win track championships at Madison, Slinger and Kaukauna, WI before heading south to make his NASCAR debut in a Carl Wegner/Bobby Dotter-owned Busch (now Nationwide) Series car in 1996 earning his way into the Red Dog 300 at Charlotte through the ‘Hooligan Race.’ He started 37 ^th and finished 31 ^st running at the finish – six laps down to event winner Mark Martin.

Kenseth got his first shot in a Cup car on September 20, 1998 subbing in the McDonalds Ford for Bill Elliott at Dover. He started 16 ^th , finished 6 ^th , and the rest is history as he has made 328 Cup starts in his career winning 16 times while posting 88 top-five and 162 top-10 finishes.

To see a full photo gallery of Matt’s first late model stock car and several other of his significant racecars, please click on the following Close Finishes link. When there, just click on any photo to enlarge.

  http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=30

Here’s a 1989 Close Finishes shot of Terry Labonte and Rusty Wallace battling at Bristol. Wallace would go on to win his one and only NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) title on this day – November 19 – at Atlanta running a conservative race to finish 15 ^th and grab the crown.

Dale Earnhardt won the event, which was tragically marred by the death of Grant Adcox in a crash on Lap 202. Geoffrey Bodine was second in the event, followed by Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader and Darrell Waltrip. Kyle Petty, Bobby Hillin, Jr., Morgan Shepherd, Neil Bonnett and Lake Speed completed the Top-10 finishers.

Wallace won the title by a 12-point margin over Earnhardt. Mark Martin, who scored his first Cup win earlier that season at Rockingham, was third (-118 points) followed by Waltrip (-205) and Schrader (-390).

Seems like just yesterday.

To view more great vintage photos and moments, click on the Photo Archive button in the black bar running across the top of this box.

As always, thanks for looking.

Martin was known as “The Kid” back in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, a teenage sensation or ‘young gun’ if you will winning countless short-track races including the National Short Track Championships at Rockford (IL) Speedway as a 17-year-old back in 1977.

Martin’s familiar No. 2 was a staple at ARTGO, ASA and other special events like Short Track at Rockford and the Miller Nationals at Slinger Superspeedway. On any given night of the week each summer, you could see Martin racing at Wisconsin tracks like Capital (Madison), Wisconsin Dells, LaCrosse and Wisconsin International (Kaukauna) against the likes of short-track heavyweights Dick Trickle, Joe Shear, Alan Kulwicki, Rich Bickle Ted Musgrave and Jim Sauter.

It was the best of times.

Here’s a pair of photos – the top one, a Close Finishes victory lane shot of Martin from an ASA race at Capital in 1985 – and the other, a copy of Martin’s 1985 ASA ‘hero card.’

Thanks for taking a look back with us to seemingly simpler times when the racing – and nothing else – was important.

Enjoy.

Alan Kulwicki captured the 1992 then Winston Cup title spending about $1.2 million – about one third the amount of what his chief competitors were paying out to capture the championship.

This year, it’s estimated the Hendrick Motorsports/Jimmie Johnson effort was in the $25-$30 million range – more than 20 times more in just 16 seasons.

Here’s a Close Finishes shot of Kulwicki in even more Spartan times – behind the wheel of his Hardees sponsored American Speed Association Chevy at Madison International Speedway in 1985.

Simplier times.

Enjoy.

Yarborough, the first and only other driver to win three-consecutive Cup titles (1976-78), made his first NASCAR start at the age of 18 wheeling a Bob Weatherly Pontiac in the 1958 Southern 500 at Darlington. The Timmonsville, SC driver would go on to make 563 Cup starts winning 83 times – his first victory coming on June 27, 1965 at Valdosta, GA and the last at Charlotte in the 1985 Miller High Life 500.

In his 31-year driving career, Yarborough posted 255 top-five and 319 top-10 finishes. He won the Daytona 500 four times and also competed in the Indy 500 four times, his top finish a 10 ^th in the 1972 event.

Yarborough, shown here in a pair of 1973 photos, made his final start in Atlanta in 1988 finishing 10 ^th . He went on to field 371 entries as a car owner in the Cup Series winning just one time with John Andretti in 1997 at Daytona.

The legendary Johnson, a winner in 50 of his 313 career NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) events in his career, competed in 38 of his 44 starts in 1960 in this John Mason owned 1960 Chevy.

Sponsored by the Daytona Kennel Club, the ‘winged’ Chevy was one of Johnson’s most memorable cars winning the 1960 Daytona 500 in its first outing. Johnson beat Bobby Johns, Richard Petty, Lee Petty and Johnny Allen to the finish line by a whopping 26 seconds.

Johnson, the master of the short tracks, also drove the car to wins at South Boston, VA and Hickory, NC that year.

This Close Finishes shot was taken at Daytona this spring.

Biffle has won the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale three times taking the checkered flag in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Considering there have only been nine Cup races at the 1.5-mile south Florida oval, that’s pretty sporty.

Unfortunately for the Roush-Fenway driver, when he hasn’t won at Homestead, the results have been less than spectacular averaging a 24 ^th -place finish over three other events. In all, Biffle has a middle of the road 12.7 finishing average in six races at Miami – including his three victories.

So, if you are looking for a checkers or wreckers pick for your NASCAR fantasy league pick this weekend at Homestead, look no farther than ‘the Bif.’

By the way, here’s Biffle in the 2005 National Guard Post-It Ford at Daytona. Photo courtesy of Russ Lake.

Shown here in three 2006 Close Finishes shots taken from the spotter’s stand, the Homestead track became a reality with a groundbreaking on August 24, 1993. The track, which was the centerpiece of revitalization after Hurricane Andrew devastated the region a year earlier, opened with the Jiffy Lube Miami 300 NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide) race on November 5, 1995. Dale Jarrett won the race followed by Tim Fedewa, Jason Keller, Michael Waltrip and Mark Martin.

On a personal note, the race was the first major NASCAR event this reporter ever spotted making the call for Rich Bickle in the Dura Lube Ford Thunderbird. We started 17 ^th and finished 11 ^th .

Since that first event, the Homestead track has hosted 13 Nationwide races, 12 Truck Series and nine Cup Series events. Greg Biffle is the top winner in the Cup Series with three victories while Joe Nemechek has collected three wins to pace the Nationwide Series victory roll. There have been no repeat winners in the Truck Series at Homestead in 12 events.

Last year, Matt Kenseth copped the first-place trophy in the Cup race while Jeff Burton captured top honors in the Nationwide race. Johnny Benson, Jr. is the defending champion of the Truck Series event.

Here’s a Close Finishes photo of the father and son duo discussing race strategy prior to the spring Cup race at Bristol in 1992.

Shown here in a 1955 photo, the cars were piloted that season by Fireball Robers and Speedy Spiers. They have just come back from a successful night of racing (note the red clay on the wheels) and are getting the once over by engine builder Ray Fox   (standing by the M-1).

