Dawsonville, Georgia native Bernard Long recorded his first win in the July 27, 1941 race at Daytona Beach. He never raced again after the win.

By Brandon Reed
Posted in Feature Stories 4/22/12

In the history of drivers from Dawsonville, Georgia to win at Daytona Beach, four men scored wins on the sands of Daytona between 1941 and 1959.

The exploits Gober Sosebee, Roy Hall, and Lloyd Seay are well documented. Their stories have been told time and time again, and each has a rightful place in the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.  In fact, all three were members of the inaugural class of inductees in 2002.

But what of the fourth Dawsonville man to score a victory on the four mile beach and road course?  What of fellow Dawsonville native Bernard Long?

Long’s story as a race driver is an interesting one, in that it didn’t last very long.  Two races, in fact.

Long ran his first race in 1941 at the treacherous and challenging Lakewood Speedway, a one mile dirt oval located just south of downtown Atlanta.  It was the proving grounds for Georgia drivers, who got the opportunity to line up against some of the best racers in the nation at the famed speedway.

It was against some of the top stock car drivers in the country that 28-year-old Long competed in his first ever event.  He would not only learn fast, he proved he could hold his own against the best.  He finished second in the event, starting talk in racing circles that he very well had a future in racing.

Long made the decision to travel south to Daytona Beach for the July 27, 1941 stock car event on the beach and road course.

Dawsonville cousins Hall and Seay had been making the headlines on the beach that year.

Hall had won the March 2 event, while Seay had grabbed headlines by bicycling his car through the turns on two wheels, thrilling the crowds.

Hall would finish third in the second event on the beach in 1941, behind winner Smokey Purser.

As the July 27 event wound down, it appeared that Long was going to match his Lakewood finish.  He found himself trailing Florida’s Bill Snowdon as the race entered the closing laps.

With three laps to go, Snowdon’s car stumbled.  A cut tire sent the Sunshine State Speedster to the pits, robbing him of a chance at a victory.

Snowdon’s misfortune was Long’s gain.  With three laps to go, Long swept past the pits and into the lead.  He would go on to score the win in just his second ever race, not to mention his first ever event at Daytona.

The rail birds were ecstatic.  The racing journalists couldn’t believe it.  Here was a driver who, in just his second time out, had conquered one of the most challenging race courses in the country.  Surely, this young Georgian had a long, successful career in auto racing ahead of him.

But Long had other ideas.  The $400 he scored for his victory was a ton of money in those days.  It was just enough to buy himself a new boiler for a moonshine still, and set himself up in the whiskey business in North Georgia’s mountains.  And that’s just what he did, and it became a pretty good money maker for him.  He never raced again.

So now, years later, the question comes up.  Can somebody who raced in only two events in his short career, but won one of the biggest races in the country at the time, be considered a Hall of Famer?

Regardless of whether he ever reaches the Hall of Fame, Bernard Long’s name will always be remembered for an incredibly short, but incredibly successful career as a stock car driver.  He just happened to quit while he was on top.

Brandon Reed is the editor and publisher of Georgia Racing History.com.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email us!

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame or the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame Association, Inc. All content is the intellectual property of the individual authors. All opinions are those of the individual authors. Please do not repost images or text without permission.

The Athens Speedway in Athens, GA, seen here from 1966,closed in 1992, but lives on in the memories of those that will gather at the third annual Athens Speedway Reunion this weekend.

By Brandon Reed
Posted in Feature Stories 4/14/12

It’s been almost 20 years since the lights went out for the final time at one of the most popular and successful short tracks in Georgia history.

The Athens Speedway, located on old Jimmie Daniel Road in Athens, Georgia, saw its final race in 1992 after over 30 years of action.  Today, the track sits abandoned, mostly forgotten by people in Athens.

But on Saturday, April 14, people will come from all over the southeast to remember the speedway that played host to some of the best racers in short track history.

The third annual Athens Speedway Reunion will be held at South Jackson Elementary School just outside of Athens.  Organized by Donald Brooks, Freddie Massey, and Charles Burkhalter, Jr., the event is intended not only to remember the old track, but to give former racers, officials, and fans a chance to reconnect and remember.

The Athens Speedway was constructed in 1959, the brainchild of Athens native Bill Cooley.  Work was completed on the quarter mile track in September of that year, but after four straight rain outs, the first event was finally held on Nov. 9, 1959.

The speedway played host to Super Modifieds, winged racers known around the south as “Skeeters”.  The finishing order of that first race read like a who’s who of southern short track history.

Georgia Racing Hall of Fame member Tootle Estes scored that first win, followed by fellow GRHOF member Bud Lunsford in second.  Georgia open wheel ace Herman Wise ran third, followed by GRHOF member Charlie Padgett and Charlie Burkhalter.

Over the years, Athens Speedway would become one of the important stops for drivers competing in the southeast, along with the famed Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Banks County Speedway near Baldwin, GA, and Toccoa Speedway in Toccoa, GA.  Driver scoring wins at the Classic City raceway included Hall of Famers Charlie Mincey and Buck Simmons, along with Charlie Burkhalter, reunion organizer Donald Brooks, Freddie Fryar, Bill York, Claude Maldin, and Tommy Roberts.

While there were lots of great memories at the great old raceway, there were also some scary moments.  Like the night that famed announcer Jimmy Mosteller was nearly killed.

Mosteller had moved down to the track’s surface to help race officials determine if the track needed more water.  The red flag was waved, and Mosteller was crossing the track when a driver who had not seen the red come out came charging down the front stretch at speed.  He hit Mosteller, running him over and sending him flying down the race track.

Charlie Padgett was the first one to get to Mosteller.  Padgett leaned down and called Mosteller’s name.  Mosteller, who worked for the now defunct Hav-A-Tampa cigar company, had lost his cigar in the accident.  Padgett said Mosteller looked up at him, and said “Get me a cigar.”  Padgett ran to the pits and found a cigar.  He brought it back to Mosteller, and placed it in his mouth.

Padgett said Mosteller held the cigar in his mouth for a moment, then looked up at him and said “That’s not a Hav-A-Tampa.”

Mosteller would spend two years in braces, but the Georgia Racing Hall of Famer missed only a handful of announcing jobs in that time, calling races all over the southeast.

When the era of the Skeeters came to an end, Athens Speedway moved seamlessly to the Late Model era.  It would remain one of the most popular tracks in North Georgia right up to the point that it closed in 1992.

The reason it closed was the realignment of Jimmie Daniel Road, which took the road right through the track’s parking lot.  An attempt was made to keep the track open by moving the parking area to the other side of the track property, but eventually, the track closed, with much of its assets, including the catch fence, PA system, scoreboard, and clay surface being moved to Hartwell Speedway in Hartwell, GA.

The remains of the track now sit silent.  But its memory and the memories of those that raced there remain today, as active as ever.

Brandon Reed is the editor and publisher of Georgia Racing History.com.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email us!

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame or the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame Association, Inc. All content is the intellectual property of the individual authors. All opinions are those of the individual authors. Please do not repost images or text without permission.

Fans turned out in droves for Speedfest earlier this year at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, GA. Photo by Allen Hastings / Southern Race Week Radio

By Brandon Reed
Posted in Columns 4/7/12

It’s time to go short track racing again in the Peach State.

Over the last few weeks, several Georgia short tracks have gotten their seasons underway, including Senoia Raceway in Senoia, GA, and Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, GA.  Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, GA gets their season started this weekend, in fact.

They join several tracks that have already gotten their 2012 season underway, including Toccoa Speedway in Toccoa, GA, Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, GA, and Hartwell Speedway in Hartwell, GA.

Tickets will be bought.  Hot dogs and hamburgers will be eaten.  The sound of high powered engines will fill the air, along with the distinct smell of spent high octane racing fuel wafts around the track.

For a short track racing fan, no matter if it’s dirt or asphalt, there’s nothing closer to Heaven on Earth.

