January 27, 2021 at 6:28 AM
By Rick Houston
Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip were as different as different could be, inside a race car and out.
Waltrip could talk, and he didn’t particularly mind whose feathers he ruffled. It was Yarborough who dubbed Waltrip “Jaws” for his loquacious ways. They had their fair share of run-ins on the track and off, and the ill will rubbed off on Yarborough’s Junior Johnson & Associates crew.
They didn’t like Waltrip, either. Yet in Waltrip’s barbs, there was motivation to do better … to do more … to win … to beat Waltrip.
This is Jeff Hammond’s story.
The Scene Vault: Jeff Hammond Gets His Start With Junior Johnson & Associates January 22, 2021 at 11:55 AM
By Rick Houston
Jeff Hammond showed up late, but Herb Nab put him to work any way.
Thinking this was going to be a formal interview with Junior Johnson & Associates, Hammond had made his way from his home in Charlotte to the Johnson team’s shop in Ingle Hollow, in rural North Carolina. He’d gotten lost, but that didn’t seem to matter when he did show up. Nab was already busy repairing damage sustained the day before at Darlington by the team’s driver, Cale Yarborough.
The Scene Vault: Jeff Hammond s Early Days In Racing - Jayski s NASCAR Silly Season Site jayski.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jayski.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
January 18, 2021 at 6:20 AM
By Rick Houston
Phil Parsons really had no other choice.
Plagued by rumors about his eyesight, Parsons’ options in NASCAR’s elite Winston Cup division were, at the very best, limited. So he and wife Marcia made the decision to go racing in the Busch Series, with their own team and own cars.
That call paid off when Phil won Charlotte’s 1994 spring Busch Series race. To win at Charlotte, the area home to most NASCAR teams, was one thing. To pass … and then pull away from … Mark Martin was something else entirely. After everything Parsons had been through in his career, it made the victory all the more special.
The Scene Vault: Phil Parsons Wins At Talladega January 13, 2021 at 3:31 AM
By Rick Houston
Five years later, he reached the mountaintop at the very same race track.
Despite that early accident at the sport’s biggest and fastest race track, Parsons seemed to do his best work at Talladega and Daytona. He looked forward to those races, and it showed. He’d trailed Bobby and Davey Allison to the checkered flag in the 1988 Daytona 500 in third place, setting up a chance for a decent run at Talladega just a couple of months later.
This time, it was Parsons’ turn to hold off Bobby Allison at the stripe, to score the first Winston Cup victory of his young career. He was looking forward to more.