Tom Higgins' Scuffs

First one burned the barn, and all-star race rages on

Darrell Waltrip fretted all through most of race week 25 years ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I hope it’s not boring,” Waltrip said repeatedly. “It’d be awful of it’s boring. We need for it to be really exciting to start a tradition.”

Waltrip was speaking of NASCAR’s first big all-star race, then known as The Winston.

The special event on May 25, 1985, matched the previous Winston Cup season’s dozen race winners.

Much of the 105-mile chase on the 1.5-mile track mirrored Waltrip’s concern. It turned out to be boring. But not the finish, and that’s what counts.

It looked like a runaway for popular Harry Gant, who charged to a lead of 4.16 seconds – almost a full straightaway – over Waltrip with 20 laps to go as the two ran far ahead of Terry Labonte, Cale Yarborough and Tim Richmond, who followed and were to finish third through fifth, in that order.

However, Waltrip began steadily cutting into Gant’s advantage.

On the 69th lap of the race’s 70 laps Waltrip pulled alongside fellow Chevrolet driver Hurryin’ Harry as they sped down the backstretch. Waltrip cleared his rival in Turn 3 and took the lead.

Waltrip whipped to the checkered flag a scant 0.31 seconds in front.

Adding to the drama, the engine in Waltrip’s No. 11 Chevy, fielded by Junior Johnson, blew in a rooster-tail of smoke moments after he crossed the finish line.

“We knew we’d built an engine that was real strong, but not long on duration,” said a jubilant Waltrip. “But we sure didn’t intend to cut it that close.

“The boys in the pits kept telling me over the radio not to run it any harder than I had to, because it wasn’t going to last long.”

Said Johnson: “It’s about the most unique thing I’ve ever seen. It’s just incredible.

“This goes to show you never give up. It looked for all the world like Harry had everybody beat to death. But then we started catching him at thirty-hundredths of a second per lap.

"We did the arithmetic and saw we had just enough time if nothing happened.”

Some associated with Gant’s team suspected foul play, suggesting privately that Waltrip purposely blew the engine to prevent it from being thoroughly inspected.

They hinted it might have been oversized.

Gant wasn’t among the conspiracy theorists. His car owner, Leo Jackson, and crew chief Travis Carter didn’t seem to be, either.

“At the end, my tires went away completely,” said Gant. “They were hot and causing me to slide up the banking in the corners, and this prevented me from accelerating off the turns like I wanted.

“I took a little glance in the mirror with 10 laps left and I saw Darrell coming. I had an idea what was going to happen, and I didn’t look back again.

“When Darrell drew up close to me I could smell something funny and I thought it was my engine. Turns out it was his engine going sour, but it lasted long enough.

“I admit it’s discouraging to have a lead like that and then have it get away from you.”

Continued Waltrip: “Even when Harry got so far ahead, I felt he might be saving something and figured it was going to be real hard to beat a driver as good as him.

"Then I saw his tires smoking and thought we might have a chance. When Harry didn’t put up much of a fight, I saw we might could win. If he had been able to put up any resistance at all, I doubt we could have won, because we didn’t have a lot left ourselves.”

When Waltrip arrived in the press box for the victor’s interview a quarter-century ago he was singing, “We’re in the money! We’re in the money!”

For sure.

The Waltrip/Johnson team collected $200,000 from the inaugural all-star show’s $500,000 purse. At the time it was the biggest winner’s purse ever in NASCAR.

The passing years have brought a lot of changes to the all-star event, held every year at the Charlotte track save for 1986, when it was taken to Atlanta.

The promoters and sponsors have played with varying distances, number of segments, inverted fields, mandatory pit stops, fans voting on who gets into the field and so forth in striving to assure thrillers.

Mostly, the finishes have proved exciting. And sometimes very controversial.

The formats aren’t all that have changed.

The 2010 winner will earn a whopping $1 million.

In the money, indeed.

Wallace dominates in 1990, but has to scrap for win

Editor's note: A decade-by-decade look at NASCAR's longest race, the 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 1990 race is the focus here as we work our way toward the May 30 running of the Coca-Cola 600.

Much of the garage area gossip at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May of 1990 was about driver Rusty Wallace and his Blue Max team.

"What's wrong with Rusty?" was a recurring subject leading into the Coca-Cola 600. There was a lot of debate about when – and if – the defending Winston Cup Series champion would win again anytime soon.