Earlier that year, Fox, a New Englander who moved to Daytona Beach after WW II, pulled an all-nighter to build a new engine for Roberts’ Fish Carburetors M-11955 Buick NASCAR entry. The next day, Roberts qualified fourth and led every lap on the old Daytona Beach Course. Later, the car was disqualified for having the pushrods be 30/100 of an inch too short and the victory was awarded to Tim Flock.

The date was February 28, 1955 – and it was the last time NASCAR disqualified a winner and took the victory away from a driver. Since then, all infractions have been subject to point's penalties or monetary fines.

There are so many cool things to note in this photo from the Jim Wilmore collection. First, check out the tow car on the M-1 – a 1953 Ford ‘woody’ station wagon. Also of note is the sprint car like wing carrying advertising for Fish Carburetors on top of the wagon.

On the M-1, notice heavy duty truck hubs have replaced the stock issue and the cut of the fenders away from the tires. The rear windows of both cars have been significantly expanded – one to see better and two, to take weight out of the cars.

Also - a factoid. The Fish Carburetor cars were numbered for the model of carburetor they used.

Finally, check out the little red towing light on the trunk of the M-1. Ah, the good old days.

This photo was provided by good buddy Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Located on top of the suites in Turns 1-2, the spotter’s stand at Phoenix gives a ‘full-field view’ of the track – by that, we mean you don’t have to turn your head to see the entire raceway. That’s where the good stuff ends.

Because you are on one end of the track, clearing your driver into and off of Turns 3-4 is very challenging. While improved since the removal of a pedestrian foot bridge over Turn 4, there really is no way to determine if your driver is clear from the spotter’s stand.

Additional challenges include clearing your driver into Turn 1 when he is blinded by the low, late afternoon desert sunsets and getting them through the dogleg on the back straight. Since its only one-mile around, you are busy constantly and earn your pay every time you spot at PIR.

For the record, we’ve spotted Phoenix nine times in Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series competition. Last year, it was a 21 ^st in the Truck Series race with Terry Cook and a 31 ^st with Richard Johns in the Nationwide race (running 13 ^th when we were crashed out by open wheel ‘sensation’ Dario Franchitti with less than 10 laps remaining). Our best finish at Phoenix is an 11 ^th – twice with Bickle in the Trucks in ’96 and in the ’99 Busch Series (now Nationwide) event.

Enjoy the events from Phoenix this weekend beginning with the Truck Series race Friday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

The one-mile Phoenix oval - the site of this weekend's NASCAR Truck, Nationwide and Sprint Cup races - lies in a valley below the Estrella Mountain range leaving plenty of room to roam. That’s certainly true of the fan experience, concession and souvenir area that stretches from the exit of Turn 4 all the way along the front stretch where it wraps to an end in Turn 2. The massive area (above) has all kinds of attractions, including big name national acts on a large stage area. There's even a full grocery store (large white tent at left) for the sea of campers adjacent to the fan experience area.

The infield is also always a rockin’ good time at Phoenix. Just about every square inch of the area is covered by garage area or campers on race weekend – all connected by the track's winding infield road course circuit. In the ‘good old days,’ the only way in and out of the track once a race was started was by a pedestrian walk-over in Turn 4. Today, there’s a massive modern tunnel under Turn 4 that allows easy access anytime.

Tomorrow – The track view from the spotter’s stand.

Have a good one. Enjoy.    

After all, Phoenix is the site of this week’s Truck, Nationwide and Cup races, right?

Here’s two views of the track a lot of fans at home watching in TV probably have never seen – the vast campground area and the mountains off the back side of the track.

Located outside Turn 2, the main camping area at Phoenix seemingly stretches on forever (we're jealous good friends Jim and Sheri Jackson are there right now!). That's also part of the souvenir village in the foreground.

This western looking direction makes for some of the most incredible orange and red sunsets over the desert. The low sunsets also make it near impossible to drive into Turn 1 in late afternoon racing conditions like those you will have in the Truck Series race Friday.

The second shot above is of the Estrella Mountain Range located behind the track. It's amazing place to camp for a race, but you have to be careful as these beautiful cactus laden mountains are the home to thousands of rattle snakes. Good place to stay away from and admire from a distance.

Tomorrow, Phoenix track shots.

Enjoy.

Petty, the winner of the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959, was battling with Johnny Beauchamp when his Plymouth got airborne and flew over the Turn 4 wall. Petty, who had won a pole and a race in the first two events of the season prior to Daytona, was seriously injured in the crash and did not compete again in 1961. In fact, the wreck all but ended the great champion’s career as he competed in just six more races over the next three years before calling it quits after an race at Watkins Glen, NY in 1964.

Of significant note in this photo is just how stock the cars were back then. Note the standard side rear window glass and the bench seat of Petty’s car. The fact Petty survived this crash at all is a wonder.

Many thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for this Chuck Little photo from the Marty Little collection.

Waltrip never had much luck at TMS running just four races there late in his career. His best finish – 24 ^th - was in his final appearance at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth oval in 2000.

Waltrip, shown here in his Pepsi Challenger duds from 1983, was much more successful at Texas World Speedway, a giant two-mile track located outside of College Station, TX.

From 1969-1981, NASCAR held eight Cup races at TWS. Waltrip raced in four of them winning one – the 1979 Texas 400 – and finishing in the top five three times. His average start was 5.5 never qualifying outside the top 10.

In all, Waltrip would take the green flag 809 times in his Cup career winning 84 times with 276 top-five and 390 top-10 finishes.

The site of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup, Nationwide and Truck tripleheader, TMS opened on April 6, 1997 with Jeff Burton driving the No. 99 Roush Racing Ford to a win in the Interstate Batteries 500.

Since then, Mark Martin, Terry Labonte, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Dale Jarrett, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson have all scored wins at the track.

While the Cup and Nationwide divisions have both held 15 events at TMS, it’s the Trucks that have had the most exposure at the Fort Worth track competing 21 times to date. Brendan Gaughan is the biggest Texas winner having captured four NCTS races in a row in 2002-2003 while Todd Bodine has a trio of victories. Ron Hornaday, Jr. is the most recent Texas victor having won the spring race this season.

The NASCAR tripleheader weekend at Texas will kick off with the Trucks on Friday followed by the Nationwide race Saturday. Sunday’s Cup race will take the green flag around 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Here’s a Close Finishes shot of the front straight and turns 1-2 area at Texas taken this spring from the spotter’s stand prior to Truck Series practice. Note the Speedway Club in turn 1 and the condos in turn 2. Who would have ever thought we’d ever have either at a race track?

Enjoy.

Edwards not only won Sunday’s Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta, but he also captured the spring Cup race at Texas. In what can only be described as a rare form of the ‘Texas Two-Step,’ Edwards will be shooing to score his second-straight Cup win (eighth this season) and second-straight at Texas. If he does, it will be his third overall Texas win and the 15 ^th victory of his NASCAR Cup career.

