Bench Racing From the Volunteer State: Nashville's 1979 CRC Chemicals 250

Nashville's fairgrounds speedway opened the 1979 season with many changes and an equal or greater number of questions.

Gone was long-time promoter and track operator, Bill Donoho. Replacing him was the duo Lanny Hester and Gary Baker. Hester formerly raced at the fairgrounds in the mini-stock division and started a few NASCAR Baby Grand National events. Baker was a Nashville tax attorney whose most notable client was Waylon Jennings. The two assumed Nashville's lease from Donoho in 1978 after buying Bristol earlier in the season.

One of the first changes made by Hester and Baker was to rename the track from Nashville Speedway to Nashville International Raceway - perhaps to align it with Bristol's full name. The other significant change was dropping the weekly racing series - a staple of the track since its opening in 1958.

The primary reason given for the elimination of weekly racing was to allow more time for Hester and Baker to implement needed upgrades. As it turned out, few noticeable facility upgrades were made.

Although the track did not run its traditional slate of weekly races, NIR did host two Cup races, two Baby Grand races, an ARCA event, and three national late model sportsman features. The first of the three LMS races was the season-opening CRC Chemicals Nashville 250 on April 14, 1979.

The race was conveniently scheduled on an open weekend for Cup drivers between Darlington and Martinsville. In years past, Donoho often enticed at least a couple of Cup regulars to participate in the first race of each season. For the 1979 opener, however, only Bobby Allison entered.

Hester and Baker had hoped Darrell Waltrip would enter - particularly on the heels of his stirring victory at Darlington a week earlier, but Allison was the lone Cup representative. It's possible the show money wasn't thick enough for some to make the trip - particularly since the race was the night before Easter Sunday.

For much of 1976-77-78, fans grew to embrace four young drivers nicknamed the Kiddie Corps. Two of the drivers - Mike Alexander and Sterling Marlin - had quickly become veteran racers, but the other two kind of faded away a bit. Alexander and Marlin returned as expected winners from the local crowd for 1979 and were joined by 1977 track champion Steve Spencer and rookie Tony Cunningham.

In addition to several changes in track operations, 1978 Nashville LMS champion Alexander surprised many with a big change of his own. From his start in 1974, Alexander raced Fords - primarily because of his father's ties to a Ford dealership. R.C. Alexander fielded competitive Fords for many drivers dating back almost 20 years. Yet when the the 1979 season began, Mike was at the wheel of a Pontiac - a PONY-ACK! as King Richard would say.

Alexander and his dad built the car for Waltrip - but then bought it from DW before it hit the track. Mike raced it for the first time in Daytona's 300-mile LMS race in February. Waltrip coincidentally won the race. Marlin and Alexander finished second and ninth, respectively, in their Daytona debuts.

Source: The Tennessean

Alexander landed more than Waltrip's car. He also picked up some support from him as a sponsor.

Long-time LMS racer Gene Glover of Kingsport, TN won the pole. Glover's son Tony later became well-known as crew chief for Morgan-McClure drivers Ernie Irvan and Sterling Marlin. The field included Allison, the local contingent, and several regional LMS racers including Jack Ingram, Butch Lindley, Jody Ridley,and Morgan Shepherd.

Once the green fell, however, many of the favorites developed all sorts of trouble well before time to show their hand. For starters, Allison developed ignition issues at race time and withdrew before even taking a pace lap. And Jack Ingram fell out after only 24 laps.

Early racing included Asheville NC's Bob Pressley and Alexander in his new Pontiac. On lap 42, however, Alexander got KO'd by a runaway wheel from Steve Spencer's car. Both Spencer and Alexander's new car were finished for the night.

The two "Ley" drivers - Ridley and Lindley - had a good battle as well. Lindley, a frequent winner of big races at the Fairgrounds in the 1970s, was again in the hunt for about two-thirds of the race. Engine issues around lap 180, however, doomed his fortunes.

With the strongest competition loaded on their trailers and a two-lap lead on Glover, Pressley set his cruise control and easily led the remaining laps. He even made a casual late pit stop - just because. In doing so, Glover made up his lost distance but was no threat to match Pressley's car.

Cup driver Richard Childress greeted Pressley in victory lane. Though he didn't drive in the event, Childress's Cup car was sponsored by CRC Chemicals.