Even Rusty was wondering and starting to fret over a “slump” of 16 races without a victory dating to the previous September at Richmond.

Not to worry.

In what remains one of the most overwhelming performances in NASCAR's longest race, Wallace led 306 of the 400 laps on the 1.5-mile track, including the final 91.

Despite his domination 20 years ago on May 27, Rusty had to sweat a wild sequence of events at the end of the event.

Driving a Pontiac for owner Raymond Beadle's Blue Max team, Wallace and Ford rival Bill Elliott appeared headed for a photo finish.

On the 396th lap, a blown engine in an Olds driven by Rick Wilson left a line of oil in the banking of the fourth turn, forcing a yellow flag.

Racing back to the flag stand under rules in effect at the time, Wallace got into the fluid and nearly brushed the concrete wall. Elliott, diving low, almost drew abreast of Rusty.

However, Wallace regained control and darted down the banking to remain in front, a critical factor if officials had been unable to put the race back under green.

Acting quickly, workers got the oil covered with a drying solution, setting up a dramatic last-lap dash at full speed. Wallace got a good jump starting Lap 400, and he gained a bit more of an advantage when Elliott had to work a lower line in the first turn to hold off Ford foe Mark Martin.

Wallace stayed at least a car length ahead the rest of the way around and took the checkered flag a scant 0.17 of a second in front, his left hand thrust out the window in triumph while teammates jumped in jubilation on pit road.

"With the poor luck we've been having, I've been a little confused, but never down," said a grinning Wallace. "Boy! If we were ever going to come back, this is the place to do it.

"This is a big one, a wonderful one. Everybody wants to win the 600!"

“If we'd had another lap, I might have gotten Rusty," Elliott said. "You do all you can, but we never had enough momentum. I couldn't catch him. But we ran well and went all 600 miles, so I'm pleased."

Martin finished a close third, followed tightly by Michael Waltrip in a Pontiac and Ernie Irvan, who made up two laps to take fifth in an Olds.

Placing sixth through 11th and helping set a record for number of drivers completing all 600 miles were Alan Kulwicki, Ford; Davey Allison, Ford; Morgan Shepherd, Ford; Derrike Cope, Chevrolet; Geoff Bodine, Ford; and Ken Schrader, Chevy.

Schrader, the pole winner at 173.963 mph, led 63 laps overall and was in front as late as Lap 305. But Schrader said that on Lap 350 "something in the engine caused a cylinder to fail," and he dropped back.

Prerace favorite Dale Earnhardt's bad luck in regular-season races at Charlotte continued as he cut a tire and hit the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 104.

After spending 134 laps in the garage for repairs to his Chevy, Earnhardt returned to finish 30th. He maintained the Winston Cup standings lead by 21 points over Shepherd, who gained 69 points with his 10th top-10 finish in as to that point in the 1990 season. Earnhardt would go on to the fourth of his seven Cup Series championships that year.

Darrell Waltrip, seeking an unprecedented third straight triumph in the 600, never got a threat going because of a push rod problem on his Chevy. He finished 22nd, seven laps down.

"You can't win a race on seven cylinders," Waltrip said. "It's real disappointing. A pushrod is such a small thing. . . . "

A collision with Irvan during a second caution period soured a strong bid by Harry Gant, who had rolled from 15th starting spot to third place. Gant wound up 25th, 17 laps down. The two hit while zig-zagging near the flagstand to heat their tires.

After getting the 600's checkered flag, Wallace, who had heard a lot of boos since a tangle with Waltrip in The Winston all-star race of 1989, saw so much waving of approval in the stands by many in the crowd estimated at 160,000 that he took an extra victory lap, waving back with that left hand.

He deserved the applause and was due the encore lap.

Rusty charged from the ninth starting spot to take the front on Lap 34. He led stretches of 22, 104, 89, and those final 91 laps as his crew, led by Barry Dodson, consistently got him out fast after pit stops.

"The crew was excellent," said Wallace. "And the engine Harold Elliott built for us was a rocket. I guess this shows there isn't enough controversy to get us down."

At the time the team was rumored to be splitting after the season, and, that indeed happened. Wallace joined Roger Penske's operation in 1991.

Wallace averaged 137.650 mph despite 11 caution flags covering 48 laps.