In all, there have been 15 Cup events at Texas Motor Speedway since the track opened with the 1997 Interstate Batteries 500. That race was won by Jeff Burton.

This year’s Chasers Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. join Burton and Edwards as previous Cup winners at the 1.5-mile Texas oval.

Here’s a great Close Finishes shot of Edwards’ No. 99 Ford exiting the garage area.

Enjoy.

Jarrett’s lone Atlanta win came in the Dixie 400 on June 7, 1964. Driving a 1964 Ford 'fastback' fielded by Bondy Long, Jarrett led 66 of the 267 laps on the old Atlanta International Raceway 1.5-mile oval to take home the $11,500 first prize. Richard Petty, Paul Goldsmith, Darrell Dieringer and Rex White completed the top-five finishers.

Pictured here is one of Jarrett’s Fords as it was displayed at Coastal Motor Company in Myrtle Beach, SC before the Grand National race at Rambi Raceway on July 7, 1963. Jarrett drove the famed No. 11 car to a win later that day.

As always, many thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for the use of this photo.

The victory at ‘The Rock’ was the third in a row for the red-hot Wallace, who had won the previous two weekends at Charlotte and North Wilkesboro. In all, Wallace and his No. 27 Pontiac would win six times in 1988, including the final race of the season at Atlanta giving him four victories in the last five events of the year. Wallace would carry that momentum into the 1989 season winning the NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) title.

Wallace also found time outside of his Winston (now Sprint) Cup duties to race in several other series in 1988. Here’s a classic and rare Close Finishes photo of Wallace in his own American Speed Association car at The Milwaukee Mile in July. 1988.

Please remember to check back daily for a new Close Finishes Feature Photo and short caption/story depicting a moment in racing history.

As always - Enjoy - and thanks for looking and supporting Close Finishes.

A consummate professional sports broadcaster, Benjamin turns 56 today. Born in Danbury, CT, Benjamin (right) began his career as a local broadcaster in 1976. Well before that, Benjamin was hooked on racing attending events throughout the northeast as a youth.

A local news reporter in multiple markets including Knoxville, TN, Quad-Cities, IA, San Antonio, TX, Toledo, OH, Roanoke, VA, and Waterbury, CT, Benjamin broke into NASCAR doing events for the Mizlou Television Network, SportsChannel and Motor Racing Network (MRN).

In the mid 1990’s, Benjamin became a familiar face to race fans worldwide when he was the anchor of RaceDay on TNN.

One of the first on-air personalities to be hired at SPEED, Benjamin has been the voice of several different series on multiple networks including Champ Car and USAR Hooters Pro Cup. One of the most respected and well liked broadcasters in the garage area, Benjamin also hosts a Carolina Panthers post-game radio show and co-hosts a shift on Sirius Satellite Radio’s NASCAR Channel 128.

Benjamin's multiple companies – including Rev Communications and Visioncast, Inc. – produce everything from race event telecasts and corporate information projects to media training (left) for aspiring and current motorsports professionals.

That’s where we come in. Close Finishes has been a partner in the media training component of Benjamin’s business for the last four years and it’s been our distinct pleasure to have worked with him for more than a decade beginning with the TNN days back in the 1990’s.

That said, Happy Birthday Rick and thanks for being such a great friend and supporter all these years.

Congrats on a great career - and many more great years to come.

The Atlanta track was opened on July 31, 1960 with the running of the Dixie 300. Fireball Roberts won the 200-lap race on the all-new 1.5-mile oval taking the checkered flag in front of Cotton Owens, Jack Smith, Bobby Johns and Fred Lorenzen. Roberts and his 1960 Pontiac collected $10,130 for the victory.

In all, Atlanta has hosted 98 NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup/Sprint Cup races since opening in 1960. Dale Earnhardt is the all-time winner at the track with nine victories while Cale Yarborough has seven. Richard Petty and Bobby Labonte have six wins each.

Last year, Jimmie Johnson won both 500-mile events at Atlanta while Kyle Busch captured the race there this spring.

The NASCAR Truck Series will be the support event at Atlanta this Saturday. Race time is 1:30 p.m.

Here’s a 2007 Close Finishes shot of the Atlanta front stretch and garage area as seen from the spotter’s stand.

Enjoy.

The NASCAR Cup Series all-time record for the longest streak without having an DNF held by Herman Beam at 84 races. Beam – nicknamed 'Herman The Turtle' because of his slow and cautious driving style – set the mark from April 30, 1961 through March 10, 1963. The streak ended at Atlanta when Beam blew out a clutch and wasn’t running at the finish.

Cliff Stewart, Major Melton, Floyd Powel, Pete Stewart, Worth McMillion, Petty Enterprises, Possum Jones, Wade Younts and Bud Moore (the most with 34 races) saw Weatherly wheel their cars to a combined season record of three wins, 20 top-five and 35 top-10 finishes in ’63.

That earned Weatherly the 1963 title by more than 2,200 points (33,398-31,170) over Richard Petty.

In the two races at Martinsville that season, Weatherly started 24 ^th and finished sixth in the Virginia 500 spring race and in the fall Old Dominion 500, ‘Little Joe’ came home third after pushing off seventh. Both entries were potent Bud Moore Mercurys.

Martinsville is the site of this week’s Cup race, event number six in the 2008 Chase.

This photo is of Weatherly’s car after the July 7, 1963 race at Rambi Raceway (Myrtle Beach, SC). The No. 2 Cliff Stewart owned1962 Pontiac and Weatherly sped their way to a third-place finish in the 100-mile event on the half-mile oval behind winner Ned Jarrett and runner-up Buck Baker.

Note the car was towed to the race track with a tow bar. Think of it – 45 years ago, the NASCAR champion’s car came to the track on a tow bar. The stuff we have now is Star Wars compared to that. Then again, Weatherly earned a total of $74,624 in prize money for his 53-race season championship. Drivers/teams get paid more than that just to start a single race in most cases these days.

For Weatherly, the 1963 Old Dominion event would be his last at the famed Martinsville .526-mile track. After winning the 1962 and 1963 NASCAR crowns, Weatherly was chasing what would have then been a first three-peat in NASCAR racing when he died on January 19, 1964 in a crash at Riverside, CA – the fifth race of the 1964 season.

Weatherly’s final Martinsville Grand National tally reads 13 starts, one win (1961 Old Dominion 500), six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.

Thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ) for another great photo and memory.

Crazy.

While we’re not sure, we’re thinking one of these guys might have been Chris Economaki, who turns 88 today. Economaki - still a major voice in motorsports thanks to the Bible of racing trade papers, National Speed Sport News – saw his first race on a board track in Atlantic City at age 9.

