If your first name is Shane and your last name is Wilson, then you'll probably have some free time on your hands during the next few weeks.
Although NASCAR reduced the suspension for Wilson (who's the crew chief for the No. 33 team of Clint Bowyer), he'll still have to sit out four races. He won't return to the track until Nov. 7.
But Wilson shouldn't fret too much.
Back in the day, bending the rules 'til they almost broke was a mark of honor. (Junior Johnson anyone?) And more recently, a few line-crossin' crew chiefs once benched by NASCAR have gone on to do pretty darn well.
Case in point? Chad Knaus.
So I say to Shane Wilson, embrace your newfound renegade status. Wear your infraction like a NASCAR merit badge. After all, you don't get far without pushing the envelope. And whether the wrecker-made-us-do-it defense was legit or not, you've now joined the ranks of an elite band of rebel brothers.
Oh, and if you're looking for something to do while you're missing Fontana, I hear there's a construction crew in Charlotte that could use help filling a sinkhole.
Maybe it's a byproduct of aging. It likely is. But I'm discovering that the older I become, the more I'm interested in the past of things. In fact, being surrounded by the nostalgic, even the historic, gives me a certain level of comfort. I'm a little obsessed with family history and genealogy. I have 1970s outlaw country on my iPod. I've recently discovered "heirloom" gardening.
And from what I've read, I'm not alone. Trendwatchers are reporting that the current instability in American culture and economics has led many folks my age - and even younger - to return to the comforts of the past. That's why traditional patterns and textiles are seeing a resurgence in the marketplace. Quilting is cool. So is heritage cooking and roots music.
Car makers have likewise divined this widespread yearning for bygone days - Ford's Mustang actually looks like a Mustang for the first time in years. And the Chevrolet Camaro has an updated look that's pointedly familiar.
And all of this confirms my belief that today's opening of the NASCAR Hall of Fame couldn't have come at a more perfect time.
Fans need this. NASCAR needs this.
So many of NASCAR's living legends are rapidly aging before our eyes. The Richard Pettys. The Junior Johnsons. The David Pearsons. Even Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond don't look as youthful as they did just a few short years ago.
It's so important that NASCAR honor the people who made the sport great while some of them are still here to honor. And giving fans a place to see the sport's history in person, will do more to educate young fans about its simple beginnings than any book, movie or magazine article ever could.
I remember how I felt when I visited the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville a few years ago. There in a glass case was Buck Owens' red, white and blue guitar. The one he strummed every weekend on Hee Haw. A relic of my childhood Saturday nights.
Here was Elvis' "Solid Gold" Cadillac. And a very hazy memory surfaced of the day Elvis died. I'm sitting in the back of my parents' 1977 Pontiac Catalina. A newscaster drones on the radio.
I expect the day I vist the NASCAR Hall of Fame will conjure similar imagery.
While children my nephew's age will thrill to the sight of Jimmie Johnson's four championship trophies, I'll be searching out those artifacts from further back. The checkered flag from the 1998 Daytona 500. The infamous Hudson Hornet. Junior Johnson's re-assembled whiskey still.
And then I'll remember my Uncle J's ribald tales about the Daytona infield circa 1979. My Uncle E's stories of running stock cars in South Florida in the 1960s. My own remembrances of the 2000 All-Star race in Charlotte - the first NASCAR event I ever attended.
And I won't be alone. No matter what their age, ethnicity or driver affiliation, the fans who visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame share a common history. It's an all-American tale whose every chapter isn't perfect. Whose heroes hail from farms, back roads and garages. Whose fans have memories who are all different, but somehow the same.
After all, it's our story. It's our sport. It's our NASCAR.
So welcome to the world, NASCAR Hall of Fame. We're mighty glad to see you.
Photo info: Tour of Glory Road at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
"Red Dirt Rising," a new film about the beginnings of stock car racing will make its world premiere May 15 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. A cinematic labor of love, "Red Dirt Rising" is the end result of a community of folks who love racing. And the music video used to promote the film even features a cameo by NASCAR Hall of Famer Junior Johnson and his son Robert.
