The Peach Bowl
The famed Peach Bowl in Atlanta in 1949.
Jimmy’s mainstay was the famous Peach Bowl Speedway in downtown Atlanta.
“The track opened in 1949 and was operated by Roy Shoemaker,” he said. “He had a fellow announcing by the name of Norm Ash (Ashenfelter) before me. I stayed there and announced for NASCAR in the early fifties. I remember Lakewood race promoter Carl Queen taking me down to see Bill France in Daytona about working many of their out of state races. Later Barney Hall and I were announcing for Atlanta Motor Speedway in the early sixties. But I told him I couldn’t sell cigars and travel the circuit too. A fellow could make just as much money doing the tracks in and around Georgia and still be able to keep a day job. I couldn’t let that go. Plus the announcing business would open the doors of those racing towns when it came time to sell Hav-A-Tampas on Mondays. So I had the best of both worlds.”
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Jimmy with Jack Jackson and Jack's late wife, Peggy.
Jimmy and Betty’s home in Powder Springs, Georgia has one room full of memorabilia, awards and hundreds of photos. Even the pool table is covered with pictures.
“I didn’t know what you fellows were looking for so I just laid everything out,” he told GARHOFA member Don Ray and myself. Included were pictures of him with past presidents of the United States, movie and major league baseball stars and virtually every NASCAR and other major circuit driver from over the past fifty years.
He spoke of the importance of this reputation.
“I am thankful for the ability to market myself in the racing industry,” he said. “I teamed with many of those celebrities who gave of themselves for charitable causes. For instance, we were able to provide a little girl in Douglasville, Georgia with a much-needed operation. We got with some people and held an auction to raise the money. I still have the clothes Junior Samples donated. I asked him if he had anything in his car to get this thing going. He pulled out a pair of old fishing overalls form his Chrysler and we started the bidding, which incidentally I won.
“There was a picture of Betty in the newspaper trying to put them on. Looked like Jonah being swallowed by the whale,” he laughed. “I have been part of many fund raising events for worthy causes. In other words, you take the good fortune that has been given to you and you give it back to the people.”
Mosteller interviews NASCAR star Buddy Baker at Atlanta International Raceway in the early '70s.
We asked Jimmy who taught him the most about coordinating an event.
“As far as racing itself goes, you always learned something from anyone you work with over the years,” he said. “Three of the top would be Roy Shoemaker, Bill France and later Mickey Swims. They all had good ideas on how to steer a show. Very organized men. You depend on your flagman to control the events without slowdown or confusion.
“In the meantime it is my responsibility to work the crowd. Every once in a while you might have a slow night and you need to keep the ball rolling. Use your imagination. Like, number four turn, number four turn, ladies and gentlemen, would you look at that! Beautiful job of saving that automobile over in the fourth turn! Well, maybe nothing really happened that much in the fourth turn. But everybody needs some excitement, a chance to stand and stretch and straighten out their britches.”
“And the tracks I worked? If I named fifty, I would forget a hundred and fifty,” Mosteller said. “We had A.I.R. (Atlanta International Raceway, now Atlanta Motor Speedway), Lakewood, Cedartown, Dallas, Oglethorpe, Boys, Rome, Dixie, Albany, Morrow, Jasper, Blue Ridge, Gainesville, Banks County, Toccoa, Lanier, Road Atlanta, Dixie Southeastern Drag Strip, Dublin, Waycross, Elberton, Canton, Hickory Flat, Savannah, Tifton, Chatsworth, Warner Robbins, Macon, Albany and Looper Speedway in Gainesville, which incidentally is now under Lake Lanier. They tell me when the water is down you can see the old concrete stands.
“And there is no race too small if the people are having a good time. And that is what it is all about. And that didn’t just go for stock car racing. I’ve announced everything from go-carts to Indy Cars. Only thing I didn’t like on those hot summer nights, sometimes a mosquito might dive down your throat. Nearly choke you to death.”