OK, so it’s the off-season (like there’s ever really an off-season in racin’…LOL…)…at least the tracks are quiet right now, anyways.
Let’s share some stories/memories…
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When I was about 11, we had Jim Childers driving for us. We were racing at Golden Gate on Friday nights and St. Pete on Saturday nights. We would go over to Nelson Bros. Machine Shop in Largo on Saturday mornings to switch the car setup from Tampa’s 1/3 mile to Sunshine’s “little” 1/4 mile. At the time, Pletcher was driving the Nelson Bros. #75. I can’t recall what time of the year it was, but I believe that Nelson bought Dickie Anderson’s car. It was in the shop one Saturday morning, getting ready to be lettered (yeah, at one point in time, race cars really WERE hand-lettered…with actual paint…LOL 
). The sign guy - I can’t remember what his name was right off-hand - asked me if I wanted to help letter that car. He showed me how he hand-drew the letters first in crayon/chalk to get an idea of what he wanted, then started painting. He let me letter up one side of the car 
It was the black Nelson Brothers #75 with the American flag logo and the silver numbers. I thought that was just about the coolest thing ever at the time - when that car was out on the track, I could honestly say that I helped letter that car
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Childers was my favorite driver that we ever had in our cars. Tampa used to alternate weeks with the Super Sixes and the TBARA Sprints. One weekend, the Sprint car feature either got rained out, or the racing ran late and went all the way to the curfew time. The following week, the Super Sixes and the Sprints ran, along with the regular Late Models, Thunder Cars, and Street Stocks. Childers went out and won the Late Model feature in our car; hopped into the #48 Sprinter and won that feature; then got into the Super Six #07 and went out and won that feature. Three different types of cars, three different lengths of features, and three feature wins - all in one night.
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Probably the best story is not even at the race track. In about 1980 - I was ten years old - we were haulin’ across SR 64 to Bradenton. Me, my dad, and car owner Bob Kirk were in the truck with a (keep this in mind…LOL) single-axle trailer: my aunt Bette, my uncle Jerry, and my brother Scott were in Jerry’s truck behind us. We’re movin’ at about 70mph across the highway, a two-lane road, out in the middle of nowheres. All of a sudden, the truck swerves and jerks, I sit up and look out the back window, and the trailer looks like it’s falling off the truck. Dad tries to get the truck slowed up, and a wheel and hub go bouncin’ past us at 65 mph +. My uncle has to swerve to miss running into the back of us, the tire and wheel bounce across the road in front of us, hits a barbed-wire fence post, and lands out in a pasture. We run off the side of the road, Dad slams on the brakes, and finally gets the thing stopped. We all get out to look at the damage; the hub apparently broke. We managed to get the race car off of the trailer, and get the tires off of the tire rack and into my uncle’s truck. Jerry runs out to the pasture - with some Brahma bulls out there - to retrieve the wheel and tire. Figuring we gotta be close to the track (remember, this is 1980, pre-GPS days…LOL) Dad and I lead in the Green Monster (our nickname for the tow-truck), Bob gets in the race car, and my uncle, aunt, and brother are still in my uncle’s truck. We were only about a mile from the track! We get to the pit gate, the girl at the window looks at the Green Monster, looks behind it and sees Bob in the race car, and says, without missing a beat, “Y’all forget somethin’…??” LOLOLOLOL…so anyways…we get the race car ready…and we get rained out :\ Talk about a rough weekend…Ended up getting the trailer fixed, so we go and get the trailer, bring it back to the track, load up, and head the 160 miles back home to Vero…
Let’s hear some of your favorite racing - or racing-related - stories to entertain ourselves
Our biggest win - 1981
So Fenton can claim he won the Governor’s Cup…big deal
(Just bustin’ ya chops, Jimbo…
In 1981, we got our biggest career win at DeSoto Memorial Speedway. The race was the Coca-Cola 200, the finale’ to the Governor’s Cup weekend/Florida Triple Crown. Friday night was the Governor’s Cup at Tampa, and we ran sixth to Mike Eddy, Ed Howe, Dick Trickle, LeRoy, and Scarborough (I believe…LOL…there were a LOT of GOOD out-of-state cars). Saturday was the Gulf Coast Classic at Sunshine, and we got crashed out there. But Sunday was a different story. Even though I wasn’t there that day, I know we beat all them guys on the race track. If I remember, my dad had told me there was a scoring controversy with Anderson, and the finish was protested. But, we got to keep the win. That’s my dad on the right (in the light-blue shirt), driver Jim Childers in the middle, and car owner Bob Kirk shaking Jim’s hand. Not real sure who the guy on the left is…LOL
Well back in the early 80’s after the races most times we’d all try to eat at a pizza place together that stayed open tell we’d get there each week,so a caravan of 5 or 6 towcars and race cars on trailors or more, head from Hialeah Speedway south to the pizza place on SW 8th st. & 120th ave. This one time Bubba desides to come too with his racer and follow us,he had just won his first heat race ever:huepfen024:,so we’d buy him a pie:ernaehrung004:. As we all made the “U” to come around into parking lot,we see Bubba’s truck and trailor do it last,but his race car keeps going all by it’s lonely self on down 8th steet,he been a bit to happy about winning and gitting a free pizza to tie down the race car,how it stayed on tell we all got that far is a wounder.:ernaehrung004:
