A Voice For The Fans ~ Perpetuating The Joke
5/13/2014
PattyKay Lilley
Author's note: I
just received word of the passing of one of my oldest readers. Many other
writers out there may recognize his name as well. Rest in
peace "Unkle Phil!" You get to watch
races again with Dale and the rest of the gang on track. Thanks again for the
"real" Song of the South tape. Would hate my
granddaughters to have missed Uncle Remus for some silly P.C. movement.
So happy you enjoyed "The Salad." I'll make some on Memorial Day in
your memory. Oh, and I'll miss you Buddy!
I bid
you welcome gentle readers, to yet another useless bit of trivia concerning
that place known as the NASCAR Hall of Fame. A warm welcome is extended as well
to our assigned NASCAR reader, who can probably be found in the Fan and Media
Espionage Center in beautiful Charlotte, NC, but to that I cannot attest with
certainty. Just over a month ago, we shared a discussion on how the voting
works at the
Hall of Fame, not coincidentally also located in Charlotte, NC, which has
become an annual tradition that I like to call, "Talking to the wall",
as no one anywhere listens or seems to care.
In that
particular little rant, I carefully explained as best I could exactly how much
the aggregate "Fan Vote" figures into the mix, and the minuteness of
the power of a single ballot cast by a single fan. What I said was, "Your
vote is a joke." Well guys and gals, on Friday I cast my single ballot, as
promised. That's it. One person; one vote... the American way... in some
states... sometimes. In truth, the way voting is conducted for that
pseudo-honor is so skewed and ridiculous that I'm glad it counts for almost
naught. Vote as many times as you like, for over a month? This voter wouldn't
want the local dog-catcher elected by that method, but it seems fair and
balanced to NASCAR. Draw your own conclusions from that.
Also as
promised, I took a screen shot of my ballot after it was cast, along with the
warm invitation to "Vote Again", which I declined without comment. My
plan therefore, if I can make it fit the page, will be to show you my ballot
and "briefly" explain my reasons for choosing each candidate. Before
going into that though, allow me to state that everyone on the ballot will at
some point deserve admission. All are worthy of the nomination they have
received, though we've sadly learned that they can apparently be "un-nominated"
at whim. My point of view, and hence my voting, comes from being one of the old
pharts and remembering things perhaps NASCAR and the
reigning Family France would just as soon be forgotten.
Red Byron:
Please
gentle readers, take time to read the short bio
offered on Red. Just click "more" beneath his or any of the pictures
of nominees to learn more about them. Red Byron was the first winner of a
NASCAR sanctioned race. He was the first Champion in the Modified division, and the first in Strictly Stock (Grand National/Winston
Cup et al) as well. How is it even possible that a man with such a record can
have been passed over for FIVE years for admission to a Hall of Fame supposedly
representing the sport in which he won those honors? I realize that the teens
and twenty-somethings reading this have probably
never heard of Red Byron, but you should have... and so many more like
him. Because he died young should not preclude him from his rightful place,
somewhere at the top of the list of inductees into a Hall of Fame that is
meaningless without him.
Fred Lorenzen:
NASCAR's
"Golden Boy!"
I see questions on Fred's bio page asking why he didn't run all the races.
That's simple. In the early days, no one not named Petty ran all the races.
Racing didn't pay back then the fortune that it does today. None of the drivers
lived in $5 million homes on Lake Norman. They probably didn't know where Lake
Norman was, unless they were fishermen. Some of the really good ones could make
a living from racing alone, but most raced more as a hobby or avocation,
relying on a "regular" job to feed and clothe the family. Fearless Freddy won far more than his
"share" for the short seasons he raced. The Hall of Fame has picked a
great picture of Freddy in his younger days; it's no wonder they called him the
Golden Boy. Please realize that today, that handsome young man will turn 80
years old in December. Fred suffers from dementia, but at last word from his
daughter, does have some lucid moments still, especially when the talk is of
racing. Like so many others, who all should have been automatic members of the
NASCAR Hall of Fame, he waits to see what comes first... will he be admitted...
or forgotten as all of us old-timers slowly die off and there is no one left to
remember?
