Harold Kite
Harold Kite (November 13, 1921October 17, 1965) was a NASCAR Grand National Series driver from East Point, Georgia. In his brief Grand National Series career, Kite competed in nine events to earn one win and two top-ten finishes. Early life Kite attended Commercial High School in Atlanta, graduating in 1939. He joined the U.S. Army in June 1942, achieving the rank of first lieutenant the following January. Kite served with the 1st Armored Division and was wounded in January 1944 during the Anzio landings. He continued to serve in the Georgia National Guard while driving for NASCAR, and was a captain commanding the 201st Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company when he won at Daytona Beach. Career summary Kite's debut came in 1950. Starting third on the Daytona Beach Road Course, he quickly found his way to the lead. From there, Kite led 38 of the 48 laps, holding off Red Byron by fifty-three seconds for the victory. He recorded two midpack finishes to close out the year: a 38th in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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East Point, Georgia
East Point is a suburban city located southwest of Atlanta in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,358. The city name is derived from being at the opposite end of the former Atlanta & West Point Railroad from West Point, Georgia, West Point. History The name "East Point" derives from the fact that this is the terminus of the Atlanta & West Point Railroad in the east; West Point, Georgia, is the terminus where the rail line ends in the west. This settlement was founded as a railroad terminus with 16 families in 1870, but grew quickly after it became an inviting place for industry to develop. Soon it boasted the railway, two gristmills, and a government distillery located on Connally Drive. One of the earliest buildings was the factory of the White Hickory Manufacturing Company, built by B.M. Blount and L.M. Hill (who became the first chairman of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Georgia National Guard
The Georgia National Guard is the National Guard of the U.S. state of Georgia, and consists of the Georgia Army National Guard and the Georgia Air National Guard. (The Georgia State Defense Force is the third military unit of the Georgia Department of Defense, part of the Government of Georgia.) The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions. The state functions range from limited actions during non-emergency situations to full scale law enforcement of martial law when local law enforcement officials can no longer maintain civil control. The National Guard may be called into federal service by the President under either Title 10 or Title 32 status. When National Guard troops are called to federal service, the President serves as Commander-in-Chief. The federal mission assigned to the National Guard is: "To provide properly trained and equipped units for prompt mobilization for war, National emergency or as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shelby, North Carolina
Shelby is a city in and the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. It lies near the western edge of the Charlotte combined statistical area. The population was 20,323 at the 2010 census. History The area was originally inhabited by Catawba and Cherokee peoples and was later settled between around 1760. The city was chartered in 1843 and named after Colonel Isaac Shelby, a hero of the battle of Kings Mountain (1780) during the American Revolution. Shelby was agricultural until the railways in the 1870s stimulated Shelby's development. Textiles later became its chief industry during the 1920s when production of cotton in Cleveland County rose from 8,000 to 80,000 bales a year. Cotton production peaked in 1948 with Cleveland County producing 83,549 bales, making it North Carolina's premier cotton county. In the 1930s, Shelby was known as “the leading shopping center between Charlotte and Asheville” People from surrounding counties came to Shelby to sho ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1955 Southern 500
The 1955 Southern 500, the sixth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event. The event was held on September 5, 1955, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. This race spanned 500 miles on a paved oval track. An unofficial 30-minute highlight film of this race would appear on the collector's set of ''Stock Cars of 50s & 60s – Stock Car Memories: Darlington-Southern 500''; which was released in 2008. The local radio station '' WJMX'' made it possible to hear the entire race. Coverage of the race would be spotty outside the Darlington area due to the broadcasting limitations of AM radio. Confederate flags were frequently flown in all parts of the state back then; they were shown alongside the Stars and Stripes. Background Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Memphis-Arkansas Speedway
The Memphis-Arkansas Speedway was a dirt oval track located just west of West Memphis, Arkansas, United States, in the community of Lehi. This speedway had a total distance spanning . Its elevation is 200 feet above sea level and all races used the Central Time Zone. While the track opened on October 7, 1954, it soon ran out of money. Paving the track cost $100,000 ($ when adjusted for inflation) because the dirt surface was unmanageable after a certain number of years. As a result, the track was closed permanently in 1957 when it was sold to local farmer Clayton Eubanks Sr., who used the abandoned race track for catfish, rice, and soybeans for a number of years. The proposed Interstate highway that was being built near the abandoned rack track was not finished in time to save it. Richard Petty and his father Lee both remember the high banking that this race track had. The dirt was used for the banking and two ponds were on opposite ends of the speedway. Lee Petty finished third ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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LeHi, Arkansas