Economaki wrote his first motorsports column at age 14 and became editor of Speed Sport in 1950. His television debut at the Daytona Firecracker 250 in 1961 put Economaki in our living rooms for every major race for the next 40 years. Simply stated, if it was important in motorsports, Economaki was the guy telling us about it.

His awards and hall of fame memberships too numerous to mention, Economaki is simply referred to as the “Dean of American Motorsports.”

Happy Birthday, Chris. Same to legendary racer Red Farmer, all-time good guy Roland Wlodyka, and impressive young wheelman Chad McCumbee.

By the way…  

That’s Carl Burris of Leaksville, NC leading the 73-car field into the first turn at Daytona in the above photo. Burris, the No. 20 inside (1954 Ford), sat on the pole along with Banjo Mathews (#49 outside) completing the front row. Fireball Roberts (No. 22 inside second row) and eventual winner Bubba Farr (No. 81 outside second row) are also shown here in this photo from the Clyde Mangum collection. Photo courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Baker was extremely successful in the mid 1950’s scoring 24 of his victories in 1956 and 1957. Baker won on all kinds of tracks – including Martinsville Speedway – the site of this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup event.

Baker make 32 starts at the famed .526-mile Martinsville oval winning in both ’56 and ’57. Baker also had five poles at the paperclip oval and posted a career 15.7 finishing average at the track.

Here, Baker is shown with his familiar No. 87 racer – this one a 1958 Chevy prepared by Crawford Clements and Jess Rhodes. This is a Mike Clements photo and was provided to Close Finishes courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com )

The pair have won eight of the last 11 races at the track, each capturing the checkered flag four times during the five year span.

Gordon has seven total wins at the track and a staggering 25 Top-10 finishes in 31 career races at Martinsville. Johnson, meanwhile, has 12 Top-10 efforts in just 13 career Martinsville starts.

Here, this Close Finishes photo shows the two cars in the Martinsville garage area.

Speeds of up to 200 miles per hour entering the corners are common on the 1.5-mile oval which features 24-degree banking in turns and five degrees of banking on the straights.

Because of the track’s ‘tri-oval’ or ‘D-shaped’ configuration, handling is a premium as cars are turning most of the time. Not counting the bend in the front stretch, the length of the turns is still longer than the straight as Turns 1-2 are 2,400 feet long while Turns 3-4 total 2,050 feet. That’s compared to a 1,980-foot front stretch and a 1,500-foot back stretch.

This Close Finishes photo gives you a look at the front stretch and part of Turns 3-4-from the spotter’s stand high on top of the main grandstand.

Taken from the roof and the spotter’s stand at Lowes, this Close Finishes photos shows the dozens of souvenir trailers that are present at this and every NASCAR event. A multi-million dollar business annually, souvenirs are a large part of a driver’s salary. In the case of drivers like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., souvenirs provide more income than their annual base driving salary.

For the fans, the souvenir area is chocked full of things to buy, free sponsor exhibits and product giveaways. It’s a must see at every track, especially Lowes.

The track was originally constructed by racing promoter O. Bruton Smith and NASCAR driver Curtis Turner in 1959 at a cost of $1.25 million dollars. The facility opened on June 19, 1960 with Joe Lee Johnson driving a 1960 Chevy owned by Paul McDuffie to victory the inaugural World 600. Johnson won the race by a whopping four laps over Johnny Beauchamp, Bobby Johns, Gerald Duke and Buck Baker.

Since then, Charlotte has hosted a total of 99 top division NASCAR Cup races as well as contesting 53 Nationwide Series events and six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.

Saturday’s 100 ^th Cup race at Charlotte – the Bank of America 500 – will take the green flag at approximately 7:37 p.m. Eastern Time. Jeff Gordon is the defending race champion.

Shown here is Matt Kenseth’s Ford in the garage area at the recent test. Kenseth, one of the 12 ‘Chasers’ this season, won his first-ever NASCAR Winston (now Sprint Cup) race at Charlotte when he captured the 2000 Coca-Cola 600.

Kenseth, who has eight Top-10 finishes in 18 career Cup starts at Charlotte, will be one of the favorites to win this time around when they take the green flag this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

To see a full photo gallery of the recent Charlotte Cup test, please click on the following Close Finishes web link -

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=41

The win was a controversial one for the Thomasville, NC native as he crashed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson to get the victory.

To date, Vickers – now a member of the Red Bull Toyota Cup team – has not scored another Cup win.

Here’s Vickers and his winning 2006 Chevy rolling into the garage area at Daytona. Photo courtesy of Russ Lake.

Jarrett, who moved from the cockpit to the television booth fulltime this season, made 668 career Cup starts – 42 of them on the 2.66-mile Talladega oval. The Hickory, NC native scored a win in the 1998 Winston 500 to go with his 2005 triumph. Jarrett also had 11 Top-5 and 16 Top-10 finishes at Talladega in his career.

Here, Jarrett (88) is shown battling on the highbanks of Daytona in a 2005 Russ Lake photo.

The Sprint Cup division will be in action at Talladega this Sunday.

Hamilton piloted a Chevrolet owned by Andy Petree to the win over Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin and Bobby Labonte in the April 22, 2001 event. It was the last Cup win for Hamilton, who moved on to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series full time in 2003.

Hamilton, shown here after an NCTS victory at Darlington in 2003, went on to win the 2004 Truck Series title. Hamilton passed away on January 7, 2007 after a short battle with cancer.

Baker’s most memorable accomplishment at Talladega would come in a Dodge Charger Daytona in 1970. On March 24 of that year, Baker became the first man to break 200 miles an hour average in a stock car on a closed course when he toured the 2.66-mile Talladega oval in an average speed of 200.447 miles per hour.

Here’s a picture of Baker’s Dodge taken from a Chrysler Corporation media kit of the day. Note for all the enhancements made to the car such as the pointed nose and the huge wing in the rear, the vehicle still had original chrome window moldings and stock glass (including the vent window).

Also, safety features have come a long way since then as there is no window net and Baker is wearing an open-face helmet.

It must have been a real rush driving this car – especially with a true 426 Hemi under the hood.

Brickhouse, who made just 39 starts in his NASCAR career, was in the right place at the right time on September 14, 1969, when he substituted for Charlie Glotzbach in the inaugural Talladega 500. Glotzbach, a member of the Professional Drivers Association (PDA), boycotted the event with a number of other top drivers citing tire and track safety issues for the walkout.

That left the seat in Glotzbach’s potent No. 99 Ray Nichels Engineering Dodge Charger Daytona wide open and Brickhouse gladly stepped in. Racing in just his 26 ^th career Cup event, Brickhouse won the Talladega race by seven seconds over Jim Vandiver, Ramo Stott, Bobby Issac and Dick Brooks.

Brickhouse would make only 13 starts over the rest of his career after the Talladega win, his best finish a sixth in the 1970 Daytona 500. He finished his career with one win, four Top-5 and 13 Top-10 finishes.

