February 15, 1976: Daytona 500 - Petty v. Pearson

Most old school fans and members of the media consistently say the 1979 Daytona 500 was the race that put NASCAR on the map. The race was nationally televised by CBS from beginning to end, and it had the legendary finish of Richard Petty winning as Cale Yarborough, Donnie Allison, and Bobby Allison scrapped in the mud on the backstretch.

Three years earlier, however, the 500 had another epic finish. Not nearly as many folks saw it on TV as only snippets of the race aired on ABC. Yet the finish arguably trumps the 1979 race because the top two cars battled to the end rather than wrecking with a half-lap to go and allowing someone else to win.

When the dust settled on the 1975 season, King Richard had banked one of his most successful years. He won 13 of 30 races, finished in the top five a remarkable 21 times, and captured his sixth series title.

He rolled into Daytona Beach for Speedweeks 1976 sporting a beard to help commemorate the United States' bicentennial year and kept it until he caved and shaved in the spring prior to Darlington's Rebel 500. Petty was going for his third consecutive Daytona 500 victory, sixth overall, and the fifth in seven years for Petty Enterprises.

David Pearson's 1975 season was a bit of step back from his previous two. In a limited schedule with the Wood Brothers, he won three of 21 races in 1975 after having won 18 races over the 1973-74 seasons. Though he had won four summer Firecracker 250/400 races at Daytona, he had never won the 500 since his debut in the race in 1960.

Super Tex A.J. Foyt from USAC made the most of one of his infrequent NASCAR appearances by laying down the quickest time in qualifying. Darrell Waltrip in the DiGard #88 Gatorade Chevy and Dave Marcis in the iconic #71 Harry Hyde-prepared K&K Insurance Dodge Charger timed second and third. But as Lee Corso often says on ESPN's Game Day...

In post-qualifying inspection, NASCAR pinched Foyt, Waltrip, AND Marcis. Their times were disallowed though they were allowed a second-round qualifying effort and to race in the twin 125-mile qualifying races to determine their starting spot for the 500.

Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal via Google News Archive

Waltrip took the approach of that's racing when news came down that his time had been tossed.

Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal via Google News Archive

With the time of Foyt's Chevrolet kicked to the curb, another USAC regular, Ramo Stott, found himself as the surprise top starter for the 500. Regardless of how he performed in his qualifying twin, he was guaranteed to start P1. Stott always had a good time, and he was certainly delighted in getting the nod to start on the front row.

Perhaps more surprising than Stott starting first was the driver elevated to the second starting spot: Terry Ryan. In his debut at Daytona and in Cup overall, Ryan found himself perched on the front row alongside Stott.

Despite their qualifying times being disallowed, the teams of Foyt, Waltrip, and Marcis stayed focused on the big picture. Waltrip and Marcis won their respective twin, and the duo started third and fourth in the 500 - only a spot back from where they'd originally qualified.

Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal via Google News Archive

The Daytona 500 rolled off with Stott and Ryan on the front row. But that's about as close to the action as the duo got all day. When the green flag fell, Stott was moved aside on lap one as Buddy Baker whipped his Bud Moore Ford from its fifth starting position to the lead where he stayed for four laps.

Credit: John Betts of RacersReunion.com

The crowd watched the lead swap back and forth, lap after lap between several drivers. Except for Baker, Petty, and Foyt, no other driver kept the lead during the first half of the race for much more than a single-digit number of laps.

The final 100 laps were a duel between Pearson, Foyt, and Petty - though Benny Parsons hung around as well to keep the top three honest. Foyt won the 1972 Daytona 500 in the Wood Brothers Ford, and he planned to win it again four years later in Hoss Ellington's Chevrolet. On lap 143, however, the engine in Foyt's Chevy went south. A.J.'s day was done, and he had to settle for a 22nd place finish despite leading the most laps. Foyt's exit left a three-way battle between The Three P's: Parsons, Petty, and Pearson.

With 25 to go, Petty and Pearson had separated themselves from Parsons by a full lap. The two rivals raced only inches apart the remaining laps, and Petty led the way as the 43 and 21 took the white flag. Entering turn three on the last lap, Pearson made his move. He slipped under Petty's Dodge and slid in front of the Charger's front bumper as the two ran the high line of the track. But as Pearson moved up, he slipped ever so little which gave Petty the opportunity to dive under him.

Credit: John Betts of RacersReunion.com

Coming off turn four, Petty's Dodge charged back past Pearson. As the two headed through the dog leg of the front stretch, Petty moved up to block yet another crossover move from Pearson. But it was not quite enough.

