Racing, Drinking, Protesting - and there's more!

Lumberman A.J. King, Jr. of Sevierville, TN joined NASCAR as a car owner in 1967. Over the next couple of years, he fielded Mopars for drivers such as Paul Lewis, Li'l Bud Moore, and Pete Hamilton.

By 1970, however, King folded his tent and exited the Grand National ranks. Though little is known about King's arrival or departure, it's likely he experienced the racing truism of: The way to end up with a small fortune in racing is to start with a big one. (King did return as an owner/sponsor for one race in 1975. Sadly, Tiny Lund was killed in the Talladega 500 in King's Dodge.)

Though King got out of Grand National / Cup racing, Dave Marcis modified one of King's 1969 Dodge Chargers. Marcis raced it as a winged Dodge Daytona in 1970 and then returned the car to its 1969 Charger body for 1971 and 1972.

The car found new life in 1973 in NASCAR's Late Model Sportsman division. In February, Alabama's Alton Jones raced the Charger to a fifth place finish in Daytona's Permatex 300 with King Enterprises on the quarter panel as the sponsor.

Source: Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers

King and Marcis then partnered to run several short track LMS races. Marcis worked them in between his Cup schedule as he raced mostly for himself and part-time for Roger Penske.

One of the first races selected was the Permatex 200 on April 21, 1973 - the season opener on Nashville's newly reconfigured Fairgrounds Speedway. The big ol' Dodge was impressive. Marcis won the pole, dominated the first third of the race, and finished fourth.

Having fared pretty well in his first visit, Marcis returned to Nashville for another shot on Friday, May 12. He brought the '69 Charger to race in the 30-lap LMS feature that accompanied the first round of qualifying for the Music City 420 Cup race.

Though Darrell Waltrip was running for Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, he also ran a full LMS schedule at Nashville. Waltrip had been the Fairgrounds' king of the hill since 1970, and he planned to continue to laissez les bon temps rouler.

After qualifying eighth for the Cup race in his 1971 Dodge, Marcis saddled up in the '69 Charger for the short LMS race. Marcis went to the point on the seventh lap - just about the time a caution flew. On the restart, Waltrip (likely smirking) outfoxed Marcis and grabbed the lead. Just past the halfway point, Marcis regained the top spot.

And so it continued for the next ten laps. Marcis' Hemi launched down the straightaways, but Waltrip's #48 Falls City Beer Chevelle had the edge through the corners. On the last lap, Marcis found just enough oomph and pulled ahead of Waltrip to win by a couple of car lengths.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Source: The Tennessean

The Cup schedule had open dates the next two weekends following Nashville's race. No Dover, Kansas, Richmond, or All-Star Race - just the World 600 on May 27. As a result, Marcis figured he'd return to Music City for yet another go at a trophy.

He and the Dodge returned for another 30-lap feature on Saturday, May 19. Neither Waltrip or Marcis contended for the win that night. Mother Nature scored the W as rain postponed the slate of races to Sunday afternoon, May 20.

A week earlier, Marcis and Waltrip battled tooth and nail under Nashville's Friday night lights. The same pattern held true the following week on a bright, Sunday afternoon.

Waltrip won the pole, and Marcis timed right alongside him. As was the case in the previous race, Marcis' Hemi could haul the mail down the straights, but the car's weight made it more of a handful through the turns. Waltrip's Chevelle, on the other hand, had the perfect set-up to handle the corners, but he surrendered HP to Marcis after they both got back in the gas. 

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Waltrip rapped Marcis a time or two in an attempt to rattle his cage. Marcis, however, was unfazed and maintained his rhythm. The two weaved around traffic, took alternate lines every couple of laps, yet still managed to stay together until the final lap.

Source: Nashville Area Racing History

Over the final couple of laps, Marcis again found the little extra he needed. He cleared Waltrip and won for the second week in a row. After the race, however, Waltrip's team had a bit of a surprise for Marcis.

Doc Brewington, Waltrip's mechanic, chose to protest Marcis' Dodge. He wanted the big Hemi stripped down bolt by bolt. Brewington even opted to protest the fuel cell. The car only needed a handful of gallons to run the short feature, but Brewington wanted the tear down to be as painful as possible.

With plenty of afternoon sun remaining, the tear-down began as a crowd gathered to watch. In time, Brewington and Marcis got to joking and placing side bets on what may have been legal or illegal. Meanwhile, as the tear-down continued, someone brought in a cooler of Waltrip's sponsor product supplied by his car owner and local beer distributor, Ellis Cook. 