But there will none of these at the Lavonia Speedway in Lavonia, GA.

The 3/8 mile clay oval will sit silent, just as it did last year.  The dirt surface is cut with little ravines from a lack of care.  The backstretch wall has fallen in.  The reasons are  neither here nor there, but the fact that a speedway that was once among the most popular short tracks in the Northeast portion of the state is left to sit and rot is sad to see.

Not too far to the south sits Lanier National Speedway in Braselton, GA.  The once ultra-popular 3/8 paved oval will host only two events this year, one a make-up race in January postponed to March 31 due to weather, and an Independence Day weekend event.

Otherwise, the track built by legendary wheelman, promoter, and Georgia Racing Hall of Famer Bud Lunsford (who long ago got out of the racing business) will be left to, as a track official said, “rot into the earth.”

You can blame the problems of these two facilities on a lot of things.  But regardless of their problems, fans are still turning out to other tracks in droves.

Senoia saw a sell-out last year for their USCS Sprint Car weekend.  Earlier this season, Cordele saw a standing room only crowd for the CSA SpeedFest event.  Toccoa has seen huge crowds, along with Hartwell, and Sylvania.

The fans are more than willing to come out and support their hometown tracks.  However, their hometown tracks also need to support them.

There’s no two ways about it, we’re in tough financial times.  Fans have to careful and choose just where to spend their money, and how often.

Some tracks have responded.  Ticket prices for many tracks all over the southeast hover around $10-15 for a regular night of racing.  Fans have shown their approval and appreciation, with long lines at the ticket booth and long lines at the concession stands.

But a shrewd promoter can put on a show with such a lean budget that they can walk off with enough money to fund the next three shows.  I know, because I’ve seen it done.  And the fans never had any idea.  All they know is that they’ve seen a great show.

Some tracks understand this, and they will continue to grow.  Others haven’t, and may be in for even leaner times.

But, not all is gloom and doom.  Sugar Creek Raceway in Blue Ridge, GA is slated to reopen after being shuttered for almost two years.  In addition, word is that a major speedway that has been closed since the mid-1980s could be making a return.

The best thing the race fans can do is to continue to support their local race tracks.  We have lost so many tracks over the years that we can’t afford to lose any more.  Stock car racing was born in Georgia.  It would be a shame to lose any more of its great speedways.

Brandon Reed is the editor and publisher of Georgia Racing History.com.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email us!

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame or the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame Association, Inc. All content is the intellectual property of the individual authors. All opinions are those of the individual authors. Please do not repost images or text without permission.

1960 Sprint Cup Champ and GRHOF member Rex White was the last Georgia racer to win at Martinsville Speedway. Photo courtesy GRHOF

By Brandon Reed
Posted in Columns 3/31/12

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck series heading into the legendary Martinsville Speedway in Virginia this weekend, it makes one think about the history of such a famed place.

Of course, when I think of racing history, my mind always turns to the Georgia Gang, and the impact that drivers from the Peach State have had on certain venues.

The half-mile, paper clip shaped Virginia track is no different.  And from the beginning, the Georgia Gang has written a lot history at the speedway.

That history dates back to the very first time that NASCAR raced at Martinsville.  It was in the sanctioning body’s first year of existence, coming on Independence Day, July 4, 1948.

Georgia Racing Hall of Famer Fonty Flock scored the win on that day, besting Pee Wee Martin and Buck Baker.  The event featured NASCAR’s modifieds, as the Strictly Stock (now Sprint Cup) was still a year away from coming into being.

When the Strictly Stocks made their first appearance at Martinsville, it was again the Georgia Gang that scored the win.  This time, it was Hall of Famer Red Byron, piloting an Oldsmobile owned by the legendary Georgia car owner and Hall of Fame member Raymond Parks, who streaked across the finish line first.  Byron led 97 of the race’s 200 laps, beating runner-up Lee Petty by three laps at the finish.

A Georgia racer would again pull into Martinsville’s victory lane on Oct. 14, 1951, when Hall of Fame member Frank “Rebel” Mundy took the win in an Oldsmobile owned by fellow Hall of Famer Ted Chester, leading 114 of 200 laps en route to the win.

It would be three years before another Georgia Gang member scored a win at Martinsville.  On May 15, 1955, Hall of Famer Tim Flock drove his Carl Kiekhaefer owned Chrysler 300 to the win, beating fellow Chrysler pilot Lee Petty to the checkered flag.

Another Georgia Hall of Famer would put a Kiekhaefer Chrysler into Martinsville’s victory lane one year later, as Jack Smith dominated the event, leading 185 of 400 laps for the win.

Hall of Fame driver Rex White became the first Georgia Gang member to win a 500 lap event at Martinsville, picking up the victory on Sept. 27, 1959.  White led 202 laps, beating out home state hero Glen Wood for the win.

White returned to victory lane at Martinsville one year later, this time beating out legendary driver Joe Weatherly for the victory.

It would mark the last Sprint Cup victory at the tough short track for the Georgia Gang to date.

One other historic Georgia footnote at Martinsville should not be overlooked.  Back in 1952, NASCAR sanctioned events for an open wheel, IndyCar style series for cars using big block engines, called the Speedway Division.  One of the stops on the tour was at Martinsville.

Indiana native Bill Miller sat on the pole in a car owned by Atlanta’s Raymond Parks.  The Oldsmobile powered car led 55 of the first 58 laps of the event before falling out with fuel pressure issues.

The race was won by Marietta, Georgia racer Tex Keene, piloting a Mercury powered racer.  Jack Smith ran second in a Chrysler powered entry owned by Roy Shoemaker, himself the owner of the famed Peach Bowl Speedway in Atlanta, GA.

While it’s now been some 42 years since a member of the Georgia Gang has won a major NASCAR event at Martinsville, there is still a chance for the Peach State to get back into victory lane this weekend.  On Saturday, Griffin, Georgia’s Max Gresham will be competing in the Camping World Truck Series race, along with fellow Georgians Chris Cockrum, and Ryan Sieg.  Georgia’s John Wes Townley will be looking to qualify for the event on time.

On the Sprint Cup side, Unadilla, Georgia’s David Ragan will start on Sunday, with fellow Georgian Reed Sorenson looking to make the show.

Any of these drivers could following Fonty Flock’s tire tracks, and be the person to put the Georgia Gang back in victory lane at Martinsville.

Brandon Reed is the editor and publisher of Georgia Racing History.com.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email us!

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame or the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame Association, Inc. All content is the intellectual property of the individual authors. All opinions are those of the individual authors. Please do not repost images or text without permission.

Billie Hester (left) and Gober Sosebee (right) following a win at Daytona Beach in 1950. Both are now in the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.

By Eddie Samples
Posted in Feature Stories 3/24/12

Georgia’s Billie “Sunday” Hester was named after the famous American evangelist Billy Sunday, whose preaching against the selling of liquor made him a major player in the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment (prohibition) in 1919.

Our Billie Sunday lives by the same ethics…to a degree.

“I never made the stuff nor allowed it in my garage,” he said recently. “I told my mechanics you could sit on my workbench and use it as a toilet, but don’t ever sit a bottle of liquor there. Times were I’d work on trip cars for friends but they had to come in unloaded.”

Born in Atlanta, Georgia on May 11, 1915, Billie lived with his family on North Avenue until 1925, when, at ten, they loaded up and moved further north to Lathemtown, north of Atlanta.

“We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies going up Highway 19 with my brothers, sisters and furniture piled in our Model T truck,” he told us. In Atlanta his father had operated a streetcar for Georgia Railway and Power Company but with so many children he felt a need to be back home in the fodder fields.

Billie had a knack for repairing things.

“As a kid still in Atlanta I worked relining brakes on T-Models. You had to get your hands in small places, which is tedious work. I only got paid a dime a car but I just loved fooling with ‘em.”

He loved tinkering with machinery so much that he wired his father’s house when they got to Lathemtown.