Petty's right rear clipped the left front of Pearson's Mercury. Both cars began spinning and crashed into the wall right in front of the packed grandstands. Petty's Dodge spun wildly and coasted to a stop on the infield grass between the track and pit road - just yards from the finish line. Pearson spun around and tagged Joe Frasson's Chevrolet at the entrance to pit road. Tagging Frasson actually helped Pearson a bit as the rebound of the hit pointed the 21 back in the right direction.

Petty sat in his stalled Dodge trying desperately to restart the car. Pearson, who kept his Mercury running by pushing the clutch as the car spun, began to literally plow the infield grass with the crumbled Mercury as he slowly moved toward the checkered flag.

Meanwhile, the Petty crew rushed to the scene of Richard's stopped Dodge to push the 43 to the finish. NASCAR had a rule stating a car could not be pushed across the finish line. The 43 was therefore penalized a lap but still credited with second place ahead of Parsons.

Eddie Wood recalls hearing Pearson key his mic to reply to the question from the pits of "What happened?" The Silver Fox's reply was direct and concise: The bitch hit me.

Tim Leeming, who first met Petty at his debut race at Columbia Speedway in 1958, shared his memories from the race:

The big thing about our trip was that one of our good friends had been involved in an auto accident two weeks before the race and spent a week in the hospital with a severely broken leg. He was determined he would not miss that race. So, as we loaded up to go, we literally lifted him into the passenger front bucket seat pushed back as far as it would go. Looking back, I will never know how he survived that long ride in the position in which he had to sit, but he did it.

When we got the track Sunday morning, we signed in for press credentials and then parked in the infield press parking area. We took a chair next to the fence for our friend with the broken leg and sat around and talked until about an hour before race time when I went into the pits for a couple of interviews for the radio show. To say things were really different back then is a full blown understatement. It was easy to approach almost any driver as he came down off the stand from introductions, and they all had time to talk with you.

I spent most of the race watching with my friends against the fence near turn one as that was the best vantage point for my friend who had to sit. With about 30 to go, I walked into the pits and took up position in the same place I had been for the previous year's 500, right at the first turn end of pit road. The last 30 laps were thrilling as we could all tell it was going to be the classic Petty-Pearson duel 'til the end.

As the two flashed by on the white flag lap, I watched them as far as I could see them going through turns 1 and 2. Then I immediately turned my attention to turn four to wait for them to come back around. I was leaning as far over the pit wall as I could. I jumped off the ground when I saw the red and blue Dodge coming first but something was big time wrong. Petty and Pearson were both sliding and spinning and then Richard went nose first into the wall.

For a few seconds, I think I was in shock trying to figure out what happened. Then I saw some of the Petty crew running towards the car so I jumped the wall and started to sprint in that direction to help push. About the time I hit the grass between the pit road and the track, the biggest man I have ever seen (still a true statement even all these years later) grabbed me and let me know in no uncertain terms that I was NOT going out there to push Petty. It was about that time Pearson made it across the line so the point for the win was moot anyway.  

The crumpled 21 Mercury arrives in Victory Lane.

View image | gettyimages.com

Meanwhile, the Petty crew pushed the 43 to garage area as they wondered what might have been. Joe Frasson who also spun during the melee waits as the 43 crew gets Richard through the pit wall opening first.

Credit: John Betts

Several years ago, Pearson was interviewed by Johnny Hayes. The two talk about the 1976 Daytona finish beginning around the 3:00 mark.


Footnotes:

Though the King had to settle for a spectacular second in the 500, the Petty team didn't go home empty handed. Shop employee and part-time driver, Joe Millikan, piloted the Petty Enterprises Hayes Jewelers #04 Dodge Charger to the win in the Permatex 300 late model sportsman race the day before the 500.

Courtesy of Ray Lamm

Also, beer distributor and part-time driver Woody Fisher - driving a Petty Enterprises built and crewed Dodge Charger - finished second to Cup regular Lennie Pond in the ARCA 200 .

Courtesy of Brian Norton

Many may remember the British accent of David Hobbs serving as color commentator to Ken Squier's lead announcing role on the later CBS stock car telecasts. Hobbs made his first of two career NASCAR starts in the 1976 Daytona 500. He drove a Coca-Cola sponsored #73 L.G. DeWitt Chevy. He crashed on lap 68, however, and finished 39th.

Judging by this photo, I'm thinking the team may have been supplied with caffeine-free Coke.

Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal via Google News Archive

Ed Negre raced the 10,000 RPM Speed Equipment Dodge Charger. Nine months earlier, Negre fielded what was likely the same Dodge for rookie Dale Earnhardt in his first Cup race, the 1975 World 600 at Charlotte.

