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Prep Roundup
Columnists Brian Meadows Brad NormanMembersLocal Connection› Iredell County Young Athletes Association› South Iredell Athletics Association › SHS athletics › WIHS athletics › NIHS athletics › SIHS athletics › LNHS athletics Syndicate RSSAP NASCAR NASCAR Features A look at this year's schedule A look at this year's drivers Differences between stock car and open-wheel racing NASCAR Research & Development Petty Enterprises splitter testing Aerodynamic testing in Concord's wind tunnel Top 10 moments in Daytona history Site StatisticsThis page has been viewed 800747 timesPage rendered in 0.1861 seconds Total Stories: 2136 Total Comments: 34 Most Recent Entry: 08/15/2008 01:53 pm Most Recent Comment on: 04/17/2008 11:54 pm Most Recent Visitor on: 05/22/2012 09:34 am |
• Racing
2007 Oct-10
Alliteration for NCARHOFBy Larry Sullivan Consider this evening “Alliteration Night” for the Mooresville-based North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame. The two newest selections worthy of being recognized by the local-based facility fit the special night’s billing to a tee when two of stock car racing’s true originals in former driver Buddy Baker and legendary mechanic Harry Hyde earn the right to be recognized for their respective accomplishments during the N.C. Auto Racing Hall of Fame’s 11th annual induction ceremony. This marks the 11th ceremony to take place. Baker will become the 12th to be inducted into the Hall, adding to a group that got its start back in 1997 with the arrival of charter inductee Richard Petty. Since that time, others also getting their due recognition includes Bobby Allison, Tim Flock, Junior Johnson and William France, Ned Jarrett, Cale Yarborough, Ralph Moody Jr., Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson, and just last year, Darrell Waltrip. As for Hyde, the famed pit row guru, he will be seventh to be awarded with the Snap-On Golden Wrench Award for his contributions to the sport of stock car racing. Others with that distinction on their respective resumes include inaugural recipient Dale Inman as well as Leonard Wood, Smokey Yunick, Maurice Petty, Buddy Parrott, Robert Yates and last year’s recipient, Waddell Wilson. In keeping with tradition, the yearly NCARHOF induction festivities are taking place to coincide with the host of events surrounding the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series’ fall visit to the area for the running of this weekend’s Bank of America 500 at nearby Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Actually born Wylie Baker Jr., in late January of 1941, he became much more readily recognized as just Buddy Baker throughout the bulk of his NASCAR racing career. Also known as the “Gentle Giant,” Baker literally sped onto the scene in March of 1970 when, while testing a Dodge for the inaugural running of the Alabama 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway, he turned a hot lap of 200.447 to become the first driver to exceed the 200 mph barrier on a closed course. The son of a racer, Baker bided his time doing tire testing and learning before making his mark on the track. He traditionally charged to the front of the field and rapidly moved to the head of his class of drivers following his first win at the sport’s premier level in 1967 at what was then known as Charlotte Motor Speedway. Baker became the king of the so-called series’ fast tracks, Daytona International and Talladega, with regularity. He won a host of races of both sites, and he remains the all-time lap leader in events held at Talladega. For his career, Baker appeared in 688 Winston Cup races, with 19 wins and nearly 200 placements in the top five. He also logged in with another near 300 finishes in the top 10 and captured 40 preferred pole positions. He cashed in on career earnings in toppling the $3.6 million mark. In February of 1980, Baker prevailed in the Daytona 500 after garnering the fist-place spot in qualifying and set a new race record in the process. It accounted for the first 500-mile race run at the track in under three hours, and his finishing speed of 177.602 mph is a Daytona Speedway record which still stands. The late Hyde quickly turned his attention from behind the wheel to under the hood, playing a key role on teams that during his career won 56 Winston cup races and accumulated in excess of $4 million in winnings. He counted among his pilots the likes of Bobby Isaac, Bobby Allison, Baker, Yarborough, Neil Bonnett, Dave Marcis, Geoff Bodine and Tim Richmond. It is believed by many that it was Hyde who served as the basis for one of the key characters in the movie “Days of Thunder’’ that spotlighted life on the track and trackside within NASCAR. In 1970, with Hyde as crew chief, his team won 11 times in 47 races, secured 13 pole positions and accounted for 38 efforts in the top 10 for an organization that won that year’s series championship. That same year, Hyde was in the pits for Isaac’s record-setting run of 201.104 mph around the Talladega site that stood for years Hyde was also part of team that set 28 world speed records for different distances during his team’s visit to the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1971, some of the marks which remain in place. The car used for those feats was the first one donated to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Dignitaries and personalities from throughout the sport of stock car racing are expected to be on the scene during the dinner and awards ceremony surrounding tonight’s induction ceremony.
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