Starting with this article, we will post a throwback racing article we find while doing some deep searching through the internet every Tuesday as a part of our "Throwback Tuesday" campaign. This article describes the boycott of the 1969 Talladega 500, and how drivers felt about the track going into the 2001 race at the venue. This article is by Kevin Kelly of what was then called the St. Petersburg Times, which is now famously known as the Tampa Bay Times.
Enjoy the throwback.
In '69, safety concerns led to a Talladega boycott. Not now, many say.
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- The drivers went to the track with safety in mind.
NASCAR's longest and potentially fastest track posed a danger, they reasoned, and someone might get hurt if action wasn't taken.
But NASCAR stood firm despite an outcry from its biggest stars.
"I don't know if you call it fearful or not, but everybody was thinking about their own safety," said Donnie Allison, who helped organize the drivers boycott of the 1969 Talladega 500 at what then was Alabama International Motor Speedway.
Safety was the burning issue 32 years ago. It remains so today.
Then, drivers were concerned about tires, which weren't designed to hold up on the steeply banked, 2.66-mile track that opened that year. Now, drivers are concerned about skull fractures that have killed four drivers in crashes in less than a year, including Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500 -- a race run under rules similar to those in place this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
"I don't really care for the rules that we have right now ... but I've made my car as safe as I can get it," three-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon said.
After Earnhardt's death, talk swirled of a boycott at Talladega.
Though drivers privately say a boycott could be organized more quickly today than many imagine, they publicly discount the possibility and maintain that the media are creating hype.
"I think that's a little bit far-fetched," 1999 Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett said of a boycott.
But in 1969, the spotlight on NASCAR and its drivers wasn't as bright. The obligations to sponsors weren't as lucrative.
With straightaways as wide as a five-lane interstate and corners banked at 33 degrees, the virgin surface at Talladega had cars sticking to it like water swirling in a bucket.
It was 200 mph fast and hell on tires.
"You didn't know whether those tires were going to blow or come apart or what they were going to do," Allison said this week.
Therein lies the reason behind the only drivers boycott in NASCAR history.
"We needed to do something," said Allison, one of five founding members of the Professional Drivers Association, which led the walkout.
A technology gap was partly responsible for the boycott. Though the track allowed cars to reach 200 mph, Goodyear and Firestone did not make tires able to endure such stress.
"It was very visible for everybody," Allison said. "I was on Firestone tires at the time, and in two laps during qualifying I tore up three of the four tires I had on the car."
The drivers association, which Richard Petty headed, asked NASCAR president Bill France Sr. to postpone the race so tire manufacturers could develop a better product.
It was denied. Petty was the first to leave, and the others followed.
"Mr. France's consensus was, "Hey, you didn't have to drive the car that fast. Use your head and just slow down a little bit so the tires don't come apart,' " said Dave Marcis, a second-year driver in 1969 who went along with the boycott because he thought he had to. "However, everybody felt that wasn't racing."
France corraled whatever drivers and cars were available and ran the race, stopping every 12 laps to change tires and granting rain checks to the 48,000-plus in attendance.
Richard Brickhouse won -- his only career victory -- despite urging from Allison not to compete.
"The race had already been scheduled, already been sold out, and so Bill France had to do the best he could to run the race," said Ramo Stott, a former ARCA driver who finished fourth. "It was the right move to make."
Much has changed since 1969.
Allison had two people to answer to when he decided to boycott the race -- his team owner and his car manufacturer, Ford.
"Ford Motor Co. took every one of their drivers independently inside the (racing contractor) Holman Moody truck," he said. "They asked me if I was going to drive that car, if I was going to run the race. I said, "No. I hope I don't get fired, but I can't run the race.'
"So I got down, and they got Banjo Matthews up there, which was my car owner, and asked him if he was going to run the race. He said, "If Donnie drives my car, I'll run the race. If Donnie doesn't drive it, I won't.' So that eliminated the 27 car, which I was driving."
NASCAR has since grown into a multimillion-dollar industry that attracts lucrative sponsorship deals and television contracts, and massive fan interest.
Though safety remains a focus, particularly after Earnhardt's death Feb. 18, the many obligations to outsiders and potential loss of massive income would make a boycott difficult to execute.
"It's a driver's decision," said UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg, whose company sponsors Jarrett. "We would want to make sure that it's not something that's reactionary from a short-term issue, that it's something the person has thought about or they thought there's justification."
Atlanta Motor Speedway president Ed Clark believes that NASCAR and the teams communicate well enough that no issue would get to the point of a boycott.
"If there's an issue that we all need to go into together and tackle, I think you'd see everybody pulling together to do it rather than have something like happen," Clark said.
"I would think that it would never come to that kind of stage before it could be addressed in an open forum and taken care of."
Talladega 500
WHEN: 1 p.m. Sunday.
TV/RADIO: Ch. 13; WQYK-AM 1010.
WHERE: Talladega Superspeedway (2.66 miles).
LAPS: 188.
2000 RACE WINNER: Jeff Gordon.
2000 POLE WINNER: Jeremy Mayfield (186.969 mph).
SCHEDULE: Today -- 4 p.m., Winston Cup Talladega 500 qualifying. Saturday -- 1 p.m., Busch Grand National Subway 300 (113 laps); 4 p.m., International Race of Champions (38 laps). Sunday -- 1 p.m., Talladega 500.
