From a re-air of Car & Track on the old SpeedVision channel, the Southeastern 500 Grand National stock car race held at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 9th 1972.
@@davidcapp8851 - NASCAR is an extremely ironic competition nowadays. NASCAR was founded so people could see NORMAL CARS race, it was the counterpoint to open-wheelers and sports cars. Now? They're tremendously expensive prototypes. If we're being strict, NASCAR should just no longer exist. Wanna know of a very similar case? Flat track racing. Flat track racing (dirt oval racing with motorbikes) was created against speedway racing. While speedway bikes were prototypes without gears or even brakes, flat track bikes were modified streetbikes. Just like with NASCAR, flat track no longer offers the possibility to race anything similar to a streetbike. And then you have the race lengths. Back in the day longer races made sense: they were good entertainment for a few hours (you'd see plenty of cars change pace during the race) plus a great test of men and their machines (lots of engine failures, health problems and such). Now? Every single car could probably do 2000 miles without much issue and the pace is very consistent all race long. The top5 is the same after 15 minutes and after 3 hours.
Yes. It was just another short track and really didn’t amount to much. It changed owners in the 1970s then the 1980s then in 1996; by that point Winston money and the surging popularity of the series made it more popular
Toyman, boring is what we saw at North Wilkesboro last week and what we’re seeing in this 1972 Bristol race. Racing is about lead changes not horsepower. 57 lead changes in 500 miles is infinitely better than what you’re fsvoring
my NASCAR sweet spot; 1968-73 for me. I loved the Mopars of the late 60's - early 70's> Even the Torinos and Chevys looked bad ass!! Id love if they could run NASCAR using cars from all the decades, incorporated into the year. Where they would run a certain year class of cars for that race. I know im dreaming, but would be so cool.
I love being able to recognize the vehicles because they still resemble their street counterparts..and there were still Mercurys running. All this needed was a few AMCs out there.
These cars look like they're crawling around here compared to the action there today. Still amazing to see these guys wrestle these cars for over 250 miles.
One of my favorite tracks. First one was when Darrell was going for 8 in a row at Bristol. Think about that he had won 7 straight races at Bristol 3500 laps at that beast. Saw about 5 or 6 races in the 80's . One hell if a time.
I'm on the total opposite, it makes them unwatchable. Every single sound in those videos is canned. The cheers, the engines, the slides, the banging... I find insane that even in the early 1970s they weren't bringing sound recording gear to these events.
@DanArnets1492 I hear ya. I'm sure alot of folks feel the same. Lol. And I probably should've quoted that better. What I meant is I think it's funny because it's so tacky and nothing like the actual sounds at a track. I certainly am not a fan of it. Lol
Whoa! Wasnt much to BMS,in that year of 72. I live just about quarter of a mile away from it,and it really stands out from the landscape now! It truely does look like a collisseium from the Volunteer Parkway! Magestic indeed!
Meanwhile, on similar tracks throughout Wisconsin and i assume all across america, gorgeous camaros, Mustangs and firebirds raced each other fender to fender in hotly contested 50-100 lap features where the norm saw at least top 5 finishers on the lead lap and all were going for it lol. THANKS FOR the POST
The catalog of names here is phenomenal. About 847... "Richard Childress spins out". And Bobby Isaak (71) isn't such the familiar name, but in the vids from these years, show he sure could run with the best of them! Thanks for posting, awesome to see the pure roots of NASCAR in it's golden days.
Bobby Isaac was the 1970 NASCAR Champion, fastest man to lap Talladega and holder of 28 land speed records at Bonneville. Check it out - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qiYffIWUlSI.html
Wow, time has gone so fast, I remember the first time I went to Richmond as a kid and I believe it was Allison's Matador that I got to look at up close hmm, I don't remember exactly when it was though but never will forget it. My older brother took me with him for three practice session which was free to watch.
I've Accepted This Is As Close As I'm Gettin to a "Time Machine" These Old Racin vids I Remember so much Good Family Times Growin up in Western North Carolina Wilkesboro things Somehow connected or Relative to the Looming Excitement of the Race a Race & Sunday Dinner of Course .. but for Nothing else than to Hear Barney Hall MRN. Racing Radio I'd bet if Anyone else listened to the race on MRN & Where Drivin Bk from Sunday Dinner @ Grandma's even if you where Drivin a Log Truck you Felt You were actually Driving in the Race ..that was a Great Announcer !! THANKS FOR THE UPLOAD !! Cause this is what I want to Remember The Fun the Camaraderie Rivalry the Ball's to Say it ain't called Cheatin till U, get Caught the Humble Beginnings a Blue Collar Workin Man's Sport Now Opposite What WE ALL Had Before Corporate America Changed things to fit a G.M's Narrative that's grown-up being Chauffeured around Hey Or She May Have Got There Kicks But it Wasn't From Runnin 120 mph on a Twisted Mountain Road..Just Sayin Now My Soapbox is RET.. PEACE ALL..