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Around 9:30 PM, the evaluation was completed. Joe Carver led the inspection and concluded Marcis' Dodge was legal. Carver was the PR director for the Fairgrounds and later became the promoter at Langley Speedway in Virginia.

Marcis hastily loaded his car and gear and headed for a long, late night drive back to North Carolina. Though Brewington and Waltrip lost the protest, they figured a modest win may have been earned. Marcis arrived and won with an intact car, but he headed home with a tub of parts that would need plenty of time to re-assemble.

Source: The Tennessean

Marcis and Waltrip delighted in recapping the sequence of events during a gathering of many of NASCAR's legends at the now-gone NASCAR Cafe in Nashville.

Source: The Tennessean

Despite having to re-assemble his Hemi (or paying someone to do it), Marcis was back yet again in mid-June for the Uniroyal 100 on June 16, 1973. The duo picked up pretty much where they left off a month earlier.

Although Joe Carver was the technical inspector during Waltrip's protest of Marcis, he was still the publicity director at his core. And he drummed up some for the 100-lap event by having the two competitors race bicycles! 

Marcis once again won the pole - although L.D. Ottinger flanked him on the front row. Waltrip started eighth but had a nose for the front as usual. The usual suspects were again at the top of the field along with Alton Jones who had piloted Marcis' Dodge back in February.

Credit: Russ Thompson

When the race concluded, Waltrip returned to his customary victory lane location. Alton Jones placed second followed by Marcis. Perhaps as a case of turnabout is fair play, Marcis protested Jones and Waltrip. Jones' team refused to be torn down and was DQ'd as a result. Waltrip's car passed inspection as Marcis' car did a month earlier, and he retained the win with Marcis elevated to second.

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A.J. King left racing but continued with the lumber business started by his father, A.J. King, Sr. He and his wife were the first patrons of a new Sevier County, TN library in 1966 - shortly before he entered NASCAR as an owner. King passed away in 1978, and his son Danny continued the family business. In 2010, the county's library moved into an even larger facility - the King Family Library. The King family contributed $2 million of the project's $11.5 million cost, and the library opened on the same spot as the original family lumber business.

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Marcis raced the old Dodge a few more times including the 1974 Permatex 200 at Nashville. As his Cup career progressed, however, he moved on from LMS runs with the Charger. The car ended up in a private collector's hands who then restored it to a winged Dodge Daytona as Marcis had raced it.

In the late 80s / early 90s, the car was repainted to resemble Richard Petty's 1970 Plymouth Superbird. The car toured as a promotional showcar for Goody's Headache Powders.

1992 Charlotte Motor Speedway - TMC Archives

The car then found yet another life in 2003 when it was re-purposed for Winston's final season as the title sponsor of NASCAR's top series. Before the final race of the season at Homestead, King Richard drove the car that originally began as a Charger fielded by A.J. King.

Source: Getty Images

Thanks to Dave Fulton for his assistance in background research on A.J. King, Jr. and SuperbirdClub.com for its post regarding the A.J. King / Marcis Dodge .

TMC

Nashville's 1980 CRC Chemicals 200

Fairground Speedways opened in 1958 as a slightly banked half-mile and with modified coupes as its featured series. The track introduced Late Model Sportsman cars in 1964 as its top division.

LMS drivers continued to roar for the next 15 years through a rebuilding of the track to a high-banked, 5/8-mile version in 1970, a third configuration in 1973 to the current 18-degree banking, a name change to Nashville Speedway in 1974, and another change to Nashville International Raceway in 1979.

The familiar and fan-embraced division, however, disappeared following the track's abbreviated 1979 season. It was replaced with a "new" Grand American division - a NASCAR brand re-purposed from its original use in the early 70s. The change had been rumored throughout 1979 and was formalized during an announcement in November of that year.

Source: The Tennessean

As was known to happen from time to time, Larry Woody's reporting in The Tennessean about the announcement included a bit of an error. Most of the Grand American cars were Chevy Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds - not Novas and Venturas. The older model cars were allowed to participate - but they could rarely hang with the sleek, lighter GA cars.

One of the drivers selected to attend the press announcement and 1980 schedule release was a bit peculiar. Sterling Marlin was a full-time, winning LMS racer known well to race fans, so his participation made sense. Part-time racer Don Light, on the other hand, had hardly been a dominating force in the track's mini-stock division.