There was no pre-race show or flyover here, but just seeing these cars on the starting grird for this NASCAR Modified Sportsman race in the mid-1950’s had to be plenty exciting. A throwback to NASCAR’s days before 1949 when it introduced the ‘Strictly Stock’ division, the Modified Sportsman series was a huge hit with the fans. That was in large part because they were much faster than any other NASCAR racer of the time employing quick-change rear ends, hi-rise manifolds with multiple carburetors and exotic ignition systems.

In years, the division evolved simply into the NASCAR Sportsman Division and eventually became what we today now watch each week as the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

In this photo, Dink Widenhouse (No. B-29) and Banks Simpson (No. 78) are ready to take the field of Modifieds to the green flag. Further back on the starting grid, that’s Fireball Roberts in the No. 11, and Jimmy Thompson in the 0.

This Edgar Reading photo from the Brian Simpson collection was provided to Close Finishes by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

The three 1957 Ford racers pictured here were factory entries fielded by team owner Pete DePaolo at a March 10, 1957 NASCAR Convertible race at Champion Speedway in Fayetteville, NC. Note that despite the ‘factory backing,’ the team still has few luxuries. Each of the cars were towed to the event with a stake bed truck and there are few additional tools to work on the cars. No fancy haulers or tons of equipment here. We also can’t help but notice how Spartan the pit area is and the lack of interior and exterior safety walls around the track.

Glen Wood, driving a Wood Brothers Ford, won $620 for capturing the 150-lap event on the .333-mile Champion oval that day. DePaolo’s drivers didn’t fare too badly as Joe Weatherly (No.12) was second, Marvin Panch was fifth in the No. 98 (not pictured), Fireball Roberts brought the No. 22 home seventh and Curtis Turner (No. 26) was 17 ^th after starting sixth.

This photo is from the “Genuine Jack” Kissling collection and was made available to Close Finishes by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Cup testing at Lowes continues today.

To see a full photo gallery of Tuesday’s testing activities at Lowes, please click on the following Close Finishes web link. When there, just click on any photo to enlarge.

Check out all the famous drivers here from NASCAR formative years.

Row 1 (left to right) – Shorty York, Hassel Reid, E.H. Weddle, Jr. Apperson, Pee Wee Jones, Lewis Marshall, Unknown, Roland Stone, George Holt.

Row 2 – Slim Rominger, Ted Swaim, Jack Hollaway, Tom Webster, Eb Clifton, Fred Goad, Jimmy Lewallen, Bill France.

Row 3 – Curtis Myers, Billy Myers, Bobby Myers, Jim Paschal, Jim Cooper, Carl Burris.

Standing – Bob Lancaster, Enoch Staley, Harry Sink, Alvin Hawkins, Johnny Bruner.

This is a Jack Cansler group from the Clyde Mangum collection. Photo provided to Close Finishes by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.come ).

Biffle, winner of the first two races of the 2008 NASCAR championship chase, is the defending race winner capturing the 2007 Lifelock 400 at the Kansas 1.5-mile oval.   Biffle won the event under caution as yellow fever slowed the race 12 times for 54 laps. Clint Bowyer, Jimmy Johnson, Casey Mears and Jeff Gordon completed the Top-5 finishers at Kansas last season.

Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Kansas will take the green flag at 2 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC.

Kyle Busch won the most recent race there in early June this year with Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Martin Truex, Jr. and Carl Edwards completing the list of nine-straight winners.

Biffle, shown here in a Russ Lake photo, may have the upper hand coming into Sunday’s 400-mile event having won the most recent race on the tour at New Hampshire last weekend.

‘The Silver Fox,’ shown here in a 1960’s publicity photo from the Close Finishes archive, won three-straight Dover events in 1972-1973 wheel a Wood Brothers Mercury to Victory Lane in each event.

Pearson went on to win 103 NASCAR events in his career putting him second only behind Richard Petty in the all-time victory log.

‘The King’ won seven of those events, including the first two in 1969 and 1970. Petty actually drove a Ford to the inaugural victory in the 1969 Mason Dixon 300 at Dover before taking the same event in 1970 in a Plymouth. In all, Petty won three of the first four races at the one-mile Delaware oval.

Petty also won at Dover in a Dodge, Chevrolet and a Pontiac, the last of these brands providing Petty win No. 199 of his career in the Budweiser 500 on May 20, 1984.

In all, Petty completed 18,919 laps a Dover leading 2,205 of them. Petty was running at the finish in 32 of his 46 Dover events posting a 12.8 finishing average on the strength of 26 top-10 efforts.

Here, Petty is shown in an early 1960’s photo we secured as a 13 year old at the Chicago Auto Show in 1966. Note the open face helmet and the crazy sun visor.

‘Awesome Bill from Dawsonville’ captured the spring Bud 500 by a whopping 21 seconds over Morgan Shepherd and Rusty Wallace before nipping Dale Earnhardt and Wallace in the September 18 Delaware 500. Note that both events were 500 miles – or 500 laps on the then asphalt ‘Monster Mile.’

Elliott would go on to win the Winston Cup title in 1988, but not everything went his way that season. In a special appearance at Rockford Speedway, Elliott’s No. 9 Coors Late Model wound up in the fence.

These two Close Finishes photos are somewhat unique as this rare Elliott Late Model car was prepared especially for this event, raced this day only and never saw the track again.

The father and son combination of Don and Tony Schumacher have won four-straight Top Fuel titles and will ride a six-race winning streak into this weekend’s Carolina Nationals at zMAX Drag Strip at Lowes Motor Speedway.

Here, Schumacher’s Top Fuel ‘rail’ is pictured in the paddock at a recent NHRA event. The car, which costs approximately $180,000, has about 8,000 horsepower and uses 11-12 gallons of nitromethane fuel in just one run down the drag strip.

The car goes from a standing stop to 100 miles per hour in one-tenth of a second.

Amazing.

Here’s two 1970’s vintage Funny Cars that we came across at a recent NHRA event. These are so cool.

You will be able to see cars like these – as well as all the top current Funny Car stars in action – this weekend at the inaugural Carolina Nationals at zMAX Drag Strip at Concord on the grounds of Lowes Motor Speedway.

The four-day event gets underway Thursday and runs through Sunday.

Close Finishes photos.

Unlike other forms of racing, the NHRA makes the pit and paddock areas open to the fans so they can get a close up look at what goes on behind the scenes. That makes for some very interesting viewing, like watching a team literally tear down an entire car and rebuild it between rounds.

Here, an NHRA team gets ready to retool a Funny Car (sans the body).

Drag racing comes to Charlotte this weekend with the opening of the Z-Max Drag Strip at Lowes Motor Speedway. The inaugural Carolina Nationals four-day event gets underway on Thursday and runs through Sunday at the Concord, NC facility.

With the National Hot Rod Association coming to Charlotte for the first-ever Carolina Nationals at the all-new drag racing facility at Lowes Motor Speedway, we thought it would be cool to post some drag photos throughout the week.

