At about the middle of the season, Gary was going on vacation. We flipped a coin to see who was going to drive that week and I won. I had never driven a stock car before that. I came in 6th in my heat and 3rd in the B feature. After that night, I knew I had to have my own car and drive it.
I bought a '57 chevy for $50 and a friend of mine and I built a stock car using the ideas I learned from the Durham brothers. Jim was a machinist and a welder working nights and I was an auto mechanic working days at that time. So we built the car hardly seeing each other. Neither one of us really knew how to build a stock car but after a few months and $500 later, we were ready to go racing.
My first race was on May 16, 1970 at Playland Park Raceway. This was only the second time that I was in a race car. I had no idea what was going to happen.
The following newspaper clippings, pictures and weekly notes basically tell the story of the five years that I raced stock cars.
The top row was Gary Durham. It was the first stock car I was involved with. Duane and I met when I was 11 years old. We grew up together and became best friends.
Above is a picture of Duane, Gary, and I. The car is ready to race the 1969 season.
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