I caught up with Todd Morris, the marketing director for "Red Dirt Rising," and found out a little more about the film, where you can see it, and how the whole thing came together in the first place.
Tell me a little about the story behind “Red Dirt Rising”. How did the film come about?
"The film started with the vision of Gary Lewallen, racing legend Jimmie Lewallen's son. Jimmie is who the movie was based around. Gary grew up in a racing family and had been around many of these first legends his whole life. He realized quickly he was living in the midst of stock cars' earliest heroes and was driven to tell the story of what it was like for these first families. These first drivers never raced for money or trophies - they raced for the love of racing itself and it became a labor of love for everyone involved in making the film. This film would never have seen the light of day if it had not been for all of the support in the racing community and from the friends of Jimmie Lewallen. I'm not sure that another project will ever have as much heart behind it as 'Red Dirt Rising' does."
Why is this an important story to tell – who is your target audience?
"One of many reasons we wanted to tell this story is we want to open the eyes of many younger race fans to the fact that there was a whole generation of drivers that raced prior to NASCAR forming officially. We want them to see what drove these early legends - and why they were so passionate. We also are fulfilling the desires of many other old drivers and their families as well as old race fans to share this story as it was very similar to their own families' experiences with the history of racing."
What do you hope audiences walk away with after leaving the theater?
"We hope when they leave the movie they will have a much stronger appreciation of the first legends of racing and their families - these were the ones who paved the way to stock racing as we know it today and every last one of them, big names or small, really need to be recognized as true pioneering legends. These pioneers of racing were the initial foundation that stock car racing was built on."
What’s the release schedule for "Red Dirt Rising" ?
"Well, that question is asked often lately. We have lots of special events currently lined up to include a special fundraising screening with Racers Reunion/Love Chevrolet Columbia Speedway event on April 17th. May 15th, we have the world premiere at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. This event will be an all day at the track event for everyone to enjoy and includes the Buck Bakers Driving School day program, and then in the evening we have North Wilkesboro Speedway's first race since re-opening with the Legendary Flathead Ford' Racing Series. After the race, a live concert performance by Matt Dylan (Carolina Moonshine) and at dusk watch the movie on the track - this will be a big event and will also include cars from the movie, antique moonshine cars and many if not all of the cast and crew from the movie on hand to meet and greet and sign autographs. In June, we will be in Tennessee at the White Lightning Festival in Cumberland Gap showing the film Friday and Saturday at the Festival. We are currently in discussions with a major theater chain discussing both regional and national releases into their theaters. We are also in discussions with a distributor about releasing the DVD very soon.
How did you get Junior Johnson to do a cameo in the music video for the film?
"How did Junior get involved? Hard to be short on this question, but basically we just asked him! We asked if he and Robert (Junior's son) would like to be in a music video. We got them a copy of the song and they liked it. Carolina Moonshine mentions Junior, Lewallen and Blair (from Red Dirt Rising) in the song and they had all raced together in the past and knew each other. If anyone has met Junior then you already know how much of a gentleman he truly is and he would just about give the shirt off his back if you asked nice enough. It was an incredible experience for all of us making the video and having Junior and Robert as well as North Wilkesboro Speedway be a part of helping us to promote our movie - not to mention Junior fed all of us breakfast on his farm. We are all still talking about that!
How important is the music to this story?
"About the song and our music - we had basically finished our movie, completed, or thought we completed, the soundtrack back in the late fall and then we received a rogue e-mail from a one Matt Dylan telling us about his song about moonshine and stock cars called "Carolina Moonshine". He asked if we would be interested in using it in the film. I told him things were kinda locked up but send it anyway and I would at least share it with everyone since I was sure we would at least appreciate the song. It came in and when we heard it, it stopped us in our tracks. Matt's song truly captured how racing began. Our soundtrack includes Emmy and Grammy winning artists and songwriters and Matt's song fell right in place, so much so we got our crew and many of the race community as well as many noted, retired moonshiners and a retired state trooper together to pull off the music video shoot. It has been well received and has helped tremendously in promoting our film."