Here’s one of our favorites – a simple picture of a rear tire off a Top Fuel dragster. If you ever wanted a clear image as to just how powerful these cars are, check out this meat. It’s massive – and it grows to nearly twice its size when the pedal hits the metal off the starting line. Geez, if only Goodyear could make tires like this for NASCAR.

We can’t wait to get out to Lowes this weekend to take more great shots and bring you the sights and scenes from what is being called the most amazing drag strip to ever be created.

Look for more drag racing photos throughout the week as we march toward one of the biggest motorsports events to debut in a long, long time – the Carolina Nationals NHRA event at the Z-Max Dragway at Lowes Motor Speedway.

Owens, winner of the 1959 Capital City 200 at Richmond (the site of this week’s Cup race), captured nine victories in 160 events during his driving career that spanned from 1950 through 1964. In those 160 events, Owens finished in the top 10 84 times, more than half the races he competed in.

A mechanical genius according to many, Owens made an even bigger mark on the sport as a team owner fielding cars for top drivers such as David Pearson, Buddy Baker, Ralph Earnhardt, Pete Hamilton, Charlie Glotzbach, Bobby Issac and Bobby Allison.

In all, Owens’ cars competed in 406 NASCAR events winning 38 times while posting 177 top five and 241 top 10 finishes.

Here, Owens is shown with the No. 6 Dodge driven by David Pearson after the Dixie 400 at Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) on June 7th, 1964. It was an off day for Owens as Pearson finished 23 ^rd while a team car driven by Earl Balmer came home 30 ^th . Owens was still congenial enough to pose for this photo taken by Perry Allen Wood (author of Silent Speedways of the Carolinas ) as Pearson's car was loaded on the 'transporter' after the race.

Photo courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Thompson made his NASCAR debut on October 1, 1950 finishing 21 ^st in a ‘Strictly Stock’ race at Vernon Speedway in Vernon, NY. From there, the Monroe, NC driver went on to win 20 NASCAR events in 197 career starts.

Fourteen of those wins came in the years 1956-1958 when Thompson wheeled a potent Chrysler 300 (and Dodges) for team owner Carl Kiekhaefer.   He finished third in the NASCAR championship standings four-straight years from 1956-1959.

Shown here in a 1958 photo from the Nina Cox / Archie Downs collection, Thompson would drive just about anything including a NASCAR Modified Sportsman car. This photo was taken just prior to the running of the last NASCAR Modified Sportsman race on the old Daytona beach/highway course that year. The following season, Daytona International Speedway was opened.

Thompson left the NASCAR ranks in 1962, preferring to race late model stock cars in his native North Carolina. He came back for one final NASCAR Grand National (now Cup) race finishing 16 ^th in the 1971 World 600 at Charlotte.

Thompson passed away less than a year later on April 2, 1972 – one day short of his 46 ^th birthday – suffering a heart attack while competing in a late model stock car race at the old Metrolina Speedway outside Charlotte, NC.

Photo courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Kulwicki, driving the No. 32 Hardees Ford Thunderbird owned by Bill Terry, started 32 ^nd and finished 19 ^th . He completed 392 of the 400 laps and was paid $1,250 for the effort. Note Kulwicki's battered car and the double guardrail in the background on the old half-mile Richmond Fairgrounds oval in this photo. Richmond is the site of this week's Cup race.

Kulwicki competed in five Cup races in 1985 preserving his rookie status for the following season where he would win the NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Award. His best 1985 finish in those five events was at Charlotte where he came home 13 ^th .

Kulwicki would go on to win five times in 207 NASCAR Winston Cup starts. Two of those wins, along with 11 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes, came in 1992 when the Greenfield, WI native won the Winston Cup championship.

Kulwicki never got a chance to defend that title perishing in a plane crash en route to Bristol, TN on April 1, 1993.

Here’s a group photo of a bunch of driver’s that isn’t quite as famous. This is the starting lineup at Princess Anne Speedway in Norfolk, VA in 1951. While we’re sure there’s a host of notable drivers in the photo, the only one we’re sure of is Joe Weatherly (Harley uniform)   at the right side of the back row.

Note the varied dress of the competitors. No fancy, pristine clean fire suits for these guys. Just a bunch of regular guys who loved fast cars.

Photo courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Long before Yarbrough was knocking it out of the park at Darlington, he was doing the same on the NASCAR Limited Sportsman ranks. Here’s an early 1960’s photo from the Ron Brown collection of a 30’s vintage Ford Sedan Yarbrough campaigned in the Southeast.

Pretty cool stuff.

Yarbrough went on to win 14 NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) races in 198 career starts. His best season came in 1969 winning seven of 30 starts, including the two Darlington events, the Daytona 500 and Firecracker 400, the World 600 at Charlotte, the Dixie 500 at Atlanta, and the American 500 at Rockingham.

Photo courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

White’s crowning achievement came in the 1960 season when he won the NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) championship. The Spartanburg, SC driver competed in 233 NASCAR events in career winning 28 times. The small, but powerful, White also posted 110 top-five and 163 top-10 finishes – an amazing 69 percent top-10 finishing percentage.

Here, White’s Crawford Clements’ 1963 Mercury is loaded and ready to go to the 1963 Southern 500 at Darlington. White started 10 ^th and finished sixth in the event won by Fireball Roberts.

Note the Chevy 'rollback' the car was transported to and from the racetrack with. It's a far cry from the 18-wheelers we have today.

White, along with several other stars from the past, will be featured guests at the inaugural Darlington Raceway Historic Event this weekend. Tickets are just $15 per day ($25 for the weekend) and more than 200 vintage coupes, modified, sportsman, NASCAR and Indy cars are expected to be on display at the meet.

This is a Mike Clements photo and it was provided by Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Mayne earned $100 for a 16 ^th -place finish in his first NASCAR start – the second of two 1963 Daytona 500 qualifying races. His first point’s paying race came a couple of weeks later at Spartanburg, SC where he crashed on the first lap, was credited with last place (21 ^st ) and was paid $50.

Despite the slow beginning, Mayne – who was stationed at Shaw Air Force Base near Sumter, SC for part of his racing career – continued to compete posting his first top-five (Hickory) and four top-10 finishes in 20 starts during the 1963 season.

Mayne’s best career finish was a fourth in the 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington (SC) Raceway. He is shown here in this Dargan Watts photo wheeling a Tom Hunter-owned Chevrolet Chevelle in the 1969 Southern 500 to a 15 ^th -place finish.

Note the stock bumpers, grille and window glass. There's also no spoiler or window net on Mayne's car - standard for the day - and a far cry from the safety standards in effect today.

Mayne ended his career the same way he started it – crashing out of the 1974 Southern 500 at Darlington. He was officially credited with a 39 ^th -place finish and retired after the race. Mayne died on January 5, 1998, at the age of 63.

