End Of The Road
Charlie Barrett at one of the Legends of Toccoa Speedway outings with his old rival and friend Steve Chastain. That is C. L. Pritchett in the background. At the event, a call went out to all of the legends to get a car to race but Charlie was the only to meet the call. Photo courtesy Charlie Barrett
The end of Charlie’s racing career came in a strange and non-racing accident. Having started on the back roads of White and Lumpkin Counties that he knew so well, that would be where it all almost ended for him.
“Then in 1973, I got in a wreck over in Dahlonega and about bled to death – doing things I shouldn’t have been doing,” Charlie told us. “We were going down a road and missed the bridge. But it had rained real hard for a day or more and the creek swelled up and kinda washed the bridge down stream. You were supposed to slow down and swing over to one side and go over the bridge. The car turned over and hit the bank on the other side. It almost made it out into a field.
“The windshield had come out and Gene Walker and Verlin Dorsey were thrown through the windshield. I could hear Gene hollering. He was on the bank hanging onto some vines. The car was in the creek and filled up with water right quick. Verlin swam back and got me. I think I was about gone. He said my head was under water and when he got me out water was gushing out of me. They took us to a little clinic in Dahlonega – they didn’t have a hospital then. Gene was hurt and I was in another room. I had a towel wrapped around my arm. Alawayne found out where I was and came over. I was still bleeding then. She took care of me and somehow we made it.
“I didn’t race for a while and then Mitchell started running. The next year Kevin and his friends pulled an old car out of the briar patch and put an engine in it. We followed Mitchell and Kevin around everywhere. Then the economy got bad and they just let them sit over there in the shop.”
Charlie’s family has become the focus of his life. Mitchell’s twin girls have given him great-grandchildren he probably wouldn’t trade for a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The used car business seems to be turning around and Charlie isn’t slowing down a bit even after his back operation.
“I don’t move like I use to but I’m here!” is what Charlie will tell you as he waits on customers at Barrett Used Cars on Duncan Bridge Road (Georgia Highway 384) between Clarkesville and Cleveland. Go by and kick a few tires with him.
Mike Bell is the CEO and historian for the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame Association, Inc. (GARHOFA)
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