Showing posts with label Stock Car Racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stock Car Racing. Show all posts

Monday, November 30, 2015

Hialeah Speedway 10th Reunion


Saturday night was full of fond memories as I attended the Hialeah Speedway 10th Reunion with my pal and Hall of Fame inductee Skip Gibson. It was great to see Nascar greats Bobby and Donnie Allison along with many past champions and racers.

For those of you who do not follow Nascar Racing, Donnie Allison and brother Bobby are the featured pugilists in a fight that occurred on the last lap of the 1979 Daytona 500.

Donnie was leading on the final lap when Cale Yarborough dropped low in an attempt to "slingshot" past Donnie. Naturally, Donnie tried to block him, the cars got together and wrecked, allowing Richard Petty to go by and win the race.

Afterwards, Donnie and Cale had words and Cale got into a fight with Bobby, who had pulled up to make sure Donnie was ok. The melee was on and later, Bobby was interviewed about the fight. Bobby said, "Cale balled up his face and hit me right in the fist with it."

The Hialeah Speedway Reunion was a collage of old friends many of whom I have known since the fifties. In particular, it was great to see former modified champions Bobby Brack and Pee Wee Griffin, along with racers Marty Handshaw, Buck Gibbs, Teddy Barnwell, Buddy Ryan, Robert Hamke and so many racing greats from the past.


Hall of Fame inductees Dan O'Connell (L) and my pal Skip Gibson.

I would be remiss if I was not to mention the many ladies who also attended including Pat Allison, Judy Allison, Patricia Brack, Joyce Handshaw, Janet Little, Frances Mills, and of course, Dianne Gibson.

It would be virtually impossible for me to name everyone who attended as I knew and/or have seen almost everyone in attendance. I apologize to those that I overlooked.

It was especially great to see my old friend Richard Bowser, along with Kenny and Donald Economy, Bruce Allen Griffin, his brother Butch Griffin and emcee Steven Brack.


(L-R) Bobby Allison, Robert Hamke and Donnie Allison

Kudos to the people who worked hard to put this event together. They did a fine job.

I wish I would have gotten more pictures but between shooting the bull with old friends and the fact that my camera is harder to figure out after three drinks prevented any chance of that happening.
   
Hall of Fame champion Bobby Brack (L) and Alan Carter, accepting the Hall of Fame induction for his father, champion racer Alan "Rags" Carter. 

The News As I See It: I continue to hear Barry Obama mention the 65 nation coalition against ISIS. I certainly would like to see a list of these nations.

This Date In History: 1804; Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase was tried for political bias. 1900; Irish author Oscar Wilde died in Paris at age 46. 1940; Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were married. 1966; Barbados became independent of Great Britain.

1974; The fossilized remains of a female human ancestor named Lucy (after the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) were found in Ethiopia. 1993; The Brady Bill, requiring a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases, is signed.

1995; President Bill Clinton became the first U.S. president to visit Northern Ireland. 2004; Ken Jennings ended his 74-game winning spree on the game show, Jeopardy!

Picture Of The Day: My long time pal and Hall of Fame inductee, Skip Gibson



Printable Things I Never Told You: 1) I can never tell if a mother duck is being dutifully followed by her ducklings or chased by a gang of young duck thugs. 2) I was considering remarrying the woman I divorced many years ago, but she said I was only after my money. 3) I asked my pharmacist to cut my Viagra pills into four quarters. He said he could do it, but 1/4 of a pill would not work. I told him, "That's ok. I just need enough so I that don't pee on my shoes." 4) Unsure about birth control? Watch my kids for 10 minutes.  5) I like to sit next to a stranger on a park bench, hand over an envelope with a random person's picture, whisper "It has to look like an accident" and walk away..... and that's five !

Today's Horoscope: Sagittarius - November 30th: Google is about to take over your life - play responsibly. Your lucky horse for today is Sombrero's Lid. I'm told he's a sure thing, but I've been told that before. Just bet $2 across the board.

Some people seem to take the question "how stupid can you be?" as a personal challenge. Avoid that pitfall. As a matter of fact, avoid all pitfalls.

Birthdays: Jonathan Swift, author 1667, Mark Twain, writer, social observer 1835, Winston Churchill, British Statesman, Soldier, and Author  1874, L. M. Montgomery, novelist 1874, Gordon Parks, photographer, filmmaker, writer 1912, Shirley Chisholm, congresswoman 1924, Dick Clark, TV personality 1929, Ridley Scott, filmmaker 1937, David Mamet, playwright 1947, Ben Stiller, actor, director, comic 1965, Elisha Cuthbert, actor 1982.



The AREA 51 Retirement Home Bar And Grill: An elderly couple went to the clinic and asked to be tested for HIV. The counselor asked why they felt that they should be tested at their age.