In 1925, this was Billie Hester's home at Lathemtown. It's still there today off Highway 362.

“Worse mistake I ever made,” he said. “I took a three valve one cylinder T-model engine and made a baffle to keep the oil in because of no transmission. I put on a pulley and hooked up six 6-volt batteries and a string of 32-watt bulbs. I got so excited I wired the barn and the corncrib. My dad, being a workaholic, saw this as a good thing and had us kids shucking corn half the night.”

Lathemtown is where Billie met his wife, Katie Belle Lathem. Her grandfather Will established the little settlement on Highway 20 just east of Canton, the seat of Cherokee County.

“Walking to school everyday through woods and down dirt roads I had plenty of time to explain to her what was on my mind. I told Katie she was the smartest, prettiest and sweetest girl I’d ever met, and that I was going to marry her.” Billie was ten years old. Ten years later he did just that.

The first real job he had was working for the Lathems. They sold feed, seed and everything else at their store, plus they had the cotton gin in the back.

“Whatever they wanted done, I could handle it; mostly working on their trucks and machinery. You didn’t really get paid. If you needed money you just asked for it and got put in the books. Mr. Lathem had nickels, dimes and quarter bills printed for money. Add in bartering and a few ‘I.O.U’s and you had your own system of finance.”

Now a drapery shop and workshed in back, the old Lathemtown store and cotton gin, respectively, still stands. Busy Hwy. 20 connects Canton to Cumming. It was once a dirt road surrounded by farms.

Billie mentioned that, “the Lathems were good people and did a lot for the locals. I know they were hooked up with the Jones’ family of Canton, who owned everything. If you bought something in Canton, you probably bought it from a Jones. I know we’d get fertilizer from them in the spring, and pay ‘em back with cotton in the fall.”

Billie married Katie Belle in 1935 when he was twenty.

“There in Lathemtown you had drilled wells and a string of homes on electricity. A lot of family members lived together. Katie and I lived with my sister and her husband. Rent was $5 a month and that’s how you got by on a buck a day,” he said. Plus Billie made extra money working on cars out of the family barn.

His first real “real” job outside of Lathemtown was with future racing star Jack Smith’s father Carl.

“Lee Smith was Jack’s grandfather and a great guy,” Billie said. “He built Carl a two stall garage but he never really used it. Carl did get a job at Brady’s Chevrolet in Alpharetta in 1935 and I went to work with him for $10 a week. Bad mistake. The home folks knew I wasn’t that fond of Carl and his work ethics, and told me I’d obviously do anything to get out of ‘Foddersville,” he laughed. “Going out in the fields and pulling and drying fodder (cornstalks) for those animals all day was a bit much. So any job in town was a better deal.”

Ronnie Lieupo sits in his father’s 1935 Chevrolet powered by Ford at the Thunderbowl Speedway.

By Mike Bell
Posted in Feature Stories 3/16/12

Whenever you ask someone about Ronnie Lieupo, they immediately start smiling and remember a joke he told them or pulled on some unsuspecting racer. But don’t think Ronnie isn’t a serious racer. Once he got to drive he would be up front with any of the great drivers in South Georgia or North Florida. We say “once” because Ronnie has been around racing since he was born.

Ronnie remembered when he got directly involved in racing.

“When I was about 8 or 9, they would get me to wash the inside of the sedan that Sam (McQuagg) drove for Laverne (Kendrick),” he said.  “He always wanted to go to the track first class and a completely clean car was apart of that.”

The 1934 Ford sedan was gold on the outside but was painted white on the inside.

“You had to get inside and get completely soaked to get all that red clay from last week’s racing,” Ronnie added.

A 10-year-old Ronnie stands at the front of the 1937 Plymouth sedan that Bill Childers and his father, Johnny drove up to Milledgeville to purchase. They drove the car back to Tifton.

“I was born June 15, 1949 in Valdosta, GA, and attended my first race before I knew what a race was,” Ronnie said.  “My mother (Betty) would go through the pit gate with me in her arms. When she parked the car at Jacksonville Speedway on Lane Avenue, she would let my dad (Johnny) and my uncle out of the trunk. I suppose money was scarce in 1950.”

Ronnie had a younger sister, Margaret Ann, who was 18 months younger than him, but she died at age 44 from heart complications. They had operated on her heart when she was very young. She had married fellow racer Andy Squires and had three daughters.

Ronnie remembers his father, “He followed construction work (building roads and highways) from Baltimore to Miami the next ten years and I saw a lot of race tracks. At the age of eleven my dad bought a Texaco service station in Tifton, GA. We set down roots. I graduated from the local high school in 1967 and attended 1-½ years at ABAC (Abraham-Baldwin Agricultural College) until entering the Guard. Once out of the military training I never went back which I regret.

“Going to the Thunderbowl Speedway on Saturday night was a regular occasion. Laverne Kendrick, a local race car owner, would bring his yellow 90X to our station weekly for me to wash. It was a ’34 Ford coupe and Sam McQuagg drove it for him.”

Ronnie’s sister Margaret Ann stands next to the Plymouth sedan that Aubrey Holley drove for Johnny Lieupo.

“The following year, Laverne built a ’34 Ford sedan, the original gold 90, and I continued to wash it also,” Ronnie continued.  “Being as I was eleven years old and small, they felt I did a really good job on the inside. We have a photo of this car in front of our service station. This is also the car that Rex White refers to that Sam (McQuagg) turned over in practice and went on to win the feature at Jacksonville.

“The following year, my dad and Bill Childers went to Milledgeville, GA, bought a ’37 Plymouth sedan, drove it back to Tifton and built a race car out of it. This ’37 Plymouth was about ¾ finished along this time when Aubrey Holley told us he would help finish the car if he could drive it. He had just moved down from Griffin where he had done some driving. This started a string of drivers for my dad including Jay Pannell, Jimmy Capps, Coot Rowland, Yankee Smith, myself and Louie Radney.”

“At that time, Hawkinsville would have a race every other Sunday,” Ronnie said.  “So some of the drivers would race at Valdosta on Saturday night and spend the night in Tifton. Before heading out for Hawkinsville, they would gather up at my dad’s service station. It could not have been better for me being able to be in the midst of race drivers because that is what I wanted to be.

This is the Model A coupe that Ronnie and his father had finished for 2 years before they ran the car. Ronnie’s mother Betty Lieupo didn’t want Ronnie to drive and he was so young that he had to have her permission before the tracks would let him drive. This was taken in 1968 when the Thunderbowl reopened for sportsman racing.

“I-75 Speedway opened in ’63 and became a NASCAR track. This meant I could not go into the pits. So I bought a NASCAR license for $35 and I had to show it many times. After I-75 Speedway closed in ’67, a few races were run independently. We won the last two races ever run in ’69 ahead of Louie Radney, Jr.

“Franklin Quick Change rear ends in Ruskin, FL, would pay you $41 for a complete ¾ ton Ford or Studebaker rear end assembly. We gathered up enough to swap for a quick change rear, four aluminum hubs, brakes and a drive shaft. In those days a workingman could have a race car if he played all the angles.”

“There were a lot of tricks to the trade that came easy,” Ronnie continued.  “Being friends with Eddie and Aubrey and watching Sam, Willie McDonald, Harvey, Curtis Morgan and others, I learned a lot and not the hard way. By the time I was 14 years old, I could arc weld, acyelene weld and fabricate. In 1965, you better know how to make something you needed because you could buy very little. We went to the junkyard, found something that was close, then made it work. Learning frame and bodywork seemed to come in handy too. Bill Childers taught me bodywork. Talmadge Dean taught me frame work. I’ve been doing the trade 42 years.

“When I was fifteen, we built a Model ‘A’ coupe, shortened and narrowed. This car sat race ready lacking an engine for two years. My dad knew I wanted to drive it and he knew my mama wasn’t going to have it. I took a job at a fast food establishment on the weekends thinking it would make me not to think about racing. Two years later it still did not work. One Saturday night at the Thunderbowl, Roy Graham wrecked his car and announced it was for sale. I rustled up my dad and we made a deal and bought the car.

