The Magic Window ~ Chapter 3
The Kid Gets a Name and the King Comes to Town
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All
of you readers already know "the kid" about whom this story is being
written is actually me, Tim. So, in this
chapter, as I am tired of typing "the kid", from now on we will refer
to Tim. Better than using "I"
all the time.
When
we ended Chapter two, Tim had made the statement that the Grand Nationals were
to be at Columbia Speedway on August 30th, but that was not correct. The Grand National race would actually be in
Columbia on September 18th so our little team had two more chances to conquer
the track before the big boys came to town.
Once the Plymouth was cleaned and sparkly again, thanks to the kid
brigade that polished it so fine, it was put under the tarp until next
week. Plans were underway to build a
garage, but financing just did not support that expense as yet. But there would be a surprise on that front
coming soon.
On
Thursday morning, the 30th of August, Tommy and Eddie went to work on the car
just checking engine and suspension parts and got it ready to load on the
trailer for Columbia Speedway. By the
time Tim got home at 4:30 p.m. everything was ready to go and all Tim had to do
was change into the jeans and white shirt.
The white shirt had a little oval with "Tim" embroiled on it
so that was the driving uniform of the day.
Marty's truck pulled the trailer out of the driveway and the trip across
town was made in less than 25 minutes.
This time, when we rolled up to the gate to sign in, we had a NASCAR
license in hand for Tim, Tommy and Eddie.
We signed in and pulled into the track over the first turn entrance.
We
managed to secure almost the same spot in the pits as we had the week before
and unloaded the car. Of course we were
early because we were close by and I managed to get off work early on
Thursdays. Tommy and Eddie, my crew, had
both signed up for the Air Force and would be leaving soon after the end of the
season so they were available at all times.
As other cars began to arrive, both Later Model Sportsman and Hobby, the
pits began to fill. Crews all around the
little team were busy making unknown adjustments, at least unknown to the
ragtag Plymouth boys, so the boys made like they had things to do by raising
the hood and basically only looking at the engine.
The
memories of that night are somewhat obscured as the week before has
overshadowed what happened on August 30, 1969.
Tim did draw sixth starting position for the second heat and was able to
move up to fourth before the end of the heat.
That would put him in 8th starting position for the feature. After all the years of watching the late
model boys put on exciting races, those events now were only a delay in getting
back on the track for the feature.
The
feature race for Hobby that night started 21 cars and quickly became a
wreck-fest. By lap 3, Tim had moved
into 4th place, mainly due to three of the cars starting in front of him
tangling and crashing in turn three, with Tim narrowly avoiding that
disaster. The race was winding down its
20-lap distance as Tim came upon the orange Chevy of Jay Carpenter with two to
go. Coming off turn two, Jay slipped the
slightest bit, opening the inside for Tim to fill and that's exactly what he
did. Jay recovered and was faster on the
straight, but the two cars entered turn three side by side with Tim on the
inside. One thing about that Plymouth is
the way it handled. The two cars banged
into each other three or four times in turns three and four but it was Tim by a
half car length at the line. Another
second place.
It
now appeared as though second place finishes were going to pay enough to get
from that race to the next as there were really no expenses to speak of as we
ran the same tires every race. Still,
the team was hoping for that win. Maybe
Saturday in Augusta. Maybe.
That
Saturday dawned with those grey sullen skies promising rain at any time. By 10 a.m. it was raining lightly but the
ominous clouds to the west promised stormy weather for later in the day. Typical South Carolina August weather. The team called Augusta about noon and was
told it was raining hard in Augusta but the race had not yet been called. The car was loaded, covered with the tarp,
awaiting the outcome of the weather. We
called again at 2:00 and the race had been postponed. As a matter of fact, rain continued in the
area off and on for a week, thereby causing Columbia to cancel their program
for September 4th.
Tim
honestly has no memory whatsoever of the Columbia event on September 11th nor
the Augusta event on the 13th. Tim
knows the team ran the races but time has removed the recollections of what
must have been mediocre races at best.
But the memory of September 18th remains very vivid.
September
18th was the night the Grand Nationals came to Columbia Speedway. The only two Grand Nationals Tim attended
that year were the Columbia events. His
hero, Richard Petty, who had driven Plymouths, had defected to Ford. Now understand, in those days a fan's loyalty
was often just as attached to car make as the driver. While Richard and Tim communicated during the
year, the first by a lengthy letter from Tim to Richard in November, 1968, when
Richard announced the Ford deal, and then the encounter at the spring Columbia
race.
