Riding Shotgun

First off, thanks for all the nice emails of support I've received. I hope it's half as fun reading these stories as I think it's going to be writing them.

Second, where do we go next?

I think I'm going to let you all be my guinea pigs while I learn the ins and outs of blogging. Tonight I want to try adding a little video.

How many of you rode in the two-seater with Bill Morton? Ah, I think I see quite a few hands!

During the fall of 1971 (at least, did it go for two seasons?) Bill installed a second seat in the #101 Chevelle and gave rides during intermission for a lucky number drawing in the program.

How would you like to take a ride in this at 100mph?

Then he went one better. All during the State Fair he gave rides for $5.00 a trip. Without doubt, the best ride of the Fair!

You can bet I got right in line with my five dollars. You paid your money, signed the release form, strapped on a helmet, slid through the window and buckled up. They had the time clock on the scoreboard running and timed your fast lap. If I remember right, you got a warmup lap, the timed lap, and the cool down lap. And when it was over, you got a card making you an Official Member (who would want to be an unofficial member??) of the Union 76 100 Mile Per Hour Club.

 Yep, that is my actual membership card. And knowing in 1971 I would be writing this blog 40 years later, I recorded all the important information on the back: Date of ride was September 22, 1971. The time was 20.63 and the average speed was 109.064 mph. That time would have been about six tenths off qualifying for the top 24 of the previous Southern 300.

Here's a secret. I think the statute of limitations has run out. I was only 14 at the time. I think you were supposed to be 16. I was a tall 14 and was friends with Bill, so they let me slide. It remains one of the coolest things I've ever done. And don't forget, this was on the 36 degree banks.

For those of you who weren't around 40 years ago, maybe here is the next best thing. Mr. Donoho saw the promotional value in that seat. He talked it over with Bill, and they decided they would let a photographer ride in the second seat during a heat race and film the race. And here are the results of that little experiment:

 

You might notice about 24 seconds in that Bill falls off the pace. Bill and his crew were pretty sharp. Among his crew members were Howard Johnson, Buster Lamb, Clayton Gentry, Dave Sellers, L.N. Kennedy, and Tommy Lee. (And apologies if I left anyone out.) They won pit crew of the year the year before. 

The 1970 Pit Crew of the Year
L-R: David Sellers, Clayton Gentry, Howard Johnson, Tommy Lee, L.N. Kennedy, and driver Bill Morton

They decided if this photographer was going to be riding with them during a race that was going to be quite a bit of extra weight. And not exactly where you want weight in a race car. So to help compensate, they thought they'd run as little gas as they could. They missed it by just a little. When you see Bill fall back coming off turn two, he had run out of gas. During a heat race.

And now you know...