Raymond Parks:
This is
one that truly hurts my old and tired heart. In that last article I gave you a
picture of Raymond visiting the Hall of Fame and admiring a statue of him
amidst other reminders, but though he should have been in the HOF from the day
the first shovel of dirt was turned, Raymond died on June 20, 2010, still
awaiting admission, which to this date has never come. I won't leave this
explanation to my own inadequate words when I can give you a beautiful eulogy written by an acquaintance of
mine here in Georgia, Brandon Reed, who writes for GeorgiaRacingHistory.com in
conjunction with the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. He tells a pretty fair story
of what Raymond Parks did for NASCAR and racing in general, though he does not
mention that first meeting at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach Florida,
which Mr. Parks attended and financed along with so much else. Yes, Bill France
had the ideas and was a great promoter, but when funding was needed, it was
Raymond Parks' hand in his pocket to cover the bills.
Because
this is Raymond Parks and because he is so important to me and all others that
remember his voice, his smile and his personality, not to mention his
contributions to racing over so very many years, I have a couple videos very
pertinent to what a great man he was. The first is an interview with Raymond
himself at age 94, conducted by Kyle Petty, with inserts by Neal Thompson,
author of Driving With the Devil, telling a bit of
what it was like "back in the day."
The
second is a short video made in 2009 at the Dawsonville [GA] Moonshine
Festival. The background song is Back Roads and Moonshine from the CD
"Racers and Chasers" performed by Jay Sellers and the Crew... written
by Jay and a man named Jeff. It's a lovely lasting tribute to a great man, and
doesn't forget to credit "A man named Bill." How can Bill's surviving
family forget to credit Raymond Parks?
Curtis
Turner:
Once
called "The Babe Ruth of Stock Car Racing", there is more to tell
about Curtis than there is room to tell in this missive. Rest assured that
NASCAR hasn't told even a tenth of the story in the short bio provided. Watch
these pages for an update on Curtis that will explain so much better why he
gets my vote this year. This is my first ballot cast for either Curtis or
Little Joe Weatherly, simply because others were more important... though that
does not necessarily include all that have been inducted. NASCAR, as always, is
playing to the tune of the dollar, and feels that younger folks are the key to
bringing in the demographic they seek and getting them to part with their money
in order to see folks such as Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett ensconced in a
Hall of Fame that does not include Raymond Parks. My feelings differ.
Joe
Weatherly:
Better
known as "Little Joe" due to his small stature,
or "The clown prince of racing" because of his penchant for joking,
most of them of the practical sort, Joe is the only two-time Champion not yet
inducted into the Hall of Fame. That alone should make him a slam-dunk for
induction this year, but don't place your bets on it. My guess is that Bill
Elliott will go in on first ballot, simply because he's Bill Elliott. Don't
misunderstand; I adore Awesome Bill and we are neighbors separated by only
perhaps 30 miles. Bill is a Champion and I was there to watch him when times
were the best and Fords were the fastest... especially the ones for which Ernie
built the engines and Bill drove to Superspeedway wins galore. Still, Bill is a
single Championship winner and Joe has two, though that didn't matter when
Wallace and Jarrett were inducted, each being a single time Champion.
Yes, I
have my ideas of who will be announced on May 21 as the Class of 2015, the next
5 to be inducted into the Hall, and for certain they won't all have been on my
ballot. Even I had a hard time narrowing it down to five, and my heart would
not be broken if Ray Fox, Rex White or Wendell Scott went in ahead of one or
two of my choices... but not ahead of Raymond Parks. (Benny, next year you'll get my single vote. You'll be in soon my
friend. Very soon) They still do not provide a
space for write-ins, but they should gentle readers. They should. I believe
that if that option were to be offered, that Henry "Smokey" Yunick
would be placed in nomination by the fans on the first try... and I would be
one of those working feverishly to see that it happened. Ah well, enjoy the
charade.
It's now
time for our Classic Country Close-out to bring our time together to a close
for today. My "kid" brother Mike always had a saying when we were
growing up that I loved "anyone named Hank." Well, he wasn't far off,
though there were Red and Tex and Roy and so many others too. This one comes
from my high school days... the 1950s... the age of innocence as I've heard it
referred to many times. It was a wonderful time to be young and we had
wonderful music to help us grow. This one comes from Hank Snow, kind of an
anomaly in Country Music, as he was Canadian, not from the Southeast or
Southwest, where most Country and Western, as it was called back then, singers
hailed from. You could never tell it from his voice or his guitar playing on
any of the thousands of songs he recorded over his lifetime. Please enjoy Hank
Snow singing "Stolen Moments."
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~ PattyKay