John Henry Maddox, a tough man with a big heart who was a great race car driver.
By Mike Bell
Posted in Feature Stories 4/22/11
Whoever said big men come in small packages knew John Henry Maddox.
In a lot of sports, there are special considerations for size, but then they always talk about “heart” when someone comes along that doesn’t meet their requirements.
In racing, the first requirement is “heart”, or whatever the unknown qualifier is that makes a race driver a “great” race driver. Great race car drivers win a lot of races, money, championships, and even the fans.
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Posted 22 April 2011
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It looked like old times when former racers, fans and officials gathered at the old Middle Georgia Raceway for a reunion hosted by Racer’s Reunion.com earlier this month. Photos by Joe Cawley
By Brandon Reed
Posted in Feature Stories 4/1/11
Back on March 12, the folks at Racers Reunion.com held the inaugural Jeff Smith Chevrolet Middle Georgia Raceway Reunion, held at the historic Middle Georgia Raceway in Byron, Georgia, near Macon.
The old track had sat dormant for many years, but a group of volunteers worked tirelessly to get the track ready for the big day.
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Posted 01 April 2011
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Dalton, Georgia's Tammy Jo Kirk became the first woman to win the famed Snowball Derby back in 1994. Photo courtesy Ronnie Solesbee collection
By Jeff Hood-Guest Contributor
Posted in Feature Stories 3/25/11
It was another day at the office for Tammy Jo Kirk at her motorcycle shop in Dalton, Georgia back in December when word arrived that 18-year-old Johanna Long had won last the 43rd annual Snowball Derby Super Late Model race in Pensacola, Fla.
It was welcome news to the 48-year-old Kirk, the 1994 winner of the Derby. But Long’s win means Kirk is no longer the only female winner of the Derby.
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Posted 25 March 2011
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The Betty Lilly owned #24 Ford, driven by Sam McQuagg, provided one of the most iconic moments in NASCAR history, as McQuagg tangled with Cale Yarborough (27) while racing for the lead in the 1965 Southern 500.
By Mike Bell
Posted in Feature Stories 3/11/11
When I sat down to write about Mrs. Betty Lilly, I wondered if all those South Georgia racers realized what an influence she was on racing down there. She spent an enormous amount of money helping Sam McQuagg to become “Rookie-of-the-Year” in NASCAR’s Grand National Division, the premier division of racing as far as Southerners were concerned at that time.
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Posted 11 March 2011
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Georgia's Charles Barrett piloted this #09 Torino for George Elliott, father of current NASCAR driver Bill Elliott in 1973. Photo courtesy the Barrett Family
By Rick Minter-Guest Contributor
Posted in Feature Stories 2/18/11
For long-time NASCAR fans, the idea of seeing Bill Elliott in anything other than a No. 9 Ford or Mercury just doesn’t seem right.
But as Elliott begins the season in James Finch’s No. 09 Chevrolet, some things aren’t really new at all.
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Posted 18 February 2011
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Former driver Lanier Englett visits with NASCAR racing legend Bill Elliott at a recent function. Englett had quite a racing experience himself back in the sport's pioneer days.
By Eddie Samples
Posted in Feature Stories 2/11/11
First of all, Lanier Englett had to be corralled for an interview by his good friend Jimmy Mosteller, historian Mike Bell and myself, Eddie Samples.
We met in racing hall of famer Mosteller’s home in Mableton, Georgia. Lanier lives in nearby Lithia Springs.
Since the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Association’s creation in 1997, the 82 year old Atlanta/Mableton native was one of its founding members and major contributors, and Mosteller knew he had a story to tell.
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Posted 11 February 2011
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Former drivers, officials, fans and friends gathered at the American Legion in Austell, Georgia, to honor and remember Atlanta’s Peach Bowl Speedway on Sunday, Jan. 30. Photos by Mike Terrell
By Brandon Reed
Posted in Feature Stories 2/4/11
The 22nd annual Peach Bowl Reunion was held in Austell, Georgia, on Jan. 30.
Former drivers, officials, fans and racing aficionados gathered at the American Legion Post 216 to reminisce about old times, visit with old friends and remember one of the most historic and important tracks in Georgia’s rich racing history.
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Posted 04 February 2011
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1960 Sprint Cup Champ and GRHOF member Rex White was announced as a 2011 inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame last week.
By Rick Minter-Guest Contributor
Posted in Feature Stories 1/21/11
Rex White, NASCAR’s oldest living champion of the series now known as Sprint Cup and a member of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, wasn’t about to let Atlanta’s treacherous, icy roads stop him from making his noontime appointment in Birmingham.
The 80-year-old driver skillfully steered his Mercury across icy patches and through nearly frozen slush and arrived at a Birmingham hotel in plenty of time to assist in the announcement of the 2011 class of inductees for the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
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Posted 21 January 2011
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Chase Elliott celebrates in victory lane at Gresham Motorsports Park, one of 13 wins he scored during 2010. Photo by Justin Poole/Courtesy GMP Media
By Brandon Reed
Posted in Feature Stories 1/7/11
According to a group of motorsports journalists, racing historians and racing aficionados polled by Georgia Racing History.com, the most historic moment in Georgia racing for the year 2010 was the rise of young Chase Elliott thorough the ranks of Late Model racing all over the east coast.
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Posted 07 January 2011
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Georgia's Huston Platt poses with his Funny Car, the restored Dixie Twister. Photo courtesy Racin' Today.com
By Rick Minter-Guest Contributor
Posted in Feature Stories 12/17/10
Georgia Drag Racer Huston Platt’s 2009 induction into the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame was yet another sign that the 77-year-old former drag racer and his family are finally able to begin moving past one of their family’s and auto racing’s darkest days.
It’s mostly due to the unselfish efforts of one of Platt’s former crew members, Randall Davis.
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Posted 17 December 2010
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