And one last note about "Red Dirt Rising" - a portion of the film and soundtrack proceeds will be donated to the Racing Legends Medical and Hardship Fund that was founded in 1991 by Jimmie Lewallen and Mike Sykes. The fund was established to assist drivers, mechanics, and team owners who qualify for assistance.
Junior Johnson is an American legend. One of the original superstars of NASCAR, Johnson was among the icons of the sport named to the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and he'll serve as Grand Marshal for Sunday's Daytona 500.
It's not every day you get to catch up with a legend. But Johnson took some time before his trip to Daytona to answer our questions about his new line of breakfast food, breaking the rules back in the day, and being a NASCAR Hall of Famer.
Tell me a little bit about your Junior Johnson Brand product line and why you decided to get into the food business.
“Well, we have a very successful ham and pork skin company so we've been in the food business for over 10 years, and I love to eat. We created this new line of Junior Johnson Brand products based on some of the most popular breakfast items we serve out here on our ranch almost every day. People who would come join us for breakfast would always say ‘Junior, why don't you package these products and sell them in the stores. People would love them.’ So that's what we did. Biscuits are a big favorite here and my favorites have always been country ham biscuits and sweet potato biscuits. A lot of people don't know that over 40% of all the sweet potatoes purchased in the U.S. are grown right here in North Carolina. We use real NC Sweet potatoes in our biscuits. Pigs In A Blanket and Sausage Morning Rolls are famous down here in the south. We have 2 kids in school and it is great to have something Lisa and I can heat up quickly before they run off for the day. Of course you have to have something to drink with these products so we came out with our own Sweet Tea and Lemonade. I think these are the best you can buy anywhere. We also have some new stuff coming out so stay tuned.”
I hear you still serve a big breakfast at your garage every day - how and when did this all start and do you have a favorite breakfast recipe?
“I cannot tell you how long we have been having breakfast there, but it has been a long time. I started the breakfast tradition to get everyone into the garage earlier each morning. I figured if I served breakfast, my employees wouldn’t be so late to work (laughing). We serve a traditional Southern breakfast, so we have a lot of the recipes that most people no longer serve, like livermush, hog jaw and streak o’ lean. Of course, we always like the standards like biscuits and ham.”
I've been reading Mark Bechtel's new book "He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back" in which he talks about your earlier years in racing. Tell me about some of the rules you "bent" back in the day. What was the best illegal adjustment you made to a car that NASCAR never found out about?
“We used to get by with a lot, that was part of racing back then. I think the best adjustment that we got away with on a regular basis was using needle bearings in the engine instead of flat bearings. No one would ever find those, so we just made them standard practice. No one was going to take the time to check everything, so we bent the rules where we could.”
How does it feel to be an inaugural inductee into the NASCAR Hall of Fame? And, on top of that, the Grand Marshal for this year's Daytona 500?
“To be in this first class of the Hall Of Fame is probably the most special thing that has happened to me in my whole career. To be up beside the most influential people in the history of NASCAR is pretty humbling. Daytona has always held a special place with me since I won down there in 1960. This is where racing really got going on the beaches and so forth. I feel honored to be the Grand Marshal at such a big event like the Daytona 500.”
Lots of fans think NASCAR rules are too strict now and that crew chiefs and drivers don't have enough freedom - what do you think about the quality of racing today. Do you think a tight rein by NASCAR officials is good for the sport?
“The racing today is obviously a lot different than in my day. I've always thought that there should be the opportunity to be able to innovate and outwork your competitors to gain an advantage. This is what made it fun and made the racing exciting for the fans. I don't think I would have fared too well with all of these new rules back in my day (laughing). But, what they have been able to do in terms of safety for the drivers is pretty amazing. You have got to keep the racing exciting for the fans. They pay a lot of money to come to these races and they deserve good racing.”
