A Little Stock Car History

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Aug 5, 2019 | 08:11 AM

#131 (permalink)

senor honda

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The Quiet Passing of Herb Thomas, A NASCAR Champion. By Michael Smith

Herb Thomas
Born: April 6, 1923 - Died: August 9, 2000
Home: Olivia, NC

Born on April 6, 1923, in Hartnett County, North Carolina, Herb Thomas started a sawmill business, supplying the military with lumber during World War II. After the war Thomas discovered racing, becoming a race car owner first, then competing in wildcat races as a driver. Thomas joined NASCAR as soon as it was started in 1947, and went on the Grand National (now Winston Cup) circuit as soon as it was organized two years later. Thomas won his first Grand National race with a Plymouth at Martinsville, Virginia in 1950. In 1951, racing a Hudson Hornet, Thomas won the Grand National Championship. Thomas won 48 NASCAR Winston Cup races during his driving career. He won the Grand National Championship twice (1951 and 1953), and came in second for that title three times (1952,1954, and 1956). Thomas was the first person to win three Southern 500's (1951, 1954 and 1955). Herb Thomas was seriously injured in a Shelby, NC race in October 1956, ending his racing career.

Thomas, a former truck driver, won 48 races in 230 starts, picking up 38 pole positions along the way, which is still 10th on the all-time list. Thomas won the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in 1951, 1954 and 1955; his '55 Southern 500 victory came despite being badly injured in racing accident three-and-a-half months earlier. He was first in laps led and races led for three consecutive seasons, beginning in 1952. Thomas was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association's Hall of Fame at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in 1965 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in 1994. Thomas died in August 2000.

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Aug 5, 2019 | 08:13 AM

#132 (permalink)

senor honda

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Herb Thomas part 2

Ed Samples (9) and Herb Thomas (92) Door Handle to Door Handle

The Quiet Passing of Herb Thomas, A NASCAR Champion.
By Michael Smith

NASCAR recently lost one of its pioneers with the passing of Herb Thomas on August 9, 2000. History shouldn’t be the study of obituary notices, but there is no escaping the fact that those who were great will eventually leave us one way or another. Recent events have shown us that, occasionally, our racing heroes depart this earth in a sudden, startling flash and we grieve all the more because of the suddenness of the whole thing. Far more frequent however is the mellow passing of years in retirement or some other racing-related line of work. Thankfully, the fact is, most of racing’s great drivers will age gracefully and leave this world in ways that seem strangely ordinary. Certainly, they are no less heroes than those who are taken quickly and violently.

Herb Thomas, the man who was a farmer during the week and a racecar driver on weekends, claimed NASCAR’s top driving championship in 1951 and 1953, but many of today’s fans would be hard pressed to pick this early champion out of a line up of NASCAR’s Top 50 and that may speak volumes about where the sport is heading.

Born on April 6, 1923, Herbert Watson Thomas was born into a family that had no connection to automobile racing. Young Herb spent his growing up years working the family farm and working at a sawmill owned by his father in Barbecue Township, North Carolina. During World War II, Thomas continued working at the sawmill, married and started a family. In fact, Thomas was a workingman, husband and father of two sons before he ever saw his first auto race. But from the start, Thomas was hooked.

With his interest piqued, Thomas entered the field of stockcar racing as something of a hobby, not to interfere with business and farm operations. However, by the time Big Bill France came around to begin organizing races and racecar drivers under the banner of NASCAR sanctioning, Thomas was beginning to see the lucrative side of weekends spend at the track.

There was something of the natural talent in Herb Thomas, something that allowed him to slide behind the wheel of a stockcar and gain success without the previous experience of running moonshine or working as a mechanic in a local garage tuning engines for more horsepower.

When NASCAR’s first Strictly Stock event rolled to the green flag at Charlotte Speedway in June 1949, Herb Thomas was there, piloting a 1947 Ford. Suspension failure relegated Thomas to a non-paying twenty-ninth place finish but in the next race, the first Daytona Beach race sanctioned by NASCAR, Thomas finished 12th and pocketed $50 in prize money.

It would be a little more than a year before Thomas would claim his first victory, when, at Martinsville Speedway, he beat Lee Petty to the checkered flag in October 1950. The following year, having switched from Plymouths to Hudson Hornets at the urging of fellow driver Marshall Teague, Herb Thomas set about writing his name in the history books.

At the second annual running of the Southern 500, Thomas fairly well ran away with the show, leading 310 of the 400 laps in the event to claim the first of seven victories for the season and the series championship. Thomas’s $21,050 winnings put him at the head of the earnings chart and probably convinced any reluctant family members that stockcar racing could indeed provide a worthwhile living.

In 1952 things were not much different in the win category, in fact Thomas improved his tally by notching eight victories, but Tim Flock who also drove a Hornet to eight victories that season edged him out for the championship.

True to form, Thomas improved further the following year to amass an amazing 12 victories on his way to clinching the 1953 championship. The following season found Thomas driving for legendary builder-owner Smokey Yunick. The combination proved fruitful as Thomas again racked up 12 victories including a second Southern 500 win. Despite his dominating performance, Thomas was again edged out in the championship chase, this time by Lee Petty.