It was the 17th victory of Wallace's career, the second at Charlotte, where he also took the Oakwood Homes 500 in October of 1988.

He was asked if the 600 success signified the end of his slump.

"It might happen again," he said with a smile, "but for one day, at least, Rusty can rally."

Wallace seldom slumped again before retiring after the 2005 season with 55 victories, placing him eighth on NASCAR's all-time list.

Busy racing Waltrip, Benny forgets his manners, wins

Editor's Note: A decade-by-decade look at NASCAR's longest race, the 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  The 1980 race is the focus here as we work our way toward the May 30 running of the Coca-Cola 600.

Ordinarily, the late Benny Parsons was far too nice a man to shout at anyone to “Shut up!”

However, circumstances on May 25, 1980 during the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway were considerably beyond ordinary.

As black, ugly storm clouds threatened a deluge with darkness falling, Parsons was locked into a duel with Darrell Waltrip for a finish that rates high among the most dramatic in the track’s history.

It was what I call An End Of Time Sky, similar in appearance to that in the biblical epic, “The Ten Commandments,” when Charlton Heston, playing Moses, parted the sea.

Over the final 26 laps of 400 at the 1.5-mile track Parsons and Waltrip swapped the lead a whopping eight times.

Their battle went like this:

Waltrip led Laps 303-374 before Benny went ahead Laps 375-388. Waltrip led 389-392, Parsons 393-394, Waltrip 395-398 and Parsons 399-400.

Parsons won by a car length before a crowd estimated at 120,000.

Chevrolet drivers Parsons and Waltrip had the show up front to themselves.  They were two laps ahead of third-place Terry Labonte.

 Dale Earnhardt’s blown tire on the 276th lap caused a wreck that crippled the chances of four very fast cars, his and those of Bobby Allison, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough.

Otherwise they might have been in the mix for the victory.

Following the popular triumph, Parsons revealed during the winner’s interview in the press box that he had a distraction during the riveting race to the checkered flag -- his crew chief, David Ifft.

The colorful, irrepressible Ifft couldn’t restrain himself from cheerleading and offering driving advice over the radio hookup between the car and pit road.

“That David!  I love him to death, but I had to remind him that I had won a championship and that I  knew what I was doing.  I told him very emphatically to please shut up!”

Ifft also knew what he was doing when he decided against changing tires for Parsons during the team’s last pit stop on Lap 362.

His driver was running a close second to Waltrip at the time and pitted first.  Ifft and his crew quickly checked all four tires, judged them to be OK and left them on. Fuel was added in a stop that took just 11.3 seconds for the team owned by Georgian M.C. Anderson.

Ifft’s strategy led Waltrip’s DiGard crew to opt for fuel only two laps later in a stop of 7.4 seconds.

Parsons was left with a 1.3-second deficit, but quickly made it up and the battle was joined that left spectators almost breathless.

Breathing came especially hard for the gentlemanly Anderson, whose Savannah-based operation won for the third time on the Winston Cup tour.  It was the first victory he saw in person, having missed Parsons’ triumphs in 1979 at North Wilkesobro and Ontario, Calif.

“Benny and David and the boys had enjoyed such good luck when I wasn’t around there had been some talk of banning me from the tracks,” joked Anderson.  “But I coaxed 'em into letting me come today because the 600 is such a big, major event.”

Native North Carolinian Parsons said winning at Charlotte -- especially in the 600 -- was very gratifying to him.

“Right up there with winning the 1975 Daytona 500,” he said.

Parsons shook his head.

“Oh, it was very, very even between Darrell and me that last stretch of the race.  Once I passed Darrell for what turned out to be the final time, I knew there always was the possibility that he’d get back around.  Obviously, I sure wanted to keep him back there if I could.”

Waltrip said he became so engrossed in the tight racing that he couldn’t detail what happened lap-to-lap.

“I can’t recall much about us swapping the lead back and forth so much except that we did touch a couple times,” said Waltrip, who was going for a third straight 600 victory.

“Other than coming off the fourth corner to the checkered flag, it’s pretty much a blank.

“Son of a gun, I just ran out of tires.  After mine and Benny’s last pit stops, I knew I was in trouble when he pulled right up behind me.  My car was pushing when Benny was behind me.

“Let me say this: Benny ran a super race all day.”

And it seemed to many of those present at the speedway that Sabbath 30 years ago that it took almost all day to run the race.

