About The Braselton news. (Jefferson, Ga) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 2008)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 The Braselton News Page 3B ‘Down the Stretch’ Racing Unique cars in NASCAR’s past BY BRANDON REED Usually when you think of NASCAR, you think of big American made cars tearing around the racetrack, with monster V8 engines pushing out tons of horsepower. But actually, there have been some surprising cars to turn up over the years that many people would look back on and say, “You're kidding me.” Here’s a look at a few surprising entries from over the years. For example, as has been pointed out before, Kyle Busch’s win at Atlanta for Toyota might have been the first for a non-American manu facturer in NASCAR’s so called “modern era,” but it wasn’t the first win for a foreign nameplate. That distinction goes to the late A1 Keller, who piloted a Jaguar in NASCAR’s first road course event, at the Linden Airport road course in Linden, N.J., beating out Joe Eubanks in a 1951 Hudson. You see, back in the 50s, Big Bill France wasn’t necessarily opposed to having foreign cars run on the big circuit. In fact, he ran several races that welcomed these cars into the sport. That means there were some pret ty interesting entrants, to say the least. For example, look at some of the cars that were entered into the first event at the famed Riverside Raceway, which was a road course in California. While the top 17 finishers were all in American made iron, a look at the results show a pair of French built Citroens finishing 18th and 19th on the field, driven by Bill Jones and Ralph Roberts, respectively. Then a little further back, there sits a Renault driven by Hylan Micka. So the foreign car make roots go a lot further back. But maybe the neatest of all the foreign cars to compete in NASCAR had to be at Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania in June of 1953. In that race, Philadelphia native Dick Hagey entered a Volkswagen Beetle in the event. Hagey’s number 18 Beetle qualified 32nd in a 38 car field, and plugged right along in the 200 lap event to finish 19. Not bad for a four cylinder with less than 40 horsepower! It was Hagey’s only Cup event, and the only time a VW Beetle has ever competed in NASCAR (unless you count Herbie The Love Bug in that movie a few years ago). But it’s not just the for eign makes that are inter esting. Sometimes it’s an American made car that you wouldn’t have believed somebody would have put on a race track that makes for a memo rable moment. That brings us to Canfield, Ohio, and a 200-lap event on May 30, 1950. There was nothing over ly special about the race. There were Oldsmobiles, Fords, Mercurys, even a Nash and a Kaiser on the starting grid. But there was one very special, and extremely rare racer on the grid. It was Joe Merola's number 12 Tucker Torpedo. Let me type that again so you can read it a second time. I'm not kid ding. Joe raced a 1948 Tucker, one of only 50 cars ever manufactured. For those not in the know, the Tucker is a very highly sought after automobile by collectors. Its build er, Preston Tucker, was run out of the automobile business by the “Big Three” auto makers because, to be blunt, his car was just too darned good. It had safety innovations that were light years ahead of its time. When the government shut his plant down, Tucker had built only 50 of the futuristic looking cars. So the idea of one being on a half- mile dirt track is amazing, to say the least. But the Tucker’s introduction into NASCAR stock car racing was short lived. Merola broke a right rear axel, and the car never completed a lap. It's believed that the racing Tucker was later lost in a warehouse fire in Florida, one of the few not to still survive. So next time you hear the TV com mentators talking about how unique it is to have Toyota on the race track, just remember Dick Hagey’s Beetle, and Merola’s Tucker. We’ll never see cars that cool on the track again. Brandon Reed is a reporter for Main Street Newspapers. Contact him at brandon@mainstreetnews. com. Brandon Reed Auto Racing GAS series kicks off Sat. The Georgia Asphalt Series for Pro Late Models will kick off its 2008 touring season on Saturday evening, March 29 at Peach State Speedway in Jefferson. The GAS Series drivers will compete in a 100 lap event on the 1/2-mile high- banked oval. There has been a lot of “sprucing up” around the speedway during the off-season. “We want to make the speed way more fan friendly,” said Vince Whitmire, GAS Series and Peach State Promoter. There will be several fresh faces in the Georgia Asphalt Series this year. The 2008 rookie class includes Max Gresham of Griffin, Kyle Mitchell of Hampton, Matt Swarts of Jasper, Ala., Rusty Evans of Cairo, and J.R. Tippens of Covington, as well as other drivers. Several of the GAS veterans are expected to be back this year as well, including 2007 series cham pion Russell Fleeman, Bubba Pollard, Commerce racer Taylor Satterfield, Jefferson’s Nick Potts, and Hoschton’s Jimmy Garmon. Other drivers expected to compete include Michael Pope, Kyle Fowler, Fredrick Moore, and Josh Atkins. The GAS Series plans to race closer to home this year, with five events scheduled for Peach State. The chief reason is the rising cost of fuel prices. “We really want to get back to a working man’s racing series,” Whitmire said. “Diesel fuel for the haulers is now $4 a gallon and