After getting boat raced on lap one of the 500, Stott faded back through the field. He blew an engine on lap 118. Skip Manning spun after hitting the oil from Stott's engine.

Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal via Google News Archive

Journeyman driver Johnny Ray then t-boned Manning and was badly injured. Ray's driving career ended with the accident. He continued in racing, however, as a car owner. One of the races in which he fielded a car was the 1976 Dixie 500 at Atlanta - the next to last race of the season. Earnhardt spun, flipped and destroyed Ray's car in only his third career Cup start.

Finally, Petty's Charger lived to race another day. Rather than scrap the wrecked car or donate it to Dale Jr's property as is often done today, the Level Cross crew thrashed. The wrecked 43 was hauled back to the shop, and the crew repaired it over the next two weeks so the King could race it at Rockingham. Result: win #178 in the Carolina 500.

TMC

March 6, 1977 - Jimmy Insolo wins Ontario

Through much of the 1970s, NASCAR's Winston Cup Series began its season in January at Riverside's road course in California. When Ontario Motor Speedway closed in the early 1980s, Riverside's season opener was moved to the end of the season. Then began the tradition begin of starting the season in February with the Daytona 500.

USAC had its own stock car division for about three decades from the mid-1950s through the mid-1980s. Though the division had several name drivers, many of them were 'double-dippers' - Indy car drivers who also raced in USAC's other divisions - including the stock car one.

USAC started its 1977 season with a twin-bill event at Ontario, another southern California track. Modeled after Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ontario was a track ahead of its time, but it was woefully underfunded. From the early 70s through 1980, Ontario was the site of NASCAR's season-ending race.

On March 6, 1977, the track promoted the Datsun Twin 200, a pair of 80-lap, 200-mile races for USAC's stock cars and Indy/Champ cars.

A couple of drivers - Bobby Unser and A.J. Foyt - were looking to turn the double by entering both events. Foyt threw down the gauntlet early by winning the pole for the stock car event in his #51 Chevelle. Making his first USAC stock car start, west coast regular, Jimmy Insolo, qualified on the front row alongside Super Tex in his Chevelle. Unser lined up behind Foyt in the third spot in his Camaro.

The 30-car field was a hodgepodge of cars. Some were from the muscle-car class of Detroit such as Unser's Camaro. Others ran full-size sedan models such as Foyt and Insolo in their Chevelles and the 8th place starter, Ohio's Woody Fisher in his 1974 Schlitz Beer Dodge Charger.

Fisher's Charger was built by Petty Enterprises and was the same one he raced to victory in the 1977 ARCA 200 at Daytona about a month earlier.

Foyt set the early pace and let the field know who was boss.

Source: Bakersfield Californian

Unser's day nearly ended before it really got going. With a nudge from Insolo, he spun off turn 3 on lap 16. Bobby sent up a plume of white tire smoke, but his car was otherwise unharmed. After a stop to replace his flat-spotted tires, he went back on the track and was a contender as the race neared its conclusion.

Source: Corona Daily Independent

Foyt was in control of the race though Unser had rallied. With 5 laps to go, however, Super Tex cut a tire and began to fade. Foyt's misfortune quickly became a huge opportunity for others. Insolo's hulking Chevelle and Unser's small Camaro hooked up in the race to the finish. The duo swapped the lead eight times in the final four laps.

Unser took the white lap with Insolo in tow. With the checkers in sight, the two drivers came upon a slower car. Unser went to the inside, and Insolo jumped to the outside putting the lapped car in the middle of a 3-wide sandwich. Insolo carried the momentum off the corner and won by less than a car-length over Unser.

Photo courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

Though the race was Insolo's first USAC stock car race, it was not his first Ontario race nor his first close win. A year earlier, he narrowly defeated L.D. Ottinger in a 250-mile NASCAR late model sportsman race.

Foyt managed to keep his ride under him and came home a disappointing third. Chuck Bown - who later won NASCAR's Busch Series championship in 1990 - finished fourth, and Ron Hutcherson rounded out the top five. Full-time beer distributor and part-time racer Woody Fisher brought home the Petty-built Charger tenth.

Foyt's day wasn't a complete loss. After finishing third in the day's opener, he dusted the field to easily win the Indy car main event race.

The two winners

Photo courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

Source: Corona Daily Independent

Two years later, Insolo played a significant role in Richard Petty's seventh Winston Cup title. When The King needed relief help in the NAPA 400 at Riverside, Insolo was called upon to belt into the 43. He rallied the STP Monte Carlo to a third-place finish behind second-place finisher Darrell Waltrip. Considering Petty won the title over Waltrip by a razor-thin margin, Insolo was instrumental in Petty getting his seventh Cup.

