The Grind And Sad Days

Brantley and Jack Childs at Savannah Speedway in 1965. Childs was killed soon after this race in a traffic accident along with Donald Brantley and Dan Reese. Photo courtesy GARHOFA

“Sometimes just making it to the track could be considered a victory,” said Larry Adams.  “And that went for many of the drivers.  There was a race in Jefferson, Georgia one Sunday and everything was broke, including Bruce.  And he didn’t want to burden us with his problems.  But his problems were our problems.  We first got an old four door Lincoln cranked, put a tow bar to pull the racecar and trailer, and loaded the backseat with equipment, spare tires and tools.  We promised our wives, Sue and Joann, the moon as they sat on a set of welding tanks in the backseat as we headed out, much in the same fashion as the Beverly Hillbillies.  I had called the rest of the crew and they were waiting at the track.  This type of endearment had set in concrete our friendship, which has lasted almost forty years.”

All the fun came to an end in the summer of 1965.

“I was heading for a race at Greenville-Pickens, South Carolina, and met Jack and our friend Dan Reese on the way back from there,” Brantley said.  “Dan worked across the street form our shop and was a great engineer and PR man.  They told me it was raining and the race had been cancelled, and that they were going to pick up my little brother Don, who had just graduated high school.  The three were going to the Playboy Club in Atlanta.  Dan was a club member and it was going to be a surprise treat for Don.”

Bruce told us they never made it.  All three were killed in a crash that night on Atlanta’s northeast expressway.

So in one evening he lost part of his family, best friends, and a racing team.