Enjoy the throwback.
- - - - -
In '69, safety concerns led to a Talladega boycott. Not now, many say.
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- The drivers went to the track with safety in mind.
NASCAR's longest and potentially fastest track posed a danger, they reasoned, and someone might get hurt if action wasn't taken.
But NASCAR stood firm despite an outcry from its biggest stars.
"I don't know if you call it fearful or not, but everybody was thinking about their own safety," said Donnie Allison, who helped organize the drivers boycott of the 1969 Talladega 500 at what then was Alabama International Motor Speedway.
Safety was the burning issue 32 years ago. It remains so today.
Then, drivers were concerned about tires, which weren't designed to hold up on the steeply banked, 2.66-mile track that opened that year. Now, drivers are concerned about skull fractures that have killed four drivers in crashes in less than a year, including Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500 -- a race run under rules similar to those in place this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.
"I don't really care for the rules that we have right now ... but I've made my car as safe as I can get it," three-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon said.
After Earnhardt's death, talk swirled of a boycott at Talladega.
Though drivers privately say a boycott could be organized more quickly today than many imagine, they publicly discount the possibility and maintain that the media are creating hype.
"I think that's a little bit far-fetched," 1999 Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett said of a boycott.
But in 1969, the spotlight on NASCAR and its drivers wasn't as bright. The obligations to sponsors weren't as lucrative.
With straightaways as wide as a five-lane interstate and corners banked at 33 degrees, the virgin surface at Talladega had cars sticking to it like water swirling in a bucket.
It was 200 mph fast and hell on tires.
"You didn't know whether those tires were going to blow or come apart or what they were going to do," Allison said this week.
Therein lies the reason behind the only drivers boycott in NASCAR history.
"We needed to do something," said Allison, one of five founding members of the Professional Drivers Association, which led the walkout.
A technology gap was partly responsible for the boycott. Though the track allowed cars to reach 200 mph, Goodyear and Firestone did not make tires able to endure such stress.
"It was very visible for everybody," Allison said. "I was on Firestone tires at the time, and in two laps during qualifying I tore up three of the four tires I had on the car."
The drivers association, which Richard Petty headed, asked NASCAR president Bill France Sr. to postpone the race so tire manufacturers could develop a better product.
It was denied. Petty was the first to leave, and the others followed.
"Mr. France's consensus was, "Hey, you didn't have to drive the car that fast. Use your head and just slow down a little bit so the tires don't come apart,' " said Dave Marcis, a second-year driver in 1969 who went along with the boycott because he thought he had to. "However, everybody felt that wasn't racing."
France corraled whatever drivers and cars were available and ran the race, stopping every 12 laps to change tires and granting rain checks to the 48,000-plus in attendance.
Richard Brickhouse won -- his only career victory -- despite urging from Allison not to compete.
"The race had already been scheduled, already been sold out, and so Bill France had to do the best he could to run the race," said Ramo Stott, a former ARCA driver who finished fourth. "It was the right move to make."
Much has changed since 1969.
Allison had two people to answer to when he decided to boycott the race -- his team owner and his car manufacturer, Ford.
"Ford Motor Co. took every one of their drivers independently inside the (racing contractor) Holman Moody truck," he said. "They asked me if I was going to drive that car, if I was going to run the race. I said, "No. I hope I don't get fired, but I can't run the race.'
"So I got down, and they got Banjo Matthews up there, which was my car owner, and asked him if he was going to run the race. He said, "If Donnie drives my car, I'll run the race. If Donnie doesn't drive it, I won't.' So that eliminated the 27 car, which I was driving."
NASCAR has since grown into a multimillion-dollar industry that attracts lucrative sponsorship deals and television contracts, and massive fan interest.
Though safety remains a focus, particularly after Earnhardt's death Feb. 18, the many obligations to outsiders and potential loss of massive income would make a boycott difficult to execute.
"It's a driver's decision," said UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg, whose company sponsors Jarrett. "We would want to make sure that it's not something that's reactionary from a short-term issue, that it's something the person has thought about or they thought there's justification."
Atlanta Motor Speedway president Ed Clark believes that NASCAR and the teams communicate well enough that no issue would get to the point of a boycott.
"If there's an issue that we all need to go into together and tackle, I think you'd see everybody pulling together to do it rather than have something like happen," Clark said.
"I would think that it would never come to that kind of stage before it could be addressed in an open forum and taken care of."
Talladega 500
WHEN: 1 p.m. Sunday.
TV/RADIO: Ch. 13; WQYK-AM 1010.
WHERE: Talladega Superspeedway (2.66 miles).
LAPS: 188.
2000 RACE WINNER: Jeff Gordon.
2000 POLE WINNER: Jeremy Mayfield (186.969 mph).
SCHEDULE: Today -- 4 p.m., Winston Cup Talladega 500 qualifying. Saturday -- 1 p.m., Busch Grand National Subway 300 (113 laps); 4 p.m., International Race of Champions (38 laps). Sunday -- 1 p.m., Talladega 500.