There were 12 caution periods, most of these caused by a flurry of tire failures.  Harry Gant blew four right-fronts.  Neil Bonnett pitted a whopping 19 times for tires, eventually using up 52.

Additionally, rain forced red flag delays of 47 and 48 minutes.  That fearsome-looking sky appeared ready to open the floodgates again when Parsons swept under the checkers at 6:40 p.m.

“I was concerned not only about beating Darrell, but outrunning the rain and darkness as well,” said Parsons.  “Good gracious, I hope it was as dramatic and tense and exciting to everyone watching as it was to me.”

It was, and then some.

Fast friend gets in, wins

Editor's note: A decade-by-decade look at NASCAR's longest race, the 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 1970 race is the focus here as we work our way toward the May 30 running of the Coca-Cola 600.

Donnie Allison sat astraddle the bow of a 16-foot runabout boat.

From time-to-time his bare feet dipped into the water of Lake Norman as dusk neared on May 21, 1970.

With a flick of the wrist and fine aim, Allison cast a small fishing lure to the edge of some brush along the shoreline. Almost instantly, the accomplished angler, set the hook and shortly added another crappie to a growing catch.

“You’re tearing ‘em up!” said a friend who had invited Allison, a member of NASCAR’s storied “Alabama Gang,” to go fishing at Norman following time trials for the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“Yeah, and hopefully I’m going to tear ‘em up in the race on Sunday, too,” replied Allison, 29 at the time. “Banjo Matthews is fielding a very competitive car for me. It’s really handling. We qualified ninth and we’ve got a good chance to make it two in a row at Charlotte.”

Allison had won the National 500 the previous October in a Matthews-fielded Ford at the speedway in Concord, N.C.

“I think we’re every bit as good as we were last fall.”

It turned out that Donnie didn’t exactly tear them up, but with a relief-driving assist from LeeRoy Yarbrough he triumphed in an attrition-racked race on May 24 at the 1.5-mile layout.

Exceedingly hot weather created a track temperature of 150 degrees, leading to a rash of engine failures, wrecks, driver fatigue and other problems that left only 17 of 40 starters running at the finish of the 400-lap event.

Allison was on the verge of being victimized.

The floorboard insulation in the candy-apple-red No. 27 machine burned away and his feet became dangerously hot.

Finally, a hole burned in the floor just behind the gas pedal.

“My heel was sitting in the hole from about the 60th lap,” said Allison. “I was having the crew squirt water in there every pit stop. After three or four laps the water got boiling hot.

"I couldn’t stand it anymore.”

Donnie either had to have a relief driver or park.

And this led to Yarbrough’s second close-call drama of the day.

Yarbrough almost arrived too late to start the 600 – and he almost left too early to finish it.

Yarbrough, facing a massive traffic jam as an estimated 70,000 fans streamed toward the track, had to hitch a ride in a helicopter to reach the speedway before the race began.

After his own car quit with a faulty clutch, Yarbrough changed to street clothes and was aboard the same helicopter preparing to depart when a desperate shout rang out to him.

“Donnie needs help! Come on!” someone yelled.

And come on, LeeRoy did.

Taking over for Allison on the 350th lap, Yarbrough regained the lead that Donnie had held much of the race, going in front to stay on Lap 363.

“I hate Donnie had to get out of his car, especially after leading so much (six times for 141 laps),” said Yarbrough. “But on my part it was nice to see a checkered flag again.”

Yarbrough had won seven super speedway races in 1969, including the first Triple Crown sweep of the Daytona 500, the 600 and the Southern 500 at Darlington. However, he hadn’t won in ’70.

“I had forgotten what color the checkers were.”

Allison and Yarbrough, fast friends, shared the victory interview in the press box.

“I tapped on my helmet to signal Banjo that I wanted help,” said Donnie. (It was before radio contact between drivers and pit crews became commonplace.) "After a couple more laps I saw ol’ LeeRoy standing there waiting in my pit and I knew we were in business. They couldn’t have gotten a better man.”

“You’ll never know how close I was to being gone,” said Yarbrough.

“When they caught me there at the 'copter, I sprinted back to the driver’s lounge, jumped into my racing gear and ran to Donnie’s pit. It seemed I was running about as fast as the cars were.”

It took the Matthews crew two laps to make the driver change. David Pearson rolled to a two-lap lead.