But...he was that Don Light. On the track, Light was a racing hobbyist who hadn't experienced winning at the Fairgrounds. Off the track, however, he knew winning well. Light managed superstars such as Jimmy Buffett and the Oak Ridge Boys. (Light later managed Kyle Petty during his fledgling music career and founded the short-lived Sound & Speed pre-season NASCAR event.)

Source: Getty Images

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The 1980 season began with the CRC Chemicals 200. Though the old LMS division had been retired, Nashville's tradition of opening the season with a big feature pitting local racers against out-of-town heavyweights continued as it had since the 1966 Flameless 300.

CRC Chemicals returned as the race's title sponsor for the second season. CRC also continued their use of motorsports as a marketing platform. In addition to sponsoring Nashville's inaugural Grand American race, CRC sponsored the fall Cup race at Dover and Richard Childress's Cup program.

Promoters Lanny Hester and Gary Baker ponied up some solid bucks to land Cup veteran David Pearson. Though Pearson's long association with the Wood Brothers ended about a year earlier, Pearson raced a part-time Cup schedule in 1980 for Hoss Ellington's Hawaiian Tropic team. He arrived in Nashville fresh off his tenth and final win at Darlington - a race coincidentally sponsored by CRC Chemicals.

Source: The Tennessean

The other out-of-town name for the race was two-time national LMS champion, Butch Lindley. Since traveling to Nashville for the first time in the early '70s, Lindley had pocketed six big wins at the Fairgrounds - two each in 1974, 1977, and 1978.

Source: The Tennessean

Joining Pearson and Lindley as early favorites were a couple of veteran locals in their new rides - Marlin and Mike Alexander. Though several other locals filled the field each race in 1980, Marlin dominated the year with Alexander grabbing his share as well. The two would develop a serious rivalry over the next few years - as well as a solid friendship in the long run.

Lindley didn't arrive in Nashville just to putz around. He set the track record, won the pole, and let the field know his mastery of Nashville in a Chevelle or Nova transferred to his Grand American Camaro.

Though Marlin dominated Nashville's 1980 season, his reign did not begin until after week one. He ran over debris from the car of local racer Dorris Vaughn, cut a tire, and never recovered the rest of the race. Steve Spencer, Nashville's 1977 LMS champ, also struggled and finished deep in the field.

Racing a #21 Purolator Camaro resembling his former Wood Brothers Cup ride, Pearson chased Lindley early. Staying with Lindley, however, was another matter. He ended the race in third - and a distant third at that.

Credit: David Allio / Racing Photo Archives

Alexander was the only driver who could consistently stay near Lindley. But even so, Lindley's #16 gapped him significantly in the second half of the race. When the checkered flag fell, Lindley nabbed his seventh Nashville feature with a two-lap victory over Alexander.

Source: The Tennessean

With two LMS titles and a bushel of feature wins at numerous tracks, many speculated Lindley would be a natural to advance to Cup. Many of his LMS peers had already earned permanent rides or at least a handful of starts including Neil Bonnett, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, Joe Millikan, Jody Ridley, and Morgan Shepherd.

Lindley acknowledged that while he could go to Cup, he didn't want to advance and struggle. He wanted to compete regularly for wins. If that meant towing his car all over the place for points, show money, minimal travel luxuries, and trophies, so be it.

Source: The Tennessean

Lindley did make eleven Cup starts for a handful of car owners - including himself - between 1979 and 1985. His best finish was a P2 to Gant in Martinsville's 1982 spring race. While handling the occasional one-off Cup start, he continued racing the short tracks of the south.

In 1985 during an All Pro Series race, however, Lindley wrecked and suffered a devastating head injury. He languished until June 6, 1990 - just over 10 years from his win in Nashville's inaugural Grand American race.

Results:

1. Butch Lindley
2. Mike Alexander
3. David Pearson
4. Phillip Grissom
5. Richard Waters
6. Al Henderson
7. Sidney Minton
8. Tony Cunningham
9. Phil Spickar
10. Sterling Marlin
11. David Jones
12. Jimmy Williams
13. Andy Pope
14. Billy Clinton
15. Dorris Vaughn
16. Mark Taylor
17. Charlie Adcock
18. Steve Spencer
19. Mike Montgomery
20. Dennis White
21. R.A. Brannon

TMC