By the time the 1955 season rolled around the once fabulous Hudson Hornets were beginning to lose some of their luster. The dirt tracks where the Hornet proved to be so dominant were falling by the wayside as NASCAR continued to upgrade its facilities. Additionally, the other manufacturers were bringing better and better equipment to the tracks. Nevertheless, the Hornet still had a sting and it was Herb Thomas who would bring the Hudson Hornet to Victory Lane the final time, with a win at West Palm Beach.

Within weeks, however, the Smokey Yunick team switched to Chevrolets and as September rolled around Herb Thomas vowed to notch his third Southern 500 victory, despite having suffered a broken leg earlier in the season. Few took the promise to heart. The consensus of opinion sided with the Flock brothers, Tim and Fonty in their speedy Chrysler 300s. Other teams to beat were fielding Oldsmobile Rocket 88s. Against the Chrysler 300s and the Oldsmobile 88s, the smaller, lower horse powered Chevy’s weren’t seen as much of a threat. Folks who counted out Herb Thomas and his Chevrolet, forgot to consider the genius of wily car owner Smokey Yunick.

Yunick used the Chevrolet’s lightweight design to its best advantage. Mounting a set of specially designed Firestone SuperSport racing tires on the car, Yunick instructed Thomas to set an even pace to conserve the tires while other teams were forced to pit for fresh rubber. Thomas started the race in 8th place and did not fully assert himself until lap 279 of 366 laps, when he pulled into the lead. When Joe Weatherly, the only real competition in the race, was sidelined by a collapsed wheel and the ensuing wreck, Thomas’s way was clear to roll to Victory Circle for his third Southern 500 triumph. Yunick’s strategy had paid off – Thomas had run the entire race on a single set of tires.

Herb Thomas finished 5th in the championship standings in 1955 and the 1956 season saw him return to the track in cars owned and prepared by Smokey Yunick. However, for whatever reason, the two would not finish out the season together. Ten races into the 1956 season Thomas opted to join the powerhouse Karl Kiekhaefer team to drive a Chrysler 300. Thomas joined a stellar group at the Kiekhaefer stable, driving beside teammates Tim and Fonty Flock, Buck Baker and Speedy Thompson.

Thomas signed on with the team at the oddly circular Langhorne speedway in April of 1956 and notched three of the teams thirty victories for the season before deciding to pilot his own Chevy three months later. Again, the reasons are unclear, however it is very likely that the strictly regimented lifestyle of a Kiekhaefer team member grated on Thomas’ nerves.

With consistent finishes as an owner-driver, coupled with his five victories with the Yunick and Kiekhaefer teams, Thomas seemed poised to capture another championship when a terrifying wreck left him partially paralyzed and fighting to survive. Despite being sidelined late in the season, Thomas managed to finish third in championship points.

There are greater endeavors in life than piloting a stockcar around the track at breakneck speed; this is a fact with which even hardcore fans will agree. Herb Thomas, having proven his skill in the life or death pursuit of driving a racecar next set about regaining his life, struggling back from the horrific effects of his injuries to regain the full use of his right arm. Perhaps it is this off track success that truly marks the man that was Herbert Watson Thomas.

Following his recovery, Thomas did attempt a number of comebacks as a driver and as an owner, but as is so often the case, success was out of reach. Herb Thomas ran his last race on the track in April of 1962 and retired from racing at the age of forty. Thomas was named to the National Motorsports Press Association’s Hall of Fame in 1965 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994. During NASCAR’s 50th anniversary celebration in 1998, Thomas was named one of the all-time top-fifty drivers. Smokey Yunick, a man not prone to giving empty praise, said of Thomas: “Herb Thomas could really drive. He was smart in a race. He knew how to pace himself. He was as good as they came and they have never given him enough credit for his ability.”

Herb Thomas’ true race of life ended peacefully at the age of 77 in Sanford, North Carolina on August 9, 2000. In a year that has seen so much tragedy and death on the racetrack, we would do well to remember that most drivers simply fade into the brightly colored background as the seasons tick off one by one. Those who burn out in a flash blind us in their passing while the likes of Herb Thomas seem to move along seemingly unnoticed. Perhaps that is what old-timers mean when they talk about “what’s wrong with NASCAR these days.”

Aug 5, 2019 | 08:22 AM

#133 (permalink)

senor honda

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Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Bill France Sr. was born in Washington, D.C. and lived there until his early 20s. His father was a teller at Park Savings Bank in Washington,

and his son might have followed in his footsteps with the exception that he had a fascination with the automobile and how it performed. As a teenager, Bill Sr. would often skip school and take the family car to a nearby track and run laps until he had enough time to get the car, a Model-T Ford, back home before his father got home. He held several hands-on jobs until he eventually owned his own service station. He made a name for himself and built a customer base by getting up early in the wintry mornings and going out to crank the cars for white collar bureaucrats.

In 1934 the Frances loaded up their car and headed for the south with a total of $25. Where they were headed has never been clearly established but some say Tampa and others say Miami Beach. Two days later they arrived in Daytona Beach. Rumors say that they were broke and had to settle there while some say his wife had a sister in nearby New Smyrna Beach and still others say that their car broke down and they had no choice but to settle in and stay there. However years later Bill Jr. stated that his mother did not have a sister living in New Smyrna Beach and that a broken down car would never stop his father from getting where he wanted because he was an experienced mechanic.

