OUTLAWED! Number one in a series.
INTRODUCTION
Everybody knows that whatever Nascar says GOES! It's always been their way or the highway and sometimes the role of benevolent dictator was not only the best way but the only way to keep everyone straight.
When Big Bill was running the show there were times he had to stand alone (without the megabucks that Brian enjoys having behind him today) against some pretty tough customers- drivers, car owners and mechanics, not to mention the Big 3 Automakers.
In this rich and varied history there were some notable times that William H. G. France Sr. had to put his big foot down even if there was a good chance it could wind up being stomped or in his own mouth. I think the success of the sanctioning body through all those difficult times proves that, love him or hate him, he was the right, and possibly only, man for the job.
As I looked through pictures of my model collection I saw cars that brought to mind some of the birthing pains of the great sport of stock car racing and wanted to share them with you.
To some the stories will be well worn friends and to others new and fresh. But to all they are the story of how we got to here from there so many years ago. I hope you enjoy the ride.
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The first in this series had to be ol' Pops himself. Once quoted as saying, "I don't think I'd be happy if I wasn't in some kind of trouble", he got kicked out of Nascar for trying to organize the drivers as part of the Teamster's Union to raise money to help him finish and hold on to the Charlotte Motor Speedway back in '61.
It ended badly with Turner getting kicked out of both Nascar and the speedway before it was over. To keep his hand in he would run whenever and wherever he could and wound up in this '64 Ford running USAC races.
1964 also marked his return to his beloved Charlotte Motor Speedway where he won the 250 mile ARCA race by lapping the field in one of Jack Bowsher's '64 Fords. I got to see that race as a kid with a bunch of other Boy Scouts that always got invited to the support races back then. It is still one of my favorite racing memories to this day.