TMC

19 Shades of (Henley) Gray Part 1

From the time I was introduced to racing, I was a Petty fan. I get it though. Some could have labeled me as a front-runner. Petty was already a multi-time champion and the all time leader in wins by the time I learned about him. Petty Enterprises was a 'money' shop. The team worked hard to keep their edge, but no question the Level Cross bunch benefited from cash flowing from Chrysler Corporation and STP. Truthfully though, I became a King fan primarily because he was a class act and because I thought his STP Dodge Charger looked cool.

Even being a committed Petty fan, I also pulled for the underdogs. Before NASCAR exploded in the 1990s, independent drivers could eke out a reasonable living towing from race to race. The teams had limited financial backing, a thin crew, an ability to make the most from cars and parts discarded by others, and an unmatched work ethic. I always wanted the best for guys such as Buddy Arrington, James Hylton, Jimmy Means, Coo Coo Marlin, etc. Henley Gray from Rome, GA was another of that long-tenured independent group of drivers.

The beginnings

After cutting his teeth in racing on some local short tracks plus a couple of Grand National starts, Henley committed to becoming a full-time GN driver in 1965. He built his own car - a practice he continued throughout his career.

Source: Rome News-Tribune via Google News Archive

He also started providing cars for others pretty early in his professional racing career. For example, Henley provided the car in which Coo Coo Marlin made his first Grand National start at Nashville in 1966. As a driver, Henley finished 4th in that race which turned out to be a career best for him.

Henley was a regular fixture on the GN / Cup tour from the mid 1960s through the mid 1970s. His driving career, however, was permanently altered during qualifying for the Champion Spark Plug at Michigan. When a suspension part broke at speed, Gray's Chevrolet hooked left off turn four and slammed into the end of a pit road wall. The wreck sounds similar to one Mark Martin had at Michigan in 2012 - the big difference being Henley hit the end of the wall head-on.

Source: Spartanburg Herald Journal via Google News Archive

Henley's Michigan injuries and long recovery resulted in his hanging up his helmet as a driver. Instead, he continued his involvement in racing as a car owner and fielded cars for a number of drivers until the early 1990s.

Driving turns to full-time owning

Gray drove #97 early in his career (or fielded it for others as he did for Marlin). By 1970, however, he began running #19 regularly. The number became closely associated with him until his days in NASCAR were completed. After he was done, #19 then became associated with drivers/teams such as Loy Allen Jr., Evernham / Gillett / Richard Petty Motorsports (Casey Atwood, Jeremy Mayfield, Elliott Sadler), and now Carl Edwards in his 2015 ride with Joe Gibbs Racing.

One driver hired to drive the #19 at the 1977 National 500 at Charlotte was raw rookie Dale Earnhardt. He piloted Gray's Chevy as he made only his 4th career Cup start. John Evanich, Mark Agee and others did a nice job at Randy Ayers Modeling Forum researching and chronicling the history of the car borrowed and fielded by Gray and driven by Earnhardt.

Leading up to his Michigan accident, Henley was apparently becoming a bit jaded with life and perhaps with racing. The wreck changed him though - and more than just physically. It gave him a new perspective on life and an appreciation for those around him who cared deeply. As he recovered, he composed a letter to his friends in racing and requested newspapers to print it to spread his feelings of gratitude.

Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal via Google News Archive

In 1978, Gray seemed to be on the verge of a bigger deal financially. Ohio beer distributor Woody Fisher wanted to race at the Cup level. Fisher (profiled a couple of times here previously) had raced off-and-on the past few years, primarily in USAC and ARCA events. His biggest win was at Daytona in the 1977 ARCA 200 in a yellow and Petty blue Dodge Charger purchased from, built by and maintained by Petty Enterprises.

Woody hired on with Gray in 1978. After skipping the season opener at Riverside, the team focused its efforts on Speedweeks and the Daytona 500. The preparation simply didn't translate to the track. Fisher completed just one lap in his qualifying race - a race won by A.J. Foyt in a Buick - and the #19 missed the Big Show.

Fisher and Gray regrouped and made the next race at Richmond. The results were unfortunately about the same. Fisher lost a rear-end in the 19, and he finished 28th in the 30-car field after completing only 74 of 400 laps.

As racers do, the team loaded up and headed to the next event: Rockingham. Sadly, the race was a case of SSDD for the 19. Fisher spun, wrecked the red 19 on the first lap and finished dead last.

Courtesy of John Evanich

FINALLY, the team got on track with a 'moral victory' finish the next race in the Atlanta 500. After starting 34th, Fisher took care of the car, lost a few laps, but still finished 20th in the 40-car field.