“We picked LeeRoy because he was familiar with a Ford,” said Matthews. “Also, we knew we’d have to have a charger if we were going to run down Pearson.”

This became unnecessary when Pearson’s clutch popped out during a pit stop on Lap 361.

And it left the Allison/Yarbrough/Matthews combination with a two-lap lead over Cale Yarborough.

“It was just a matter of guiding it home after that,” said Yarbrough, who maintained the big separation.

"But my feet were getting really uncomfortable, too. I saw what Donnie had gone through.

“Even though I drove the car just 45 laps, my feet were beginning to feel like I had stuck them to a red-hot stove when the race finally ended.”

Yarbrough said the plan was to put Allison back in the car for the finish if the chance arose, giving the guy who drove it most of the race the honor of finishing it.

“But we decided not to take the chance.”

What did Yarbrough earn for his relief role?

“Well,” bellowed LeeRoy, who had plucked rose from the victor’s wreath and tucked it over an ear, “Donnie already has hugged my neck!”

Donnie Allison winced. And then laughed.

Fuel leaks, hope fades

Editor's note: A decade-by-decade look at NASCAR's longest race, the 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The inaugural event is the focus here as we start working our way toward the May 30 running of the Coca-Cola 600.

Imagine the anguish of having a major sports championship within grasp, only to see it slip, slip, slip away.

A memorable example is Greg Norman in the Masters golf tournament of 1996 at Augusta National.

Norman held a six-stroke lead entering the final round. But his game failed and he shot 78, finishing as the runner-up to Nick Faldo, who carded a 67 to win by five strokes.

“The Shark” had floundered, or worse. He was a fish out of water.

Norman’s collapse was of his own making – or unmaking.

Not so for Jack Smith, one of NASCAR’s pioneering stars.

Smith appeared en route to a runaway victory in the inaugural World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on June 19, 1960. As attrition took a heavy toll among the 60 starters, Smith rolled to a five-lap lead.

Then fate in the form of a sharp piece of asphalt from the disintegrating 1.5-mile track intervened. The piece of pavement punctured the fuel tank of Smith’s Pontiac, fielded by the legendary team owner Bud Moore. Gas relatively began gushing out with 53 of the 400 laps remaining.

Smith, who had led from the 160th lap, and the Moore team watched helplessly as what seemed a certain triumph leaked away.

Little-known Joe Lee Johnson inherited the lead on the 353rd lap and drove his Chevrolet to a four-lap win over runner-up Johnny Beauchamp.

Smith completed only 362 laps, but finished 12th as just 18 drivers were running at the finish.

Seldom has a big NASCAR event, especially an inaugural, been so cruelly lost.

"I’ll never get over it,” the personable Smith said in later years, remembering the deep dismay and disappointment.

“Sometimes, thinking about it at night, I can’t go to sleep. It all comes back, like how Bud and the boys on the crew tried so desperately to plug the hole in the gas tank.

“We attempted every quick-fix thing we could think of in a hectic situation," the driver recalled. "At first we stuffed rags in the puncture and that didn’t work. Then we tried to seal it with chewing gum. Finally, we stuck a bar of soap into the tank.

“It was hopeless and it was heartbreaking.”

Both Smith and Moore raced to great success and were enshrined by the National Motorsports Press Association Hall Of Fame.

Smith, who ran in NASCAR’s very first race – on June 19, 1949, at Charlotte – sped to 21 victories. Moore is credited with fielding 63 race winners and taking three championships.

Born in Illinois, Smith grew up in Roswell, Ga. While working at a service station he met some moonshine haulers and joined them to race at area dirt tracks in the years following World War II.

He scored the first of his NASCAR victories in the Old Dominion 500 of 1956 at Martinsville Speedway. The last triumph came at New Asheville Speedway in 1962.

His biggest win was in the Firecracker 250 of 1960 at Daytona International Speedway.

Fun-loving and outgoing, Smith – nicknamed “Cracker Jack” – was voted NASCAR’s most popular driver in 1959.

Until his death in 2001 of heart failure at age 77, Smith rarely failed to attend NMPA Hall Of Fame and UNOCAL Record Club events at Darlington, S.C.

Although it had to be painful to talk about, Smith usually approached a friend at these celebrations to recall the World 600 of 1960.

Smith knew the friend liked to fish, and sometimes he would refer to the race with a shake of the head and a wistful smile.