Editor's note: My family and I have sampled Johnson's Morning Rolls, Sweet Potato Biscuits and Buttermilk Biscuits. Though the Morning Rolls were the hands-down favorite (must be the sausage encased in a bunch of flaky biscuit dough), the biscuits were pretty darn tasty too!
NASCAR has said it plans to return to the sport's roots this year.
And true to that promise, NASCAR has named racing legend Junior Johnson the Grand Marshal for this year's Daytona 5oo.
Johnson will mark the 50th anniversary of his 1960 Daytona 500 triumph by delivering the four most famous words in motorsports – “Gentlemen, start your engines.”
“Junior Johnson is an icon in NASCAR racing,” Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig said. “His accomplishments are remarkable and we’re proud to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his 1960 Daytona 500 win by having him preside as Grand Marshal of NASCAR’s most storied event.”
Johnson, who was the first driver to use drafting on the superspeedways, was recently selected in 2009 as one of the five inductees for the inaugural class for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990 and named one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers in 1998, Johnson claimed his only Daytona 500 win in 1960 driving for crew chief Ray Fox and owner John Masoni in a last-minute deal.
Retiring from driving in 1966, Johnson moved into ownership earning 139 victories and six championships.
More recently, Johnson has lent his celebrity to his own line of foodstuffs. Junior Johnson Brand Foods products include biscuits, morning rolls, sweet tea and lemonade.
Photo info: Junior Johnson before last year's Legends race at Bristol
I was going to wait until I finished reading Mark Bechtel's new book before writing about it. But it's so darn good, I feel compelled to post about it now.
"He Crashed Me So I Crashed Him Back: The True Story of the Year the King, Jaws, Earnhardt, and the Rest of NASCAR's Feudin', Fightin' Good Ol' Boys Put Stock Car Racing on the Map" may have the longest title in publishing history. But don't let that put you off. Bechtel, a senior editor for Sports Illustrated, is a master at disguising dry details in engaging narrative.
It's a NASCAR history book that reads less like a piece of motorsports academia and more like a good yarn that your grandad might tell you while smoking a pipe in his easy chair.
It's genius, really.
From explaining the origins of The Alabama Gang to recounting Kyle Petty's honeymoon debut at Daytona, Bechtel is a sympathetic chronicler whose words balance a hearty respect for the sport with the blood-and-guts reality of how it all started.
Take this bit which contrasts Junior Johnson, Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough -
As odd a couple as Johnson and Allison were, Yarborough and Johnson seemed made for each other. Yarborough was, like Johnson, a strong, rugged outdoorsy type, a real man's man. Not that Allison was still a wimp. He had driven through some incredible injuries and never backed down from a fight. But he wasn't the kind of fella who would be the subject of a magazine profile detailing his nocturnal varmint-hunting habits, as Johnson later was in the summer of 1979, when Stock Car Racing ran a piece called "Coon Huntin With Jr. Johnson."
It's word pictures like this that connect the here-and-now to then then-and-gone. And after finishing certain passages in Bechtel's book, I felt like I had shaken hands with Junior Johnson, watched Bobby Allison build an engine and thrown a punch during in an infield melee.
Bloggers and fans often take a lot of flack for being too negative. We're quick to criticize the sport we love and the NASCAR powers-that-be don't always appreciate that our sometimes negative comments are usually well-intentioned.
It's human nature to be quick to criticize and slow to praise. And, in looking back on the 2009 NASCAR season, there was plenty that was praiseworthy. Maybe it was a long time coming, but here's my take on a few of the positive developments in 2009 :
Double file restarts "shootout style" - One of the better decisions made by NASCAR this year was establishing double-file restarts for the Cup and Nationwide series. The new rule has made for some exciting late-race green flags. And anything that adds more excitement to a Cup race is welcome indeed.