Gray's long-time sponsor, Belden Asphalt, was on the side of those first few races with Fisher. But Woody apparently had a plan to bring his own money to the table to help Gray. Whether he planned to partially fund the costs from his own pocket or arrange some beer sponsorship is unknown. Either way the car had a new look when the team arrived the next week at Bristol for the Southeastern 500. The red paint and Belden Asphalt lettering were gone. In their place was the yellow and Petty blue paint Woody had sported on his Petty-built Dodges.

Credit: Woody Delbridge from RacersReunion.com

Something apparently happened, however, between Fisher and Gray in the week before Bristol. Woody's colors and name were on the Chevy, but he wasn't behind the wheel. Dick May, who raced frequently for Gray, was brought in to qualify and race the car.

Fisher didn't return for the next few races, and May continued to race the 19 for Gray. I'm uncertain if Fisher's absence was by design based on his schedule, a call by Gray to park Woody because of limited experience and poor results, undelivered sponsorship dollars, or some other reason.

Gray wasn't finished with Fisher though. The Cup series arrived in Dover for the Mason-Dixon 500 in mid-May. Instead of the Chevy Malibu used frequently earlier in the season, the team brought a Monte Carlo - painted in yellow and Petty Blue with Woody's name on the door. This time the car bore #10 (Dick May was again behind the wheel of the #19).

Credit: Richard Stockman of RIS Photography

As happened at Bristol, Fisher didn't get on track with the car. Fellow independent driver (and future NASCAR pace car driver) Elmo Langley was put in the car for qualifying and the race. Fisher didn't return to Gray's team nor to Cup.

Though Fisher's days in Cup were over, his paint scheme continued. Henley replaced the 10 with #19, and continued running the yellow and blue combo for the next several years.

About two months after Dover, James Hylton borrowed the Monte Carlo from Gray for the 1978 Nashville 420. He modified the 19 to make his traditional #48 and had Walter Ballard qualify the car. Hylton's Olds had been wrecked by Al Holbert at Charlotte and Michigan preceding the Nashville race, and Hylton may have simply needed a car to get through the race and preserve some owner points. Race results show; however, Ballard didn't start the race and was credited with a last place finish.

Credit: Jeff Droke of nashville420.com

To be continued...

TMC

June 21, 1975: Neil and Woody in Nashville

With a subject line of Neil, Woody and Nashville, one might infer this post would be about folk protest music. Instead, it's one about racing as is always the case here ... well, that and Schaefer beer.

A couple of times in the mid to late 70s, my family went to Nashville's fairgrounds speedway for a dual ARCA / NASCAR Late Model Sportsman night. Both races were 200 laps...I think. While I don't remember the specifics of any of them including the winners, I do remember a few general themes:

• My dad wanted to see the a handful of drivers race: L.D. Ottinger, Harry Gant, and Butch Lindley.
• The ARCA race always seemed to have a lot of wrecks which extended its duration and delayed the start of the LMS race.
• My dad groused about how late it was getting without the LMS race being completed. (He is now 79 and still whines about that situation.)
• I just wanted to see cars race lap after lap regardless of the time.

On June 21, 1975, the track hosted such a double header though the LMS race was only 100 laps and didn't draw as many of the national touring drivers. I don't think we attended this race as our regular visits began in 1976.

The late model sportsman race was sponsored by Uniroyal Tires. As a promotion, track promoter Bill Donoho brought in the stunt driving team of Uni, Roy, and Al. Yes, seriously.

Except that particular evening the trio simply made an appearance and distributed photos vs. thrilling the crowd with their driving skills. I'm guessing in retrospect the appearance fee probably wasn't quite large enough to cover the stunts.

The Tennessean - June 20, 1975

Darrell Waltrip, the all-time wins leader at the the time at the fairgrounds and a two-time track champion in 1970 and 1973, had moved on to the Winston Cup series. As matter of fact, he'd won his first Cup race a month or so earlier in the Music City USA 420. In June, he returned to the fairgrounds with the plan to run in both races.

The Tennessean - June 21, 1975

The late Neil Bonnett raced a Bobby Allison-prepared 1972 Chevy Nova to the win in the 100-lap LMS race. The car was similar to this one (perhaps the same one) that Bonnett raced in the 1975 Falls City 200 at the fairgrounds earlier in the month.

Credit: Russ Thompson

Ohio driver and beer distributor, Woody Fisher, won the opening 100-lap ARCA feature. Coo Coo Marlin, a four-time Nashville late model champion, stepped away as did Waltrip from his regular gig as a Cup driver to race in the ARCA event. He laid down the quickest lap in qualifying in his Cunningham-Kelly Chevrolet - almost as if he might know how to get around the place!