You can tell from the super clean lines that this is a Tommy Riggins built car. Danny Clanton owned the car.

“We didn’t know the engine in the car wasn’t legal but I didn’t care. We kept the engine and sold the rest of the car for what we paid for it. After finishing sixth and third in the first two races, my dad said we had to build a legal engine. The cubic inch limit was 300. We built a 265 plus .020 over with a 327 crank. This was a stump puller. First night out we out ran Harvey Jones (from Tallahassee, FL) and he protested us. We were legal. Later in years Harvey told me that if you’re getting beat protest and see what they have.”

“The first late model I drove was a ’57 Chevy built by Doc Blanchard,” Ronnie said.  “Bud Wilson and Dunbar Hankinson owned it. They blew an engine at the Thunderbowl one Saturday night. The following Thursday, Waycross had a 75 lap race. We took the engine out of my sportsman car and put it in their late model. We finished third to Eddie and Rance. When we split the money, Bud and Dunbar had enough money to fix their engine.

Later in 1969, I drove this same car at Jacksonville, FL. At 19 years old, I was running 6^th on lap 165 of a 200 lapper when the suspension broke. Eddie won and Bobby Allison was second. Also there was Tiny Lund, Tom Pistone, Sam Sommers, David Ezell and many more. Tiny Lund wound upside down outside the track on a street by the backstretch.”

This is a photo of a worn out race car. Even though you may not be able to recognize it but the car was a 1970 Chevelle owned by Rex Etheridge of Valdosta. Ronnie won 22 or 24 features with this car in 3 years. This photo must have been taken during the last year.

“I missed most of the 1970 season due to joining the National Guard,” he continued.  “I was in Fort Polk, LA, from March until August. The season ran from April until September. I wanted to win a championship really bad but it was impossible missing a race a month to Guard drills. I got out of the Guard in 1976 and won my first championship in 1977.

“In the early seventies, we still ran the sportsman class and won races at Valdosta, Lake City, Waycross and Brunswick. By the middle seventies, late models had taken over. We (Walter Bazemore, Rex Ethridge, Randy Bright and Bo Blanton) built a ’70 Chevelle with an open chambered big block. Boy I loved those 427’s. In two years we won 25 features and a track championship at Columbia County Speedway including some track records. After winning the last race of the season, Rance Phillips asked me if we were going to Brunswick the next day. We did and had fast time over 56 late models. Billy Clanton was outside pole. We led it seven laps and broke a piston. This car failed to finish only four times.

“Also when we were driving the skeeter cars and the late models, early in the night my sportsman was scratched. Gary Johnson had a short ’34 Ford that had been built in North Georgia. Gary was just getting started racing so he asked me to drive his car in the heat race. I told him that he needed the seat time but he wanted a picture of his car with the checkered flag. The car was pretty and fast. He had a steering wheel on the car that was real small. I asked for a bigger wheel and he had one. I got him the picture.”

“At the last race of the 1972 season, Sputter Ragan drove Wade Murphy’s car in the feature because his primary car was scratched,” Ronnie said.  “This was the first time Sputter had driven the car and it was fast. Sputter drove the car #64 to the top three when he got tied up in a wreck and turned it over. Wade asked me to help him fix it in the off-season. So I did and drove it. Opening night the next season I don’t know who had pole and outside pole but Louie Radney was inside second row in his famed red #83 and I was outside in a field of at 20 cars. When the green flag came out both of us wanted the sweet spot in the grove. We went by the flag stand backwards. After the caution, we got our places back. At the restart, Louie and I did the same thing. After that we went to the rear. Late in the race both of us had made it back towards the front when I got tangled with the same car Sputter did the year before and turned Wade’s car over again. ‘Irony’: First time Sputter and I drove the car each one of us turned the car over.

Ronnie with the checkered flag in Jon McGee’s car from Thomasville, GA. Ronnie drove the car twice and won twice in 1985.

“Early in my life I’d heard about race track superstitions. There was the number 13, color green, peanuts, full moon and probably others. In 1972 I towed my car to a National Guard drill. I forgot to bring extra clothes so when I went to the track I drove in my fatigues and wound up winning. Green didn’t bother me after that. Another competitor told me you get the green to start the race, and then you get the green when it’s over.”

Another superstition story was from racing in Lake City.

“We had towed the Chevelle to Columbia County for a Friday night show,” Ronnie told us.  “Competition was real stiff on this half-mile. The first nine races of the year had nine different winners. It was Friday the 13^th with a full moon and I drew the pill number 13. I told my car owner, Rex Ethridge, we should load up and go home. But we stayed. I told Rex some one was going to win and it might as well be us. So we became the first repeat winner of the season. I forgot about superstitions.

“After the season ended in Middle and North Georgia, some of those guys (Leon Archer, Doug Kennimer, Roscoe Smith, Dick Mills and others) would come down to race. Some were here on a July 4^th Bicentennial race for 76 cars. We won the race with that ’70 Chevelle with Leon Archer second.

“Then I drove a car wrenched by Jon McGee. One night after a protest we had to move the engine forward to meet the specs. This fixed a push the car had and we set a track record at Columbia County that was held for two years.”

Ronnie in James Coleburn’s (Madison, FL) Jig-A-Lo Corvette with coil springs under it. He set the track record at Lake City with the car as well as win 6 to 8 features in 1979.

“In 1979, I started to drive for James Coleburn of Madison, FL. He had a Chevy Nova that Tommy Riggins had built,” Ronnie said.  “A few races later, James bought a Jig-A-Lo Chassis with a Corvette body. We won some races with it and broke a track record at the Lake City short track (now North Florida Raceway). James then bought a coil over Jig-A-Lo (Firebird). We won 22 features that year with a couple more track records. James wanted to cut my percentage so we parted company but remained friends.

“Then I drove for Danny Clanton, Mike Bostic, Henry Steedley, Jon McGee, Larry Walker, Ben Sumner and some more.

“We took Danny Clanton’s car to Cochran. Nasworthy had won all the races that year. We had a short rod 406 with a hub. Never racing there before we guessed at tires and the gear. We qualified outside pole, won the race to the corner and left. Sometimes things turn out right.

“Another time Danny called when my arm was in a cast – elbow down. He wanted me to qualify his car on Friday night. His driver (Marlin Huffmaster) couldn’t be there until Saturday. So I went out and had fast time in his C. J. Rayburn that I had yet to drive, cast and all.

“I tried some asphalt around 1990 but didn’t care for it. Those guys got mad when I put zeroes on their doors.”

“By 1992, I was driving for Bobby Stracner,” Ronnie said.  “He had bought a Walter Newman chassis. We won a few Saturday night events and ran second to Tuck Treadham in a 100-lapper. That off-season, we built a Twister Chassis at John King’s. In two years we won 18 features including two 50-lap races. We finished second two more times to Tuck in 100-lap events. We took the championship at the Thunderbowl and the Bearden Oil Championship that last year.

Ronnie Lieupo (182) leads Lavon Sloan in the #22 with Jimmy Murphy in the Cooper Brothers #68 out of the fourth turn at the Thunderbowl.

“By now my son wanted to race. It was 1996. We raced three years and he won 26 features. The cost got to us.

“I raced off and on until 2000 except for a vintage race at Douglas, GA, in 2007. I drove a ’34 Ford sedan with a 383 stroker. As luck would have it I drew on the pole, won my heat and the feature. Anybody that had more fun than the people I raced with and against just had more money.”

“It was late in my 32 years of racing that I appreciated seeing my friends every weekend,” said Ronnie.  “Some of them are gone but I’ll never forget them – J. T. Gordon – Marlin Huffmaster – Harvey Jones – Sam McQuagg – Aubrey Holley – Jon Thorne.