“It was,” Smith would say, “the one that got away.”

The Thomas Clowns Affair

The list of charges against a young NASCAR hopeful was a long one.

Driving on a public street without headlights…Or taillights…Or a horn…Or an inspection sticker.

He was issued a pocketful of tickets and summoned to court.

This story is among an avalanche of auto racing anecdotes looming Sunday in Mooresville, N.C.

The tall tales will be told by approximately three dozen NASCAR-associated old-timers who are scheduled to take part in an event at The Memory Lane Museum.

The occasion is a tribute to Rex White, 1960 champion of the sanctioning body’s major series, then known as the Grand National Division.

Joining White to meet with fans from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. will be two other champions, Bobby Allison and Ned Jarrett. A passel of their peers are to be present as well, including Buddy Arrington, Richard Brickhouse, Neil Castles, Joe Frasson, Cecil Gordon, Jimmy Hensley, Little Bud Moore, Tom Pistone and Jim Vandiver.

Also Jabe and Ronnie Thomas, an amusing, fun-loving father-son duo from Christiansburg, Va.

During Jabe’s driving career from 1965 through 1978 he was the leading clown in the garage area and on pit road.

His favorite prank was to stick chicken bones in the pants pockets of unsuspecting rivals right before races were to start. Many a competitor suddenly experienced shap pain in the hip area once the action began as a broken wishbone had a similar effect to a porcupine quill.

Trace this to the foul (fowl?) fingers of Jabe Thomas.

“Jabe would distract us with some nonsensical statement,” remembers Buddy Baker. “And all the while he was sneaking chicken bones from lunch into our pockets.

“Jabe could have made a living as a pick-pocket.”

Driving cars he maintained himself, the elder Thomas did fairly well on the track.

Jabe, who will be 80 in May, started 362 races, posting three top-five finishes and 74 more in the top 10. He had a best finish of sixth in the point standings in 1971.

Ronnie, who turned 55 on Monday, wasn’t as nimble with chicken bones as his dad. However, he possessed the same down-home wit and sometimes the same sense of outrageousness.

Ronnie was the relative NASCAR newcomer who found himself in a load of legal trouble with traffic tickets in the late 1970s.

He and friends who helped prepare his car at the family shop in Christiansburg had worked far into the night getting the machine ready to go to a race track within a few hours.

Ronnie decided he needed to give the car a shakedown run.

He cranked up and pulled out.

Onto a city street in Christiansburg.

He hadn’t gone far before a siren wailed and a blue light blinked.

Ronnie blurted something like, “I know this is a race car, sir, but I swear I wasn’t speeding!”

Unamused, the cop started writing.

He wrote, and wrote and wrote, much to the chagrin of the younger Thomas, who raced from 1977-89, winding up with 197 starts, nine finishes from sixth through 10th and a best point standings showing of 14th in 1980.

“The policeman and judge were maddest about the ‘no muffler’ ticket,” Ronnie recalled later. “Woke up the neighbors, you know.”

Jimmie Johnson isn't NASCAR's first dominator

Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team are spoiling Cup Series racing for some fans.

“It’s getting to where it’s not much exciting to watch,” Joe Burden, a NASCAR follower for 50 years, said this week. “Because if Jimmie doesn’t have bad luck, it seems he wins most of the time.

“No slam on him, because he’s obviously a great driver and has a terrific, smart team leader in Chad Knaus and a dandy pit crew.

“In winning, Johnson is just doing his job. But in doing it so well, he’s making things pretty predictable.”

Burden, 75, is a Sears retiree who now works as assistant manager in the pro shop at Mallard Head Golf Club in Mooresville, N.C.

His opinion about Johnson’s winning way is shared by quite a few of the course’s golfers, especially the seniors, who often “talk racing” while having beverages after playing 18 holes.

“Maybe our memories are fading,” Burden said after Johnson won Sunday at Las Vegas for his second straight victory in three races this season. “Maybe it has been like this before in NASCAR.”

Well, yes, boys, it has.

Johnson, 34, winner of a record four straight driving championships starting in 2006, is the present-day dominator and is favored to win again this Sunday in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Before him the role of ruling for stretches in stock car racing variously was held by Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Billy Wade.

Predictable?

That was the 1967 season when Petty won a stunning 10 straight while scoring an incredible 27 triumphs in 48 starts.