Waltrip's night for the fans didn't go very well. He lost an engine in his borrowed car during qualifying for the ARCA race and missed the race. In the LMS race, he did what he could to pursue the bumper of Bonnett's car. But he experienced engine issues in that car as well, and he dropped out of the main feature.

Fisher has been featured in this blog previously - based on his piloting of a Petty Enterprises built Dodge Charger to a win in the 1977 ARCA 200 at Daytona.

Source: Chris Hussey

The Tennessean - June 22, 1975

TMC

Searching for Bobby Fisher

If you clicked to this blog entry because you thought it would be about an eccentric, reclusive chess player, fuhgetaboutit. This entry is a sequel to my post earlier this year about Woody Fisher.

February 13, the date of this posting, is the anniversary of Fisher's win in the 1977 ARCA 200 at Daytona driving a Dodge Charger built by Petty Enterprises.

Photo courtesy of Brian Norton from RacersReunion.com

When I posted my entry about Woody Fisher last month, I did so with a couple of gaps.

• I had only one high-quality photo of Woody Fisher provided to me by Russ Thompson.
• I knew little about Woody's brother, Bobby Fisher, who took over the Petty-built Charger once Woody was finished with it.

Within a day of my sharing the blog link at Racers Reunion, Brian Norton kindly shared about a half-dozen new and high-quality photos of Woody. Totally unexpected and truly appreciated.

Regarding the second gap, I decided to take a shot and see if I could make something happen. I learned about Bobby from researching Woody's racing career. Also, Don Smyle from Checkered Past Collectibles sent me two photos of Bobby.

Building on the little bit of info I had, I started plowing through Google searches. I learned Bobby was in the beer distribution business as was his brother. More accurately, he is in the business. He is the president of his own self-named business, Bobby Fisher Distributing.

In the 2010 Wholesale Beer and Wine Association of Ohio annual report, I discovered this excerpt:

Robert W. Fisher, Sr., founded Fisher Beverage Co. in Springfield, Ohio in 1947. Mr. Fisher came to Springfield from Youngstown, where he had worked for the Coca-Cola Co. During his lifetime he also owned beer distributing companies in Cincinnati and in Jacksonville and Melbourne, FL.

His eldest son, Woodrow (TMC: Woody), owned and operated beer companies in Cincinnati, Wilmington, NC and Daytona Beach, FL. His youngest son, James, worked with his father in the beverage companies.

In 1976, Robert W. Fisher, Sr. sold his Stroh’s and Schlitz franchises to his son, Robert Fisher, Jr. (TMC: Bobby), and Bobby Fisher Distributing was officially founded. Bobby Fisher Distributing later added the Stroh’s franchise in Charlotte, NC and the Pabst franchise in Vero Beach, FL .

Robert Fisher, Jr. remains President and CEO. His daughter, Maria Fisher-Coleman, joined the company in 1988 as vice president of operations.

A couple of phone calls placed to the company went unreturned. Rather than give up, I tried once more with an old-school communication technique: I wrote him a letter. I included a link to my entry about Woody, a photo of Bobby in the Petty-built Charger, and my contact info. Within a matter of days, a new message appeared in my Gmail inbox from Bobby Fisher Jr.

We've had a nice back-and-forth dialog the past couple of weeks. I've enjoyed having the opportunity to ask a few questions and swapping some racing stories with him (and I may have slipped in a few Schaefer stories). In return, Fisher has been really kind by answering my questions and providing a couple of photos of his own. He also told me about his purchase of another Petty-built Dodge - a custom Dodge Challenger built by Petty's Garage similar to the one pictured here.

As for his racing career, Bobby had a limited one. He raced the Petty-built Dodge three times after taking it over from his brother.

• He finished 11th in the 1977 World Service Life 300 late model sportsman race at Charlotte. The above picture of Bobby in the #74 is from that race.
  
• He raced the big Charger to a 2nd place finish in the November 1977 late model sportsman race at Ontario Motor Speedway (where his brother ran the car as an ARCA entry in the spring Ontario race).
  
• A week later, Bobby finished 9th in the Winston West race at Phoenix International Raceway. (Cale Yarborough won the race driving a Dodge for J.D. Stacy. A true rarity - this was the third and final NASCAR start in Cale's career that he drove a Dodge. But I digress...)

For Winston Cup racing, Dodge rolled out a new model, the soon-to-be-doomed Dodge Magnum, for the 1978 season. The Charger may still have been eligible for other series such as late model sportsman, ARCA, or Winston West, but the the use of the Charger ended for the Fishers following the 1977 season. I'd like to say I learned the retired Charger is on display in someone's car collection, in a business's showroom, etc. Sadly, however, Bobby told me he's unsure of what happened to the car.