Driver safety - While there is definitely some tweaking that needs to be done at restrictor plate tracks, the Sprint Cup cars are safer now than ever before. The fact that Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman are walking around in their right minds is proof positive of that. Kudos to NASCAR for their commitment to safe cars and safe racing.
Cheap seats - The continued economic recession did mean one boon to fans in 2009 - cheaper admission to most of the tracks. And, fortunately for us, that low-cost trend is continuing in 2010. Backstretch tickets for the Daytona 500 begin at $55. Add in free parking and that's not such a bad deal for The Great American Race.
NASCAR gets more credit - In recent years, NASCAR has steadily been gaining traction in the widers sports world as a legitimate athletic endeavor. And Jimmie Johnson's historic four-in-a-row championship only added to NASCAR's cred and acceptance among more mainstream audiences. Johnson was named the 2009 Male Athlete of the Year by The Associated Press - the first time a NASCAR driver has won the award.
Hall of Fame Inductees - The inaugural inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame make a fine company indeed. Back in October, NASCAR announced the five members of the first HOF class - Richard Petty, Bill France Sr., Bill France Jr., Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson. Just thinking about what those five people have meant to the sport gives me chills. And I can't wait for the Hall to open to the public in May 2010.
Beginning this week, race fans in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia can grab a gallon of Junior Johnson's own Sweet Iced Tea and Lemonade at their local Lowes Food store. The beverages are sweetened with real granulated sugar and made with purified North Carolina Mountain Water--sounds like they'd make good mixers for tailgating to me.
"The very first Lowes Foods store was in Wilkesboro, not too far from our farm," Johnson said. "We’re excited to launch this product with a retail partner based here in our home state.”
For the uninitiated, Johnson won 50 NASCAR races. Equally successful as a team owner, his drivers won 139 races and six series championships. Cale Yarborough won three straight titles from 1976-1978 and Darrell Waltrip won the three other championships in 1981, ’82 and ’85. He is ranked as the 3rd most successful owner in NASCAR history. His tea can be found in refrigerated gallon jugs in the dairy section of Lowes Food Stores.
Saturday night sure was special. Watching the legends of NASCAR take to the track after the Nationwide race made for some out-and-out fun.
From Jimmy Spencer accidentally wrecking Junior Johnson during practice to Harry Gant's hood peeling off while he was fighting for position, there was plenty of on-track action to keep things entertaining.
But the man who proved he's still got what it takes to get racy at Bristol was retired Busch Series driver L.D. Ottinger. Before the green flag waved, the seventy-year-old Ottinger said he hadn't been in a race car in more than 10 years. But you'd never know it.
Ottinger started in next-to-last place, but he managed to maneuver his car to a third place finish. And if the race had been 10 or so laps longer, he probably could have given Rusty Wallace and the dominant Sterling Marlin a run for their money.
"This is the second time I've been in a car in 15 years," Ottinger said. "I'd like to see this again. This was great."
I don't know who had more fun, the drivers or the fans. And this fan agrees with Ottinger -- I hope the folks at Bristol do this again in 2010.
NASCAR legend Junior Johnson will put his own potent potable up for sale at Bristol this weekend. Junior Johnson Brand Premium Sweet Iced Tea and Lemonade will be used in the new signature drink from Bristol Motor Speedway – “Thunder Valley Lightning”. As previously announced, Bristol Motor Speedway has partnered with Piedmont Distillers, Inc. and its Junior Johnson Midnight Moon moonshine to introduce the new signature drink.
For the spring race weekend, race fans will be able to purchase the signature drink in a 24-ounce collectible cup at 20 drink stations located throughout Bristol Motor Speedway’s concourse area inside the track and at exterior locations surrounding the track. A portion of the proceeds from each sale will go to a non-profit organization.
After retiring from driving, Junior Johnson became the third most successful team owner in NASCAR history. His drivers won 139 races and six series championships. Cale Yarborough won three straight titles from 1776-1778 and Darrell Waltrip won the three other championships in 1981, ’82 and ’85.
