|
|
 Earles, active in the track until the end, died Nov. 16, 1999. "My grandfather would have especially appreciated being voted into the NMPA Hall of Fame," Campbell said. "He loved the media and knew how important they are to the success of the sport." Scott, who died in 1990, began racing at the Danville Fairgrounds swiss army victorinox sportline ana digit watch speedway winning 128 races in many divisions and in 1959 won the virginia state sportsman championship. in 1961, he fielded a car in the nascar grand national circuit, later renamed the nascar winston cup series. on dec. 1, 1963 he won his only grand national race, a 100-mile event on a half-mile track in jacksonville, fla. he is the only african-american driver to ever win a nascar winston cup series race. much of nascar stock car racing''s current popularity can be traced to robertson. robertson moved up the ranks to become president of sports marketing enterprises. many of racing''s unique programs, such as the winston million and the no bull five were robertson''s innovations. after his death in a boating accident in 1998, the winston cup preview, which he created, was quite appropriately re-named the t. wayne robertson winston cup preview in his honor. "i really love racing at places that are wide where you can pass easily and darlington just isn''t one of those places. it is so tight that passing is tough to do. in fact, the place is so narrow, you''ll be successful if you just don''t hit the wall all day long." heading into the weekend, green''s lead over second-place jason keller is an astounding 589 points. the race for second-place has become heated between four drivers -- keller, todd bodine and rookies kevin harvick and ron hornaday. keller is enjoying the most consistent season of his career in the no. 57 excedrin chevrolet. harvick and hornaday have each won twice in nascar 2000 -- they have combined to win four of the past seven events -- and will likely be tough yet again this weekend. harvick dominated last friday sportline night''s food city 250 at bristol motor speedway, leading more laps than anyone in series history -- 241 of 250 -- en route to victory lane. he trails keller by just seven points with eight races remaining. harvick''s key to victory lane this weekend? bud pole qualifying. "darlington''s narrow just like bristol and it takes a long time to get by somebody without flat running sportline into them," earles was dedicated to creating wonderful memories for the fans and providing the best facility for watching a race. scott was dedicated to being a great driver and mechanic. robertson was dedicated to promoting the nascar winston cup series. martinsville speedway president w. clay campbell, who is h. clay earles'' grandson, knew robertson well and came to know scott as he grew up at the track and traveled with his grandfather promoting races. "i think wendell and my grandfather had a lot in common. both of them went up against the odds and both of them persevered and made it. we are in the position we are today because of perseverance," campbell said. "t. wayne, wendell and my grandfather were all determined to succeed and racing is a better sport because they were a part of it." earles, one of the pioneers of racing, opened martinsville in 1947, the year before nascar was formed, and became partners at martinsville with the late big bill france, who founded nascar. the track began with a seating capacity of 750 and now seats 86,000. martinsville was one of the first tracks to have permanent concession stands, attended restrooms, first-aid stations and air-conditioned scoring stands and press boxes. Odds and stats for betting on sports.
|