The old man said, "Well, we heard on TV that people should be tested after annual sex!"

A student nurse found an elderly gentleman dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet. Since hospital regulations require a wheelchair for patients being discharged, she brought the man a wheelchair. although he insisted he didn't any help to leave the hospital.

After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let the student nurse wheel him to the elevator. On the way down, she asked him if his wife was meeting him. He answered, "I don't know. She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown."


(L-R) Racing champions Pee Wee Griffin, Bobby Allison, Miss Hialeah Speedway (?) and Donnie Allison

The Hits Just Keep On Coming: A psychiatrist is addressing a group of people who have all had experiences with the supernatural. He asks, "Who here has seen a ghost?" Everyone puts up their hands. He then asks, "Who here has spoken with a ghost?" Half the audience puts up their hands.

He says, "Who here has touched a ghost?" Ten percent of the crowd puts up their hands. The psychiatrist then asks, "And who here has made love with a ghost?"

One little man in the back row puts up his hand. The psychiatrist looks down from the podium at the little man and says, "Do you mean to tell me that you have made love with a ghost?" The man replies, "Oh no! I'm sorry, I thought you said 'goat'."

In May of this year, police in Detroit announced the discovery of an arms cache of 200 semi-automatic rifles with 25,000 rounds of ammunition, 200 pounds of heroin.

They also found 5 million in forged US banknotes and 25 trafficked prostitutes, all in a semi-detached house behind the Public Library on Woodward Ave.

Local residents were stunned. A community spokesman said, "We're all shocked! We never knew we had a library."

That's it for today, my little doodle bugs. Remember, what doesn't kill you, forces me to reload.

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More on Wednesday.

Stay Tuned !

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Nostalgia

As I told you on Monday, I spent part of my weekend rummaging through old pictures. After finding the pictures I posted on Monday, I found pictures of myself and the kids when we went camping in the Florida Everglades. That is a story in itself as I often muse about the survivor shows on television. I was doing things like that as a teenager with the exception that there wasn't a television crew filming it and I didn't have the luxury to yell cut if I ran into an alligator. Perhaps I'll tell you some of my Everglades camping and fishing stories in the future. In the interim I'll show you a few pictures from that trip today.

Additionally I have scrapbooks that I began in my early teens that were centered around stock car racing in the Miami area. I was involved in stock car racing as well as go kart racing most of my teenage and early adult years. I have driven race cars and go-karts and I follow the sport closely today. As I was browsing the scrapbooks, the first thing that I realized was that the newspaper articles were yellowing and the pages were beginning to crumble from age.

I have decided that I would begin scanning all of my old family pictures, my old racing pictures and the newspaper articles into my computer. Today, I'm posting a some of my racing photographs as well. Some of the Miami area race car drivers went on to become national champions and were often seen racing on television. It's going to be a lengthy task, but at least I'll be able to save the memories and the images on my computer and later transfer the to DVDs.

It's Hump Day and I hope to be able to stop by AREA 51 to see my pals. I'm not completely sure if I'll go tonight as my left foot has been giving me problems from my last late night soiree. We'll see...

This Date In History: 1777; France officially recognizes the independence of the United States. 1788; During the Russo-Turkish Wars, a Russian army, commanded by Marshal Grigory Potemkin, captures the city of Ochakov on the Black Sea.

1903; Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright Brothers make the first powered aeroplane flight in history. 1967; Australian prime minister Harold Holt vanishes in mysterious circumstances while swimming off Cheviot Beach in Victoria.

Picture Of The Day: It's a eclectic post today with my Everglades camping trip with the kids and some of my racing photos all mixed together. But as you know, I'm not one to always march to the same drumbeat as the others, so please excuse today's mess. There are many stories going through my mind as I make today's post, all stemming from finding the three pictures I posted this past Monday.

Birthdays: Joseph Henry, American physicist 1797, John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet 1807, Ford Madox Ford, novelist and critic 1873, Arthur Fiedler, American conductor 1894, Erskine Caldwell, American novelist 1903, Willard Frank Libby, American chemist 1908.

The Hits Just Keep On Coming:

One morning a woman and her baby were taking a bus. As she entered the bus the driver says, "Wow that is one ugly baby." The woman, deeply hurt, just continued on the bus and found a seat next to an elderly man. The man asks "What's wrong ma'am? You look mad." She replied "I am. That bus driver just insulted me."

The man replied, "You shouldn't take that from him. He's a public worker and should give you respect. If I was you, I would take down his badge number and report him. The woman says, "You're right sir I think I will report him." The elderly man says, "You go on up there and get his badge number and I'll hold your monkey for you."

That's it for today my little tinsel toes. More on Friday.

Stay Tuned !