August 28, 1976 - Nashville's Bob Hunley 100

A couple of NASCAR's national late model sportsman drivers came to Nashville in late summer '76 to race against the local heroes in the third annual Bob Hunley Memorial 100.

Bob Hunley was an amateur racer and a full-time Metro Nashville policeman. He raced in the fairgrounds' late model sportsman division for much of the 1960s and into the 1970s. Sadly, Hunley was killed during a race on April 29, 1972. From April 30, 1972, edition of The Tennessean:

An off-duty Metro patrolman was killed last night when his race car slammed into a retaining wall at Fairgrounds Speedway in the fourth lap of a late-model sportsman race.

Bobby Hunley was dead on arrival at Baptist Hospital after the speedway accident.

Hunley's 1964 Chevelle collided with another car in a group of five autos jockeying for positions on the straight-away. Hunley's auto flipped over several times, then struck a retaining wall at a turn on the quarter-mile track.

Two other cars were involved in the track collision, but there were no other injuries. Hunley's wife, Wilma, and children reportedly were in the fairgrounds audience when the crash occurred. The patrolman was scheduled to go on duty with the police department at midnight following the race.

In an interview last year, Mrs. Hunley said she could seldom relax at home, knowing her husband was a police officer during work hours and a race car driver on his off nights. "A night never goes by that I don't worry about his welfare," she said. "When he leaves out of here, especially on that midnight shift, I never know if I'll see him again.

"Then when  he's racing, I have to sweat out each turn he makes. I never take my eyes off him when he's on the track. Even though I can't stand to watch Robert race, I can't stand to stay at home and wonder what's happening. If something ever goes wrong, I want to be there," she said.

In addition to his widow, Hunley is survived by a son and two daughters. 

L.D. Ottinger broke Nashville's track record with his qualifying lap. But less than a minute later, fellow NASCAR national LMS division competitor, Harry Gant, set his own track record.

When the green flag fell, Ottinger got the jump on Gant and grabbed the lead. From there, it was all L.D. - all night - all race. He won handily over the rest of the field.

Credit Jim Phillips and MRM Racing Photos

Local racer Steve Spencer finished second. Coincidentally, Spencer raced a Chevelle purchased from Ottinger. He also won the track's 1977 LMS title in L.D.'s former car.

Neil Bonnett, balancing a schedule of Cup and late model races, claimed third. Alton Jones finished fourth and later claimed the track's LMS title in 1976. Despite winning the pole, Gant wasn't a factor and finished 16th.

Source: The Tennessean from TMC Archives

On Monday after the race, The Tennessean ran a follow-up column about Ottinger's dominance in the Hunley 100 written by Larry Woody, the long-time racing beat writer and humorist for the paper. Woody made it sound as if L.D. won the pole with Gant qualifying second.

I had listened to the race coverage on WENO-AM radio on Saturday night and knew Gant was quickest. Woody's race report in the Sunday paper included the same info.

Source: The Tennessean

As a still relatively new race fan and one more passionate about the late model heroes at Nashville than NASCAR's Cup drivers (Richard Petty not withstanding), I made the choice to let Mr. Woody know the facts and wrote him a letter. Though I don't remember my exact wording, I think I penned a polite but direct one. At least my 11 year-old conscience was clear.

A few days later on a Saturday morning, our black, rotary phone rang in the kitchen. My mother answered, acknowledged a couple of uh-huhs, handed the phone to me, and smirked a bit as she said "It's for you."

After saying hello, the voice on the other end said "Chase? Larry Woody from The Tennessean. How are you?" I nearly puddled on the kitchen floor. I recall Larry was pleasant though I kinda hemmed and hawed. Yet I was able to re-state my understanding about Gant's lap, and Larry understood the mix-up between his Sunday and Monday articles.

When the call ended, I'm sure I broke out in sweat and hives. I have no memory of what my mother said afterwards - if anything. She may have just gone back to making biscuits for my dad or helping my brother or sister with a school project

Though I've spoken with Larry a time or two by phone on local racing radio shows, I've never had the opportunity to meet him face to face. I'm hopeful that day will still come so I can remind him of this story and hopefully share a laugh with him about it.

TMC