DaveHFulton
10-24-2008, 11:18 AM
During the years I had various jobs involving the NASCAR Cup Series, I had the wonderful good fortune to work with and spend many hours with 4 men who left the most indelible impressions when it came to their judgement of driving talent and knowledge of the sport. They were Paul Sawyer, the Richmond promoter and former modified car owner for Joe Weatherly; car owner Bud Moore; and brothers Glen and Leonard Wood.
In spring 1986 I was Motorsports Coordinator for Southland Corporation of Dallas, TX, including its Cup sponsorship of Kyle Petty driving for the Wood Brothers. I was atop the Wood Brothers transporter in the Atlanta infield watching Cup practice on the original oval Atlanta layout when Glen and Leonard Wood became fascinated with watching Dale Earnhardt drive into turn 1, listening for when he backed out of the gas. We watched this for a few laps and then both Glen and Leonard said that Earnhardt drove deeper into turn 1 at Atlanta than any driver they'd seen since the track opened. That led to a discussion between the two brothers about who was the best driver they'd ever seen. One brother (I won't say which) said Curtis Turner, who had driven for them and one said Earnhardt, who hadn't.
During this discussion about the best driver, they both agreed that Turner could and would drive deeper into a turn on the old Daytona beach-road course than any driver they'd ever seen. They both claimed that he went farther past the "ought not" bush than any other driver before lifting. The "ought not" bush was an old scrub bush they said that marked the point at which most drivers would wreck in the corner if they were still in the gas at that point.
I had figured that with his success with that team, one brother would have named David Pearson as the best they'd seen and thought it was a real honor for Earnhardt to be named by one at that still relatively early point in his career.
Of all the NASCAR drivers I ever had the chance to watch race on BOTH dirt and asphalt, in their prime, my short list of the best I've watched includes Dale Earnhardt, Ray Hendrick, David Pearson, Richard Petty and Tim Richmond, in no particular order.
Although I saw Curtis several times on asphalt, it was after his "comeback" in 2nd rate cars. I didn't see his 1965 Rockingham win for the Woods - sure wish I had. I saw Curtis on dirt only once and that was March 1966 when Paul Sawyer paid him to race in a dirt modified event at the old Richmond half-mile on the coldest night I ever was at a race. Curtis missed practice and arrived just before the feature green, starting dead last dressed in a tie and white shirt. He was driving a modified owned by Ray Hendrick's brother Ed that definitely was not in the class of Ray's rides. Curtis was totally unimpressive that night and Ray won the feature. If my memory serves me correctly, Ray's "regular" job was as a construction foreman with brother Ed's company. In fact, the tight knit Richmond racing community often supported each other as evidenced by the "Hendrick Construction Company" logo you'd see over the front wheel wells of arch rival Junie Donlavey's beautiful #90 speedway Ford and Mercury Late Model Sportsman and Cup/Grand National cars sponsored by Truxmore and driven by Sonny Hutchins and Bill Dennis. I wish I had a good picture of that and I have included one pit road shot showing the Hendrick Construction Co. decal over the right front wheel on the #90 if you know what you are looking for.
Anyway, I digressed quite a bit - my original point being the "Best" as named on that day by two of the sport's greats.
In spring 1986 I was Motorsports Coordinator for Southland Corporation of Dallas, TX, including its Cup sponsorship of Kyle Petty driving for the Wood Brothers. I was atop the Wood Brothers transporter in the Atlanta infield watching Cup practice on the original oval Atlanta layout when Glen and Leonard Wood became fascinated with watching Dale Earnhardt drive into turn 1, listening for when he backed out of the gas. We watched this for a few laps and then both Glen and Leonard said that Earnhardt drove deeper into turn 1 at Atlanta than any driver they'd seen since the track opened. That led to a discussion between the two brothers about who was the best driver they'd ever seen. One brother (I won't say which) said Curtis Turner, who had driven for them and one said Earnhardt, who hadn't.
During this discussion about the best driver, they both agreed that Turner could and would drive deeper into a turn on the old Daytona beach-road course than any driver they'd ever seen. They both claimed that he went farther past the "ought not" bush than any other driver before lifting. The "ought not" bush was an old scrub bush they said that marked the point at which most drivers would wreck in the corner if they were still in the gas at that point.
I had figured that with his success with that team, one brother would have named David Pearson as the best they'd seen and thought it was a real honor for Earnhardt to be named by one at that still relatively early point in his career.
Of all the NASCAR drivers I ever had the chance to watch race on BOTH dirt and asphalt, in their prime, my short list of the best I've watched includes Dale Earnhardt, Ray Hendrick, David Pearson, Richard Petty and Tim Richmond, in no particular order.
Although I saw Curtis several times on asphalt, it was after his "comeback" in 2nd rate cars. I didn't see his 1965 Rockingham win for the Woods - sure wish I had. I saw Curtis on dirt only once and that was March 1966 when Paul Sawyer paid him to race in a dirt modified event at the old Richmond half-mile on the coldest night I ever was at a race. Curtis missed practice and arrived just before the feature green, starting dead last dressed in a tie and white shirt. He was driving a modified owned by Ray Hendrick's brother Ed that definitely was not in the class of Ray's rides. Curtis was totally unimpressive that night and Ray won the feature. If my memory serves me correctly, Ray's "regular" job was as a construction foreman with brother Ed's company. In fact, the tight knit Richmond racing community often supported each other as evidenced by the "Hendrick Construction Company" logo you'd see over the front wheel wells of arch rival Junie Donlavey's beautiful #90 speedway Ford and Mercury Late Model Sportsman and Cup/Grand National cars sponsored by Truxmore and driven by Sonny Hutchins and Bill Dennis. I wish I had a good picture of that and I have included one pit road shot showing the Hendrick Construction Co. decal over the right front wheel on the #90 if you know what you are looking for.
Anyway, I digressed quite a bit - my original point being the "Best" as named on that day by two of the sport's greats.