Going Cup Racing
Charlie proudly poses with the George Elliott/Charles Barrett Torino at Charlotte. George furnished the money and Charlie the labor. Photo courtesy Charlie Barrett
“During the winter after that year, George Elliott called about a 1969 Torino,” he told us. ”It had gotten too old to run in the Cup Series. He said he would furnish (the car) and I had to furnish the labor. He called Holman & Moody for a Boss 429 – that was the king of the road back then.
“First race we ran was Atlanta in the spring. It rained every day and it was cold. Come race day we got in some practice but not much. We drew for positions and I drew 18th or so. But I didn’t feel I should start that close to the front because I might mess them up so I went to the rear. We ran all day with the car pushing. Bill Gazaway came over and told me to get some cross in the car to keep it from spinning out. I probably put too much but anyway we finished 18th.
“The Torino was a Banjo Mathews built car. George knew you had to have a magnaflux sheet and when we got there that was the first thing Bill Gazaway wanted to see. We had to tear out all the steering parts and let Bill magnaflux them before we could run. He told me that he was looking out for me.
Barrett's car sits on pit road at Atlanta in 1973. Note the yellow 'rookie stripe' on the back bumper. Photo courtesy John Betts
“The next race was Talladega. And they let 60 cars start. I qualified about 28th or 30th – middle of the pack. On about lap 11 or 13, there was a big wreck. Someone blew an engine. I looked and there was a big cloud of smoke. Not everybody in those days ran a dry sump. Coo Coo Marlin hit the oil and went sideways. I went through that wreck and David Pearson did and one or two more. Cars were still bouncing every which away. I saw one where I could have gone under it. I looked up and saw the bottom of it. I came out and all I had lost was the air dam off under the grill. I came in to get gas. They had a 20-lap caution to clean up the mess.
“When we were about to start again, some came in to get gas we had gone so long. They left me out there leading the race. I saw George hold up a sign – PIT. We didn’t have any radios back then. I wasn’t about to come in. I was leading the race and I wanted to see what I could do. The next time I came around, they still had the sign up and I still wouldn’t come in. I think it was Jabe Thomas behind me and he pulled up. He motioned about a flat tire on the lap when they signaled – ONE LAP. I came in. I had run over something in that wreck. We ran tires with inner liners and I hadn’t ever run with them and couldn’t feel the right rear flat. They put a left rear tire on the right. When I went back out, I almost busted my hind end because it didn’t have enough air in it to be on the right rear position. We were new – we were all new and we didn’t know.
“So I had to come in again and I was almost 2 laps down. I had a lot to learn. George had a lot to learn. The crew had a lot to learn. They were just a bunch of local boys helping out. It was the first car George had ever put on a super speedway. I finally wound up 10th but I was several laps down. I also ran hot. I probably could have finished better if it wasn’t for that.
Barrett brings the Elliott Torino up to speed at Atlanta in 1973. Photo courtesy John Betts
“Bill Gazaway got onto George Elliott in the pits at Talladega. He told him that he was not going barefooted in the pits at Talladega. Bill made him go and put some shoes on.
“Then we went to Charlotte and I was running 15, 16 or 17. It wasn’t handling at all.
“We went to Daytona for 4th of July. While I was practicing, I felt the engine tighten up so I just kicked it out of gear and came in. We didn’t get to run the ‘400’.
“Instead of rebuilding the 429, George wanted to go to the Boss 351. We didn’t have time to rebuild one and Ernie (Elliott) had built one to go in his Mustang that he drove to school and back. We pulled the engine out and I replaced the intake and probably the carburetor and nothing else. If we had gotten to Atlanta on the first day of qualifying, I would have started in ninth place, but the first 20 sewed up no matter how fast you went on the second day. Buddy Baker didn’t come in the first day either and he beat me by 1/10th of a second and we qualified 22nd. And it cracked a cylinder wall. I didn’t run too many laps.
“We went to Talladega later in the year and Ernie had fixed that engine by putting another block in it. First time we practiced it felt really good. The second time it felt good but it went to skipping when I pulled in the pits and water was coming out the tail pipe. We didn’t have another engine to put in it so that was all I got to run.
“I didn’t have any wrecks on the big tracks but I had a hard time coming in the pits. You don’t realize how fast you are going when you have to stop at your pit. I overran my pit the first time at Atlanta but I got use to it before the end of the race. But at Talladega where you are going so fast you just don’t realize it. That was before they put a speed limit on pit road.”