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NASCAR History: Car Number 45 and Kyle Petty

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by James Jones, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

December 31, 2009 11:49 am CST No Comments

Over the next several weeks we’ll be featuring car numbers in NASCAR history. We started with #50 and are working our way down the line. With each car number we’ll take a brief look at a couple stats related to the featured car number, but we’ll primarily spotlight either a driver, sponsor, car owner, manufacturer or other significant subject closely tied to the car number of the day.

Kyle Petty's car number 45 as Daytona testing with Victory Junction Gang CampToday’s spotlight is on car number 45 and a man who not only continued to run the number to honor his son, but also continued his son’s dream after a tragic accident took his son’s life. While the subject’s surname is synonymous with NASCAR, it is my opinion that the more important and admirable association has come to be one focused on charity for children.

Stats for cars running the #45:

  • Number of Races: 830
  • Number of Wins: 6
  • Number of Top 5s: 52
  • Number of Top 10s: 134
  • Number of Poles: 8

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Driver Kyle Petty

The last couple of years have been a financial hardship for many of us as we struggle with the economy and unemployment. Most likely you know someone personally who has suffered a significant financial loss during this time. Perhaps you significantly altered or reduced your spending during this past holiday season.

Doing so is certainly understandable. Unfortunately, these sort of financial periods often result in reduced giving to very needy and worthy charities. One such charity would be that of Victory Junction Gang Camp (VJGC).

VJGC is a camp for chronically ill or serious medical conditions where the children can visit and experience camp and while there they also receive their necessary medical care at no cost. The “Association of Hole in the Wall Camps was created, serving as an umbrella for the world’s largest family of camps for children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. While each individual camp has its own founder or founders, it is Paul Newman that started it all. Our founders, Kyle and Pattie Petty, Lynda and Richard Petty, the Bahre family, Leo Hindery, Jr. and the Kyle Petty Charity Ride, Inc. are all responsible for donating at least $1 million dollars and for helping to establish Victory Junction.“(1)

NASCAR Cup Driver Kyle PettyIn 1999 Kyle’s son, Adam Petty, wanted to build a camp for medically challenged kids who otherwise would not be able to attend a regular camp. Adam was killed during a Busch series practice session in Loudon, NH in May of 2000. It was his tragic death that would inspire the Petty’s to carry out Adam’s dream by founding VJGC. Kyle also continued to honor his son on the track by running car number 45 in Sprint Cup races.

“To date, Victory Junction has changed the lives of more than 10,000 children with chronic medical conditions and serious illnesses and their families.“(2) Kyle Petty comes from what may be the most iconic name in NASCAR racing, but it is the work he’s done with VJGC that has truly touched not only thousands of children and their families, but mine as well.

While I personally have gone through a significant amount of personal loss and emotional pain in 2009, I’m thankful that my children are healthy. If I had to choose only one organization to support in these financially hard times, Victory Junction Gang Camp is one of them.

Please take the time to learn more about VJGC as well as the Chick-fil-A Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America which raises funds for VJGC and other similar charities!

{(1)(2). Quotes taken from the Victory Junction Gang Camp website.}

Filed under: James Jones, Kyle Petty, NASCAR, NASCAR History 

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NASCAR History: Car Number 46 and Speedy Thompson

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by James Jones, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

December 30, 2009 2:00 pm CST 1 Comment

Over the next several weeks we’ll be featuring car numbers in NASCAR history. We started with #50 and are working our way down the line. With each car number we’ll take a brief look at a couple stats related to the featured car number, but we’ll primarily spotlight either a driver, sponsor, car owner, manufacturer or other significant subject closely tied to the car number of the day.

Speedy Thompson's car number 46We’re just a couple days away from the new year and I plan to have a little fun with today’s car number 46. You see, according to the I.N.C.H (Institute for Naming Children Humanely), “A child’s name is the most important label he or she will ever receive. It will stay with the child throughout their whole lives. Parents who choose names poorly create misleading labels for their children. These labels can cause their children to be mocked, stereotyped, or ostracized. Mocked, stereotyped, and ostracized children grow to become demented adults.”