@@adcoxrobert3786 No. If that were the case then you would have seen more independents running GM during factory backing of Ford, Mopar; GM struck quickly after Ford pulled out with and you quickly saw teams of aero Laguna S-3's, Pontiac's, Oldsmobile's. Look at top three cars running 1,2,3 at '79 Daytona 500. Mopar was practically bankrupt.
@@superdragUSA1 I'm looking at the '64 Daytona 500 when Mopars came in first, second, third, and fifth. I'm also looking at how Richard Petty won 176 of his 200 wins in Mopars.
@@adcoxrobert3786 this race is in '72 not '64, ends with announcer saying "Allison wins, starting Chevy down the come back trail" which relates to what I was saying about GM not heavily involved in competition, then coming back in strongly. Petty was good but Pearson owned him with more victories in head to head competition with him. Had Pearson selected to run full seasons and all races, Pearson would have accumulated many championships, so Petty didn't dominate anything statistically against the Silver Fox.
Sorry, Jeff, but all engine sounds you hear in this video are 100% canned. You need to watch the few live and semi-live broadcasts from this area to hear REAL engine sounds.
Racing coverage back then was miserable though. Only 15-20 races would get any coverage at all, sometimes as short as 3 minutes. The first NASCAR Cup season to be half-broadcasted was in the early 80s and it wasn't until a few years later that the NASCAR Cup series first got the full season full race treatment.
Always found that surname hilarious. "Moroso" is the Spanish word for someone who isn't following their debt payments correctly, doesn't matter if it's too slow or just not paying entirely. He must've come from a very "interesting" family, hahaha.
i was at both bristol races that year as well as both atlanta races. Bobby won them all!! i though gee this is easy , all i have to do is show up an bobby wins!
426 hemi's 427 Chevy & the 427 side oiler FE ford, the last of the muscle car era! And the gas war's that let us young men buy up these gas guzzlers, drive down I 95 over 135mph . O the fun passing a city cop car on a 2 lane blacktop,
The cars had way less durability in those days. There were more mechanical breakdowns and a ton of blown engines. So several of the competitive cars would end up with a DNF each week.
Was watching one of these early 70’s videos of a Charlotte race where Bobby Allison was leading, Donnie Allison was racing him hard in second, but was A LAP DOWN(!), and the third place car was 2 laps down!
They had less weight than the 429, so the cars handled better on this track and saved the tires David Pearson drove a de-strocked 427 in 1968 with 396ci and 2x4 carb setup
@@goldenltd1970 Nope. 429 weighs around 600# while the 427 FE weighs about 650#. 429 is lighter due to the aluminium heads, magnesium oil pan and thinner wall casting. You are correct that in 1968 the Ford teams destroked the 427 to 390, just as the Chrysler teams destroked the 426 to 404 but you didn't tell us why... So I will. It was due to 1968 NASCAR rule of 9.36# per CI, resulting in the 396 CID car weighing in around 3706# vs the 427 CID which would have to weigh in around 4000#.
@@goldenltd1970 Yep. The 429 was hard to tune and was only pulling around 580 HP, same as the 427 FE, unless a lot of work was put into it. And it was expensive, compared to the 427s many Ford shops had sitting around - roushyates.wordpress.com/tag/nascar/
A.B.C. on Early Saturday or Sunday afternoon before The Big Shows and I was right in front of The Colored Big Screen I wanted to be A Race Car Driver and Stunt driver and truck driver.
@@electrolytics It is really just a markeing tool. The Southeastern 500 sounds better than the Southeastern 250. So some events are calculated on miles and some on laps. IndyCar did the same thing with the Firehawk 600 at Texas. It was 600 KM (actual race distance was 373 miles).
Race length numbers in American racing can be laps, kilometers (often have a K behind them) or miles. · Bristol 500 races are like ¿266? miles · Phoenix 500k races are 312 miles · Daytona 500 races are actually 500 miles Also, remember that all oval tracks are not measured on the inside line (athletics and velodromes) OR the average between inside and outside line like most roadcourses. They measure them about 10-20ft from the outside wall. Nobody has ever done 500 miles in Daytona or Indy on a single race (outside those race-extending GWC finishes, I guess).
Hot Wheels in the floor on front porch steps dirty some times have to wash them all Tok Trucks and everything from yard drinking Ting and Sugar and Kool Aid.
Yeah let's throw a caution for tires after 20 laps, hey let's give a " lucky dog", better yet let's start all over in 3 segments, now that's real racing ain't it. Lmao
@@jcearnhardt393 And don't forget, there was no closing pit road in those days. You could pit any time you wanted and they only started 30 cars in this race which allows the field to spread out. Notice how they didn't crash every few laps and throw a caution like the modern Bristol.
Exactly, Greek and Hillbilly. They didn't manipulate things to keep cars from being lapped. No wave arounds, free passes, competition yellows, and all that BS. Plus the cars broke down and blew engines often, which was another reason few cars would finish on the lead lap.
The good news nowadaze is that the entire field HAS TIRES to change over ti. Over half of the field in this race deliberately nursed the tires they had
Robert Hendrickson I’ve been a race fan for better than 50 years. I’ve not seen good racing for nearly 20 years except on small town bull rings and dirt tracks.