Photo courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

That said – and given we’re traditionalists and think the Southern 500 should still be run every Labor Day Weekend at Darlington - we’re going to run several vintage Darlington shots in our Feature Photo section this week.

Here, Marvin Panch (No. 21) and Jimmy Pardue (No. 54) battle up high while Cale Yarborough rides the apron in the No. 52 Ford down low in the 1962 Rebel 300 at Darlington. Panch went on to steer his Wood Brothers Ford convertible to a second-place finish behind Nelson Stacy. Pardue was a respectable 10 ^th while Yarborough, making just his eighth career Grand National (now Sprint Cup) start, finished 13 ^th .

This Tom Kirkland photo is courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place ( www.raceplace.zoomshare.com ).

Reiser, the longtime crew chief for Matt Kenseth in NASCAR, is pictured here in this 1988 Close Finishes photo at Rockford Speedway in Illinois. Reiser was an excellent driver winning track championships at Slinger and Capital (Madison) Speedways in Wisconsin.

The Allentown, WI native tried his hand at NASCAR racing in 1993 starting 17 ^th and finishing 21 ^st in his first Busch Series outing at The Milwaukee Mile in 1993.

In all, Reiser would compete in 29 NBS events through the 1997 season with his best effort a ninth at the old Nashville Fairgrounds race track in 1995. Reiser also competed in three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races in 1996.

Reiser gave up the seat in his family-owned NBS car in 1998 – first to Tim Bender – and then to Kenseth midway through the season. The latter association proved to be one of the most successful crew chief/driver combinations in the sport winning 16 NASCAR Cup events through the 2007 season and the 2003 Cup championship together.

Today, Reiser oversees all the teams at Roush Racing.

An enterprising writer and photog – as well as knowing Wallace pretty well from the Wisconsin short track wars at the time – we pointed our Close Finishes cameras at Wallace throughout most of the day.

The results were dozens of great photos – including these three.

The first is a shot of Wallace’s 1986 Pontiac 2+2 Aerocoupe. The second is Wallace exiting the car at the gas pumps after the race and the third is a great shot of Wallace and his winning ride in victory lane.

Great memories – one and all – of Rusty’s first win and our first NASCAR race.

For a full image gallery of the 1986 Valleydale 500 at Bristol, please click on the following Close Finishes web link -

http://www.closefinishes.com/photog/thumbnails.php?album=17

This view is from Turn 2 looking back at Turn 1 and the end of the front stretch. In addition to the very cool looking modified coupes ready to rock and roll on the already then mile-high Bristol banks, check out the single guardrail at the top of the banking.

Additionally, the large dirt hill in the background is the where grass eventually grew in and fans would sit there when the grandstand was full.

Thanks to Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place for this image.

Well, here’s proof we ‘ain’t’ crazy.

It’s 1986, and Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace race for the lead three-wide coming off Turn 2 in the Valleydale 500. Wallace went on to win his first NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) race that day.

There was plenty of action all around the track at Bristol back in the day. In the second photo here, Terry Labonte (44) leads a pack of cars off Turn 2 including Wallace (27), Bill Elliott (9), Earnhardt (3), Richard Petty (43) and Ricky Rudd (15). Not the wide open spaces outside the Turn 2 wall and the gate in the wall where teams hand-trucked all of their equipment into the infield. The turn into the track and the steepness of the banking didn’t allow the transporters to safely access the infield.

It’s not 36 degrees, probably never was.

For years, the banking at Bristol was trumpeted at that lofty number just because it sounded great. Nobody cared. It was banked damn high and the racing was great.

In 1992, Bristol underwent a fundamental change when the track was resurfaced with concrete. Tight spots make for great racing, but the original concrete surface took away some of the ‘raceability’ of Bristol. It was also bumpy and hard to get traction on.

Last year, Bristol was resurfaced again, this time using state-of-the- art laser guided paving machines. The results were spectacular as the track is super smooth and the transitions off the turns have been softened allowing a return to side by side racing.

And then there’s the banking. As you can see by the photo below, the use of this team angle finder (they use it to set up the scales) clearly shows the banking at Bristol is 27.8 degrees.

No matter – it’s smooth and it’s fast. What more do you need?

Come back all this week as we go back in the Close Finishes photo vault to bring you some vintage 1980’s photos. Tomorrow, three-wide at Bristol.

While the first two MIS wins were in ‘The King’s’ famous Dodge Charger, the third was in a Chevy in 1979. Petty broke out of the Mopar mold in 1978 and suffered through his first winless season since 1959. By 1979, Petty had the Bowtie bomber figured out and returned to his winning was capturing five events – including the Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan.

The images included here are of a 70’s vintage Petty Chevy that we ran across at the North Carolina Hall of Fame and Museum in Mooresville, NC a couple of years back. Note the still stock touches on the car including the front and rear chrome bumpers, windshield and back glass, and original body panels. Also check out the rear spoiler, new to Cup cars in the 1970’s.

To see more images of this car, please click on the following Close Finishes Photo Gallery link below that will take you to a 29-image gallery of many more cars in the NC Hall of Fame and Museum.

As always, thanks for looking. Here’s the link -

Arrington, a staunch Chrysler supporter, campaigned Mopars most of his career and made all but the final six of those MIS starts in a Dodge, Plymouth or Chrysler.

Arrington, a Martinsville, VA native, took the green flag in the first of his 561 career Cup starts on December 1, 1963, at the old Jacksonville Speedway – the same day Wendell Scott scored the first and only NASCAR Cup Series win to date by an African American driver. Arrington started 20 ^th and finished eighth that day in a 1963 Dodge.

While Arrington never won a NASCAR Cup race, he did grind out 15 Top-5 and 103 Top-10 finishes in his 25-year driving career that ended on July 2, 1988 at Daytona. The week before that event, Arrington made his final Michigan appearance finishing 23 ^rd in the Miller High Life 400.

Arrington's NASCAR legacy lives on today as his son - Joey - is one of the top engine builders in the sport. The younger Arrigton, who still resides in Martinsville, has also kept the family Mopar legacy alive supplying engines to BHR Virginia - a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team that campaigns Dodge trucks in the division.

One of Arrington’s trademark Mopar is shown here – the familiar No. 67 Dodge – a 1964 model at Martinsville in 1966. This is a Walt Wimer photo and and is courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place – www.raceplace.zoomshare.com .

In all, Hylton has competed in 601 NASCAR Cup events since making his debut at Manassas (VA) Speedway in 1964 where he wheeled a Bondy Long Ford to a 19 ^th -place finish.

Hylton won twice in his career – on the old half-mile at Richmond in 1970 and at Talladega in 1972.

A warrior of the days when NASCAR ran more than 50 races a year, Hylton finished second in the points three times and third four times from 1966 through 1975.

