Georgia racing legend Charlie Mincey. Photo courtesy GARHOFA
By Mike Bell
Posted in Feature Stories 3/5/10
When stock car racing started, they were mostly whiskey trippers driving race cars on the weekends with loads of moonshine form the Smokey Mountain areas to either Charlotte, Greenville, Knoxville, Chattanooga or Atlanta, the largest city in the south…then and now. One of the myths presented over the years was that they were all war veterans looking for an extra paycheck and some thrills.
What if you heard about a fourteen year old that had been driving around Atlanta at the age of ten in 1941, and got his driver’s license at the age of 12 (yeah, he lied)?
Mike Bell
By Mike Bell
Posted in Columns 2/26/10
In automobile racing, as in any sport, there are those people that work behind the scenes to make the racing program happen. Generally, they are never known to the general public nor most of the fans. The better the show goes, the less you think about who worked the front gate. You just remember the great racing.
Over the years, the really great promoters are sought because you learn that is what makes for an enjoyable race program.
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Posted 26 February 2010
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Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
Posted in Columns 2/19/10
Plans got underway this week for the third annual Lakewood Speedway Reunion, which is planned for August 7 at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville, Georgia.
The reunion has fast become a favorite gathering for many of Georgia’s racing heroes. During the first event, around 400 people came out to take part, telling stories, shaking hands and remembering good times at one of the greatest race tracks in history.
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Posted 19 February 2010
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Georgia racers have been winners at Daytona from the beach days up to the superspeedway era.
By Brandon Reed
Posted in Feature Stories 2/12/10
With the 52nd annual Daytona 500 scheduled to take the green flag Sunday afternoon, many people have been talking about the rich history not only of the 500 and the speedway, but also of the events that took place on the beach before it.
One fact that seems to elude many of those that look back through the records books seems to be that drivers from Georgia have had a dominant presence at Daytona Beach.
Rick Minter
By Rick Minter-Guest Columnist
Posted in Columns 2/5/10
Georgia’s had more than its share of famous race tracks over the years, but few have had the enduring magic of the one known as the Peach Bowl.
Last Sunday, for the 21st straight year, drivers, mechanics, owners, fans and friends of the Peach Bowl gathered in Riverdale for a gathering that is more like a family reunion than a racing affair.
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Posted 05 February 2010
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Georgia's Billy Carden was a stock car racing pioneer and an early NASCAR competitor.
By Eddie Samples
Posted in Feature Stories 11/27/09
When we first approached him for an interview, Georgia stock car legend Billy Carden initially declined, saying we should be talking to some of the drivers from either South or Middle Georgia.
“Those boys are not getting the recognition they should,” stated Carden, a native of Mableton, Georgia.
Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
Posted in Columns 1/22/10
There are people who move into and around your life that always have a significant impact on you.
Kenny Turk is one of those people for me. A life long race fan, Kenny was an influence on my life for the better part of 20 years.
A native of Oakwood, Georgia, Kenny attended his first race at the old Jefco Speedway (now Gresham Motorsports Park) in 1968 when the Grand National series (now Sprint Cup) made their first stop there. Cale Yarborough won that race. He was there again one year later when the late Bobby Isaac took the win.
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Posted 22 January 2010
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Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
Posted in Columns 1/15/10
The NASCAR nation has been all abuzz this week with word that the accursed “Car of Today” may soon begin to resemble the cars of yesteryear.
NASCAR is reportedly flirting with the notion of losing the IMSA style rear wing from the back of the car, replacing it with a more traditional looking spoiler. Word has been that they may also do away with the front splitter in favor of a more traditional air dam, giving the car an older style look that hopefully will be more pleasing to the fans.
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Posted 15 January 2010
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Pete Craig was one of the first auto racing stars out of Georgia.
By Mike Bell
Posted in Feature Stories 1/8/10
Atlanta had three national stock car champions in the late 1940s, and these were considered to be the grassroots pioneers around the south.
When Red Byron won the first NASCAR Strictly Stock (now Nextel Cup) title in 1949, Georgia’s Pete Craig had been retired for over a decade. Craig started racing Indy-type cars in 1922.
The aforementioned “pioneers” were just kids when, in 1930, Craig, a native of Gainesville, Georgia, held the 100-mile racing record at Daytona when they were barrel tracking at the Beach.
The reconstruction of Gresham Motorsports Park was chosen as the top historic moment in Georgia racing for 2009. Photo courtesy GMP media
By Brandon Reed
Posted in Feature Stories 12/31/09
According to a group of motorsports writers and aficionados polled recently, the most historic moment in Georgia racing in 2009 was the rebirth of the old Jefco Speedway into the new Gresham Motorsports Park.