Stats for cars running the #46:

  • Number of Races: 349
  • Number of Wins: 11
  • Number of Top 5s: 58
  • Number of Top 10s: 98
  • Number of Poles: 14
  • Number of Drivers: 45

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Driver Speedy Thompson

I’ll bet that after you read the quote above from I.N.C.H. you thought for sure this post was going to spotlight Dick Trickle. The “institute” does have some amusing classifications and examples as to what makes a bad name. No doubt there are some other eyebrow raising names in NASCAR that fall into their classifications, such as: Lake Speed, Coo Coo Marlin*, Humpy Wheeler*, Boris Said, Buckshot Jones*, Red Farmer*, Harry Gant, Greg Sacks, and I just have to include Champ Car racer, Will Power in the list. Thankfully, those listed above with an “*” after their name are like Speedy Thompson, nicknames. Had his parents actually named him Speedy though, I don’t think anyone would have thought it was misleading considering his NASCAR career.

Speedy’s career started in 1950 and he wasted no time putting up results. He notched up 20 total career wins (8 of which came in the #46), 78 top fives and 106 top tens. He finished the season standings at 3rd place for four consecutive years (1956-1959). However, each year was with different car owners. In 1958 he was fielding his own car, and in 1959 he was driving for numerous owners throughout the season.

An interesting thing occurred when Speedy Thompson took the checkers at in 1956 at Hickory. That same day in California, Marvin Panch takes the checkers at Lancaster. Thompson’s win is recorded as a win in 1956, but Panch’s win is recorded as the opener of the 1957 NASCAR Grand National season. Imagine if the NASCAR of today tried to have two Sprint Cup races on opposite ends of the country on the same day. It’s just another example of how far the series has came.

When the sport lost Alfred “Speedy” Thompson it do so in a tragic way, on the track during a race. After running only three races in 1962 he left the Cup series and instead chose to focus on late model races on the local short tracks around North Carolina. Ten years later at a Charlotte track on April 2, 1972 he started his last late model race. Even though he reported not feeling well, he went ahead and participated in the race during which it is supposed that he suffered a heart attack causing him to crash and break his neck. The following day would have been his 46th birthday.

Seeing as I don’t want to have a depressing finish to this post, I’ll offer up this statement that I found while researching amusing names in NASCAR. I have no idea if it’s true, but either way it’s amusing and gives the “institute” something to point to and say, “See, we told you.” : “The funniest thing I’ve seen was Dick Trickle doing pit reporting on Ricky Craven…and the announcer goes “Whats wrong with Craven, Dick?” If it’s true, it’s most likely a case of a true story getting twisted on the internet. Most likely Dick Bergren was interviewing Ricky Craven, not Dick Trickle. Still, it’s funny.

For more on Speedy Thompson, check out his driver profile on LegendsOfNascar.com. There you’ll find more images and information about him.

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Some New Year’s Resolutions For NASCAR In 2010

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

If OnPitRow.com was a NASCAR team, I’d be the development driver of the bunch. In the same way that young hotshots like Joey Logano have been driving since they were in grade school, I’ve been following and writing about all forms of motorsports since I was barely old enough to talk.

December 30, 2009 12:59 pm CST No Comments

With the new year approaching quickly, some folks in NASCAR ought to be thinking long and hard about their 2009 seasons and what they should be doing differently in 2010.

For most folks in the garage, coming up with a new year’s resolution should be pretty simple. For almost all of them, following through will be difficult at best. No matter what their situation may be, every driver and team in NASCAR has some formidable challenges up ahead next season.

Without further ado, in no particular order, here’s a list of some new year’s resolutions within the sport.

John Andretti, David Gilliland, Travis Kvapil, Casey Mears, Tony Raines, David Stremme, et. al.: Find a ride. Two of these guys will probably be racing for Front Row Motorsports next year, although it’s not a given which ones. A third will probably take over the No. 09 for Phoenix Racing. The rest will play the waiting game.

TRG Motorsports: Keep on improving. By far the best start-up team of 2009, Kevin Buckler now has a past champion in Bobby Labonte under contract, sponsorship for a third of the season from TaxSlayer.com, and could very well land Ask.com and Academy Sports because of their relationships with Labonte from last year. It’s a much quicker rise than Front Row, and while they won’t be winning championships anytime soon, establishing the car solidly in the top 35 would be a start.