Included in the streak of 10 straight checkered flags was King Richard’s only victory in the storied Southern 500 on Labor Day at Darlington Raceway.

I covered that race 43 years ago as a member of The Charlotte Observer’s sports staff.

I remember a friend and fellow writer, the late Joe Whitlock, saying to Petty, “Damn, Richard, are you going to win them all!?”

Petty, who had just won for the 21st time in 40 starts to that point in '67, grinned through the grime that covered his face.

With a mock, quizzical look he replied, “What are you talking about? I’ve lost 19.”

Petty’s sensational streak began on Aug. 12, ’67 in a 100-miler at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem. The Darlington win was the midpoint. The final victory in the stretch came on Oct. 1 in a 250-mile race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Buddy Baker’s victory in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the first of his career, snipped the Petty string. Petty was swept into a crash on the 41st of the race’s 334 laps and his car sustained heavy sheet metal damage.

“It wouldn’t run after that,” said Petty, who finished 18th. “It felt like there was a parachute hanging off the car.”

Both Petty and Allison won five straight in 1971,

The other drivers listed earlier put together streaks of four straight triumphs, some more than once. Johnson won four in a row in 2007.

While dominating victory streaks understandably are a turn-off for some fans, they’re a turn-on for other followers, including me.

I think there's drama in seeing how long drivers can keep them going.

Richard Petty's first win? In Charlotte, 50 years ago

Among NASCAR fans, maybe Feb. 28 ought to be considered a holiday.

That’s the date in 1960 when Richard Petty won for the first time.

The triumph came at the old Charlotte Fairgrounds, which included a half-mile dirt track at a location on North Tryon Street, now the site of a shopping center.

Petty, 22 at the time, got the lead on the 183rd of 200 laps and drove a Plymouth to the checkered flag six car-lengths ahead of runner-up Rex White, who was in a Chevrolet.

Many in a crowd estimated at 7,900 felt that White would have won except for an “assist” that Papa Lee Petty gave his son on the 187th lap.

The elder Petty had dropped out of the race on Lap 38 because of spark plug failure in his Plymouth. He then took over another Plymouth in relief of driver Doug Yates.

White rallied to challenge Richard for the lead on the 187th lap, but was nearly spun out when Lee Petty gave him a pop (pun intended).

The triumph came in Richard’s 36th big-time start.

“That being my first win, naturally I remember it pretty well, considering that it was 50 years ago,” Richard recalled recently.

“I remember Daddy starting from the pole (after qualifying at 62.11 mph). I started seventh.

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to get around Rex, but the track was real rough and he hit a bump and bobbled.  This enabled me to get under him.”

Petty grinned at the mention of his papa relatively “punting” White.

“Bump and run goes back a long, long ways,” said Richard.

The late Lee Petty never was a man to mince words.  After finishing third in the race he had this to say of the contact with White: “Well, I didn’t really hurt Richard’s chances, did I?”

Richard might have scored his first victory about eight months earlier except for a controversial finish on June 14, 1959, at Lakewood Speedway, a one-mile dirt track near Atlanta.

Richard was flagged the winner in the 150-mile event, but the runner-up protested.  And the objection was upheld.

The protester in an incident that has become a rich part of NASCAR lore?

Lee Petty!

“Because of all the dust Daddy thought the scorers couldn’t see and had docked him a lap,” said Richard.  “It took NASCAR an hour to find the error, but turns out Daddy was right.

“He told me the biggest reason he did it was that he needed the extra points toward the season-long driving championship.”

Lee Petty did indeed win the title in ’59, his third and final championship.

“To me, being able to recall that race at Atlanta and the one in ’60 at Charlotte Fairgrounds is a strange sort of deal,” continued Richard Petty. “I remember things from that time span pretty well.

“But later on?  Not so good. They all sort of run together. I guess the earlier races made more of a lasting impression because I was younger and new to it and awfully excited.”

Richard’s first win came in the last race at the Charlotte Fairgrounds track. The Fairgrounds date was transferred to the new Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile paved track where the inaugural World 600 was held on June 19, 1960.

As stock car racing followers know, Richard Petty was destined to go on from that win on Feb. 28, 1960, to triumph a mind-boggling 200 times, a record very unlikely to be broken.

Along the way he won a record seven driving titles, a mark matched by Dale Earnhardt.