The hard packed sand between Daytona Beach and its northern neighbor Ormond Beach was the site of the world-record automobile speed trials. They started in 1902 and picked up speed right up to the '30s. By then the speeds were approaching 300 miles per hour along the firm and smooth inviting sand. In the spring of 1935 Sir Malcolm Campbell was taking his Bluebird rocket car to Daytona Beach in hopes of running at 300 miles per hour for yet another land-speed-record. Along with this and the weather and the smaller hospitable and more affordable area maybe this is the reason behind the Frances staying in Daytona Beach. Campbell never did get his record of 300 mph at Daytona, instead his best he could do was 276.82mph and on March 7, 1935 Campbell announced that he was moving the speed trials to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It was the shifting winds and changing tides that made Campbell realize that he would not reach his goal of 300 mph if he kept working out of Daytona Beach. Campbell did beat the 300mph speed at Bonneville in late 1935.

Daytona Beach area officials were determined to bring in speed-related events after Campbell left and this was how Bill France Sr. got his start in race promotions in late 1935. City officials asked championship dirt track racer and local resident Sig Haugdahl to organize and promote an automobile race along a 3.2 mile course which included Highway A1A southbound from Daytona Beach and the same beach that had been used for the land speed record runs. The 78-lap, 250 mile event for street-legal family sedans was sanctioned but the American Automobile Association for cars built in 1935 and 1936. Daytona Beach posted a $5,000.00 purse, with $1,700.00 for the winner. The biggest problem was that people arrived there earlier than the ticket-takers and established their spots on the beach. The turns at each end very virtually impassable, leading to stuck and stalled cars which created scoring disputes and technical protests. Then the race was called after 75 laps with Milt Marion declared the winner. France finished fifth behind Marion, Shaw, Elmore, and Sam Purvis. Ben Shaw and Tommy Elmore both protested the race but their appeals were squashed. That was the first and last race the City of Daytona Beach ever promoted. Well how would you feel if your City lost $22,000.00 from one race promotion?

Haugdahl and France had become very good friends and were not about to give up. Together they talked the Daytona Beach Elks Club into helping promote a race over Labor Day weekend of 1937. Despite a paltry $100.00 purse and improved management, promotion, and track conditions the Elks lost money too. They also like the city lost their interest in motor sports promotion. With that Haugdahl decided that he too had enough and he bowed out of the motor sport promoting as well. This left France all to himself to try and get the area interested since he could still see a future for stock car racing, however he was a struggling filling-station operator and didn't have enough cash to cover a purse, advertise and promote the race plus pay the city to set up the course.

PART TWO . . . France was finally able to convince local restaurateur Charlie Reese, rich and well known, to post a $1,000.00 purse and let France recruit drivers and spread the word. Danny Murphy beat France in the 150-miler that generated just enough profit to convince the co-promoter to do it again. They managed another successful stock car promotion on Labor Day weekend of 1938. France beat Lloyd Moody and Pig Ridings in that race and then organized and promoted three more races in March, July, and September of 1939. They did it again in March , July 4, and September of 1940 France fared well in those three races of 1940 finishing fourth in March, first in July, and sixth in September. France was able to promote two races in March, one each in July and August of 1941 prior to the war breaking out. The war brought a stop to motor sport racing and France went to work for the Daytona Boat Works while his wife handled the family filling station.

Shortly after the war ended and things started returning to normal, Bill France left the boat works. France was obsessed with the idea that a single, firmly governed sanctioning body was necessary if stock car was to be a success. He was well aware, as a driver and promoter, that the minor-league sanctioning bodies reeked of inconsistency. France wanted an organization that would sanction and promote races, bring uniformity to race procedures plus technical rules. He wanted an association that would oversee a membership benefit and insurance fund, and one that would promise to pay postseason awards, and crown a single national champion using a clearly defined points system.

At that time there were several organizations who claimed to sanction national championship races. One was the American Automobile Association (AAA), but they were more concerned with open-wheel, open-cockpit, champ car racing. The A.A.A eventually became known as the USAC/CART league (Indy-car racing). The other groups were the United Stock Car Racing Association, National Auto Racing league, and American Stock Car Racing Association. The Georgia based National Stock Car Racing Association was only interested with-in the state and so they didn't crown a national champion. The Daytona Beach Racing Association only promoted within the city so they made no claim to a national champion either. France was so devoted to creating a racing association that would adhere to the rules mentioned above. With that in 1947 he retired from racing so he could concentrate all his time and attention to organize that body.

The first meeting of the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing was held on December 12, 1947 at the Streamline Inn Motel in Daytona Beach, Florida. The organization named Bill France Sr. as its first president. William Henry Getty France, aka, Big Bill France, gathered together a group of racing promoters, drivers, and mechanics with the dream of establishing an organization to set a standard set of rules and regulations to help promote stock car racing.

Incorporated on February 21, 1948, the organization hired Erwin "Cannonball" Baker to be the first Commissioner of Racing. The new organization sanctioned its first race on the Daytona Beach road/beach course in February of 1948, several days before it was legally incorporated. More than 14,000 fans watched that first event, a 150-miler that Red Byron won ahead of Teague, Raymond Parks, Buddy Shuman, and Wayne Pritchett.

Aug 5, 2019 | 08:23 AM

#134 (permalink)

senor honda

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Bill France continued

France's original plan was for NASCAR to oversee three separate and distinct classes of cars: Strictly Stock, Modified, and Roadsters. Perhaps surprisingly, the Modified and Roadster classes were seen as more attractive to fans than Strictly Stock. As things turned out, though, the audience NASCAR attracted wanted nothing to do with Roadsters, a "Yankee" series more popular in the Midwest and Northeast. It didn't take long for France to recognize that he didn't need the Roadster.