Richard Childress Racing: Return to its 2008 form. Eliminate the unsponsored car, contract back to three race teams, and see if that helps any. There’s no driver available who’s really the answer to improving that fourth car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Become more like the Junior we knew and loved at DEI. The key difference between Hendrick Junior and DEI Junior is that with DEI Junior, the racing came first and the celebrity (from sponsorship deals to opening bars to his race team) came second. Ever since the switch, he hasn’t been the same, and it’s because he’s spread so thin. Put the right people in place to take care of everything else for you, get in the car, and just focus on driving. The sponsorship deals will always be there.

Kyle Busch: Avoid burnout, not burnouts. Running a potential three-truck operation while also mounting championship chases in Sprint Cup and Nationwide could really do a number on the young driver. Keep in mind that when Kevin Harvick had an incredible 2006, winning the Busch title and finishing 4th in Cup, his race team was already well established, making things a lot less stressful. Busch is in his first year as an owner in the bigtime. If he can win 10-plus races over those three series in 2010, it’d be a victory of sorts.

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing: Ensure that 2009 gains with Juan Pablo Montoya translate into wins for Montoya and Jamie McMurray. The No. 1 car has made the Chase before. McMurray had his best years in Ganassi equipment, specifically the No. 42 that Montoya currently drives. But neither of those cars has won since June 2007, before their teams’ merger, when the No. 1 won at Dover and the No. 42 won at Infineon.

Roush Fenway Racing: Matter in the Chase again. With the No. 26 contracting, the absolute best members of RFR will be on its four teams. There is no excuse for Carl Edwards to go winless again, especially with the amount of sponsors on that car. What, no love for Matt Kenseth, Kellogg’s, Scotts, and Subway?

Michael Waltrip Racing: Keep facilitating those awesome commercials. Mikey, Reuttie, and Ol’ DW are a hoot. I’m sure Martin Truex Jr. (”he’s the man!”) will be just as funny. And hey, you guys have a technical alliance with JTG, right? Get Marcos Ambrose in on the action!

Mark Martin: Stay classy. Don’t aspire to being a GoDaddy girl. You’ve actually won races (plural).

Jimmie Johnson: Go to Formula One. (Or not.)

NASCAR: Nothing. Honestly, since they standardized start times for next year (an excellent move, but a long time coming), they’re not going to feel the need to make any more substantial changes for the better until 2014. So don’t alter anything, boys, lest you arouse the masses to complain again…

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NASCAR History: Car Number 47 and Jack Beebe

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by James Jones, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

December 29, 2009 3:52 pm CST No Comments

Gold Number 47Over the next several weeks we’ll be featuring car numbers in NASCAR history. We started with #50 and are working our way down the line. With each car number we’ll take a brief look at a couple stats related to the featured car number, but we’ll primarily spotlight either a driver, sponsor, car owner, manufacturer or other significant subject closely tied to the car number of the day.

I found myself with a bit of challenge for number 47. Instead of putting the spotlight on a driver named Jack with the most Cup success in the #47 (Jack Smith, who has twenty-one career wins), I’m going to direct the attention to a car owner named Jack Beebe.Ron Bouchard's car number 47.

Stats for cars running the #47

  • Number of Races: 753
  • Number of Wins: 24
  • Number of Top 5s: 131
  • Number of Top 10s: 258
  • Number of Poles: 29
  • Number of Drivers: 58

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Car Owner Jack Beebe

From 1978 to 1986 car owner Jack Beebe fielded a car in 211 Cup races resulting in 2 wins, 32 top fives, and 82 top tens. In his 9 years of car ownership he employed only 5 different drivers, but he ran only one car number, the #47.

Of those 5 drivers, 4 of them are pretty well known. Can you guess who they are?

  1. One is now also known for his work with bobsleds.
  2. One was considered a “handsome” “high line runner.”
  3. One has a brother, and both of them won Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.
  4. The final driver is a roller-skating veteran who races for Jesus.

I’m betting most of you readers figured them all out except for the brothers. Am I right?

If you guessed Geoff Bodine (Bo-Dyn Bobsled project), Harry Gant, Ron Bouchard (brother is Ken Bouchard), and Morgan Shepherd, then you’re good!