“I drove over 50 different race cars on 16 different tracks in my career. A lot had the same number but they were totally different cars. Some were Car House, Walter Newman, Custom Chassis, Jig-A-Lo, Barry Wright, Master Built, Russell Brown, Twister, Howe, Tommy Riggins and homemade. I didn’t get to race long with my heroes because they were a good bit older than me. I did have a lot of fun with Rance Phillips, Harvey Jones, Dickey Ferry, Louie Radney, Sputter Ragan, Bill O’Neal, Marlin Huffmaster, Steve Moran, Jimmy Murphy, Lavon Sloan, J. T. Gordon, Larry Benton Wayne Suggart and too many more to mention.

This is the last car Ronnie built – a 100-inch wheelbase sportsman that he ran at the Thunderbowl with some success.

“Along with building and fabbing cars, I built most of the engines we raced. The only part of the engine I didn’t do was the machine work. Locally I had Jack Patrick, James Watson, Buster Christie, Mack Shiver or Joe Walker, all of which I am still friends with today. The only owner I didn’t mess with the engine much was Jon McGee. He might be a little short on handling but he was seldom short on horsepower. Everybody buys HP today. That makes it impersonal to me.”

“In 1980, we had won 4 races in a row at Waycross when a man asked me whose engines did we run,” he told us.  “I said they are ours. He said ‘I know but who do you but them from.’ I said we build them. We built the short block, I degreed the cam, and then came Dennis Clements heads and intake. The cam was a Reed and you could move it around. If the car were a little loose off the corner I would back the cam up a little. The quicker you got the throttle down the faster the lap times were. Lap times were most important.

This is one of the last open wheel cars Ronnie drove. It was originally a North Georgia car.

“After 32 years, I have 27 large trophies. That’s a lot considering few were given out and the car owner got a lot of them. I should have gotten duplicates but when you are young you think about the next race, not the last one. I didn’t drive after winning the vintage race in 2007. To me, I went out a winner. Not many things were as satisfying as driving a good fast racer and winning the race. That solidified that you were the best for that night, week or until the next race was run. Driving was natural for me; it could not be learned. You could get better at it. If you thought about doing something in a race car, you better have already done it. At any given race you could score many times. Quick time, track record, match race heat race, consi or feature. In the middle seventies, some of us drove 2 classes – sportsman and late models. I guess that was twice as much fun. We were pretty much in one car or the other all night.”

After all those years in racing Ronnie found time to join the Elks Lodge and the American Legion. He has also been elected to the City Council of Dasher, GA and reelected twice. Ronnie and his wife Debra enjoy life in the small town with their children and grandchildren living nearby.

“To all my friends, family and competitors….I loved most of you!”

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the June 2010 edition of the Pioneer Pages magazine.

Mike Bell is a Georgia racing historian and volunteer for the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email us!

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame or the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame Association, Inc. All content is the intellectual property of the individual authors. All opinions are those of the individual authors. Please do not repost images or text without permission.

Charlie Burkhalter poses with his restored skeeter at the 2010 Athens Speedway reunion. Photo by Brandon Reed

By Mike Bell
Posted in Feature Stories 3/10/12

A couple of weeks before Christmas in 2009, they had a wedding anniversary in Shake Rag, GA. Of course, I got lost and was late. It was almost dark when we arrived. Our host, Charlie Burkhalter, Jr., directed us to a parking space and said he was going to get the trailer. I knew what he was talking about. Everybody there knew what he was talking about but his father, former famed Athens racing driver Charlie Burkhalter, Sr. You see that was the surprise!

A year or so ago, Charlie Jr. called me and said he had found one of his dad’s old race cars. He had grand ideas of restoring the car to the condition and look as when his dad drove it. We tried to find some parts for him. Then he called and said they had found another of his dad’s race cars. Since it was more complete, they decided to restore it. This was about three months before the party. Charlie Jr. called to say that the party was between Commerce and Athens off US Highway 441.

“I’ll be there,” I said.

When I got there, quite a crowd had gathered. Shake Rag is a very nice hunting lodge about four miles off of US Highway 441 between Commerce and Athens. The lodge is built like a large house with a big deck off the back. An awning stretches in front of the double doors that open into one large room. But all the action was outside.

As I said everybody – some 200 – knew what was going on but Charlie Sr. Now everybody that was there were not blood kin to Charlie, as you would find at your regular family gatherings. This was Charlie’s racing family. All of these people had ties to Charlie when he raced. Some were as old as Charlie on down to grandchildren who had never seen Charlie race. It didn’t matter – they were family!

Charlie Jr. pulled the long trailer under the awning and opened the back. The family had gathered but not Charlie Sr. As the restored racer was unloaded, you could see the care to detail that was put into this job – loving care from the racing family of Charlie Burkhalter Sr. Several of his closest friends and family escorted Charlie outside to see the car for the first time since the late sixties. He was astonished!

The car was what was commonly called a “skeeter.” They were a frame, an engine, running gear with tires and a seat for the driver. Charlie’s cars were always number 75 and gold and this one was too. The engine was a small block Chevy that most everyone used. The wheels and tires were the “mag wheels” that everyone used as well as grooved slicks. The only thing missing was red clay stuck to the frame rails and tires! The family had recreated that same car that ran so many years ago.

Charlie taking the checkered flag at the Sugar Bowl Speedway near Conyers, GA. He is driving the Tommy Pittman owned 1934 Ford 5-window coupe in which he won so many races. Photo courtesy the Burkhalter family.

With much prodding and encouragement from the crowd, Charlie got into the car. If you know anything about those old racers, you know this wasn’t an easy job. But Charlie continues to work ever day and had little trouble getting into the car. Next, he was again prodded and encouraged to start the engine. What a sound! You don’t hear that kind of music any more at the tracks. With his old helmet on and his family around him, Charlie warmed the engine up even to some flame throwing when he decelerated the engine. His grin was enormous and only waned back to a normal grin when he cut the engine off. Everyone was taking photos for their family albums.

The explanation for this family gathering came almost a year ago when Charlie Sr. was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor. Through the last year, he has gone through over 40 radiation treatments and probably so many doctors’ visits that he knows how many grandchildren the man has. We thought we had lost him. But you know old racers never quit. They fight tooth and nail for the chance to run for the checkered flag again and Charlie is still that same race car driver that filled the stands on every Saturday night at Athens Speedway.

The research shows that in the sixties, it was the Charlie, Charlie and Charlie show at Athens when the sun went down and the crowd gathered to watch “their” Charlie go for the next win.

You may want to look at the car some time. The family plans on showing the car at regional car shows and events like the Legends Night at Lavonia Speedway.

Where does a man get such a large family? In Charlie’s case you start out with a large family. Charles Ross Burkhalter is one of 16 children born to George David Burkhalter and Flora Mae Craft Burkhalter.

“16 children – 9 boys and 7 girls,” Charlie remembered.  “About 1/2 of them are dead now.” They started with Katie Mae and somewhere in there was Eugene and about two  years later, Charlie and about three years later came Mack. These other two are mentioned because they became involved in racing also. They all lived in Oconee County – near where Athens Speedway was.

“My dad was a farmer,” Charlie recalled.  “He rented about 100 acres. We didn’t do much cotton farming. We grew what you could eat. We did pick cotton. Mama would take all us youngins. We could pick about a bale a day.

Charlie Burkhalter ready to race at Athens Speedway in 1967.

“I went to University of Georgia High – Demonstration High, where the Navy School is today. They ran me out. I quit in the 10^th grade and went to work at Seagraves Drive-In at the counter. Bob Martin ran it. They sold beer. I guess there wasn’t a law like there is today. I wasn’t but 15. They had a curb service. The curb boys paid me and the customer paid the curb boys. They had any kind of food you wanted but they specialized in BBQ. Back then it was one of the number one eating places in Athens.”