Here, Hylton is shown at Daytona in February 1966 in Bud Hartje's '65 Dodge. He started 23rd and finished ninth that year. Note the hint of a yellow rear bumper that signified Hylton was a rookie at the time.

Hylton drove his last Cup race in 1993 and campaigned a car in the ARCA Series through the 2006 season. Earlier this year – at the age of 74 – Hylton competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Daytona finishing 36 ^th .

This photo is from the Marty Little collection and is courtesy of Jack Walker and Carolina Race Place – www.raceplace.zoomshare.com

Pearson posted nine wins, 17 top-5 and 20 top-10 finishes in 29 career NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) Series starts from 1969-1986 on the two-mile Michigan oval.

His first win came from the pole in the second Cup race held at the track in 1969 – the Yankee 400. Pearson would win 10 poles in all during his career at Michigan including an amazing six in a row from 1976-1979.

His average start at Michigan in 29 events was a stellar 7.1 and his finishing average was 12.1

Pearson, who is second all time in NASCAR Cup Series wins with 105, made his final Michigan appearance in 1986 starting 41 ^st and finishing 15 ^th in the Champion Spark Plug 400.

Pearson is shown here in a 1965 photo that was part of a Chrysler Corporation press kit given to this writer (I was 13 at the time) at the 1966 Chicago Auto Show.

The spotter’s stand gives us a wide variety of vistas at each track NASCAR visits. Here’s a trio of shots we took last season at Michigan International Speedway, the site of this week’s NASCAR Cup and Nationwide Series events.

Opened on June 16, 1969, MIS is a two-mile oval that has hosted 78 Cup and 16 Nationwide events. Cale Yarborough won the first event wheeling a Wood Brothers Mercury beating David Pearson, Richard Petty, LeRoy Yarbrough and Charlie Glotzbach to the finish. Pole sitter Donnie Allison set fast time with a lap of 160.135 miles per hour.

In last year’s August event at Michigan, Jeff Gordon was on the pole with a lap of 189.026 – a tick under 30 miles per hour faster than Allison’s inaugural effort. Meanwhile, it was Kurt Busch winning the race followed by Martin Truex, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin.

The NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide) made its first appearance at Michigan in August of 1992 with Todd Bodine beating Hut Stricklin, Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott and Harry Gant to the finish stripe. Last year in this event, Hamlin was the winner.

The Close Finishes images here are of Turn 4 and the front stretch, garage area, and souvenir/camping areas at Michigan. If you’re headed that way this weekend, enjoy – but get there early as traffic can be slow going in and out of the isolated Irish Hills facility.

Here’s another tip – If you can find your way into the infield at Michigan Saturday evening, be ready for a wild party. Next to Talladega, it’s one of the best.

Have a great time.

The Rookie of the Year in the Indianapolis 500 that same season, Richmond quickly established himself as a top NASCAR driver winning his first race on the old road course at Riverside, CA. in 1982.

Richmond’s best season came in 1986 when he wheeled his No. 25 Rick Hendrick owned Chevy Monte Carlo to seven victories and eight poles finishing third in the final Cup standings.

One of those wins came in NASCAR’s return to Watkins Glen International on August 10 of that year. The division hadn’t raced at Watkins Glen since 1965 and the 18 ^th event of the 1986 season saw Richmond beat Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott and Neil Bonnett to the finish stripe.

Richmond would go on to win 13 races in his Cup career, which was tragically shortened when he died of AIDS on August 13, 1989. Because AIDS was a little understood disease at the time, Richmond was ostracized by many in the NASCAR community and today is still not given the recognition he deserves as one of the sport’s most talented drivers ever.

Richmond is shown here in a Close Finishes photo wheeling his No. 25 Chevy at Bristol in 1986.

Wallace got his first win at Watkins Glen in 1987 - just his second start at the track. Two years later, Wallace piloted his No. 27 Kodiak Pontiac to a 1.06-second victory over Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt. The win was one of six Wallace scored that season en route to capturing his first and only NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) championship.

Wallace, shown here in a 1989 Close Finishes photo, notched his final road course win at Sears Point in 1996. Wallace ended his career with 55 victories, 202 top-5 and 349 top-10 finishes in 706 Cup starts.  

Since then, 14 different drivers have visited Victory Lane at the Finger Lakes Region road course. In the mid-1990’s Mark Martin dominated the track and the competition winning three-straight races.

Martin, shown here in a Russ Lake photo, captured his first Watkins Glen win in 1993 and followed it up with a dominating performance in the1994 event. One year later, the Batesville, AK ace hit the trifecta capturing the now Bud At The Glen 90-lap race beating Wally Dallenbach and Jeff Gordon to the finish by 1.01 seconds.

In all, Martin has competed at Watkins Glen 19 times turning in a stellar record of 12 top-5 and 16 top-10 finishes. His average finish in those 19 events is a staggering 6.9.

Ironically, Martin is not entered in this weekend’s Cup event at Watkins Glen as Aric Almirola will pilot the No. 8 DEI entry this time around.

A product of the old NASCAR Sportsman circuit, McDuffie began his career in the 1950’s as shown here in this photo from the Bert Dew collection. Eventually, McDuffie made his way to the NASCAR Grand National ranks (now Sprint Cup) debuting at Rambi Raceway in Myrtle Beach in 1963 where he started 14 ^th and finishing 12 ^th .

McDuffie, an independent racer (no factory help) in the truest sense, had a solid career despite not winning a race. His best points finish came in 1971 when he came home ninth in the final championship standings. If McDuffie raced in today’s ‘Chase’ format, he would have made the final show (top 12) six of the eight years from 1971-1978.

In the final years of his career, the cigar chomping McDuffie struggled to compete as the sport began to change into a big dollar game. Always the competitor, McDuffie was piloting his familiar No. 70 in the 1991 Bud At The Glen when he slid off course on Lap 4 and crashed. Unfortunately, the August 11 incident took his life. He was 52.

The incident led to the construction of the “Inner Loop” of “Bus Stop” on the long back straight to slow the cars as they entered Turn 5 at Watkins Glen. Every NASCAR competitor at Watkins Glen who rumbles through that area this weekend should remember they are safer because of J.D. McDuffie. He gave his life to make it that way.

J.D. McDuffie – gone, but not forgotten.

One of the many to come to mind was Butch Miller. One of the top drivers in the 1980’s, Miller grabbed countless ARTGO, ASA and late model stock car main events throughout the Midwest.

Eventually, NASCAR beckoned the Coopersville, MI native and he made his ‘big-time’ debut in the 1986 Valleydale 500 at Bristol – the same day we covered our first NASCAR race. Miller started 21 ^st and finished 16 ^th in the 32-car field. Miller is shown here in this Close Finishes photo in the No. 08 Leroy Throop-owned Chevy Monte Carlo at Bristol.

Miller would go on to make 41 career Cup starts with his best finish an eighth 1990 at Pocono. He also made 93 career NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide) starts winning twice