Lehi (also stylized as LeHi) is an unincorporated community in Crittenden County, Arkansas, United States, located at the intersection of I-40/US-79/US-63 and AR 147. It is the location of a former NASCAR track, the Memphis-Arkansas Speedway The Memphis-Arkansas Speedway was a dirt oval track located just west of West Memphis, Arkansas, United States, in the community of Lehi. This speedway had a total distance spanning . Its elevation is 200 feet above sea level and all races used .... References {{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Crittenden County, Arkansas Unincorporated communities in Arkansas ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1955 NASCAR Grand National Series
The 1955 NASCAR Grand National season began on November 7, 1954, and ended on October 30, 1955. Even though the season was resolved in the course of two different years, all NASCAR personnel were allowed to have their traditional two-month silly season that traditionally comes between mid-November and mid-February. Tim Flock won the 1955 championship by a margin of 1508 over top of Buck Baker. This season was unusual because of its 11-month season (as opposed to the current 10-month season format). As the ninth season of the series now known as the Cup Series, most of the drivers involved were still the first-generation race car drivers. They did not have any ties to the stock car racing world through their parents or grandparents although some of them served in World War II prior to their NASCAR careers. However, the generation that would gain notoriety and fame through nepotism (i.e., their father or older brother having a ride before them) would emerge about ten years later. Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Columbia Speedway
Columbia Speedway was an oval racetrack located in Cayce, a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. It was the site of auto races for NASCAR's top series from 1951 through 1971.Columbia Speedway page of Racing-Reference websit retrieved 8 May 2007. For most of its history, the racing surface was dirt. The races in April and August 1970 were two of the final three NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Grand National races ever held on a dirt track.Fielden, Greg, "NASCAR Cleans Up", ''Speedway Illustrated'', September 2004. The track was paved before hosting its last two Grand National races in 1971. The track also hosted 8 NASCAR Convertible Series races between 1956 and 1959, the lone Richard Petty's win at the series as at Columbia Speedway. The speedway also hosted 4 NASCAR Grand National East Series The NASCAR Grand National East Series was a short-lived racing series created by NASCAR in 1972 to provide a second-tier series, below the Winston Cup Series, to provide races at tracks tha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1951 Southern 500
The 1951 Southern 500, the second running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 3, 1951, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. The winner of the race was Herb Thomas. The event had the most starters in NASCAR history with 82 cars starting the race, of which 58 cars would not finish the race and only one car (driven by Herb Thomas) finished on the lead lap. Background Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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North Wilkesboro Speedway
North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch. It has previously held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's original closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several stock car series races, including the now-defunct ASA Late Model Series, USARacing Pro Cup Series, and PASS super late models, before closing again in the spring of 2011. It was re-opened in August 2022 for grassroots racing and will host the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, with further renovations planned after the events. History Before the speedway Years before the 1948 founding of NASCAR, Wilkes County and the surround ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Darlington Raceway
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends. History Harold Brasington was a retired racer in 1948, who had gotten to know Bill France Sr. while competing against France at the Daytona Beach Road Course and other dirt tracks in the Southeast and Midwestern United States; he quit racing in the late 1940s to concentrate on farming and his construction business. He began planning a new speedway after he noticed the huge crowds while a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Red Byron
Robert Nold "Red" Byron (March 12, 1915 – November 11, 1960) was an American stock car racing driver, who was successful in NASCAR competition in the sanctioning body's first years. He was NASCAR's first Modified champion (and its first champion in any division) in 1948 and its first Strictly Stock (predecessor to NASCAR Cup Series) champion in 1949. Along with Bob Flock, he is considered one of the best drivers of the era. He won the first NASCAR race at Daytona Beach and Road Course and won the inaugural NASCAR Strictly Stock driver's championship. Background Born in Washington County, Virginia, he moved to Colorado at a young age, and then to Anniston, Alabama, which he considered his hometown. Byron began racing in 1932 and was successful in racing in Talladega by the start of the 1940s. His racing career was interrupted when he served in the United States Army Air Forces as a flight engineer on B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II. During combat, Byron suff ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |