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Tom Higgins' Scuffs

  • Darlington's tireless Tommy Britt surely in line for honor

    Tim Richmond’s face grew redder and redder, his voice louder and louder. Richmond was talking on a telephone with some acquaintance, and the conversation grew more heated by the second. It was 1986, a year during which Richmond solidified his... [...]
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    Posted: November 26, 2009, 7:51am EST
    by Bob Henry

  • Martin's lesson from 1990? Don't change horses

    As Mark Martin battles Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series championship going into Sunday’s Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, memories return of a costly call to pit on Nov. 4,... [...]
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    Posted: November 13, 2009, 2:50pm EST
    by Bob Henry

  • North Wilkesboro's wild 'Rush Through the Brush'

    Permit me a history lesson, dear readers. Decades before "The Pass In The Grass" there was "The Rush Through The Brush." The former involved Dale Earnhardt, the late seven-time champion. The latter involved Junior Johnson, the legendary driver/team owner who,... [...]
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    Posted: November 05, 2009, 9:33pm EST
    by Bob Henry

  • A Talladega anniversary – and that scary-fast Dodge

    I had heard of jaw-dropping sights, but never seen one. This changed on Sept. 14, 1969, at Alabama International Motor Speedway, a track now known as Talladega Superspeedway. With just 11 of the 188 laps remaining in the inaugural 500-mile... [...]
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    Posted: October 30, 2009, 12:21pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Recalling Schrader's big win, it's about time to come clean

    Few NASCAR drivers have been more fun-loving than Ken Schrader. Oh, there were Joe Weatherly and Curtis Turner, whose antics in the wild and zany 1950s and ‘60s are legend. And lovable Jabe Thomas, who delighted, for example, in sneaking... [...]
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    Posted: October 18, 2009, 2:58pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Long straights, famed curves all part of old track's lore

    It generally takes a fine touch to drive on any NASCAR track. This was especially true at Occoneechee Speedway, a nine-tenths-mile dirt oval near Hillsborough, N.C., that was part of the sanctioning body’s major tour from 1949 through 1968. “You’d... [...]
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    Posted: September 28, 2009, 3:55pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Father-son trip to Daytona ignited an enduring fire

    The NASCAR driver, holding a press conference at Daytona International Speedway, smiled in fond recollection as he told story after story. “I can remember being about five years old, sitting on my daddy’s lap while steering his car and we... [...]
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    Posted: September 12, 2009, 9:46am EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Now, it's see you in September at fast Georgia speedway

    So now Atlanta Motor Speedway gets a September date. The Pep Boys Auto 500 is scheduled at the 1.54-mile track on Sept. 6. That’s the Labor Day weekend date that was held from 1950-2003 by Darlington Raceway for the staging... [...]
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    Posted: August 27, 2009, 10:55am EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Kelly's 'Thunder' well worth a look

    Bobby Allison didn’t want the ride. When highly-successful road racing team owner Jack Roush decided to start a NASCAR Winston Cup Series venture in the late 1980s, his first choice as driver was Allison. However, Allison, a highly popular veteran... [...]
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    Posted: August 21, 2009, 4:11pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Plan put Novi inductees Richter, Wheeler at odds

    For officials of Charlotte Motor Speedway and NASCAR, it was yet another contentious dispute. For members of the media and the few fans who knew about the argument, it was a source of high amusement. The fuss was about elephants.... [...]
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    Posted: August 13, 2009, 4:36pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Racing hurt? Earnhardt was hardly only one ready, willing

    Ricky Rudd’s race car spun off the fourth turn at Daytona International Speedway, slid into a grassy area and then began flipping violently. It was a horrifying wreck, taking place in the Busch Clash, a NASCAR special event for the... [...]
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    Posted: August 07, 2009, 4:42pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Earnhardt lived up to tough reputation

    How actually tough was Dale Earnhardt? Most notably in memory for many of those who followed his career closely are these two examples: -- The time he flipped wildly down the backstretch during the Daytona 500 of 1997 at Daytona... [...]
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    Posted: August 07, 2009, 4:40pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • The day that racing took a back seat

    Everyone gathered at Bristol International Raceway wanted the Volunteer 500 to finish quickly. The drivers, their crews, the NASCAR officials, the fans and members of the media. Everyone. This is because the date was July 20, 1969. Later that afternoon,... [...]
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    Posted: August 07, 2009, 4:32pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • NASCAR Hall committee got first 25 right

    Commendation is due to members of the new NASCAR Hall of Fame’s nominating committee. They did an admirable job, in my opinion, of naming the 25 original nominees for the hall that’s scheduled to open in Charlotte in May of... [...]
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    Posted: July 11, 2009, 8:36am EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Petty and the president

    It was a day during which a county commissioner upstaged the President of The United States. The date was July 4, 1984. The county commissioner was Richard Petty. The president was Ronald Reagan. How did Petty, the “King” of NASCAR,... [...]
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    Posted: July 02, 2009, 1:44pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Ernie Irvan scores a special win

    There hardly was a dry eye that summer Sunday 13 years ago at New Hampshire International Speedway. Not among the estimated 82,000 fans on hand and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series teams gathered for the Jiffy Lube 300. And not... [...]
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    Posted: June 25, 2009, 5:39pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Dick May raced for many - and 'for the sport of it'

    Every time we happened to meet, my greeting to the man was the same: “Dick May! Or he May not!” Without fail, Dick May, for many years a familiar and popular figure on NASCAR’s big-time tour, shook his head and... [...]
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    Posted: June 19, 2009, 11:22pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Hard-nosed racer was in thick of D-Day action

    Watching on television as the deeply touching D-Day ceremonies took place at Normandy on June 6, I had tears in my eyes and thoughts of a fine, longtime friend and great NASCAR racer in my mind. President Barack Obama was... [...]
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    Posted: June 11, 2009, 1:08pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Marcis stayed on track to score Richmond win

    It was a race during which three of NASCAR’s most famous teams and stars outsmarted themselves. No, I’m not specifically referring to Memorial Day, when journeyman driver David Reutimann won the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. As sprinkles began... [...]
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    Posted: May 29, 2009, 1:13pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Benny Parsons prevails in a classic

    Swirling about with awful foreboding was what I refer to as an “End Of Time Sky.” It looked even more frightening than a memorable scene featuring Charlton Heston as Moses in the epic movie, “The Ten Commandments.” However, in this... [...]
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    Posted: May 21, 2009, 9:37pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Kick-starting an all-star brawl

    In Turn 4, Wallace’s right-front fender made contact with Waltrip’s left-rear. It appeared a light touch, but it was enough to send Waltrip spinning for 300 yards into the grass between pit road and the racing surface as Wallace took the lead. [...]
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    Posted: May 16, 2009, 8:45am EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • David Poole vs. Sports Illustrated

    Since David Poole’s sudden death at age 50 from a heart attack on Tuesday, dozens of newspaper articles and radio, TV and Internet commentaries have been devoted to his terrific talent as a motorsports reporter. Practically all of these have... [...]
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    Posted: May 01, 2009, 12:51pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Last-lap crash: Like 1987 all over again

    It seemed Sunday as if an imaginary time machine and NASCAR driver Carl Edwards were transporting me - and perhaps millions of other stock car racing followers - 22 years into the past. The date was May 3, 1987, and... [...]
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    Posted: April 27, 2009, 5:12pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • LeeRoy lords over 600 field

    During a stock car racing career covering almost five decades, Junior Johnson competed against, and fielded cars against, thousands of drivers. So who was the bravest of them all? “No doubt about it,” says Johnson. “It was LeeRoy Yarbrough.” That’s... [...]
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    Posted: April 23, 2009, 8:46am EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Joe Lee who?

    We were wading little Hemphill Creek, which cascades from the eastern flank of mighty Mount Mitchell. My dad and I were in the cold water flowing off the highest peak in Eastern America, trying to catch small, but beautifully-colored brook... [...]
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    Posted: April 18, 2009, 8:29am EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • First win was no April 1 joke

    The outcome of the race was so significant that I felt compelled to phone my cohorts in The Charlotte Observer sports department the moment the checkered flag waved. They needed to be alerted to the story I was about to... [...]
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    Posted: March 31, 2009, 8:31am EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • Darrell Waltrip still owns Bristol record

    It was among the most audacious and mildly risqué T-shirts I’d ever seen. The guy wearing it in the late 1970s was manning the cash register in a small convenience store near Bristol Motor Speedway, where NASCAR's top teams gather... [...]
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    Posted: March 19, 2009, 2:51pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • This moonshine story is still the one

    Surely by now most stock car racing fans have heard or read of the arrest of former driving champion Dean Combs on charges of manufacturing illegal liquor. Combs, 57, was charged by N.C. "revenooers" recently when a large, elaborate still... [...]
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    Posted: March 13, 2009, 8:21am EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • The day Tiny Lund met his match

    Stock car racing fans attending a 250-lapper at the Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds on April 28, 1957, got two shows for the price of one. There was the NASCAR race, of course, an 83.25-mile event on a .333-mile track. Paul Goldsmith... [...]
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    Posted: March 06, 2009, 1:14pm EST
    by Bob Henry

  • Earnhardt dealt himself out, left Vegas for tree stand

    She was even more beautiful in person than when starring on movie screens. I lucked into seeing the late actress-dancer-singer Juliet Prowse in August of 1971 when she headlined a show at The Flamingo in Las Vegas. After a fishing... [...]
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    Posted: February 26, 2009, 6:46am EST
    by Bob Henry

  • NASCAR and California go way back

    California is calling, and NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series teams are responding. The sanctioning body's drivers and crews are at California Speedway, a 2-mile oval track near San Bernardino, for the Autoworks 500 on Sunday. This after opening the 2009 tour... [...]
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    Posted: February 19, 2009, 6:37am EST
    by Bob Henry

  • Blazin’ Buddy Baker

    I suppose that most everyone who follows sports has heard the much-frayed cliché, “Records are made to be broken.” Lately this has held true. In baseball, for example, Barry Bonds shattered the home run records for both a season and... [...]
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    Posted: February 11, 2009, 3:52pm EST
    by Bob Henry

  • And in this corner ...

    As racing’s radio and TV announcers are fond of saying, “The stars and cars of NASCAR” are back in Daytona Beach, Fla., to begin another Sprint Cup Series season. This evokes indelible memories of 30 years ago when the teams... [...]
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    Posted: February 05, 2009, 8:14am EST
    by Bob Henry

  • I'm Thankful For...

    Now, upon my 71st Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for a myriad of many, many things. Among them: I'm thankful, of course, for family. My children, Chip and Heather, and the seven grandchildren they have given me. Also, my sister... [...]
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    Posted: November 26, 2008, 3:27pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Jimmie Chases Cale

    Jimmie Johnson is chasing Cale Yarborough, and he's on the verge of catching him. Huh? Wait a second! Didn't Yarborough, who is in practically all the motorsports halls of fame, retire as a driver in NASCAR's top division in 1988?... [...]
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    Posted: November 13, 2008, 4:30pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • B. Baker And The B'ar.

    It was to be the highlight of Buddy Baker's 1975 hunting/fishing season. Buddy, the NASCAR driving star from Charlotte and an avid outdoorsman, was going bear hunting in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina with some fine friends. The... [...]
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    Posted: October 23, 2008, 9:53pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Intimidating The Intimidator.

    After actively covering NASCAR for more than 40 years, I finally have to concede that the fog of time has caused many of the races I saw to blend into the mist. Several, of course, haven't. The 1958 Southern 500... [...]
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    Posted: October 17, 2008, 3:25pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • A Race Without Humpy...

    As the PA announcers like to refer to them, "The Stars And Cars Of NASCAR," are at Lowe's Motor Speedway this weekend for the Bank Of America 500. Jimmie Johnson is there. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Kyle Busch. Carl Edwards. Mark... [...]
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    Posted: October 10, 2008, 2:33pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Benny And Banjo

    When Benny Parsons was trudging 10 miles home after football practice at rural Millers Creek High School in Wilkes County, N.C., during the 1950s he didn't dare dream of someday being in a hall of fame of any kind. "It... [...]
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    Posted: September 30, 2008, 5:16pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Who Flies In Hall's First Class?

    While political leaders in Charlotte consider a $32 million requested increase in exhibit costs for NASCAR's new Hall Of Fame in downtown, the debate has begun over who should be among the first inductees when the venue opens in May... [...]
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    Posted: September 19, 2008, 11:50am EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Another Day That Lives In Infamy

    My bag was packed. I was ready to go. My flight from Charlotte to New York seven years ago was scheduled for 3 p.m. that afternoon. I arose from bed about 7:30 a.m. at my home in Mooresville, N.C., poured... [...]
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    Posted: September 10, 2008, 10:08pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • A Legacy In Richmond

    In covering and being around NASCAR for more than 50 years, I can recall few prouder men than Paul Sawyer during the weekend of Sept. 10-11 in 1988. That's when the pioneer stock car racing promoter opened his sparkling new... [...]
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    Posted: September 05, 2008, 4:48pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Feudin', Fussin', Fightin'

    The budding brouhaha between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch in NASCAR's Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series has promise of being a bang-up rivalry, or feud. Not only have the two bashed each other on the track, but verbally as well.... [...]
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    Posted: August 29, 2008, 4:44pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Destination Darlington!!!

    Sadly, there will be no Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Labor Day weekend. In perhaps its most colossal blunder ever, NASCAR discontinued the classic event at the grand old track after 2004 and moved the South Carolina date on... [...]
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    Posted: August 21, 2008, 2:30pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Baking Up Another Honor

    During Buddy Baker's prime in the NASCAR big-time, the "Gentle Giant" of stock car racing drove like the wind and cracked one-liners like a vaudeville comic. After 36 years at the wheel in a career that started in 1959, Buddy... [...]
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    Posted: August 13, 2008, 5:46pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Look Homeward Lakewood

    A lot of motorsports history will be recalled this weekend in New York state and Georgia. This weekend's Sprint Cup Series schedule takes NASCAR's top stars to Watkins Glen, N.Y., where racing began on public roads and city streets in... [...]
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    Posted: August 07, 2008, 2:35pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • The Blowout 400

    Awful... Disgraceful... Pathetic... Pitiful... Wretched... Attach any negative adjective you wish to Sunday's running of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and it applies. How could a sanctioning body like NASCAR and its many multi-million dollar racing teams, loaded... [...]
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    Posted: July 28, 2008, 11:27am EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • The Indy, Bobby And Dale Show!

    It seemed, at long last, that my hope of someday covering an Indianapolis 500 was at hand. The chance, in 1986, came out of the blue. Or, more correctly, the black. But first, a bit of background... I had just... [...]
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    Posted: July 25, 2008, 3:33pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • The Indy, Bobby And Dale Show!

    It seemed, at long last, that my hope of someday covering an Indianapolis 500 was at hand. The chance, in 1986, came out of the blue. Or, more correctly, the black. But first, a bit of background... I had just... [...]
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    Posted: July 25, 2008, 3:32pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • On The Mark!

    Hooray for Mark Martin! The best NASCAR news I've heard in quite some time is that Martin, the affable, popular driver who grew up in Arkansas, will return to the Sprint Cup Series for a full season in 2009. In... [...]
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    Posted: July 15, 2008, 2:35pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Fourth Of July Fireworks

    Throughout its history, dating to 1959, NASCAR's major July event at Daytona International Speedway has been noted for its pyrotechnics. Fittingly, for many years the race was named the Firecracker 400 and always was held on July 4th. When it's... [...]
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    Posted: July 03, 2008, 1:11pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Hot Time In New Hampshire

    The weather forecast for Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway calls for a high temperature of 63 degrees. There's also a possibility that showers could interrupt the running of the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, a Sprint Cup Series race. What... [...]
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    Posted: June 25, 2008, 2:23pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Drivin' While Hurtin'

    Attach any superlative description to what Tiger Woods accomplished last weekend that you wish. Admirable, courageous, determined, gritty, heroic, remarkable, sensational, wondrous. All apply. The man essentially won the U.S. Open golf tournament on one leg, his right. Woods, we... [...]
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    Posted: June 20, 2008, 1:16pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Driving While Hurting

    Attach any superlative description that you wish to what Tiger Woods accomplished last weekend. Admirable, courageous, determined, gritty, heroic, remarkable, sensational, wondrous. All apply. The man essentially won the U.S. Open golf tournament on one leg, his right. Woods, we... [...]
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    Posted: June 20, 2008, 1:16pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Daddy's Engine

    As on June 15, 1986, NASCAR's finest drivers will be racing on Father's Day this year at Michigan International Speedway. Hopefully, the Michigan 400 will provide plenty of excitement for fans gathered at the 2-mile track in the Irish Hills... [...]
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    Posted: June 13, 2008, 11:25am EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Danger, Deer And A Drunk

    Always watch races at Pocono Raceway--whether in person or on television--with special trepidation. Although not as fast as the superspeedways at Atlanta, Daytona and Talladega, it is a very, very dangerous place. Possibly the most frightening on the NASCAR Sprint... [...]
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    Posted: June 05, 2008, 1:40pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Humpy "P.T.Barnum" Wheeler

    The preacher was delivering a "hellfire and brimstone" sermon to his congregation on May 27, 1984 at a small church about two miles from the race track then known as Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Lord," yelled the minister, "give us a... [...]
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    Posted: May 26, 2008, 6:13pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • The Snake-Bit 600

    The temperature was rising quickly on the morning of May 29, 1988 at the race track then known as Charlotte Motor Speedway, so Frank Tovornik had an especially important duty. It was his responsibility to hook up the "cool suit"... [...]
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    Posted: May 21, 2008, 2:49pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • One Hot Night

    Over the course of many years officials at Charlotte Motor Speedway had a reputation of over-hyping their NASCAR events. And so it seemed with the 1992 running of The Winston, an all-star race featuring the Winston Cup Series' top drivers... [...]
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    Posted: May 14, 2008, 8:56pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • The Ballad Of Willy T. Ribbs

    The phone call came very early in the morning and I immediately sensed urgency. On the other end of the line in the spring of 1978 was the secretary of Humpy Wheeler, president and general manager of the race track... [...]
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    Posted: May 05, 2008, 4:20pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Mayhem In May At Talladega

    Even now, 35 years later, Buddy Baker still gets the shivers in recollecting the 1973 Winston 500 at what was then known as Alabama International Motor Speedway. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series race, being run for only the fourth time... [...]
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    Posted: April 24, 2008, 12:30pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Dale Talked Turkey

    The spring wild turkey season now is open in both Carolinas, and with it returns a warm memory of Dale Earnhardt. If Dale was alive, I know where he'd be, especially with an open date this weekend on NASCAR's big-time... [...]
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    Posted: April 14, 2008, 4:37pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • A Special Day For Special K

    It was 20 years ago this coming fall that NASCAR rolled its big-time tour, then known as The Winston Cup Series, into Phoenix International Raceway for the first time. The teams competing on what's now called The Sprint Cup Series... [...]
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    Posted: April 07, 2008, 3:15pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • In Fine Voice To Crow.

    There's good news for fans of Fox Sports racing analyst Darrell Waltrip. The three-time NASCAR driving champion has regained his voice and will be part of the television team airing the Goody's Cool Orange 500 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway... [...]
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    Posted: March 27, 2008, 2:03pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • An Australian Adventure, Part V

    PROLOGUE: In late February of 1988 NASCAR sanctioned what amounted to an exhibition race in Australia at a sparkling new speedway near Melbourne, The Thunderdome. It held the potential of being a great adventure for those lucky enough to be... [...]
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    Posted: March 18, 2008, 1:02pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • An Australian Adventure, Part IV

    PROLOGUE: In late February of 1988 NASCAR sanctioned what amounted to an exhibition rce in Australia at a sparkling new speedway near Melbourne, The Thunderdome. It held the potential of being a great adventure for those lucky enough to be... [...]
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    Posted: March 04, 2008, 11:04am EST
    by TomHiggins

  • An Australian Adventure, Part III

    Prologue: In late February of 1988 NASCAR sanctioned what amounted to an exhibition race in Australia at a sparkling new speedway near Melbourne, The Thunderdome. It held the potential of being a great adventure for those lucky enough to be... [...]
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    Posted: February 29, 2008, 12:03pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • An Australian Adventure, Part II

    Prologue: In late February of 1988 NASCAR sanctioned what amounted to an exhibition race in Australia at a sparkling new speedway near Melbourne, The Thunderdome. It held the potential of being a great adventure for those lucky enough to be... [...]
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    Posted: February 26, 2008, 3:23pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • An Australian Adenture, Part I

