Anything Less Than First Is . . .
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It
doesn’t get the universal response it did back in the day, because people today
play action video/computer games instead of Monopoly, but in my youth, you
could always get a laugh with the line from that Community Chest card, “You
have won second prize in a beauty contest. Collect $10.”
I
suspect the term “second banana” likewise has fallen from favor, and I’m not
sure what, if anything, has taken its place, but the sentiment remains the
same: in a competitive arena, being anything other than “best” just doesn’t cut
it.
That’s
been NASCAR’s challenge for all but a handful of its 70+ years. These days the
challenge manifests itself in the struggle to make the Xfinity Series and
Gander Outdoor Truck Series worth paying to attend or even watch. There’s great
action in both, but when it’s not a preferred destination for the drivers
themselves – they’re there to move up – how can it be a preferred destination
for us?
Tommy Houston was a
regular for what is now Xfinity in its first 15 years (and he was 37 when the
series and that streak began). Nobody does that anymore.
Back
in the 1960s, when the Grand American Division was created for Mustangs,
Camaros and similar cars, I absolutely loved it, but eventually it failed,
because it was only #2. A decade earlier, the same fate had befallen the
Convertible Division. NASCAR has never given up on having a fully successful
second division, but it has yet to reach and sustain that goal.
I
was reminded of that when I was doing some racing history research recently and
came across promotion for and results of a NASCAR Short Track Division race.
The Short Track Division was NASCAR’s first #2, and unless you count Big Bill
France’s brief-but-disastrous effort at running Indy-type cars, it was the
first “second banana” to spoil and hit the trash.
It’s
hard to find Short Track Division results these days. NASCAR seems not to have
held onto them – why be reminded of your failures? – so history buffs have had
to find them elsewhere, like in the local paper, the way I found the one that
took place on September 11, 1951, at Royall Speedway in Richmond (the slightly
smaller predecessor of the still-racing Southside Speedway).
In
case your ancient NASCAR history is lacking, the Short Track Division was the
twin of the Grand National Division we now know as Cup. The major difference
was that GN races were run on tracks of ½ mile or larger, while ST events were
on tracks less than ½ mile in length, like the quarter-mile Royall.
More
important was the difference between then and now. As in the NASCAR ad I shared
last week said, NASCAR was promoting these divisions as showroom stock cars (GN
was originally called Strictly Stock), and part of the pitch was for fans to
come out and find out just how fast the car they were driving would go.
That
meant that there was nothing stopping you from entering a race in your own car,
if it was pretty new, so the early stars of NASCAR had to be willing and able
to take on all comers. Sad to say, I wouldn’t have been much of a threat,
regardless of my car, but lots of top local racers were, and the 22-car lineup
that night in Richmond was full of them.
There
was Runt Harris, a great local racer in the immortal Junie Donlavey’s car. He
dominated much of the first half of the race before blowing a tire. Cal Johnson
(whose son Eddie still races, as I believe does his grandson) finished fourth,
and Eddie Crouse (driving a Crosley) was sixth.
The
regulars included the eventual 1951 champion, Pappy Hough of Paterson, N.J.,
race runner-up Jimmy Delaney, also from Jersey, and Lee Petty, about whom you
probably know a bit already.
They
also included the winner, Jim Reed of White Plains, N.Y. (more frequently
listed as from Peekskill), who would go on to win the Short Track Division
championship five times (in its less than 10-year existence) and win about 50
features. We also know Reed as winner of the 1959 Southern 500.
Jim Reed (not with the
car he drove to victory at Royall Speedway)
Reed
won at Royall the same way Johnny Mantz won the first
Southern 500 – by not blowing tires. Most of the other front-runners blew at
least one, and Norfolk’s Bill Champion lost five. Reed knew how to be fast and
nurse his car, and he drove the 400 laps without making a pit stop.
Besides
his racing skill, Reed was no slouch at public relations, either. As a Yankee
racing just outside the capital of the Confederacy, he flew a Confederate flag
on his car (so did two other Northern competitors), and his win seems to have
been popular.
For
his trouble, Reed took home $1,000, plus $200 for being the second-fastest
qualifier.
A
record crowd of 7,348 turned out, but things must not have been quite as good
as they appeared, because the next year’s race was cut to 200 laps – Reed won
it, too – and after a pair of events in 1953 – Reed finished second and fourth
– Royall was gone. Resurrected in 1959 as the one-third mile Southside
Speedway, it returned to run four Grand National events in 1961-63 (with the
demise of the Short Track Division, GN events were held on tracks smaller than
one-half mile until the “modern era” began with Winston Cup in 1972).
Lots
to think about from that little bit of history:
You’ve got Jim Reed, a particularly under-appreciated early star of
NASCAR. You’ve got an approach to racing that welcomes all comers (not just
those with charters) and depends on being the best to come out on top. Finally,
you’ve got the Short Track Division, the first of NASCAR’s efforts to make a
second-tier division successful.
I’d
like to be able to say some of that highlights where NASCAR lost its way over
the decades, but for all its troubles today, it’s still much more popular than
it was in 1951, so setting that clock back would be risky if not foolish.
Nevertheless,
those of us who kind of liked the less predictable racing of the early days
(not that I was following racing in 1951; I’m old, but not THAT old) can dream
that maybe today’s stars might have to think of pit strategy the way Jim Reed
did, or drive like that left front was likely to give out in five laps, or
manage your team like you needed to keep it running until the next race on
$1,200.
I
think it would still make for an interesting day/night at the races.
If you’d like to “read
all about it” as the Royall Speedway 1951 Short Track Division race was written
back then, here you go:
One
more thing. If you want to really relive the good-old-days at Royall, this
ought to help. It’s a film of a race there (not one for the Short Track
Division) in 1953: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a18V4sZ_I4M
Frank’s
Loose Lug Nuts
I
guess the lug nuts are strewn across the shop floor this week, since they’re
not at the track, sadly.
Just
a note about Jim Reed and his era. While he was dominating the Short Track
Division, Reed also was taking whatever other opportunities to race that
presented themselves, such were the economies of the day.
In
1956, the poor records mean we don’t know just how many of the 38 Short Track
Division races he ran, but he won 14, so one would presume he was present for
most. While he was doing that, he also found time to compete in 11 Grand
National/Cup races and one Convertible event, and he also ventured a bit
farther west and ran with the MARC series (now ARCA) in yet another dozen
races. One would guess an unsanctioned event also slipped in occasionally.
Reed
had backing from both Ford and Chevy on occasion, but when GM cut back in the
early ‘60s, he decided it was time to get out, settling instead for life as a
New York truck dealer. He passed away last year at age 93.