Bobby made three Winston Cup starts from 1978-1979.

• In July 1978, he finished 29th in a self-owned #71 Chevrolet in the Nashville 420. TMC's first Cup race to attend was the 1978 Music City 420 at Nashville one month earlier, but I didn't get to return for the July race. I am scouring multiple sources with ties to Nashville Speedway to locate a photo of his car.
• He finished 40th in a #71 Stroh's beer-sponsored Chevy in the 1978 National 500.
• His final official Cup start was in the 1979 World 600 at Charlotte where he finished 31st in a Pabst Blue Ribbon-sponsored Buick. I searched many times over and crawled multiple message boards and image sites looking for a photo of the car. None could be found...until.
  

As I mentioned earlier, Bobby sent me a couple of pictures. Sure enough, one of them was of his PBR car. Sing it with me! Whadda ya have? Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Source: Bobby Fisher

Bobby attempted an additional Cup race. He raced a #40 Buick owned by D.K. Ulrich in the first qualifying twin for the 1979 Daytona 500. (Coincidentally, Woody Fisher was entered in the same twin.) I found this photo on-line of Bobby's racing a driver named Paul Fess in the #82 Olds.

Bobby crashed in his twin and finished 27th out of 29 cars in his twin. However, the car still made the Daytona 500 presumably based on prior year's owners points. After wrecking in the ARCA race a few days earlier and wrecking again in the twin, Bobby gave up his seat for the 500. Owner Ulrich suited up instead of Bobby and raced the Buick to a 13th place finish. Bobby told me it had been a tough week and he simply didn't get the seat time he needed. So D.K. raced his own car. As a reminder, Kyle Petty won the 1979 ARCA race in his professional racing debut, and King Richard won the Daytona 500 ending a long losing streak. So while it was the best of times for the Pettys, it was certainly the opposite feeling for Bobby. Yet a connection - though a loose one admittedly - continued between the Pettys and Fishers for the 1979 Speedweeks.

With information about my search included and a recap of Bobby's racing career documented, I can't help but return to a common theme here: Beer. Notice the beer names associated with the Fishers? Schlitz, Stroh's, PBR.

Think this through a moment. Work with me. Woody Fisher was a beer distributor, and Bobby is still one today. Its pretty obvious Stroh's and Schlitz are among the brands they distributed. Stroh's acquired Schlitz in the mid-1970s about the time they acquired another popular brewery: F&M Schaefer Brewing Company. And now Pabst owns Stroh's, Schlitz, and Schaefer in addition to its own flagship PBR.

So if my steps are correct, I've narrowed the connection between Petty Enterprises and Schaefer to 2 degrees of separation.

• Petty Enterprises to the Fishers
• The Fisher to Stroh's beer
  
• Stroh's to Schaefer

As an additional trivia connection, D.K. Ulrich who fielded the Buick for Bobby at Daytona in 1979 also owned the Schaefer-sponsored Buick raced by Al Loquasto at Pocono in 1981.

So is it possible there is a photo out there of a Schaefer-sponsored late model raced by Woody or Bobby? Who knows - but questions remain and the search continues. Until then, we'll have to settle for the next best thing - the Schaefer-sponsored Indy car driven by Josele Garza. He is shown here standing alongside Bobby. This is another photo sent to be by Fisher who took the generous extra step of having it signed for me by Garza.

TMC

Woody Fisher

The word 'woody' can conjure up a lot of visual images. With the full intention of keeping this entry on the safe side of the fine line of decency, a few Woodys folks often think about include:

An iconic beach-combing car ...

Cheers, White Men Can't Jump, The Cowboy Way, Kingpin, Natural Born Killers...

The Toy Story trilogy...

The legendary Ohio State football coach who choked...

However, I also recently learned of another Woody - race driver Woody Fisher. He was from near Cincinnati, Ohio and became successful in the family's beer distribution business. He took up stock car racing as a hobby, ran several ARCA and handful of USAC stock car races in the Midwest, and earned enough jack from distributing beer to have another residence in Florida.

During the period of his brief career, Woody won five career ARCA races. In 1975, he won 3 of 8 races he entered in a 13-race ARCA schedule, finished 4th in points, and earned the series' Rookie Of The Year award. He moved up one spot in 1976 to finish 3rd in the final standings.

Source: ARCA Racing

Among the cars Fisher raced, Woody raced several times in Chrysler "kit cars" such as Plymouth Dusters, Plymouth Volares, Dodge Darts, etc. In the late 1960s through the mid 1970s, Petty Enterprises was a distributor for Chrysler racing parts. They built turn-key "kit cars" and sold them to late model racers across the nation. Many of the cars even came with 43 decals in the Petty Enterprises font. When I was a kid, I remember building a model such as the one pictured here.

