Ol' "99"

I was thinking about what to write for my 99th post. There was that old bar tune, "99 bottles of beer on the wall' (I always hated that one).

Then there was cute little Barbara Felden, who played "Agent 99" in the old television series "Get Smart" with Don Adams.

And then I thought about Curtis Turner. I'd venture to say that most of you who are reading this don't know that name.

Curtis Turner drove the #99 car back in NASCAR's golden era, a purple & white '56 Ford. This was BEFORE "Nextel Cup", "Winston Cup" and even "Grand National"

Curtis was one of those many "good old boys" who used to haul illegal booze, and outrun the Feds on the back roads of the south in one of the more "romantic" periods of Amrican history.

Most of the moonshiners built their own cars, and knew how to get the most out of them, to keep ahead of the law. Moonshiner/NASCAR legend Junior Johnson once said that "outrunning the Feds was one race you HAD to win, 'cause if'n you didn't, you'se in a whole bunch of trouble."

Every now and then, they'd get to arguing among themselves over who had the fastest car, so they'd go out and race each other. Before long, it became apparent that folks would gladly PAY to watch it............and in 1947, NASCAR was born (NASCAR----National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing).

In the early days, they really WERE "stock cars". Oh, you could fine tune and "tweak", play with the tires, suspension and exhaust, but they basically HAD to be pretty much the way they came from the dealer, and they all got inspected BEFORE the race.......and AFTER, if you won or finished in the "top-5."

There wasn't any big-time sponsorship then, and many of the cars were DRIVEN to the track, and if they weren't trashed at the end, they were driven back home. The "driver's suits were whatever you were wearing, and the "safety belt" was usually a bedsheet tied around your waist from the front seat floor mounts.

There were no "cool-suits" in the hot summers of the south, your "driver-to-pit communication" was in the form of a chalkboard sign your crew would flash at you as you came by.

There were no special "racing tires", spoilers or any of that, and the tracks were predominatly DIRT, until the first few asphalt tracks were finally built and the speeds came up.

But handling a big 54 Pontiac, 55 Oldsmobile or a 61 Mercury-----sliding around in the dirt corners, was not for the timid.............TODAY's "stock cars" (which are nothing more than high-tech racing packages with fabricated skin on them.....properly set-up.....practically drive themselves.

Not to take away anything from the "Jeff Gordon's" of today, but if they ever had to drive 4,000 lbs of Pontiac Bonneville on a dirt track, I think a lot of those old "legends" could still come out of retirement and BEAT 'em!

Curtis was a savvy driver. An oval track was nowhere near the challenge of speeding down the backroads in the middle of the night, with illegal whiskey in the trunk and the "Revenooers" on your tail!

MANY of those early stars of NASCAR started out haulin' 'shine........They could BUILD a car to go fast, and they could certainly drive them. I LOVE watching those old NASCAR films of some of those guys like the Flock Brothers, Junior, Lee Petty, Fireball Roberts, David pearson, the Allisons, and of course the "King himself, Richard Petty.

Curtis drove several different cars in his dirt-to-asphalt career, but the one I remember best was the number 99 Ford. He could cock that thing sideways in a tight turn on the dirt, and slip right UNDER you for the lead. In Daytona for example, they used to race on old Highway "A1", and the front stretch was right on the beach itself, so you had to be careful not to "draft" behind the guy in front of you, 'cause if you did, you'd get sand in your radiator from HIS tires, and you'd overheat later in the race.

There WAS NO special "hi-tech/gee-whiz" racing equipment back then, so you really had to take care of what you had under you----know when to "push" your car, and when to just run a few laps and stay out of trouble. A driver had no "spotters" or 2-way communication, and he really had to "drive by the seat of his pants" as they say. He had to listen to EVERYTHING that motor was doing, or he might not MAKE those 500 miles at Daytona, or the 100 to 200 milers and the smaller dirt tracks.

Curtis turner in that old number "99" Ford could do it all.

I would have to say he was probably the best driver who ever lived. Even though he didn't have the money a lot of the other teams had---the spare parts or cars, Turner could get more out of what HE had, than anyone else.

The reason I say he was probably the best..........is that I have always PERSONALLY considered Richard Petty to be the greatest ever, and the record books CLEARLY show that.-------TWO HUNDRED career wins, 27 wins in 1967 including 10 in a row!.....7 Winston Cup titles, 7 Daytona 500 wins, 126 poles.......you name it--he's done it, on DIRT, asphalt, the old convertibles to the big 426 MOPAR Hemi's, to the downsized stuff similiar to what they're running today. They can talk "Earnhardt" all they want, but Richard was the "King."

THAT BEING SAID THOUGH.........Richard HIMSELF has said there wasn't a better driver ANYWHERE than Junior Johnson..........and JUNIOR has said repeatedly over the years, that Curtis Turner was the best HE ever saw. When you saw that "99" car in your mirror, Curtis was comin' for ya------and if he got AROUND you, you weren't gettin' it back!

The last car I remember Curtis driving was the #41 Mercury for Bud Moore, but the one that comes most quickly to MY mind was that # 99, purple & white 56 Ford. I saw that old Ford in a NASCAR museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, about 8 years ago. Got some pictures of it around here SOMEWHERE.

But he was one of those "Bigger-than-life" pioneers of the old days when it really WAS "rough & tumble" out there. He never really got the sponsorship as it came along, because he was one of the "rogues" back then, you might say. Most of HIS race cars got to the track on his own dollar, but he could set one up, and he could drive........

Curtis Turner could "spot you" 50 horsepower and STILL beat you with his driving skills alone. He was THAT good.

Every once in awhile, his car was "just right" and if it WAS, you didn't have enough sponsorshop money in YOUR car to beat him. You were settling for 2nd place 'cause you weren't catching ol' "99."