Tom Higgins, Waddell Wilson Podcast Background

So Steve Waid got a great interview with NASCAR legend, Waddell Wilson. Like may of you I sort of know his history, but not all the juicy details. That's why God created Tom Higgins. Here's a Higgin's article on Waddell from October 10, 2006. Thanks to Tom for being there and to Waddell for getting it done. Enjoy Waddell on today's podcast and don't forget Higgins over at thatsracin.com ... http://blogs.thatsracin.com/scuffs/
___________________________

Wilson to receive Hall of Fame's Golden Wrench

By Tom Higgins

Twenty-five years ago I made this prediction: Engine-builder and crew chief Waddell Wilson is racking up a record worthy of motorsports halls of fame.
At last, it has come to pass.
On Wednesday night in Mooresville, Wilson, 69, is to be presented the prestigious Golden Wrench Award by the N.C. Stock Car Racing Hall Of Fame.
That amounts to an induction. Going in with Wilson is one of his former drivers, three-time Winston Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip. Previous Golden Wrench honorees include the legendary Leonard Wood, Dale Inman and Buddy Parrott.
That's awesome company.
I first met Waddell way back in the 1950s when we were youngsters growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. He hailed from Bakersville in Mitchell County. I was born and raised in Burnsville in adjoining Yancey County.
I realize that this is going to be difficult for those of you who know me personally to believe, but I was once a Boy Scout.
So was Waddell.
I remember going to Courts Of Honor held by the Boy Scouts of America's Toe River Council at Spruce Pine and Pineola and in my beautiful, beloved mountainous hometown.
I was proud to get one merit badge every now and then for some project on which I'd tediously worked my fanny off. Or a winter camping badge for which I'd frozen off that same part of the body.
And then, the Council leader would call up Waddell Wilson.
He invariably earned five merit badges.
Dang, what a pride and ego deflater.
Winning the most merit badges of perhaps any Boy Scout in the Council at the time wasn't Waddell's only superlative, as I painfully learned. He also had the sharpest elbows of any basketball player in the Toe River Conference.
I last got bruised in the ribs--and elbowed in the mouth - by Waddell in the final regular season game of 1955. His Bakersville team subsequently was eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament. I'm proud to say that my Burnsville team won the title, and I'd like to relate that I starred, but that would be a, er, fib.
Anyway, fast forward nine years to the National 400, the October race of 1964 at the track then known as Charlotte Motor Speedway. I'm strolling through the garage area as the new guy on the block for The Charlotte Observer, looking for story possibilities.
Someone suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around. "What are you doing in this garage area!?" he demanded.
"I'm writing stories for the Charlotte Observer," I said with a delighted laugh.
"What are YOU doing in this garage area!?"
Waddell Wilson bellowed. "I'm building racing engines for Holman and Moody!"
I've got to admit it. We hugged.
"Don't elbow me," I said.
"You big rascal, you won't ever forget, will you?"
"Never, and I won't ever let you forget either."
After high school, I went off to Brevard College for two years, luckily landed a job at a daily newspaper and with ink in the blood never went back to school, much to my mother's dismay.
Waddell went to the Nashville Auto and Diesel College in Tennessee and after graduation took a job in Miami at Cummins Diesel.
A racing enthusiast, he started driving his own cars in jalopy, street stock and then modified divisions at the Hialeah, Palmetto and Hollywood short tracks in Florida.
"I won a few," recalls Waddell, "but before long I figured building engines really was my niche."
This talent landed him a job in the early 1960s with the storied Ford "factory team," Holman and Moody, based in Charlotte.
Waddell assumed big responsibilities almost immediately.
He built the winning engine for Fireball Robert's triumphant Ford in the 1963 Southern 500 at Darlington. This put his name on the sport's "A List."
And it never went down.
For Holman and Moody and subsequent other teams such as L.G. DeWitt's, Ranier Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, Waddell was either the engine builder or crew chief or both for a passel of winners.
His engines powered David Pearson to NASCAR championships in 1968 and '69 and Benny Parsons in 1973.
His roster of other winners includes Fred Lorenzen, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Bobby Allison, Ricky Rudd, Junior Johnson, Geoff Bodine, Lennie Pond and Buddy Baker.
To me, the most memorable of all these winners was the 1980 Daytona 500 with Baker, and the Harry Ranier team's Oldsmobile. The car was so fast it was nicknamed "The Gray Ghost."
The car's black and gray paint scheme blended in with the track's asphalt, and drivers that Buddy was overtaking couldn't see him coming. So NASCAR stipulated that day-glo pink strips be put on the front of the car so rivals could see Buddy coming up on them.
What a testimony to an engine-builder and crew chief!
Wilson's record in these dual capacities lists 109 race victories and 123 poles. Among the latter is Benny Parsons' run of 200.176 mph in 1982 at Talldega, the first time anyone topped the 200 mph barrier in NASCAR time trials.
How many truly BIG races have Waddell Wilson's cars won?
Here's the list:
Nine at Michigan, eight at both Daytona and Charlotte, seven at Talladega, five at Darlington and three at Atlanta.
Short tracks?
Eight at Bristol and seven at Martinsville.
Waddell retired as a fulltime racer in 2000. He now works part-time as a consultant at Jerico Transmissions. p>In my mind, perhaps there is no greater measure of a man's life than that his children choose to follow him in his field of endeavor.
Waddell and Barbara Wilson's two sons and their daughter all have done that, pursuing careers in motorsports. So has his stepson.
Waddell Wilson obviously is deserving of his hall of fame honor.
I knew that a quarter-century ago.