After the war was over the big automakers had to switch production from Tanks and Jeeps back to their makes of cars. This got France to thinking that the fans would want to purchase cars when they see them winning at the races and he knew that productions were going to be slow for a while. He decided that NASCAR would run pre '40s Fords and Chevrolets plus a handful of new Buick's were allowed. The 1948 schedule covered 52 dirt-track races for modified's and Red Byron was the national champion that year.

PART THREE . . . In February of 1949, France staged a 20 mile exhibition race near Miami for his Strictly Stock division. Fearing he would lose out to a promoter in North Carolina, France decided to stage a Strictly Stock points race. This race took place in June and was scheduled as a 200-lap, 150 mile race around a 3/4-mile dirt track in Charlotte, North Carolina. It carried a purse of $5,000. for 33 street-legal family sedans that had been built since 1946. Pole sitter Bob Flock led the first five laps in a 46 Hudson, Bill Blair led laps 6 thru 150 in a 1949 Lincoln, and Glen Dunnaway led the remaining laps in a 1947 Ford. After the race Dunnaway's car was inspected and failed because he had altered the rear springs. He was disqualified and moved to the back of the field and stripped him of the win and money. This moved Roper to the first place spot followed by Fonty Flock in second, Byron in third, Sam Rice in fourth, and Tim Flock finished out the top five. Hubert Westmoreland owner of Dunnaway's car sued the new sanctioning body for $10,000. however a North Carolina Judge ruled that the officials had the right to make and enforce their rules without outside interference and dismissed the suit. That mid-summer race attracted 13,000 plus fans, far more than was expected. NASCAR promoted seven more Strictly Stock races that year: two each in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, one each in Florida, New York, and Virginia. Byron won the Strictly Stock class that year in what was to become the Grand Nationals and Winston Cup series. Lee Petty finished 2nd in points followed by Bob Flock, Curtis Turner, and Jack Smith. Fifty drivers raced in at least one race each that year and between 16 and 45 drivers showed up for each race.

France wondered what was missing from his Strictly Stock division. He had to come up with a blockbuster event to draw more attention to his Strictly Stock cars. The USAC champ car circuit had the Indy 500, and NASCAR Modified and Sportsman division had their annual beach/road races in February at Daytona Beach. In 1950 Harold Brasington built a 1.25 mile, high-banked, egg shaped speedway just west of his hometown of Darlington. He stunned the racing world by paving it and saying that he wanted to someday host a 500-mile stock car race. Brasington himself a retired racer had known France from their old racing days at Daytona and other dirt tracks throughout the Southeast and Midwest. He was aware that France's new organization wanted to expand their image and he figured a 500-mile race would be the answer.

In the fall of 1949 Brasington bought a 70 acre farm from Sherman Ramsey and he began carving a superspeedway out of what had been a cotton and peanut field. Instead of developing his track into a true oval, he was forced to create an egg-shaped facility with one end tighter, more steeply-banked and narrower than the other end. You see he promised Ramsey when he purchased the land that the track wouldn't disturb the minnow pond on the property's western fringe. So that meant that Barrington could make the eastern end as wide, sweeping, and flat as he wanted but the western end had to be just the opposite because of the minnow pond.

It took almost a year to build and pave the new track. In the summer of 1950 as Sam Nunis spoke of promoting a 500-mile NASCAR race at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Barrington and France were making the final

arrangements to run a 500-miler at Darlington on Labor-day. The inaugural Southern 500 carried a stock-car record purse of $25,000. and was co-sanctioned by NASCAR and the rival Central States Racing Association. Over 80 cars showed up and it took two weeks to get them all qualified. The race started with a 75 car field aligned in 25 rows and three abreast.

After filling all 9,000 seats fans were directed to the infield where a sea of over 6,000 people watched the race. It took Johnny Mantz more than six hours to cover the full 500 miles. He drove a 1950 Plymouth owned by France, Westmoreland, and a couple more guys. Fireball Roberts finished second, Red Byron was third, and Bill Rexford was fourth. The Southern 500 was NASCAR's only paved track event in 1950. There were only four paved events in 1951 and they were two at Dayton, Ohio and one each at Darlington, and Thompson, Connecticut. Paved tracks didn't begin to gain acceptance until the late '50s. Darlington and the half-miler at Dayton each had two races in 1952. In 1953 Darlington and the new 1-mile asphalt track at Raleigh, North Carolina each had a Grand National race. In 1954 Darlington, Raleigh, and the paved road course at Linden, New Jersey Airport had a race each. In 1955 Martinsville, Virginia had one race, Darlington one race, and Raleigh had two races.

NASCAR's future began to come in focus in 1956. NASCAR sanctioned 11 paved-track races among 56 events. They had 14 out of 53 venues in 1957, and 24 out of 51 venues in 1958. Not only were they racing on oval tracks France also scheduled road course races at Watkins Glen, New York, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and Bridgehampton, New York. Suddenly, almost overnight, it seemed NASCAR racing was becoming a national series rather than a regional series, Bill France's dream was heading toward the future. *****

Aug 5, 2019 | 08:29 AM

#135 (permalink)

senor honda

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Jimmy Florian
Ford's First NASCAR Win
Born: September 25, 1923 Died: February 14, 1999
Home: Cleveland, OH

Born September 25, 1923 in Cleaveland, Ohio, Jimmy Florian drew very little attention when he elected to enter the NASCAR ranks.