Tim
was, of course, already at the track when the teams came pulling in. The Petty hauler pulled in about 5 pm and
Richard came over to Tim as soon as he got out of the truck to say "I hear
you're keeping the Plymouth reputation alive this year". Obviously, my good friend and sportscaster,
Jim Seay, had encountered Richard at the sign in booth and told him. Tim responded "I'm trying to do just
that". Tim was well aware a huge
part of the popularity he was enjoying in Columbia and Augusta was because
Petty had deserted the Mopars and Tim was running the only Mopar in any
division at those two tracks. Richard
and Tim carried on a conversation for a while, with Richard giving some
pointers. Tim told him "if you ever
go back to Plymouth, I want to drive for Petty" to which Richard responded
"we always have room for a winner.”
Although not stressed, the key word there was "winner.”
Saturday
everyone on the little team was excited about going back to Augusta. The day dawned bright and sunny and it warmed
up quickly, especially for mid-September.
By noon the car was loaded on the trailer and Tim's Mom provided the
pimento cheese sandwiches and chips as everyone sat on the ground around the
race car as though the race car was a monument to be worshipped. When the eating was done and everything was
ready, the green pickup truck pulled out of the driveway with the race car in
tow. We now had a caravan of 5 cars,
each loaded with adults and kids heading for Augusta. We brought our own cheering section to be
joined by other Mopar fans in the area.
The
heat race we drew, the first one, should have been our first win. We started fifth and were running second by
the second lap. It was a blue Ford in
front of us and although Tim tried him high and then low and then high again,
there was no getting around that Ford.
The Plymouth handled so well it could pull almost alongside in the turns
but the Ford outran Tim down the straight by a car length or so. Another second place, putting Tim on the
inside second row for the feature.
Lining
up for the feature, Tim stared at the back of that blue Ford and thought to
himself that this time he was going to take him, going into turn one on the
inside. As the pace laps began, Tim
checked his mirror to see row upon row of cars behind him… a couple he
recognized as the fast boys.
Nevertheless, this was the race Tim intended to win. The green flag waved and entering turn one
Tim was on the inside of that Ford, door to door. That went on four or five laps before the
Ford finally pulled ahead but Tim immediately tagged onto the back bumper. Cars behind Tim were two abreast fighting for
position but Tim was determined whatever position they got would not be the one
he was in. Tim tried the Ford high and
low and discovered on these high banks he could pull pretty even on the outside. That was his plan as they raced into turn one
on the last lap.
Coming
off turn two, Tim took it way high, which surprised the Ford driver and
suddenly Tim was again door to door as they raced the backs straight. Tim's mind was preparing his victory speech
when, as he lifted slightly for turn four, there was a rumble under the hood of
the Plymouth and suddenly he was sliding in his own oil as the engine
blew. The car actually slid sideways
from turn three down onto the apron of turn four where it stopped.
The
wrecker towed the Plymouth to the pits and when the hood was raised and the
flashlights explored the area, the almost baseball size hole in the side of the
slant six block left no doubt that engine was history. The talk, as we pushed the car on the
trailer, was that our racing days may be over.
As we began the drive back to Columbia, we talked of what we could do
and how to come up with the money to get a new engine. None of that seemed simple that night.
When
we got home, we just left the car on the trailer and covered it with the tarp. No one was in the mood to sit around and talk
that night, unusual as that was for the bunch, so everyone left for home and
their well-deserved night of rest. As
Scarlett O'Hara would have said, "Tomorrow is another day" and oh
boy, was Scarlett ever right.
At
church Sunday morning, one of Tim's neighbors who had once owned several horses
and left them in a lot adjoining the property where Tim lived, came up to
talk. The gist of the discussion was
that he had the old stable just sitting there and he noticed we didn't have a
garage for the race car. He said
"if you guys tear it down and clean up the area, you can have all the
material to build a garage.” What a
deal!!!
Monday
morning, Tommy and Eddie began destruction of the stable, careful to not damage
the wood or the tin of the roof. By the
following Saturday, team "Competition Incorporated" had enough
material to build a really good sized garage.
Work would start Monday with Tommy and Eddie, and the rest of the guys
would join when they got home in the evenings.
Two weeks after we started, we had the garage and had cleaned up the
stable grounds to perfection. But, alas, we had only a race car with no engine
to put inside. Now it was time to get to
work to get another engine. But how? The answer to that "how" would come
about in the most unusual way. Come back
for Chapter four and find out how we did it.