Two Sad Goodbyes...

   Thirty years later, fans of Elvis Presley are mourning all over again this week.

   They remember Aug. 16, 1977, as the day the "King Of Rock And Roll" shockingly died at age 43 at his mansion, Graceland, in Memphis, Tenn.

   Oldtimers connected to stock car racing sadly recall the date for still another reason:

   It was the day 1970 NASCAR driving champion Bobby Isaac, who had just turned 45, was buried on a hillside overlooking Hickory Motor Speedway.

   The Hickory track is where the fiery Isaac began his racing career.  And it's where events unfolded that led to his death on Aug. 14 in '77.

I remember very well Isaac's funeral in a stately country church not far from his home in Denver, N.C.

   Race drivers, to a man, detest attending funerals, for obvious reasons.  They know the Grim Reaper might be awaiting them around the next turn.

   But there was a sizable turnout of competitors for Isaac's service, led by his best friend, David Pearson, along with Cale Yarborough and Buddy Baker.

   Pearson was so numbed by the passing of Isaac that he couldn't and wouldn't talk of it.

   I joined a group of about six friends to drive to the funeral in a van.  Five of the guys represented Winston, which had begun sponsoring NASCAR's top series in 1971.  Veteran newsman Joe Whitlock, who had become Dale Earnhardt's first public relations agent and business manager, also was along.

   After a touching graveside ceremony, we decided to drive to Whitlock's home on Lake Norman to drink a toast to Bobby Isaac.  We stopped at a then rural country store/bait and tackle shop just outside Mooresville, John's Trading Post, to buy a couple cases of beer.

   The owner, my late friend John Campbell, met me at the door.

   "Tom," he said, "Elvis Presley is dead!"

   "What's the joke?" I replied.

   "I'm serious," John insisted.  "Elvis is gone.  They're speculating it was a heart attack, maybe induced by the misuse of prescription drugs."

   Now we had two reasons to mourn at the home of Whitlock, himself destined to an untimely death a few years later.

   Most of our talk was of Bobby Isaac, one of NASCAR's most colorful characters from the early 1960s through the mid-70s.

   I shared Humpy Wheeler's description of Isaac during his early racing days on dirt tracks in the Carolinas before he ascended to the big-time tour, then known as the Grand National Division.

   "Bobby either finished up front or upside down," said Humpy, the longtime president/promoter at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte.  Wheeler raced against Isaac a few times in the late 1950s.

   "And if Bobby got beat by someone that had banged into him on the track, well, Bobby ALWAYS won the post-race fistfight."

   Isaac ran his first race on NASCAR's top tour in 1961.  He completed only two laps and won $50.

   From 1963-67 he ran from 4 to 27 races per season.  He scored his first victory in '64, winning a 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500 by a foot over Richard Petty while driving a Ray Nichels-engineered Dodge.

   At that time the twin Daytona qualifying races counted as official events.

   In '68 Isaac got the break of his career.  He was hired to drive the Dodges of  flamboyant Indiana insurance tycoon Nord Krauskopf.  Isaac was paired on the No. 71 K & K Insurance team with an equally fiery crew chief, Harry Hyde.

   The combo clicked.

   Isaac won three of 49 starts in '68 and had 24 other top five finishes.

   In '69 Isaac scored 17 victories in 50 starts and won 20 poles, finishing sixth in the point standings.  Among his wins was a first on a superspeedway, coming in the season finale Texas 500 at Texas International Speedway in College Station.

   Isaac was primed to make a run for the Grand National title.

   He claimed the championship in 1970 by winning 11 of 47 starts and registering 21 other top five finishes.  He took the crown by 51 points over Bobby Allison and earned $199,600 for the season, bonuses included.

   In contrast, 2006 Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson collected $15,952,125.

   No wonder the sport's surviving pioneers somewhat resent the current crop of mostly young drivers.

   Isaac spent two more seasons with Krauskopf, winning five times in 49 starts, including the 1971 Medal of Honor Firecracacker 400 at Daytona International Speedway, where he ran the final five laps with the hood flapping as two of the its three pins were broken.  Isaac had been getting the black flag,  but he took the checkers before he had to pit.
   In '73 the native of little Catawba, N.C., went shopping for another ride, and found it with the veteran Bud Moore.

   It was in Moore's Ford that Isaac was the central character in an incident that has become a part of NASCAR lore.

   Isaac was running well at the big, fast Talladega track in Alabama when he suddenly, inexplicably pulled onto pit road, much to the surprise of his crew.

   "What's wrong with the car?" bellowed Moore.

    "Nothing," said Isaac as he emerged from the cockpit.  "I heard a voice telling me to ‘park this damn thing,' and that's what I'm going to do."

   Moore eventually rounded up Coo Coo Marlin to take over as a relief driver, and he helped salvage a 13th place finish.  Dick Brooks won, scoring the only victory of his career.

   What spooked Isaac?  We'll never know for sure.

   Perhaps it was the death of close acquaintance Larry Smith, the '72 rookie of the year, who susffered massive head injuries in a Lap 14 crash.

   Isaac steadfastly refused to speak of "The Voice" during the remainder of his life.

   Isaac's parking of Moore's car at Talladega made other team owners wary of him, and he started only 19 Winston Cup races over the next three seasons.

   He left the big-time for good after having rides in only two races in '76.

   Bobby then returned to his roots, Hickory Motor Speedway, to compete in the track's weekly Saturday night shows.

   On a steamy Aug. 14 he experienced heat exhaustion during a race, got out of the car and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.  He seemed to be responding well, then his heart that had proven so tough gave out.  His wife was at his side.

   There are dozens of anecdotes about Isaac's once terrible temper.

   The most amusing -- to me, at least -- involves a round of golf he was sharing with mentor, pal and neighbor Richard Howard, the president of Charlotte Motor Speedway.

   Their foursome came to a daunting water hole, and Isaac hit his drive into the drink at the course near Lake Norman.  He teed up and hit another with the same result.

   "I'm gonna get over that water no matter how many balls it takes," snapped Isaac.

   Well, it took 17 before Isaac gave up.

   He removed his golf bag from a cart he shared with Howard, charged to the water's edge and heaved the bag in.  Isaac, in a huff, stormed toward the parking lot.

   Suddenly, he remembered his car keys were in the golf bag.  He returned to the water hole, waded out, retrieved the keys and let the bag once again sink to the bottom.

   One of his playing partners was laughing uproariously.

   Agitated, Isaac grabbed the guy and threw him into the water, too.

   For his career on the foremost NASCAR circuit, Bobby Isaac scored 37 victories and won 50 poles in 308 starts.  He had $778,053 in earnings.

   That's not nearly as many "hits" as Elvis recorded, nor anywhere near the millions of dollars generated by Presley.  Nevertheless, for four seasons from 1968-71, Isaac also rated big-star status on a different stage, stock car racing.