Florian entered the NASCAR Grand National Division competition in 1950 campaigning his No. 27 Ford sponsored by Euclid Motor Co. Onlookers scoffed that Florian had brought a knife to a gun fight campaigning a flathead Ford against the Oldsmobile “Rocket” overhead valve engines.

Florian paid the scoffers little attention displaying the attitude of David in the face of the giant, Goliath. Florian proved his metal by charting a respectable third place finish in his first outing in the NASCAR Grand National Division at Langhorne. He then qualified on the pole at Canfield Speedway in Canfield, Ohio and finished 6th.

An 8th place finish then followed at Vernon Fairgrounds in Vernon, New York.

If Florian did not have any better finishes for the year, he had proved the flathead Ford could still compete in the Grand National ranks. But on June 25, 1950, Jimmy Florian, the 27 year old mechanic from Cleveland, Ohio did what many thought was impossible. He beat Curtis Turner, Joe Weatherly, and Lee Petty in the 100-lap NASCAR Grand National event at Dayton Speedway in Daytona, Ohio -- giving Ford its first win in the series.

With 35 laps to go, Florian passed Curtis Turner and had established a half-lap advantage by the time the race was over.

Turner, Weatherly, and Petty quickly protested. They could not believe that they have been outrun by a flathead Ford. But at 4 A.M., after careful inspection, NASCAR officials declared the Ford was as stock as could be. The win was official, David had taken down Goliath with a flathead Ford.

Florian made a lasting impression in victory lane when he emerged from his car - he was shirtless. In his 10 starts in the 1950 NASCAR Grand National Division, Florian recorded 1 win, 3 top-5s, and 6 top-10s.

Florian returned to Grand National competition in 1951 driving Don Rogalla’s Oldsmobile in 3 events. He also campaigned his own No. 27 Ford in 6 events recording a fourth place finish on the 1-mile dirt track at Bainbridge Speedway in Bainbridge, Ohio and another fourth place finish at the ½-mile dirt track at Pine Grove Speedway in Shippenville, Pennsylvania. He charted 2 top-5s and 5 top-10s in the 1951 NASCAR Grand National Division.

In 1952, Florian campaigned his own No. 18 Oldsmobile at West Palm Beach and Daytona Beach before swapping to a Ford for Jacksonville, Columbia, Atlanta, and Macon. He picked up 2 top-10s for the season. Florian returned to the NASCAR Grand National ranks for one final event in 1954 driving his No. 15 Hudson at Daytona Beach finishing 37th.

Despite retiring from the NASCAR ranks, Florian continued to race midgets and sprint cars. In his 60’s, he participated in the VARC (Vintage Auto Race Cars) exhibition races. He finally retired from racing completely at 70 years old, selling his vintage sprint car at age 72.

Jimmy Florian passed away after a battle with cancer in February 1999. He was 75.

Last edited by senor honda; Aug 5, 2019 at 08:41 AM.

Aug 5, 2019 | 08:40 AM

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JIMMY FLORIAN NETS FORD'S FIRST WIN

It was considered an upset then and would probably be looked upon the same way today. Jimmy Florian beat NASCAR legends Curtis Turner, Joe Weatherly and Lee Petty in a thrilling 100-lap feature to claim the first NASCAR Winston Cup victory for Ford on June 25, 1950 at Dayton Speedway.

As memorable as Florian's victory was, he made an equally big impression on victory lane when he emerged from his car shirtless -- another NASCAR first.

Florian, who was a 27-year-old mechanic at the time of his big win, passed away at the age of 75, February 1999 after a battle with cancer. He was sponsored by Euclid Motors and made a name for himself around his native Cleveland, Ohio, driving primarily midget and sprint cars.

Bill Whitley was Florian's closest friend -- ever since World War II. Whitley, who is currently 77 years old, owned a couple of cars with Florian and knew him better than anyone. A truck driver in the early fifties, Whitley is now retired and lives in Winston-Salem, N.C. He recalled that magical day in 1950, along with some of his other favorite Florian memories.

WHAT CAN YOU RECALL FROM THAT FIRST RACE WIN IN 1950: "He did win that race in a Ford. It was a car originally that belonged to the chief of police in Detroit and Euclid Ford got a hold of it and it was a 1950 Ford. The night that he won the race against (Curtis) Turner, (Joe) Weatherly -- all the big boys were there -- and he just outdrove them that's all. We talked about that for years and years and years. I kept telling him there was no way he could outrun those Oldmobiles with a flathead Ford, but we had been running on that track seven nights a week in midgets and sprint cars and it was just a fact that we were very familiar with it (the speedway) and they weren't. He just outdrove them."

WAS THERE A CERTAIN POINT WHERE YOU KNEW JIMMY HAD THE RACE WON? "With about 35 laps to go he passed Turner for the last time and stayed in front. He was about a half lap ahead when the race was over. I remember a whole lot about it because it was four o'clock in the morning before we got paid because Turner, Weatherly, (Lee) Petty -- the whole bunch -- they protested saying there was no way they could have been outrun with a flathead Ford. That was the year they came out with the rocket Oldsmobile engines -- overhead valve engines -- and they were really tough. But the Ford was just as stock as it could be."