    Prologue: In late February of 1988 NASCAR sanctioned what amounted to an exhibition race in Australia at a sparkling new speedway near Melbourne, The Thunderdome. It held the potential of being a great adventure for those lucky enough to be... [...]
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    Posted: February 22, 2008, 12:02pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • An Australian Adventure, Part I

    Prologue: In late February of 1988 NASCAR sanctioned what amounted to an exhibition race in Australia at a sparkling new speedway near Melbourne, The Thunderdome. It held the potential of being a great adventure for those lucky enough to be... [...]
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    Posted: February 22, 2008, 12:02pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • They Said What?!

    "If you kin't write about this, you kin't write about nuthin'." This was the astute assessment of drawling Lee Petty, patriarch of the famous stock car racing family, after his near dead-heat victory over Johnny Beauchamp in the inaugural Daytona... [...]
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    Posted: February 14, 2008, 12:58pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Daytona By The Decades, Part V

    Dang! I would prefer to use a much stronger expression here, however, in consideration of the sensitive among you, I'll resist the temptation. But d---! Wouldn't you know that after covering Dale Earnhardt trying to win the Daytona 500 for... [...]
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    Posted: February 08, 2008, 11:04am EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Daytona By The Decades, Part IV

    Daytona International Speedway and its famous 500-mile race each February undboutedly have produced more dramatic finishes than any track or motorsports event in the world. Remembering just a few, in chronological order: --LeeRoy Yarbrough's daring to-the-apron pass of Charlie Glotzbach... [...]
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    Posted: January 30, 2008, 9:39am EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Daytona By The Decades

    THIRD IN A FIVE-PART SERIES Buddy Baker was disconsolate as he walked into the garage area at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 16, 1978. "Dang. Of all the cars in the world, that's the last one I wanted to have... [...]
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    Posted: January 25, 2008, 1:29pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Daytona By The Decades

    Second In A Five-Part Series Leading To The 2008 Daytona 500 "Come on Yarborough!" "Come On Yarbrough!" The fans standing and screaming at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 25, 1968 weren't yelling about the slightly different spelling of the great... [...]
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    Posted: January 18, 2008, 6:09pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Daytona By The Decades

    FIRST IN A FIVE-PART SERIES LEADING TO THE 2008 DAYTONA 500 My friend Bob Moore remembers the smell of the salty air, the cold winds whipping in off the Atlantic Ocean and cars flipping into the foaming surf. Back in... [...]
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    Posted: January 09, 2008, 4:25pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • I Hereby Resolve...

    It's not even the New Year yet and already I have broken a resolution. That promise was to NOT write a column this year suggesting resolutions for figures involved in NASCAR. Sorry, but I can't keep it. Here goes: I... [...]
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    Posted: December 26, 2007, 9:04pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Hard Time For Ard

    Christmas has come a bit early for oldtime race driver Sam Ard. It's also going to arrive a tad late. Relatively, the holiday came early when it was divulged that Ard, 68, will be the beneficiary of the second annual... [...]
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    Posted: December 20, 2007, 4:39pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Of Moose And Racer Men

    A series of photos that a pal transmitted via e-mail this week was beyond amusing. The pictures showed a large male moose mistaking the statue of a buffalo in Big Sky, Montana, for a live, female moose. What happened next... [...]
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    Posted: December 11, 2007, 4:08pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • A Teddy Bear Tale

    It's difficult to imagine how many children are going to find teddy bears among their gifts on Christmas morning. In all likelihood, the figure will be in the millions. A couple racing pals of mine from NASCAR days of yore... [...]
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    Posted: December 05, 2007, 2:02pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Bill Elliott was well up to the long journey

    The incredible, "Only-In-America" journey began in 1976 in an abandoned, dusty schoolhouse in the mountains of North Georgia. The trip took 12 years, eventually leading to the stage in a glittering Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.... [...]
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    Posted: November 29, 2007, 12:45pm EST
    by Bob Henry

  • Rousing Racer Ricky Rudd

    The sleek Ford slipped sideways coming off the fourth turn at Daytona International Speedway and suddenly it was twisting violently in a corkscrew-like swirl through the air. The horrifying accident took place on Feb. 12, 1984, and involved popular driver... [...]
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    Posted: November 21, 2007, 11:47am EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Good Ol' Boys, Good Ol' Days