Fisher won an ARCA race at Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway in June 1975 driving one of these Chrysler products. And, here's a photo of Woody racing a Stroh's beer-sponsored kit car to finish second in an October 1975 ARCA race in Dayton, Ohio.

In 1976, Woody raised his racing stakes a bit. He procured what appears to be a Petty Enterprises-built Dodge Charger, numbered it #75, added Fisher Brothers as a sponsor (presumably the family beer distributor), and raced it to the pole in the ARCA race at Talladega. Unfortunately, he suffered engine failure and finished 22nd.

For the February 1977 ARCA 200 race at Daytona, Fisher increased his commitment yet again. From what I've learned, he went to Petty Enterprises and offered to to buy a top-of-the-line '74 Dodge Charger equal to what Richard would race in the Daytona 500 Cup race. Look closely in the photo below of the Petty shop, and you will see Woody's Charger in the background.

The Pettys agreed to the sale with a couple of conditions:

• One, Fisher couldn't race the car in NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) events against Richard.
• Two, the Pettys would maintain the car for him. I'm sure Richard, Maurice, Lee, and Dale Inman didn't want too many trade secrets made available if Fisher happened to get a handsome offer for the car.

Woody got his car, took it to the beach, won the pole, and then won his 5th and final career ARCA race! As noted earlier, Fisher was a successful beer distributor. Schlitz Light beer adorned the sides of the winning #70 Dodge in 1977.

Source: Russ Thompson from the Jay Donoho Collection

Chris Hussey, who once work for Petty Enterprises, told me the following through an e-mail exchange:

Dale [Inman] said the Fishers were good people and had nothing but nice things to say about the two brothers from the Cincinnati area. The car in question was built brand new for Woody to debut at the Daytona ARCA race. It was identical to the Cup car built for Richard that winter. Dale claims it was as nice as the 43 with the same attention to detail throughout. Long-time PE employee Richie Barsz went to Florida with the car as crew chief, and the PE crew pitted the car for the race. Dale remembers Woody being very nervous before qualifying and then going 7 MPH faster than he had practiced.

After Woody's win at Daytona in February, he piloted the #70 Charger a couple of more times in 1977 - at the March USAC stock car race in Ontario, CA and again in August in the Talladega ARCA race.

Woody's driving of the car seems to have ended at that point. He had a brief dalliance with Cup racing starting three races in 1978 for former driver turned owner Henley Gray. Returning to Daytona in February 1979, Woody participated in a a couple of races:

• He finished 21st in the ARCA 200 (won by Kyle Petty in his debut stock car race).
• He also attempted to qualify for the Daytona 500 by racing in the first 125-mile qualifying race in a #75 Chevy; however, he finished 20th and did not make the 500.

The 1977 ARCA-winning Charger itself, however, apparently had more life in it after Woody moved on to other cars. In a transaction I don't yet fully understand - but am still exploring - Woody's younger brother, Bobby Fisher Jr. took over the car. Bobby re-numbered the car to #74, replaced the Schlitz Light beer sponsorship with Stroh's, made whatever tweaks were necessary to convert the car from ARCA-eligible to NASCAR-eligible, and raced the Dodge to an 11th place finish in Bobby's debut NASCAR start in the World Service Life 300 late model sportsman race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October 1977. (For you young'uns, the NASCAR late model sportsman series was the predecessor to the Busch/Nationwide series we know today.)

Credit Don Smyle of Smyle Media / Checkered Past Collectibles 

Woody Fisher passed away on December 21, 2003, at the young age of 60. According to Chris Hussey, Dale Inman "said Woody died with a brain tumor. But stayed in contact with the PE folks till his death."

Two weeks ago, I knew ZERO about the Fishers. I've followed the Pettys since the mid-1970s. I've got books, photos, magazines, autographs, collectibles, etc. I post to multiple Petty-themed message boards, and I've developed friendships with folks who have followed the Pettys as long or longer as me. Yet, somehow I'd never heard about this aspect of the Petty history.

As for Bobby Fisher, I'm still learning. Stay tuned for Woody and Bobby Fisher...The Sequel.

An unintended search result in the Google News Archive led me to this trivia. Subsequent Google searches didn't help me a lot. Several folks helped me nail down some answers to my questions and provided photos. Thanks to Roush-Fenway's Mike Beam, Chris Hussey, Dale Inman (via Chris), Billy Biscoe, Russ Thompson, and Don Smyle of Smyle Media/Checkered Past Collectibles (pictured below with - who else - The King).

TMC