DID THEY HAVE A POST-RACE INSPECTION? "Oh yeah. They even checked with Ford Motor Company to make sure it wasn't an illegal engine. Ford sent a letter back to Euclid Ford saying that the car was just as legal and as stock as it could be."

WELL, IT WAS A POLICE CAR AT ONE TIME SO IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE FAST, RIGHT? "In the old days the police cars weren't any different, it was just designated to the police department but they weren't any different in the old days. Later on they came out with high dollar police cars, but back in the forties and the fifties you just put the name on it and went with it."

ONE OF THE INTERESTING NOTES TO THAT RACE WAS THE FACT JIMMY ARRIVED IN VICTORY LANE WITHOUT A SHIRT ON. WHY DID HE DO THAT? "It was hotter than hell, that's all there was to that. The rulebook back then...you didn't have any rollbars...you didn't have to have a seatbelt if you didn't want it and the seat had to be just like it came out of the factory...a plain old seat and they're uncomfortable. You couldn't do anything to the car back then. For ventilation you had to run with the windows down and that was the main reason why he was shirtless. He thought that was the greatest because he had all the protection in the world around him. We ran a midget and sprint car back then and you had to have something on because you were getting hit by rocks. That was the main reason for that."

WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE WITH JIMMY WERE YOU LIKE HIS CREW CHIEF? "We owned two or three cars together. I drove a Hudson Hornet back then and I had another Ford that he drove for awhile. We just swapped off back and forth. I had an Oldsmobile that he took to Darlington to run and he put on a show there with it, too. He came from 69th up to second place in about 40 laps in the first race they ever ran there before somebody hit the wall and got tangled up with him. He put that old Ford on the pole at two or three races. It wasn't just that night in Dayton. He stuck that thing on the pole at two or three places and got two or three thirds out of it and two or three seconds out of it."

IF YOU HAD TO WAIT UNTIL 4 A.M. TO GET PAID WERE YOU CELEBRATING ALL THAT TIME? "Well, not really. We kind of took it as just an everyday thing like we expected to do it. You were coming from down south up north running on a track against a driver that's running there every night -- seven nights a week and sometimes in the afternoon. You just can't plan on falling in there and outrunning somebody like that because Jimmy was a terrific midget driver. We had one track where out of 75 races he had 71 feature wins. As far as I'm concerned, he just outdrove them. The car, really, I don't know if it probably would have been a wagon he would have done the same thing because he was in his prime."
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Aug 5, 2019 | 08:47 AM

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Florian continued

WHAT KIND OF GUY WAS JIMMY? "I tell you one thing, he was always happy. He always had a smile. There was nothing that ever got him down. Cancer finally brought him down, but I knew him pretty well. Our telephone bill over a period of 50 years was out of sight. Even though I lived down here (in Winston-Salem, N.C.) and he lived up there (Cleveland, OH), sometimes three times a night he'd call me. That's the kind of friend he was."

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE JIMMY FLORIAN STORY? "There would be too many. You could write anything in the world about him. As the nights go by I always seem to dream about him a little bit."

THE THING ABOUT JIMMY IS THAT HE RACED EVEN INTO HIS SIXTIES IN VINTAGE CARS, RIGHT? "We did that every year. We've always done that. We'd take a sprint car and go somewhere and run oldtimers races. We did that all the time. As old as he was, with a sprint car he'd still make some of them look like they didn't belong there. He was pretty good."

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF? "I drove a truck most of the time when I wasn't racing. I ran the Grand National Circuit down here in the fifties and sixties. You'll find me stuck around the record book in certain places. In the old days I had some 10ths and some eighths and even one time I think I had a third behind Weatherly and Ned Jarrett. You don't get very close unless you've got a lot of money behind you. Even in the old days when the Flock boys came out, they had a factory deal, and Petty had a factory deal."

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN WINSTON-SALEM? "I've been here since about 1957. I came through here. I was on my way back to Ohio from Florida and I stopped off here because my brother-in-law was working here. I stopped off here and went to work for Ford for awhile and started fooling around with racing again. One thing led to another and I ended up buying one of Rex White's old cars, his old championship car and I ran that for awhile."

DO YOU GET TO ANY WINSTON CUP RACES? "No. If you know anything about old race car drivers, they never will sit in the stands. I've never sat in the stands in my life. We used to say if you want to go see the race get on the track so you can see what's happening up front."

NANCY ROSE (FLORIAN'S SECOND DAUGHTER)

YOUR DAD DID RACE HIS WHOLE LIFE, DIDN'T HE? "Yes, all the way through. That was his passion. That is what he loved. He loved racing and flying and when he couldn't fly he could still race with the Vintage Auto Racers. They didn't have an age limit and he still wanted to go fast. He still had to beat everybody and be the fastest and that's the way he was until a couple years before he died."

WHAT AGE DID HE STOP RACING? "He raced until he was 70. When he was 72 he sold the car (a vintage auto racing sprint car). He had a sprint car that he sold to somebody in the northern Ohio area."

DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH YOUR DAD IN RACING? "My first job was in the body shop. This was back in the early sixties and that was unusual for a girl, but that was my first profession. My job was working in his garage cleaning and doing stuff. He would paint and I would just prep the cars, get the bondo on them and sand them and prime them. Then, he would just do the final finish coat. We always had vehicles up until the day he died. I think he had a station wagon and a pickup truck and he always had more than one car. He was constantly working on stuff."

DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU WENT WITH HIM TO A RACE? "From the time I was a baby that was all we did. We have pictures too. We followed him on the southern circuit for a while. We lived in Massachusetts and then when that circuit was done we went to Florida and did the Florida and south circuit for a while. Then we came back up here (to the Cleveland area). I was in kindergarten so that would have roughly been in the late fifties. Then we moved around and he mostly did New York, like Little Valley, and the speedways around the area here. Then he just mainly did Cloverleaf and the tracks around Cleveland in the early sixties. I would travel with him at that time and that was our weekend thing. That's what we did. I can remember when I was traveling around with him in my early teens and he was racing for other people. He could go anytime anywhere and not even have a car. He would just show up and they would put him in a car when he got there."

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WATCH HIM RACE AT AGE 68 OR 69? "These VARC (Vintage Auto Race Cars) cars were exhibitions with just some heat races. There were no features or anything like that because these guys didn't have that kind of stamina. They were all my dad's age, but the races would be mostly held at fairgrounds that had dirt tracks because they were the old midgets, the old sprint cars with wheels different sizes."

YOU WERE BORN SHORTLY AFTER HE WON FORD'S FIRST RACE IN 1950, WEREN'T YOU? "That's right, it was about a week after. He won that race on June 25 and my birthday is July 9. But the earliest recollections I have are of getting up at the crack of dawn and he would pack us up and we would go driving in the car. It was nothing for us to drive from Cleveland down to Florida non-stop. That was the regimen. We'd just get up and we'd be up and down travelling all over the place. We lived in the car. The backseat was not a seat. There were three of us girls and they just set it up as a bed because we spent a lot of time in the back of the car."

IT MUST HAVE BEEN FUN WHEN YOU WERE LEARNING TO DRIVE YOURSELF. "I had my first car when I was 11 and it was one of those Jeep's with a four-speed on the floor. We had 10 acres and lived next to the airport in Willoughby (Ohio) and our 10 acres ran parallel to the runway, so we had all this space to just drive. We would just ride it around in the yard, so I could drive way before I could reach the pedals. I remember having to sit on the edge of the seat, I wasn't able to sit all the way back because I was too small. When I did go to take my driver's test I remember the instructor said, 'You've been driving a while haven't you.' It was just natural. I wasn't nervous, I just got in the car and drove. The thing is all of us in our family drive with our right and left foot. We don't drive with just the right foot and that just comes from the way my dad drove. He taught us the right foot was gas and the left foot was brake and that's how we all drive. I think if I had to take the test now they'd flunk me."

JIMMY FLORIAN FAMILY BACKGROUND

Lived in the Cleveland, Ohio area and had four children -- three daughters and a son. Terri Ritz, his oldest daughter, lives in Longwood, FL; Nancy Rose, middle daughter, lives in Medina, OH; Chris Nelson, youngest daughter, lives in Salem, OR; son James II also lives in Medina, OH.

Aug 5, 2019 | 08:50 AM

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By Allen Madding

Insider Racing News

Ford's First Official NASCAR victory came in 1950 at Dayton Speedway in Ohio when Cleveland mechanic Jimmy Florian, driving for the Euclid Motor Co., 1950 Ford Custom Coupe. scored his only win and took home a $1,000 check for his efforts.

Ford Motor Company's affiliation with NASCAR goes all the way back to the first Grand National race at Charlotte Speedway in 1949, which was won by Glenn Dunnaway's Ford -- later to be disqualified -- handing the victory to Jim Roper's Lincoln.

In 1950 Ford offered a formal “police package” for its Deluxe and Custom series sedans with unique, heavy-duty and high-performance parts not available to civilian buyers. Beefy frames, extra-capacity radiators and huge brakes were among the usual upgrades.

The cars sponsor Euclid Motor Co, donated the car to the Police Chief after
Jimmy Florian, went back to Dirt track Cart racing.

++++++++++++++++++

Denny Hudock, Cleveland, OH Writes: I happened on your site today. Really neat. As on old-time racer and a fan as a youngster, the names of two of my boyhood heroes grabbed me as I looked through your All-Time winners list of NASCAR drivers. Being from Ohio (Cleveland), I watched both Dick Linder and Jimmy Florian race as a youngster. Jimmy Florian's unique claim to fame in his one win at the Dayton Speedway is that it was the first win in NASCAR for a Ford! It was a 1950 Ford #27 owned by Skip Krauslack of Cleveland and sponsored by Euclid Ford. Jimmy ran a few more races in 1950 and 51 with NASCAR, but returned to a successful career locally driving midgets. He passed away last year. When he raced at Darlington in 1950, he flew there from Cleveland in his open-cockpit bi-plane. Jimmy was a real character.

Here are two pictures of Jimmy Florian taken the Dayton Speedway in 1950. The one showing Jimmy shirtless caused NASCAR to adopt a rule that drivers had to wear at least a T-shirt when racing. Jimmy said: "it was so damn hot, I just took the shirt off to keep cool".