Thank goodniss there was nothing coming at 2;15am
Back in '94, I went to Volusia to race on the little dirt track they built outside of the big asphalt track in what was called the Pro Late Model division. We had to get fuel before the feature, and drove the car to the pumps to gas it up. Bear in mind, the tank was virtually empty. I don’t remember how much we told the guy to put in, but I remember seeing the numbers on the pump spinning. I paid the guy and drove back to our trailer. I climbed in and fired it up to go out for the feature and it started, sputtered and died. Did this a few times, then just spun over. I yelled to my guys to check for spark and fuel, and when they pulled the air filter off and I pumped the throttle, nothing came out of the squirters. We were frantic, because we felt like we had a good shot to win that night (Translation: Ivendent Lloyd, Tuck Trentham and a couple others were not there that nite!) and were figuring the fuel pump had failed. In the course of checking things, one of the guys stuck a stick in the tank, and said he didn’t think there was any fuel in it! I told him to grab a couple cans and run over to the pump and get some more. He came back a few minutes later and said, “You won’t believe this, but I went back to the same pump and when the guy started to fill the can, the numbers on the meter were spinning like crazy, but nothing was coming out of the nozzle!!” Long story shortend, we put the gas in, and I won the feature that nite. Hmmm, and I always thought gas pumps were flow meters…
Ok ill play
had a sketter car and we went to valdosta in 1978. Im getting old so i dont recall the facts but we had a haller with a ramp on tne back that held 2 cars and a traler for the 3rd.the first car went on top over the cab. I was peed about something when i loaded the car it was drect drive and i guned it and went over the top and the frount bumper of the racecar was in the hood of the haller. What a mess. Every one though it was funny but me. It happend agin at east bay. I was bared from loading the cars we got a wench.
don 62
a long time a go i had this hauler
like back in 70 or 71 my brother had a car and i had a car i think we were racing at inverness and living in river view fl well you could put ramps down on trailer and had another set of ramps
that went from front of trailer to back of truck so you could unload the one on trailer then back the one off truck then when race was over you could drive them back on neat out fit back in day
well on way home one of the boys wanted to ride in race car that was on the truck i told him no but he still sneaked around got him some beer but instead of getting in car on truck he got in one on trailer
ever thing was fine we did not know were he was except he was not up front with us now we are doing about 70 mile an hour i was driving i felt something then i heard a loud bang then a lot of fire and sparks behind me i slowed down and got in right lane now was i ever glad this was a dual axel trailer
this trailer and race car passed me the ball had broke on hitch going about 80 mph and this boy was passed out laying over sterring wheel drunk did not even know what was happening this car and trailer was going straight as it could go i ran this trailer down and got in front of it about 3 am in morning got floor gack out put anothe ball on it went home and just left him in car
my brother don had won the race that night and did not get a scratch on his car he lived in north tampa he did not know about his car till monday i was not going to call him :ernaehrung004:
Probably 1989. I was heading back to FSU after a couple of days partying in Panama City. Drove past a small lighted sign in Youngstown that advertised, “Boss Hogg Speedway—Racing Tonite”. Turned around and pulled into a 1/8 mile dirt (sand) track. Telephone poles driven into the ground about every 6 feet served as crash barriers.
During intermission, Boss Hogg, yes a guy with a white suit, white cowboy hat and white convertible Cadillac, gave all the kids in attendence rides around the track. Boss had about 8 kids, all sitting on the trunk with their legs over the back seat ready for a ride. Boss may have had a few of his $1 beers when he decided to apply a little throttle heading down the back stretch. All 8 kids did a synchronised backflip and landed on the track. Boss come past the flagstand with a big grin on his face, not knowing he had lost his passengers. Luckily, all were OK.
Around 1999. Lanier Speedway. I got spun out in turn 4 and backed into the wall hard enough to get out of the ministock in order to check on any damage. The safety crews pulled up and looked over the car as well. We all concluded it was still good to race. About the time we reached this conclusion, the race car decided roll down the banking and hit nose first into the inside retaining wall. Seems I did not put the car into gear before I got out. Needless to say, it was then too damaged to continue.
I know a couple of drivers with that kind of luck… That would be my luck…
3 car crash
owned 3 southern mods and the race was winterhaven speedway then. i got there late and they were on the last pracyice. I walked up to the track to take a look before going to our pit. There they were all 3 of my cars together in a wreck in practice. Now that was a bad day.
come on people this is good tell some storyes
Don62