Geoff Bodine’s stay in the car was the shortest of all drivers (only 3 races vs. Satch Worley’s 4 races in the Beebe owned #47). From what I’ve been able to find, Beebe was somehow in the school bus business in Connecticut prior to his venture into NASCAR and was giving Bodine his Winston Cup debut in his cars. It seems that Bodine expressed some negative comments about the Beebe organization. Bodine was let go after only 3 races, he wouldn’t return to a full time Winston Cup ride for another 3 years.

Harry Gant in the number 47 car.Enter driver Harry Gant. The opportunity to race for Jack Beebe’s ride would be Gant’s first full season in Winston Cup. He would contend for Rookie of the Year honors, but the rookie competition was stiff that year with Terry Labonte and eventual Rookie of the Year winner Dale Earnhardt.

Sticking with a similar pattern as Bodine and Gant, next would be rookie Ron Bouchard’s debut in Winston Cup competition. Unlike Bodine, Ron would keep the ride full time. And unlike Gant, Bouchard would claim the Rookie of the Year title. Although Ron only had one career victory, it came in grand style, at a grand track, by sneaking the win from two drivers who eventually became Winston Cup champions. The race was at Talladega and the win came down to the last turn of the last lap. Terry Labonte and Darrell Waltrip battled for the lead as NASCAR driver Morgan ShepherdBouchard cut under both of them and took the win in an exciting photo finish!

In 1986 Morgan Shepherd’s name was above the driver’s window net. He would race in what would become Jack Beebe’s final 12 races in Winston Cup competition. But of those 12 races, Morgan Shepherd would take the car to 6 top 10 finishes and 1 win for Jack Beebe. The win would come at the beginning of the 1986 season at Atlanta and it would be Morgan’s second of four career victories to date, and Jack Beebe’s final victory as car owner.

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NASCAR History: Car Number 48 and James Hylton

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by James Jones, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

December 28, 2009 9:48 am CST 4 Comments

Gold Number 48Over the next several weeks we’ll be featuring car numbers in NASCAR history.  We started with #50 and are working our way down the line.  With each car number we’ll take a brief look at a couple stats related to the featured car number, but we’ll primarily spotlight either a driver, sponsor, car owner or other significant subject closely tied to the car number.

With the back-to-back-to-back-to-back {Oh good grief Charlie Brown!} championships for the #48 Lowe’s team, and their outstanding finishes in… well, every season, it would be all too easy to spotlight Jimmie Johnson. Besides, I know you’re tired of hearing about that crew!  While I personally like Jimmie Johnson, he certainly has been the subject of his fair share of media exposure over the years. Instead, I’m going to look into another driver who ran car #48 even more than Jimmie has so far, James Hylton.
NASCAR Driver James Hylton

Stats for cars running the #48

  • Number of Races: 1,196
  • Number of Wins:50
  • Number of Top 5s: 279
  • Number of Top 10s: 552
  • Number of Poles: 28

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Driver James Hylton

To most fans, especially those who only got turned on to NASCAR in the last few years, Jimmie Johnson and the #48 are probably about as close to being synonymous with one another as Earnhardt & #3 or Gordon & #24 are. After all, prior to Jimmie jumping in the #48 for the first time in 2001 the #48 had sat dormant for eight years with no Sprint Cup races logged. But Jimmie’s total of 291 races in the #48 pale in comparison to James Hylton’s total of 581 races with the #48.

NASCAR driver James Hylton's car number 48James Hylton’s racing career spanned 27 years (1964-1993) during which he logged 2 wins, 140 top fives and 301 top tens! All of this he accomplished without a major primary sponsor. All through the late sixties and the early seventies James was one of the racers that were known as ‘independents’ who raced without factory support and more often than not most ran without major primary sponsorship. Yet that didn’t stop James from putting up great results. Consider this, with 581 races in the #48 James averaged a 13.1 place finish! When I look back over the the season standings (especially in the sixties and seventies) it’s amazing how close James was to being the Cup champion. He had season standings runner up finishes in ‘66, ‘67 and ‘71. In ‘69, ‘70, ‘72 and ‘74 he finished third in the standings. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, a 4th in the ‘73 standings! This guy rocked!

Honestly, it looks like I could go on for quite a while about James Hylton and his early career. But I’d like to change direction here for a moment and look at what James Hylton has done recently. I will admit that a couple years ago during Speedweeks I read the stories and watched the television coverage of what I thought was “some old guy” trying to make the Daytona 500. I later felt ashamed that I didn’t pay more attention and look into exactly who that “old guy” was.