The other shot shows Jimmy and car owner Skip Krauslock. This was Ford's first win in NASCAR. Unfortunately, Jimmy never received many accolades from Ford, and by the time they tracked him down for the 100th Anniversary in racing celebration, he had passed away. Jimmy drove a few more NASCAR events in the 50's, then concentrated on racing more locally in Shorty Christiansen's 17X Olds powered Chevy Coupe and returned to the Midgets where he and owner Dick Swartzlander tore up the Midwest until the mid-60s. Jimmy drove a few late model races in the 70's and then retired. He was active in the Vintage American Race Cars Club until his passing. It was always fun to be around Jimmy and to listen to the many stories of his early years after returning from WWII racing the roadsters, midgets and stock cars. He was truly one of a kind.
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Dec 21, 2019 | 08:46 PM

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NASCAR legend Junior Johnson at age 88 Images courtesy NASCAR

NASCAR legend Junior Johnson dies at age 88

Raise your Mason Jar.........
The last American Hero is no longer with us.
..........long live Junior Johnson!

Images courtesy NASCAR
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emailBy: Kelly Crandall | December 20, 2019 2:54 PM

Robert Glenn Johnson Jr., better known as Junior Johnson, has died at the age of 88.

A member of the 2010 inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class, Johnson was lovingly considered a racing hero and legend. Throughout his career – 313 races – in NASCAR’s top division, Johnson won 50 races, including the Daytona 500 as both a driver (1960) and twice as a team owner (’69, ’77).

“Junior Johnson truly was the ‘Last American Hero,’” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France. “From his early days running moonshine through the end of his life, Junior wholly embodied the NASCAR spirit. He was an inaugural NASCAR Hall of Famer, a nod to an extraordinary career as both a driver and team owner. Between his on-track accomplishments and his introduction of Winston to the sport, few have contributed to the success of NASCAR as Junior has. The entire NASCAR family is saddened by the loss of a true giant of our sport, and we offer our deepest condolences to Junior’s family and friends during this difficult time.”

A native of North Wilkesboro, N.C., the roots of Johnson’s career were indeed born in the woods as a bootlegger. The legend goes that Johnson was so good at hauling moonshine he was never caught – in the act. In 1956 he was convicted of moonshining when authorities staked out the Johnson family still. President Ronald Reagan pardoned Johnson in December of ‘86.

Johnson made his NASCAR national series debut at Darlington Raceway in 1953 and then ran four more races the following year. While Johnson never won a championship, nor did he ever run a full season, his 50 career wins are the most of any driver without a title.

By the 1955 season, Johnson was a NASCAR winner, scoring his first victory at Hickory Speedway. Johnson’s final start came at the age of 35 in the ’66 race at Rockingham, where he finished fifth.

Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Bill Elliott, and Terry Labonte all drove for Johnson. From 1976-’78 Yarborough and Johnson became the first team to win three straight NASCAR championships, a feat later matched and surpassed by Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports.

Waltrip also won three championships driving for Johnson (1981, ’82, and ’85). Johnson’s final win in NASCAR came where he made his first start, Darlington, with Elliott winning the 1994 Southern 500.

Johnson has 132 wins as a car owner and six championships.

Johnson’s legacy goes beyond his presence in the garage. He connected R.J. Reynolds with NASCAR, which led to the birth of the sport’s first entitlement sponsor, the Winston Cup Series.

In recent years, Johnson had been legally selling moonshine, Midnight Moon, inspired by the Johnson family moonshine recipe.

Johnson was named one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers in 1998.

Daytona, 2008. Image by LAT Photographic

The following is a statement from NASCAR Hall of Fame Executive Director Winston Kelley on the passing of Junior Johnson:

“It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Junior Johnson on behalf of the Johnson family. First and foremost, everyone at the NASCAR Hall of Fame offers our most sincere condolences to Lisa, Robert, Meredith and the entire family. There are not sufficient words to adequately describe the impact that Junior Johnson had on NASCAR and the motorsports world. People are measured in many ways. Some are measured by what they do in their respective profession; others by what they do for their respective profession. In Junior’s case, what he did both in NASCAR and for NASCAR are equally incalculable. That is among the many reasons that Junior was one of the five inaugural inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010.

He had a stellar driving career, scoring 50 wins at NASCAR’s highest level and then seamlessly transitioned to a powerhouse car owner, notching six championships and 123 wins for numerous fellow NASCAR Hall of Famers. He was also an innovator behind the wheel, discovering the impact of the draft at Daytona International Speedway and in more ways than anyone can count — and in many ways others never knew — as an owner, mechanic and engine builder.

Johnson (left) celebrates with 1981-’82 champ Darrell Waltrip.

Junior was also the catalyst behind RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company’s 33-year sponsorship of NASCAR’s premier series that was clearly a game changing moment in the sport’s history. In addition, hundreds of people came through Ingle Hollow, NC, in what became known as “Junior Johnson University” — many of whom continuing on to Hall of Fame and otherwise stellar careers. He continued to be an ambassador for NASCAR throughout his life and was a huge part of the development of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and numerous activities since we opened in 2010. Quite literally, Junior impacted every aspect of NASCAR in a manner that only an elite few have done.

We have lost one of NASCAR’s true pioneers, innovators, competitors and an incredible mechanical and business mind. And personally, I have lost one of my dearest friends.

“While we will miss Junior mightily, his legacy and memory will forever be remembered, preserved, celebrated and cherished at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and in the hearts and minds of race fans around the world. Please join us in remembering and celebrating Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. “

Junior Johnson, Cup Series, NASCAR