Petty's final triumph came in the Pepsi Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 4, 1984.

Hey! That IS a national holiday!

Jake Elder: A racing original

Tom Higgins, a veteran beat writer for the Observer, stock car racing historian and ThatsRacin.com contributor, on Jake Elder:

“In all my years of covering stock car racing, Jake Elder was among the very most colorful characters I met and wrote about.

“His comment to rookie Dale Earnhardt at Bristol’s spring race in 1979 was and will remain a NASCAR classic. Jake, the crew chief for Earnhardt in his rookie season, told Dale on the eve of the race, ‘Stick with me, kid, and we’ll both be wearing diamonds as big as horse turds.’

“Jake’s eye for talent obviously was as good as his ability to make a car handle. Dale won the race the next day, his first victory in a career that produced seven Cup crowns.

“As Jake had foreseen, Dale won enough money to encrust all these crowns with diamonds.

“Jake loved getting something on NASCAR officials, some of whom he suspected had a vendetta against him.

"I think the happiest I ever saw him was a time in the 1970s at Talladega when an official told Jake a car he was fielding for Benny Parsons had failed inspection because it didn’t fit the template.

“ ’You dummy!’ screamed Jake.

“ 'You’re using the template for another make of car!’ ”

And he was right.

Richard Petty's first win? In Charlotte, 50 years ago

Among NASCAR fans, maybe Feb. 28 ought to be considered a holiday.

That’s the date in 1960 when Richard Petty won for the first time.

The triumph came at the old Charlotte Fairgrounds, which included a half-mile dirt track at a location on North Tryon Street, now the site of a shopping center.

Petty, 22 at the time, got the lead on the 183rd of 200 laps and drove a Plymouth to the checkered flag six car-lengths ahead of runner-up Rex White, who was in a Chevrolet.

Many in a crowd estimated at 7,900 felt that White would have won except for an “assist” that Papa Lee Petty gave his son on the 187th lap.

The elder Petty had dropped out of the race on Lap 38 because of spark plug failure in his Plymouth. He then took over another Plymouth in relief of driver Doug Yates.

White rallied to challenge Richard for the lead on the 187th lap, but was nearly spun out when Lee Petty gave him a pop (pun intended).

The triumph came in Richard’s 36th big-time start.

“That being my first win, naturally I remember it pretty well, considering that it was 50 years ago,” Richard recalled recently.

“I remember Daddy starting from the pole (after qualifying at 62.11 mph). I started seventh.

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to get around Rex, but the track was real rough and he hit a bump and bobbled. This enabled me to get under him.”

Petty grinned at the mention of his papa relatively “punting” White.

“Bump and run goes back a long, long ways,” said Richard.

The late Lee Petty never was a man to mince words. After finishing third in the race he had this to say of the contact with White: “Well, I didn’t really hurt Richard’s chances, did I?”

Richard might have scored his first victory about eight months earlier except for a controversial finish on June 14, 1959, at Lakewood Speedway, a one-mile dirt track near Atlanta.

Richard was flagged the winner in the 150-mile event, but the runner-up protested. And the objection was upheld.

The protester in an incident that has become a rich part of NASCAR lore?

Lee Petty!

“Because of all the dust Daddy thought the scorers couldn’t see and had docked him a lap,” said Richard. “It took NASCAR an hour to find the error, but turns out Daddy was right.

“He told me the biggest reason he did it was that he needed the extra points toward the season-long driving championship.”

Lee Petty did indeed win the title in ’59, his third and final championship.

“To me, being able to recall that race at Atlanta and the one in ’60 at Charlotte Fairgrounds is a strange sort of deal,” continued Richard Petty. “I remember things from that time span pretty well.

“But later on? Not so good. They all sort of run together. I guess the earlier races made more of a lasting impression because I was younger and new to it and awfully excited.”

Richard’s first win came in the last race at the Charlotte Fairgrounds track. The Fairgrounds date was transferred to the new Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile paved track where the inaugural World 600 was held on June 19, 1960.

As stock car racing followers know, Richard Petty was destined to go on from that win on Feb. 28, 1960, to triumph a mind-boggling 200 times, a record very unlikely to be broken.

Along the way he won a record seven driving titles, a mark matched by Dale Earnhardt.

Petty's final triumph came in the Pepsi Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 4, 1984.

Hey! That IS a national holiday!