“When I left Seagraves, I went to work at Davis Sign Co.,” Charlie continued.  “Then I went to work for Epps Electric Co. until 1960 when I went in business for myself doing electrical work. I did that until 1972 when I bought my first trencher. I have been doing that since then. I have worn out 7 tractors. The first one I bought I gave $4500 for it and the last one was $48,000. This new one is just a little bit bigger than the first one.”

Charlie first met his wife on her front porch. A friend of Shirley’s said she had a friend she wanted her to meet. Shirley thought it was a boy who had been talking to her at school but her friend was dating Allen Williamson at the time. Allen would later become a race driver also. His friend was Charlie. They dated a couple of years and got married in December 1955. They have raised eight children – Wanda, Rita, Charlie Jr., George, Jeff, Rex, Becky and Carol (who was adopted). These children have 15 grandchildren so far. Their oldest – Wanda – was killed in an auto accident in Columbus, GA. Most of their children live in Madison County, GA. Carol and her family live in Oglethorpe County. Neither county is very far from Athens.

“When we first got married we lived in an upstairs apartment on Millage Ave.,” Charlie’s wife Shirley remembered.  “Then we moved downstairs in the same building. Our son George was six months old when we moved in this house at 358 Hull Road. George will be 50 on May 4.”

Charlie sits in the 1934 Ford coupe with Ridley’s Texaco as the sponsor and a very potent flathead Ford under the hood. Photo courtesy the Burkhalter family

“I got started in racing about 1958 when my brother Eugene and Harold Garrett had a car,”  Charlie said.  “A little ole’ coupe #77. We would pull it to Anderson, SC. I was about 16 then. Harold would be leading the race and spin out. I told him that I believed I could drive a car as good as he could. Harold didn’t think I could. Well, we were at Toccoa one night and a guy asked me about driving his car. Harold Yarbrough was his name. I told him that I didn’t know anything about driving a car and that I would probably tear it up. He said, ‘I don’t care, drive it anyway. I had a boy that was supposed to drive it but he didn’t show up so you drive it. If you wreck it, we’ll fix it.’ It was an amateur race. I hadn’t ever driven a race car before. I got in the thing and started about 14^th place. In a few laps, I was going into 4^th place when Wendel Roach cut over and pushed me into that big rock there and flipped that car end-over-end. I told the man I was sorry for tearing the car up. He said, ‘that was all right. We’ll fix it and you can drive it next week.’

“Harold Yarbrough bought a sedan from C. P. Shaw that Charlie Padgett was driving, put a motor in it and went back up there the next weekend and out ran the tar out of them! The second time I had ever been in a race car! When we went back up there, we had a BIG flathead in the car. That thing wasn’t legal. They protested us and we had to give them the money back. It was bored 80 over and was supposed to be a 100 standard. It was smoking! I told them that it wasn’t any need to pull the head off of it as it wasn’t legal. We brought the car back to Athens. We took the motor out and put 100 standard sleeves in it. I told them not to mess with the cam as that motor was running good. We went back the next week and outran them worst than the first time. After we beat them the second time, they must have protested us 50 times. They kept saying that there was no way I could be legal. That ole’ car would handle. That was where I beat them. Some nights we had to pull both heads off. They had put up $25 to protest. So, some times we would get 50 extra dollars. You could run one side bigger than the other but you had to jet the carburetor bigger for that side. We found this out later or I probably would have tried it.”

A rare afternoon show at Athens Speedway with Charlie in the middle of the photo in his #75. The #74 is his brother’s car but the driver is unknown. The #92 is also unknown. After the tornado in 1973, the old wooden grandstands and wooden walls were replaced with concrete and still sit at the speedway site today.

“We ran about two years then James “Jabo” Bradberry bought out Harold and we ran another two or three years,” Charlie continued.  “We ran Toccoa, Greenwood (SC), Fountain Inn (SC), Walhalla (SC) Cowpens (SC) and Banks County. We ran about 5 nights a week. We’d pull a thousand miles a week back when gas was 28 or 29 cents a gallon. I would run at Elberton and after we ran the Amatuer race, they would let us run in the bigger class – it was like an A-class where we were running a B-class – I would run third in that race. I out ran Harold Garrett every week. Some people can get the hang of it and some people can’t. I got the hang of it right off the bat. It was like an everyday job for me. Most of the time, the car wasn’t handling and we knew what to do to it to get it to handle.

“Tommy Pittman owned the ’34 Ford 5-window I drove next. That was 1962. We won 35 straight races that year – won at a lot of different tracks. I built my own flathead motors and everything for that car. Take a grinder to the blocks for a whole week – polishing everything we could. You could get so mad. You would grind on them so long the intakes looked like chrome. Then you would find a crack and have to throw it out and start over again. We ran a 3-3/8 bore with a 4-¼ stroker and a 404 Iskendarian cam. You’d have to grind the bottom of the cylinder walls for the rods to clear. I didn’t hardly do anything to that car but wash it and change the oil and won 35 straight races. Won 17 races then overhauled the engine and won 18 more. That thing handled so good – that was how I outran them all.”

In 1962, the racers of Athens formed an organization called Athens Auto Racing Association. It was formed specifically for running other places.

The ultra clean engine of the 34 Ford Coupe. Photo courtesy the Burkhalter family

“Bill just wouldn’t pay us what we wanted,” Charlie said.  “We ran up at Banks County, Sugar Bowl and Toccoa. We didn’t hardly have to do it but once. He agreed to pay us what we wanted. There was about six or eight of us went. He didn’t have anybody to race

“One time Jabo called about Cleveland (TN) and said they were running a 50-lap ‘B’ Class (limited) championship race. We took our magneto off and the 3 carburetors off. We used one 2-barrel off a ’56 Ford pickup. When we got there, they told us we could have left all that on there but it was too late then to change anything. We started about 16^th. I think they had about 25 cars. I followed this ole’ boy for about 49 ¾ laps and he slipped high. I went under him and won the race. He really wanted that big ole trophy. I told him I would sell it to him for $50, but he didn’t want it.”

“Another time at Cleveland (TN), we ran the ‘limited’ class,” Charlie said.  “Jabo and Tootle were there but were blowing water on one of the cylinders. Jabo took the plug out and taped off the wire so it wouldn’t touch anything and Tootle ran on seven cylinders. He started on the outside pole and had a half-lap lead – on seven cylinders! That joker just flew. I have never seen anyone run on seven cylinders like that joker did. They never had a caution flag. They ran the whole race without ever slowing down once. After he got about a half-lap lead, he just sat out there and rode.

“When I drove for Tommy Pittman, his brother Bobby use to hang around a lot. One night about 1:00AM, we were up at Bud’s (Lunsford) and he was balancing the motor. Bud could really balance an engine. Anyway, we left there about 2. I told Bobby if he would help me we could run at Winder-Barrow tonight. ‘Ain’t no way you are running at Winder tonight’ was all Bobby could say. I told him if he would help me we could get there. We worked all day. He crawled down there and bolted the engine up and we cranked it up. I set the valves. We went over to his house and had a sandwich while the motor loosened up. We got back and I adjusted the valves again and we loaded up and headed on down the road. We got there late and I had to start in the back but still won the race. Bobby just couldn’t believe we won!”

Very seldom did Charlie drive a car that didn’t have his signature #75 on them but this is one. He won races in this coupe normally driven by Tony Alewine. Photo courtesy the Burkhalter family

“I drove Tommy Roberts’ car one night at Winder,” he continued.  “We had tore up something – ring gear or something. Marshall Carey, the car owner, came over and asked me to drive it. I didn’t want to drive it but he said if Tommy wanted to drive it he should be here so don’t worry about Tommy getting mad. I practiced in the car and liked the way it drove. I started the heat race about fourth or fifth and had about a half-lap lead at the end of the 10-lap heat race. They told me if Tommy showed up later he was just going to have to watch me drive the car. We started the feature with Padgett in one of Bud Lunsford’s old cars but it didn’t matter. I had a half-lap lead and was just sitting out there riding. About that time the switch wire shorted out on the stupid thing. They wanted to know why it quit. I told them I didn’t know what was wrong but it just quit firing.

