In the south we speak with reverence about our dirt track drivers of the 1960's and 1970's, the reason being that any one of the dirt track legends could have easily driven Nascar, and the only reason they chose otherwise was because of either family commitment (as in the case of my father) or to pursue their own local fame, as was the case with Don Duncan of Monroe, NC…

It would be hard to single out one driver as the best, so I'll give you a group of drivers whose skill I’ve always admired……Freddy Smith, Larry Wallace, Lefty Bolton, Dub Simpson, Harold Dunaway, Stick Elliott, Doug Aldridge……I could go on and on…..

I saw Larry Wallace yesterday (yes, Virginia, there still is a Holman Moody and Larry Wallace still works there), winner of over 300 races in his era. He has kept a meticulous scrapbook of all of his accomplishments which is akin to traveling back in time and remembering that you were at the race, either at Starlite, Concord, Carolina, Metrolina or Cherokee Speedway.

Larry’s car builder, Don Duncan, passed away in February, 2007, and I was fortunate enough to count him as a good dinner partner, along with his brother-in-law Jimmy Gordon…both Larry and Dub Simpson were at the funeral, and Gene Catoe announced that he was going to build a tribute gasser to the Duncan/Nesbit ‘41 Willys dragster that terrorized the local dragstrips (Don driving) with the famous 64 Plymouth Superstock engine…Don had asked me one week before his death to stay in touch with Gene to check the progress, and was very proud that someone remembered that much…Gene’s car can be seen at local car shows…

Never will I forget the day in November, 1961, when my neighbor took his sons and my brother and I to the Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte to watch a dirt track Nascar race……Little Joe Weatherly began the race in the middle of the pack but worked his way to the front in his Robin's egg blue 1958 Ford to win the race. Rex White battled several other drivers and the most notable accident of the day was when Ralph Earnhardt, then running second, was about to pass the leader and wound up upside down in the creek off the third turn…..he was ok, but his day was ended…my fondest memory of that day was the pair of worn saddle oxfords and greasy t-shirt that Joe Weatherly was wearing to drive the car…

I also remember a goofy guy by the name of "Dynamite Bean" who entertained the crowd on a stage in front of the grandstands by entering a wooden box about 4 feet by 6 feet and then proceeding to blow the box to smithereens with, yes, you guessed it, dynamite…hence the name...then Mr. Bean (or should I call him by his stage name, "Dynamite"??) would remove his helmet and pass it through the crowd for spectators (who were in awe of his bravery) to contribute to what I came to realize later in life was probably a hearing aid fund. True story, ask Humpy Wheeler or Robert Yates, they probably remember "Dynamite Bean", as well as Sweeny Prossor.

Sweeny Prossor was noted for his famous "Sweeny Processor's Famous Nitro-X Racing Fuel" (it was famous because it was printed on the can, right there in writing for the world to see, and if you didn't believe it was famous Sweeny would tell you so)….It came in a white 5 gallon can with a blue graphic of a speedboat on the can…..Larry Wallace remembers Sweeny Prossor, hopefully someone else will also…..

His customer's included most of the who's who in racing, from me (a nobody) to Don Garlits (the big papa)……I always enjoyed my visits to buy fuel from Sweeny because you never knew who you would meet…Sweeny always had a basic price for fuel and charged $1.00 each for his “special additives”…he always had a story, and his fuel was sold out of a garage behind a house on Dogwood Avenue (Charlotte) that today would even strike fear into the heart of Fire Marshall Bill…

I saw Doug Aldridge on Saturday, September 8, 2007, he’s restoring vintage Corvettes and selling them at the Barrett-Jackson auction, as well as his own arborist business…for dummies like me that means he also grows trees…Saw Dickie Bell last year at the legends get-together in Monroe, upon questioning he was telling the story about how he was crowded into the fence at Metrolina one afternoon, upon learning that I had frame by frame coverage of the crash he amended his story to maybe the track was rough and he hit a bump…I’ll accept that, except that we both know the truth…

I really enjoy being around the old timers now, it’s much more fun that being around the modern NASCAR drivers that are so watered down and no longer have character (well, maybe for Tony and Mr. Excitement when he was driving…Ok, add Kenny)…these guys blazed the trail for the talent that would be needed by NASCAR to grow, and I miss the excitement of the old days, the cars had definition, when a Ford or Chevy won (what Mopar?) it was a big deal…and the personalities are passing away, probably the greatest was Smokey Yunick, and if you haven’t read his book, DO IT….you’ll enjoy…

Bruce Kepley, Monroe, NC