If you don’t recall, James had a good showing in the first Qualifier races last year. Despite mechanical issues with the car’s clutch, James and his crew fought back from being a lap down to put themselves up and running in the top five. Unfortunately James was hampered by the clutch problems and wound up being freight-trained by the field leaving him not only out of the draft but also out of the top ten and relegated to a 23rd place finish. This meant his dream of again starting the Daytona 500 and becoming the oldest driver to do so was gone.

James Hylton in car number 48I personally have found this spotlight on James Hylton very fun to do. As a matter of fact, I think I had more fun researching him than I would have spotlighting Jimmie Johnson. And there’s so much more that I didn’t even mention about James, such as his current ARCA team operation! [Do yourself a favor and check out www.jameshylton.com for more on his history and his current involvements in racing.] As I said before, I feel ashamed that I didn’t pay more attention during last year’s Daytona 500. I allowed myself to be oblivious to the fact that a NASCAR icon was trying to make yet another mark in NASCAR’s history books right before my eyes. And then to pour salt in my own self-inflicted wound, James Hylton’s race shop in Inman, South Carolina is a mere 33 miles up the road from my house. I think maybe I need to go pay some respects. Not to “some old guy”, but to a racer I now admire.

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NASCAR History: Car Number 49 and Shawna Robinson

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by James Jones, Special To NASCAR commentary,NASCAR video,NASCAR pictures, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

Sundays of my youth consisted of NASCAR racing and cold bottles of Mountain Dew. Thirty years later not much has changed for me. However, nearly everything has changed in NASCAR.

December 27, 2009 12:01 pm CST 6 Comments

Over the next several weeks we’ll be featuring car numbers in NASCAR history.  We started with #50 and are working our way down the line.  With each car number we’ll take a brief look at a couple stats related to the featured car number in NASCAR history, but we’ll primarily spotlight either a driver, sponsor, car owner, manufacturer or other significant subject closely tied to the car number of the day.

We’re just getting warmed up with the countdown as we offer up car number forty-nine!

Stats for cars running the #49:

  • Number of Races: 647
  • Number of Wins: 7
  • Number of Top 5s: 77
  • Number of Top 10s: 161
  • Number of Poles: 8

Check out current NASCAR race statistics here at On Pit Row!

Spotlight Subject: Driver Shawna Robinson

NASCAR driver Shawna RobinsonShawna Robinson was the baby in a family with five children. But this Des Moines Iowa native was quick to start her racing career at the age of 18. With much determination she went on to write her name in the women’s history books of NASCAR racing.

While she didn’t set the world on fire with top finishes in her few Sprint Cup starts (8), she certainly earned her way to the top series for a chance to run with the stars of our sport. Her first Sprint Cup race (2001) was for car owner Michael Kranefuss in the #84 Aaron’s car. But in 2002 she ran seven of what was to have been twenty-four races in the #49 BAM Racing machine. Her first start in the #49 being in the Daytona 500 where she qualified 36th and finished 24th. It would be her best finishing position in Sprint Cup competition. The team made five more races, each with poor finishing results of 34th or worse. The team made one final race attempt when the series rolled back into Daytona for the 2002 Pepsi 400. The efforts resulted in a 40th place finish and Shawna was released from her ride.

Shawna Robinson NASCAR car number 49But don’t let the lackluster Sprint Cup results fool you. Throughout her racing career Shawna accomplished quite a bit and set several records for women in NASCAR. For example, the 2001 race with Michael Kranefuss mentioned above marked the first time a female started a Winston Cup race since 1989, and the first time a woman finished a Winston Cup race since 1980. In addition to being the first woman to win a pole position in Busch Series competition, she also did it in a way that Larry McReynolds loves; with “A New Track Record” at 174.33 miles per hour! But wait, she had more firsts for women in NASCAR. Record setting firsts such as becoming the first woman to win a NASCAR Touring Series event; the first woman to complete the full season in any national oval track series, and while doing so also becoming the first woman to finish in the top ten in points in said series (a 6th in the ARCA Series standings of 2000).

So my hat is off to you Shawna Robertson. You likely took a lot of abuse from sexist individuals in the sport. Yet you went on to achieve so much and be an inspiration to fans, competitors and other women who will follow in your footsteps.

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