    Many stock car racing fans often express a yearning for the good ol' days. It appears that to a degree they just might get them. A new organization named Old School Racing plans to bring back into action at short... [...]
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    Posted: November 13, 2007, 5:35pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Of Snakes, Chicken Bones And Voodoo

    Walking up the stairs toward the Grand Ballroom at the old Robert E. Lee Hotel in Winston-Salem, I could hear the laughter from perhaps 100 feet away. It was early December of 1958, and officials from Darlington Raceway were hosting... [...]
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    Posted: November 06, 2007, 5:57pm EST
    by TomHiggins

  • Wild Wind, Wild Race.

    NASCAR competitors once experienced the wicked Santa Ana Winds, like those that recently swept disastrous fires across Southern California, and threaten to again. The date was Nov. 15, 1980, and the Winston Cup Series teams were at Ontario Motor Speedway... [...]
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    Posted: October 30, 2007, 4:15pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • He Did It His Way...

    It hardly seems it happened 15 years ago, the Hooters 500 of 1992 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Capping an incredible rally, Alan Kulwicki edged Bill Elliott by 10 points to win the Winston Cup Series championship. The difference came down... [...]
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    Posted: October 25, 2007, 11:43am EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Fire In The Hole!

    I knew there was potential for a problem the moment I saw the pairings. Assigned to share a golf cart were Buck Brigance, one of the most flamboyant, outrageous characters in NASCAR history, and Delano Wood, among the sport's alltime... [...]
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    Posted: October 17, 2007, 7:24pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Dr. NASCAR And Mr. Hyde.

    The airline trip direct from Charlotte to Phoenix a couple decades ago relatively had been a pleasant one, flown without indcident. Then, somewhere over Texas, the aircraft, packed with NASCAR competitors en route to Arizona for a Winston Cup Series... [...]
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    Posted: October 12, 2007, 2:46pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • 'Bakering' A Memorable Victory

    All at the same time, it was an amusing, touching, memorable sight. One I never will forget as long as my old mind continues to function. Rushing up pit road amidst a swirl of tumult at Charlotte Motor Speedway were... [...]
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    Posted: October 04, 2007, 5:34pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • A King Is Born

    It took a magazine cover this week to jump-start my memory of probably the greatest accomplishment in NASCAR history. There, pictured on the front of Dick Berggren's Speedway Illustrated, was a sharp black and white photo of Richard Petty, slightly... [...]
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    Posted: September 24, 2007, 3:51pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • No green and no peanuts no longer the rule

    By Tom Higgins Joe Weatherly was angry and adamant that September week in 1962. Bob Colvin was just as fiery and forceful. "I won't run the race!" stormed the colorful Weatherly. "And you can't make me!" "You will run," shot... [...]
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    Posted: September 19, 2007, 6:58pm EDT
    by Bob Henry

  • A Scene Seared In Memory

    It is forever a scene seared in memory. Out there, near the start/finish line and adjacent to Victory Lane at New Hampshire International Speedway, Davey Allison waited for a helicopter to pick him up. An hour or so earlier, the... [...]
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    Posted: September 12, 2007, 2:45pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Metcalfe, Mark Maker

    The hot-shot sports columnist for a major newspaper in the Carolinas had decided to grace Charlotte Motor Speedway with his presence, finally acknowledging that stock car racing actually existed. It was raining hard the chilly autumn day in the 1970s... [...]
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    Posted: September 04, 2007, 2:03pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • Once Upon A Time In Darlington...

    In a perfect NASCAR world, the Nextel Cup Series drivers, their crews and thousands of fans would be heading to storied Darlington Raceway in South Carolina next weekend. Beginning in 1950, and continuing for more than half a century through... [...]
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    Posted: August 26, 2007, 5:18pm EDT
    by TomHiggins

  • All About Old Bristol...

    Imagine going to a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway and the grandstands being only half-filled. It's difficult to believe that ever happened at the .533-mile track in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee, where approximately 160,000... [...]
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    Posted: August 20, 2007, 12:33pm EDT
    by TomHiggins
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