From Dirt to Asphalt and Back Again
Bud Lundsford and his skeeter at Banks County.
“In the sixties we paved the track hoping to draw the people who followed the Peach Bowl drivers,” Irvin said. “But the fans were going to see the likes of Buck Simmons, Bud Lundsford and other name drivers of their day at that Athens and Toccoa tracks. Plus they complained about not being able to afford asphalt tires, even though dirt tracks probably did more damage to their cars than any cost the pavement caused.”
“Anyway, two or three years later we tore the track up and went back to good ol’ dirt,” he said. “I tried to drive some here at Banks, but you just couldn’t promote and race too. I got Mosteller, Weyman Milam, John Caviness and George DeLong to come up and help. Gober Sosebee came out of retirement to bring in the fans. He could always put on a show for the crowd by throwing mud in the stands with his car. They really loved the guy.”
GARHOFA member Sam Colvin remembers when NASCAR’s former technical director Bill Gazaway raced in a “tag team” event at Banks County.
“Bill was driving a sportsman car and was teaming with Gober Sosebee’s modified. I think it was a 100-lapper, but the sportsman (slower) cars had to run at least ten laps in the event. Gober had the race won easy, and came in for Bill to do his ten laps, and damn if Bill’s rear wheel fell off in the middle of the track. I remember Gober just took it in stride,” said Colvin.
This poster from Banks County hangs in Irvin's store. Photo by Brandon Reed
GARHOFA member Jimmy Summerour told us another story at Banks.
“I was in the pits and watched this guy’s race car catch on fire. Well, everybody was trying to help him put it out. I even burnt up my jacket trying to smother it. Some fellow dumped a bunch of dirt on the engine and killed the flame. Well, the driver just started cussing him out for getting mud in his carburetor. Made the good citizen mad, so he lit a match and started the blaze again. Nobody could blame him,” laughed Summerour.
Mosteller added, “I remember Tommie’s brother got drunk and left early in a new white pickup truck one night during a race. He topped the hill leaving out over the third and fourth turns and slammed head on into Tommie’s wife’s car. We would have laughed but she didn’t find it funny.
“And Ty Cobb used to come to all the races later in life. His cousin would always tell us not to mention he was there because he could be a mean ole cuss and didn’t like to be bothered.”