• 2 Comments

Jeff vs. Jimmie

Okay so to be fair I am stirring the pot here, but can you imagine how Jeff Gordon will feel if Jimmie cracks off his third title in a row? Titles that were oh so close and taken right from under Jeff's nose by his teammate with identical information ... titles that when added to his four would tie him with Dale Sr?

I don't know about you, but it might make me go all Rusty Wallace on him.

• 12 Comments
• Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon

What Does Richard Have Up His Sleeve?

You don't seriously believe that Richard Childress is gonna force Clint to qualify the 33 car on time for the first five races next year ... well do ya?

You gotta believe that the 01 or 15 has points for sale?

What do you think?

• 11 Comments

Podcast Tunes

I've been asked who we are playing on our podcast. First things first ... we play anything from our boys at ATO records - Government Mule, Mike Doughty, Radio Head, David Gray, Gomez. We also play cuts from our friends at Musictoday.com. Dave Mathews, Trey Anastasio, Sons of Bill, Whigs, OAR, Switchfoot, JEM, Cheap Trick, Ramones, Brazillian Girl. And lastly friends of the show - Flip City from Wes, Shred Eagle from the Rocking Roush Man, and Thunder from over in the UK.

Finally I pop in Electric Mary one of my favorite bands. They are from Australia and are great.

Note To All Bands: If you want us to play your tunes on the show contact me and we'll put your music on. More is better.

• 6 Comments

What Do I Ask Clint?

Rowdy Nation ....

I'll be interviewing Clint Bowyer later today. What would you like me to ask him? Please be creative.....

• 17 Comments

Rowdy Opportunity Of A Lifetime

Well ... not really. You see Bass and Cutler are ditching on Monday and Tuesday so I have no dance partners for the podcast. I mean I love what I have to say but even I bore myself when talking alone. Who wants to join me for the Rowdy Outro? That is if any of you guys like talking racing.

• 18 Comments

You Gotta Give It Up For Paris

Uhhhmmmmmm.OMG. This is damn funny.

• 14 Comments

This Is An Absolute Joke!!!

And we thought Michellin screwed the pooch at Indy's F1 race last year!!!! This not racing. It has become a tire test!!

• 24 Comments

To the Tylers...cause I am one.

• 9 Comments

TNT SUCKS!!!!!

Stop pretending to cut people in half when you could be showing racing. That was appallingly stupid. Horrible Coverage!!

• 25 Comments