“Again but at Athens, something happened to my car. We loaded it up and Marshall came over and asked me to drive his car. Charlie Padgett driving Massey’s car and I sat on the front. I had a big lead – about half-lap – and the “John Brown” ring gear and pinion tore out of the thing. Marshall told me that he wasn’t ever going to ask me to drive his car any more.”

When the open wheel cars fell out of favor at the local tracks, Charlie started driving “schoolbuses” like this – a beautiful Nova late model with his #75 in which he still won races. Photo courtesy the Burkhalter family

“I only ran illegal twice in my life,” Charlie told us.  “The one I told you about earlier with the engine and one other. We were up at Walhalla one night. I was leading and had already taken the white flag. I went down in the third turn and backed off and it made a funny sound. The clutch had come apart and those little brass rivets had come loose and tore everything up. I still won the race but it would be Tuesday or Wednesday before we could have gotten the parts from Honest Charley. My brother said he had a straight drive. So we put that in to run at Athens. The engine would start up and everything but you just couldn’t pull off. We told them something happened to the clutch so they let us push it off that night. I won my heat and the feature. That was the only other time I was illegal.

“When they went to late models I drove for the Watson brothers (Laverne and Ray, who are still alive) out of Danielsville then for Elvis Hills for about 2 years and then James Elders out of Watkinsville for a year or two. But I just got burned out. We were pulling about 1000 miles a week just to race. I just got tired and worn out. I didn’t like the “schoolbusses” anyway. They sold the car so I quit. I went fishing! The last race I ran was at Lavonia. I ran second to C. L. Pritchett.”

So what does a successful race car driver do when he quits? He goes fishing. He got as good at fishing as he did at racing.

“I would win $500 sometimes fishing at tournaments,” Charlie recalled.  “I have as many fishing trophies as I ever had in racing. For about 20 years now, they would have these 2-day tournaments and a lot of times I would win both days. We have a nice home on Lake Oconee and spend much the summer down there fishing.”

Now all the fishing competitors are waiting on Charlie to retire from fishing.

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the June 2010 edition of the Pioneer Pages magazine.  Charlie Burkhalter passed away on May 28, 2010.

Mike Bell is a Georgia racing historian and volunteer for the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email us!

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame or the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame Association, Inc. All content is the intellectual property of the individual authors. All opinions are those of the individual authors. Please do not repost images or text without permission.

The Ontario Motor Speedway, located east of Los Angeles, CA, was a 2.5 mile super speedway that hosted NASCAR and IndyCar events. It was considered the sister track to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

By Brandon Reed
Posted in Columns 3/3/12

Georgia racing historian Mike Bell has been doing a lot of research into a couple of stories that have connections to the old Atlanta Motordrome, which was located just south of Atlanta.

The track, constructed in 1908-09, was a massive 2 mile oval that drew some of the finest drivers of the day.  It had amenities that no other track had ever dreamed of, and, had it survived, it surely would have rivaled the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway in racing history.

But it didn’t survive.  Despite all of the money behind it, having been built by Coca-Cola magnate Asa Chandler, the track only saw action for two years.  Eventually, it would be buried under what is now the busiest airport in the country, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

Reasons for why the track failed have been discussed for years, and we plan to bring that story to you at a later date.  When you see pictures of the massive Atlanta Motordrome, it’s easy to believe that a loss of such a grand facility wouldn’t be possible today.

If you’re one of those that believes that idea, you only have to look at one California super speedway to see that, not only is it possible, but has happened in recent years.

The Ontario Motor Speedway, located 40 miles east of Los Angeles, CA, was built in 1970 at a reported cost of about $25.5 million. The track was intended to be an all-purpose facility.

The most recognizable section of the track was its 2.5-mile oval course. The track was modeled after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but featured a wider racing surface, as well as slightly banked short-chutes between the first and second, and third and fourth turns. This made lap times at the track faster than its eastern cousin.

A 20-turn road course was built into the infield of the facility. The wide pit road was also used as a drag strip, and hosted the first ever 250 mile and hour run by “Big Daddy” Don Garlits in 1975.

The icing on the cake was the circle of bricks from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that made up Ontario’s victory lane, in the shape of a big “O.”

The first event at the magnificent new track was held on Labor Day of 1970. It was a 500-mile USAC Indy car race, won by Jim McElreath in a Ford powered Coyote.

The next year, Ontario brought in the big NASCAR stock cars, but there was still an Indy connection in the event. A.J. Foyt won the first NASCAR Cup event at the track, and would win the event again in 1972. A.J. would also find success at the track in his Indy car, winning in March of 1975.

After leaving the track in 1973, NASCAR would return in 1974, and would hold its season finale at the Southern California track for the next seven years. Drivers such as Bobby Allison, Buddy Baker, David Pearson, Neil Bonnett, and Benny Parsons would all find victory lane. The racing was phenomenal, with cars often stacking three and four wide down the long straightaways.

For the Indy Cars, the list of winners read like an Indy 500 champions who’s who. Bobby Unser was a four-time winner, while his brother Al Unser would twice visit victory lane. Other winners included USAC Camp Joe Leonard, Roger McCluskey and Wally Dallenbach, Sr.

There was a lot of history written there. Cale Yarborough was crowned Cup champion three times there. Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip fought over the 1979 championship on the Ontario oval, with Petty taking his seventh title by a mere 11 points. And one year later, a kid named Dale Earnhardt would win the first of his seven titles at the track.

But despite quality racing, Ontario was in trouble. Financial plans had been made based on hopelessly over-ambitious attendance numbers. After a huge turnout for the track’s inaugural events, attendance numbers began dropping. The writing was on the wall.

The final Indy car event at the track was held in August of 1980, won by Bobby Unser. The final Cup event was held in November, with Benny Parsons winning.

The track went bankrupt, and the Ontario Motor Speedway deemed a failure. The city sold the track to Chevron Land Management for $10 million. In 1981, it was demolished, wiped off the face of the earth at a cost of $3 million.

Nothing remains of the track today. In the mid 1980s, a hotel was built on the fourth turn of the old track. Developments run down its front stretch. A hockey arena is currently being built on the site of the third turn.

If the track could have survived a few more years and entered into the television era of racing, it’s very possible it would still be there, and be one of the biggest show places in motor sports.

Instead, we’re left to wonder what might have been.

Brandon Reed is the editor and publisher of Georgia Racing History.com.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email us!

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame or the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame Association, Inc. All content is the intellectual property of the individual authors. All opinions are those of the individual authors. Please do not repost images or text without permission.

Gober Sosebee races his Ford down the beach. Sosebee, was one of five drivers from Dawsonville, Georgia, to score a win at Daytona.

By Brandon Reed
Posted in Feature Stories 2/24/12

Some say it may be something in the water.  Other say it has something to do with what they make out of the water.

Regardless, the little town of Dawsonville, Georgia, nestled in the mountains of North Georgia, holds a distinction that few other single towns can claim.

It is the hometown of no less than five Daytona winners, between the beach years and the years at Daytona International Speedway.

Lloyd Seay, Roy Hall, Bernard Long, Gober Sosebee and Bill Elliott all came from Dawsonville.

Seay, Hall, Long, and Sosebee were all winners on the old Daytona Beach and Road course, while Elliott scored two Daytona 500 victories, in 1985 and 1988.

You’d be hard pressed to find another single small town that produced so many winners at such a major venue.

In the case of the first four, the common thread between them was a money making substance that is still a part of local lore – moonshine whiskey.  All four hauled bootleg liquer out of Dawsonville, which was known for its moonshine production, down Georgia Highway 9 and into Atlanta under the cover of darkness.

