Enter Racing
Barney Smith, Jimmy Mosteller and Charlie Mincey after a race at Lakewood in the late '50s. The Macon and Atlanta drivers were fierce competitors on the track.
It was around this time that Jimmy met fellow Roswell resident Jack Smith.
“Jack had a garage there in town and I started hanging out watching him race cars,” Mosteller said. “I had always been impressed when the trip runners would come through the town square. If chased, they could turn down the old Marietta Highway or head back down toward the Chattahoochee and run a back road. So, fellows, I enjoy all kinds of racing. And back then people might go to a stock car event to watch a fight as much as a race. Of course you’d probably see the same boys that were fighting eating together at some truck stop on the way home.
“I think the first one I went to was either in Cowpens or Greer, South Carolina. (I) Went to one in Spartanburg where Jack really demolished his car. So I found this more exciting than horses, an Jack helped with starting my career in that field around 1949.”
Jimmy Mosteller hard at work calling a race.
“It was about the same time Hav-A-Tampa put me on as a full-time salesman, and it was also when I met my wife Betty,” Mosteller continued. “Her parents had a place at Mountain Park and us boys from Roswell would go there to the pavilion on weekends to dance. Betty had a boyfriend, but I convinced her otherwise. I did have a way of selling myself and she was worth every bit of soliciting I could do. Betty, my daughter Debbie and my grandchildren have made me very proud. So I can today honestly say I have been in the cigar business, racing business and been happily married for over fifty years. Successfully mix those three and you’ve pulled off a hat trick. Yes sir, you’ve really done something good.”
“The first race I announced was probably Boyds Speedway in Chattanooga, or maybe the Dallas Speed Bowl,” said Mosteller. “I’m just not sure. I imagine with so many races going on they had me fill in since I was a friend of Jack Smith and had also worked some horse shows.
“Let me tell you, forming a bond with all those fans out here makes you feel like part of their family. There is nothing like warming up a crowd and keeping the excitement going. A good announcer helps the show move at a good pace. So whether it’s 50 or 50,000, the people make you feel like somebody important, and I never looked back.”