Classic Cars Authority: Nascar

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Bill loaned me a couple videos... of the 1st Daytona 500, and the 1961 Indy 500, here are some things I found interesting

here's the coverage that showed how hard ot was for fans to watch the Daytona race when it was on sand

not very fun

the #59 was a T Bird, and that is why I enjoy old Nascar, the cars were identifiable as something you could buy at a dealership or used car lot, and take racing yourself

Helicopters over the corners

Smokey Yunicks team was in the pits crewing on Firebalkl Roberts' Pontiac

And these windscreen / airfoils are something I've not seen or noticed before

and in this old film, he wasn't called Richard Petty, he was call Dick Petty. More interesting than that is the nickname painted on the door, "Squirrel Jr". Richard was 22 years old

He was in the pit row watching other cars race because he'd damaged the engine trying to keep up with the sedans... they had a 10 mph advantage over his convertible

In the Darlington / Southern 500 he drove this Plymouth

Dual shocks, and 9 plus leave springs

above is a kids pedal car from the pre race parade, and it's telling t-birds to get out of it's way

and fueling was very dangerous, on the left of the screen are TWO guys with 50 pound CO2 extinguishers while the guys on the right are holding the fuel nozzle on the gas tank