“This is the birthplace of stock car racing,” said Dawsonville racing aficionado Gordon Pirkle.  “A lot of people want to press me and ask ‘where’s your race track’?  It was down here in the river bottoms before there was any organized stock car racing anywhere.

“On Sunday nights, a bunch of the liquor guys would meet down here in the river bottom and bet on who had the best drivers.  The word leaked out and people started showing up to watch it on Sunday evenings.”

Dawsonville native Frank Christian saw the people that came out to these events, and, sensing a profit, organized what would be the first event for what would become modern stock cars at the old Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta in 1938.

“That was the first organized stock car racing in this part of the country,” Pirkle said.

In the forties, the Georgia Gang made their way to Daytona Beach.

“In the decade of the 40s, out of 15 races run on the beach, 12 were won by the Dawsonville Gang, either as a driver or a car owner.” Pirkle said.

Raymond Parks and his drivers, Lloyd Seay (left) and Roy Hall (right). Photo courtesy GRHOF

Lloyd Seay and Roy Hall were the first of the Dawsonville drivers to see success on the beach, driving cars owned by their cousin, Raymond Parks.  Hall would win in his first time out on the beach in 1940.  Seay would win in 1941 in a race that would see him bicycle his car on two wheels through the north turn on purpose, to the delight of the crowd.

Parks, himself a Dawsonville native, would also see success on the beach with drivers Red Byron and Bob Flock.  His drivers would dominate the beach in the 1940s.

Pirkle said there were a few things that gave the cars owned by Parks their edge.  Namely, it was the man who built the cars that Parks’ pilots drove.

“I think Red Vogt was the key ingredient,” he said.  “He could get more out of a flathead Ford engine than anybody.  Plus, they had more experience than anybody.  They were racing seven days a week back then between the races and running moonshine through the week.

“If you come in second in a stock car race, you get paid for it.  If you come in second running moonshine, you go to jail.”

Moonshiner Bernard Long would score his lone win at Daytona in July of 1941 in only his second ever start.  Long made enough money to fund himself in a career as a legitimate business man.  He never raced again.

Gober Sosebee holds the distinction of being the fastest NASCAR driver ever on the beach, setting the all-time NASCAR speed record on the beach in 1949.  He would twice score modified victories, winning in 1951 and 1952 in the popular modified and sportsman events.

Sosebee’s record setting car is on display at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.

But when racing left the beach in 1959, it appeared that Dawsonville’s dominance at Daytona also came to an end.

But in the eighties, when Bill Elliott hit the racing scene, it breathed new life into the Georgia Gang, and to their long time fans around Dawsonville.

The Elliott family team, Bill, George, Ernie and Dan, were tough to beat at Daytona in 1985. Photo courtesy the Ray Lamm collection

“I’ve never seen so many people proud of one sport as most of the people in Dawsonville when Bill came along,” Pirkle said.  “If Bill hadn’t come along and did as well as he did, the history of racing here in Dawsonville probably would have been lost.”

Elliott, driving for team owner Harry Melling out of Dawsonville, would score wins in the Daytona 500 in 1985 and 1987, along with setting the all-time speed record in qualifying for a stock car at the track in 1987 with a lap at 210.364 mph.

Pirkle said most of the reporters that came to the town to report on Elliott’s success back then knew nothing of the history, and learned about Seay, Hall and all the other racers that had been heroes to the long time residents of the area.

“It was so exciting,” Pirkle said.  “I’ve never seen people have such a feeling.  They were so proud of our little town and of the Elliott family.”

And that pride continues today.  The city is home to the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, which honors many of the Georgia Gang that went south annually to beat the beach.

In fact, all of the members of the inaugural class to be inducted into the hall in 2002 either won at Daytona or had a hand in winning as a mechanic or a car owner.

And it all stems back to one little town in North Georgia, where racing history makers are born.

Brandon Reed is the editor and publisher of Georgia Racing History.com.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email us!

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame or the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame Association, Inc. All content is the intellectual property of the individual authors. All opinions are those of the individual authors. Please do not repost images or text without permission.

Richard Petty's Pontiac gets airborne after being tagged by Phil Barkdoll (73) and A.J. Foyt during the running of the 1988 Daytona 500. Photo courtesy the Andy Towler collection

By Brandon Reed
Posted in Columns 2/17/12

Though it occurred over two decades ago, I can still remember how it all unfolded like it was yesterday.

It was February 14, 1988.  My family and I had gathered to watch the 30^th running of the Daytona 500 on television.

It promised to be an interesting race from the start.  The cars were being hampered by carburetor restrictor plates for the first time after a frightening crash the year before at Talladega had almost landed Bobby Allison’s car in the grandstands.  Along with that, some of the car manufacturers had reshaped their car models during the off-season, and some drivers had found issues in getting those cars to behave properly on the racetrack.

It was just after the halfway point, and leader Darrell Waltrip continued to hold the point as CBS broke away for a commercial.  When they returned, they launched into a pre-produced piece on 1987 Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.  The scene had just shifted to long-time race commentator Chris Economaki sitting on the porch of Earnhardt’s childhood home, when CBS suddenly cut back to the track.

The first thing we heard was the voice of long-time commentator and former cup champion Ned Jarrett, saying “Bad trouble, bad trouble!”

We saw one car airborne, flipping side over side along the front stretch catch fence.  The back end of the car was riding the fence, while the front nosed down on the racing surface.  As the car tumbled over and over, parts flew in all directions.

It was at that point that the number on the side of the car suddenly registered in my mind.  It was 43, the number of seven-time Daytona and cup champion Richard Petty.

Almost at the same time, I heard my mother and grandfather both say “Oh my God!”

Petty’s car finally came to rest just outside of the tri-oval area of the track, but his ride wasn’t over. With debris littering the track, a pack of cars, already at a reduced speed, drove into the scene.  A cut tire sent Brett Bodine’s Ford out of control, and slamming into the now stationary car of Petty, sending it spinning wildly.

The front stretch was strewn with crashed cars, and smoke hung heavy in front of the cameras as lead commentator Ken Squire explained to fans what had just happened.  CBS’ cameras closed in on Petty’s car momentarily, and then cut away until word of Petty’s condition came down.

A replay showed the back of Petty’s car breaking loose, sliding sideways off of the fourth turn.  He was then struck from behind by journeyman driver Phil Barkdoll, and then by former Indianapolis and Daytona winner A.J. Foyt.  The contact from these two pushed Petty’s car sideways, allowing air to get underneath his Pontiac, lifting it up into the air at 200 miles an hour, and starting the tumbling, side over side crash.

Pit reporter, and now lead Fox commentator Mike Joy quickly interviewed Wisconsin driver Alan Kulwicki.  Kulwicki explained that he hadn’t actually been involved in the accident, but a cut tire from the debris on the track had sent his Ford into the wall.

As the camera pulled back briefly after the Kulwicki interview, Joy’s face showed the fear and worry that many fans felt at that moment.

In the infield, it was pandemonium.  Pit reporter Dave Despain had made his way through the crowd to the infield hospital, and had spoken with Foyt, Barkdoll and Bodine about their conditions, and about the accident.  Moments later, Petty’s cousin and long time crew chief, Dale Inman, came out and gave the report that Petty was okay, suffering only an injured ankle.

During the clean up from the crash, Economaki had speculated that the crash would probably end Petty’s career.  Jarrett was quick to respond, saying the legendary driver would rather retire at a moment of his choosing, rather than the result of an accident.

Almost as if in answer, Petty returned the next week at the half-mile Richmond Fairgrounds track to finish third.  It would be five more years before he would hang up his helmet for good.

But on Valentine’s Day, 1988, King Richard caused everyone’s hearts to skip a beat.

Brandon Reed is the editor and publisher of Georgia Racing History.com.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email us!

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame or the Georgia Auto Racing Hall of Fame Association, Inc. All content is the intellectual property of the individual authors. All opinions are those of the individual authors. Please do not repost images or text without permission.