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Independent stock car racers rarely won, often crashed, and flirted with death constantly, all for less money and fame than the money-backed star drivers of their day. This book includes interviews with 12 independent racers, including Curtis "Crawfish" Crider, "Jackhandle Joe" Frasson, and Gene "The Racing Marine" Hobby, among others. Laying the foundation for stock car racing as we know it, most of these racers plied their trade during the sport's early years, when racing required little more than a helmet and a great deal of courage. Readers will discover how each of these men managed to survive and stand out in their sport, despite running on second-hand or inferior equipment, receiving little to no outside support, and, in many cases, holding down another job off-track. The book is supplemented with 126 photographs, many from the personal collections of the author and the racers.
Greg Moore is one of three sons of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bud Moore. Bud is a highly decorated World War II veteran who landed on Utah Beach on D-Day. Greg grew up in an auto racer's world in which his father's cars and drivers won dozens of races and back to back championships. Those drivers were Greg's friends, and two died in racing crashes within a year when he was 6 to 7 years old. Greg chose racing over college and went to work in his father's business, staying there for the next 25 years. He worked especially with racing engines and became team manager for such winning drivers as Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd and Geoff Bodine until Bud Moore Engineering was sold in 2000. Greg accompanies his father everywhere making personal appearances. His personal recollections of a life that others could only dream of, from childhood to adulthood, give fascinating insight into the world of big-time stock car racing.
One of NASCAR's pioneers, Bud Moore won countless races in the sport's early rough and tumble days. In almost four decades as a car owner, he was victorious at the Daytona 500, the Southern 500--three times--and at dozens of other NASCAR events, and won three Grand National Division championships, a Grand American championship and the Sports Car Club of America Trans Am championship. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2011, with 63 wins and 43 poles. The cars built by Bud Moore Engineering have been raced by some of America's most talented drivers, including Buck Baker, Bobby Allison, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Tiny Lund, David Pearson, Buddy Baker, Fireball Roberts and many others. Moore continuously sought to improve his machines, making them not only faster but safer, and many of his innovations were quickly adopted throughout NASCAR and by the auto industry. This is Moore's story in his own words, covering his early life in Depression-era Spartanburg, South Carolina, his combat experience during the Invasion of Normandy, his racing career, and his family life and retirement as a gentleman farmer. Many never before seen photos are included.
NASCAR held its first Strictly Stock race in Charlotte on June 19, 1949, and, in the following decades, dozens of large and small tracks throughout the Carolinas were home to a major NASCAR event. Called Grand National from 1950-1970, NASCAR's top circuit became the Winston Cup in 1971, and most of the dirt and small tracks were subsequently gutted from the schedule. Although a handful of those speedways tenuously held on through exploding popularity, and an influx of big corporate dollars, the transition to metropolitan markets and super speedways was inevitable. Some of the original tracks, like the North Wilkesboro Motor Speedway, still stand testament to the sport's not-too-distant past....
Henry Neil "Soapy" Castles grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and became involved in its pioneering auto racing scene at an early age. Graduating from soapbox derby cars to midgets and sprints and finally to stock cars, he sometimes crashed, sometimes won, saw friends die horribly, and became a champion. Eventually he left the racetrack for Hollywood where he became a stuntman working alongside such stars as Rory Calhoun, Elvis Presley, Kenny Rogers, Richard Pryor and Andy Griffith. In the 1990s, groundwater contamination at Castle's truck repair business from an Exxon oil storage facility cost him an eye and most of his lungs. His decade-long class action lawsuit won him millions in compensation.
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