rac ing fuel keeps rising in price and we needed to get back to what the GAS Series was originally based on.” In addition to the GAS Series, the Outlaw Late Model, Sportsman, Super Trucks, Bandits and Mini- Stocks will compete Saturday night. Adult grandstand tickets are $12. Racing is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. Need Printing? Call 706-367-5233 SOLID WOOD Kitchen & Bath Cabinetry • Oak • Hickory • Glazed Maple • Sienna Come check our prices before you buy! Whiddon Sales Company 617 Atlanta Hwy SE Winder, GA 770-867-1638 CLEMENTS VS. HUTCHINS Valerie Clements (near lane) faced Dylan Hutchins (far lane) in the final round of 13-17 Junior Dragster competition. Clements won with a .008 second reaction time. Mother Nature cuts first race at Atlanta Dragway short BY AMY GLOVER The weekend’s event at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce began with ideal conditions. It was the day after spring began, beautiful and breezy, the perfect setup for the first points race of the season. The night before, the track was packed, a trend con tinuing into Saturday’s race, dem onstrating the racers’ eagerness to start the new season on a brand new track. A companion to the new track is its new cleaning equipment, which, perhaps unfortunately, got quite a workout when the event was delayed twice by oil downs. The accumulation of delays, along with unruly Georgia weather, cut the day short for competitors. However, the kids in the junior dragster classes managed to finish their race, with females dominating the playing field, before the temperature went down with the sun. In the 8-12 Junior Dragster class, nine year old Mackenzie Butler, of Jackson, Ga. won against Madison Lee, age 10 of Campobello, S.C., thanks to her quicker reaction time, as both she and Madison overshot their dial-ins at the top end. Butler went 13.23 on a 13.14 dial and Lee went 9.02 on an 8.95 dial. Butler, whose home track is in Reynolds, said it was her first time and win at Atlanta Dragway. In the 13-17 Junior Dragster Class, 14-year old Valerie Clements, of Central, S.C., an Atlanta Dragway veteran, ran a close race against Dylan Hutchins, age 13 of Monroe, winning with the better reaction time and taking the win stripe .008 seconds in front of Hutchins. Clement’s time was 7.96 on a 7.90 and Hutchins' time was 7.99 on a 7.94. Clements reported that she hadn’t bracket raced in a year. “I’ve been doing outlaw,” she said. On top of her time away from bracket racing, she brought a new car to the track, making her victory all the more exciting. Seventeen- year-old Taylor Griffith of Homer finished in the semi-final round. Round one for the Super Pro class started promptly after the Junior Dragster finals. Regrettably, condi tions turned cold and windy, and officials decided the plummeting temperatures and wind were making race conditions unsafe. In consider ation of driver safety, the race was canceled. In compensation for the cancellation, drivers will be given a tech card at the next Summit ET Series points race. CLEMENTS WINS 14-year old Valerie Clements shows off the hardware from her victory at the Atlanta Dragway last weekend in the 13-17 Junior Dragster class. TENNIS — continued from page 1B BULLDOGS FALL Mill Creek decimated Forsyth Central on Tuesday shutting out both the girls’ and boys’ teams by scores of 5-0. Bailey Dodge, Kristy Yau and Nela Handac won all three singles matches. Stacy Mottesheard and Michelle Yau won the No. 1 doubles match with Anna Clayton and Becky Pavlichek winning the No. 2 doubles. In the boys’ matches, Jordan Arenas, Anthony Agee and Christian Gonzales swept singles. Taylor Lacy and T.J. Mullins won the No. 1 doubles match. Lee Mike Turner and Tony Tamborino com bined for the win in the No. 2 dou bles slot. Coming up: WHAT: MCHS @ Westminster WHEN: Mar. 26 @ 4p.m. Atlanta Dream to hold tryouts The WNBA’s newest basketball team, the Atlanta Dream, will hold an open tryout Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at Suwanee Sports Academy located at 3460 Burnette Road in Suwanee. Aspiring players must submit an application and a $75 registration fee. Only the first 500 completed applications with be eligible to compete. The application form is available online at http://www.AtlantaDream. net. The deadline for applications and payments is April 11, 2008. For additional information on the open tryouts, visit the Atlanta Dream website. E-mail inquiries should be sent to tryouts @atlanta- dream.net. AT YOUR SERVICE Nela Handac prepares to serve during Tuesday’s match against Forsyth Central. Handac won the No. 3 singles match for the Lady Hawks. photo by Kristi Reed In Memory of Rodney and Eric Godfrey We will all miss two people who touched our lives with friendship, kindness and laughter and smiles. The music from a great musician in-the- making whose dreams and goals in life were set high. He is now in Heaven, playing "Amazing Grace" for the Lord's marvelous, wonderous choir, while his father is singing proudly by his side. Though they will be missed, we all know we can take comfort in knowing even as in Heaven, God has his way on Earth where he took them both to still be together forever. Friends in Christ 100 Pro-Late Models plus: Outlaws, Super Trucks, Sportsman, Mini Stock and Bandits NEW LOW PRICES!! Admission $12.00 12 & Under - FREE Gates Open at 4:00 p. m. Racing at 7:00 p. m. 706-387-7490 peachrace@windstream.net
