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Jimmy Means
James Means (born May 29, 1950) is a retired American racing driver and owner, who competed in the Winston Cup Series as an owner-driver. He is currently an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Jimmy Means Racing. He competed in NASCAR for eighteen years in mostly his own equipment, posting seventeen career top-tens. He made three career Busch Series starts in 1989, finishing 10th at Darlington Raceway. Following his retirement, Means worked as a pit stop, crew chief in NASCAR, working for Bud Moore Engineering and Moy Racing. Means was part the Alabama Gang which included Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Neil Bonnett and Red Farmer and later Davey Allison, Hut Stricklin, Steve Grissom and Mike Alexander (NASCAR), Mike Alexander. Means' nickname "Smut" originated from his admiration for mechanic Smokey Yunick. Since the nickname "Smokey" was already taken in racing circles, Means' crew nicknamed him "Smut", the residue left behind by smoke. He is the fathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° in turns 3 and 4. Texas Motor Speedway is a quad-oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Nicknamed “The Great American Speedway“ the racetrack facility is one of the largest motorsports venues in the world capable of hosting crowds in excess of 200,000 spectators. History The speedway has been managed since its inception by racing promoter Eddie Gossage until June 2021 when he stepped down from the position of track president, citing retirement from motorsports management. Based on qualifying speeds in 2004, 2005, and 2006 (with Brian Vickers shattering the qualifying recor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Busch Series
The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a Cup Series event scheduled for that weekend. The series was previously called the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series in 1982 and 1983, the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series from 1984 through 2002, the NASCAR Busch Series from 2003 through 2007, and the NASCAR Nationwide Series from 2008 through 2014. Since 2015, it is sponsored by Comcast via its consumer cable and wireless brand Xfinity. History The series emerged from NASCAR's Sportsman division, which had been formed in 1950 as NASCAR's short track race division. It was NASCAR's fourth series (after the Modified and Roadster series in 1948 and Strictly Stock Series in 1949). The sportsman cars were not current model cars and could be modified more, but not as much as Modifie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smokey Yunick
Henry "Smokey" Yunick (May 25, 1923 – May 9, 2001) was an American professional stock car racing crew chief, owner, driver, engineer, engine builder, and car designer as well as being a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps in World War II. Yunick was deeply involved in the early years of NASCAR, and he is probably most associated with that racing genre. He participated in nearly every facet of the sport as a driver, designer, and held other jobs related to the sport, but was best known as a mechanic, engine builder, and crew chief. Yunick was twice NASCAR mechanic of the year; and his teams would include 50 of the most famous drivers in the sport, winning 57 NASCAR Cup Series races, including two championships in 1951 and 1953. He was renowned as an opinionated character who "was about as good as there ever was on engines", according to Marvin Panch, who drove stock cars for Yunick and won the 1961 Daytona 500. His trademark white uniform and battered cowboy hat, to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Alexander (NASCAR)
Mike Alexander (born July 31, 1957) is a retired American racing driver. He won the NASCAR Weekly Series national championship in 1983.Schaefer, Paul. ''Where Stars Are Born: Celebrating 25 Years of NASCAR Weekly Racing''. Coastal 181, Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA, 2006. . pp. 11-15. He also raced in Winston Cup and in the Busch Series. Career before national racing Alexander was the 1978 and 1992 track champion at the historic Nashville International Raceway, now known as Fairgrounds Speedway. In 1983, driving Late Models on paved tracks for car owner Bobby Ray Jones, he won the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series national championship, and won the NASCAR Grand American Stock Car championship in its final year. Alexander won 31 of the 56 races that he entered. Most were at Nashville, Tennessee or Birmingham, Alabama (where he won the track championship), but some ranged as far as South Carolina or Florida. He was born to a family well-known in the Nashville automotive scene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Grissom
Steven Paul Grissom (born June 26, 1963) is an American former stock car racing driver. Grissom was the 1993 Busch Series champion and has eleven Busch wins in 185 starts. He turned down a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Alabama to focus a career on racing. Early years Grissom began his racing career as a youth, working on cars with his father Wayne, who was a sponsor of short track drivers in their home state of Alabama. He soon began racing cars himself, balancing that with being captain of his high school football and basketball teams in 1981. He eventually joined the Winston All-Pro Series, and won the championship in 1985. The next season, he was nominated for Alabama Pro Athlete of the Year. Busch Championship Grissom made his Busch Series debut in 1986 at the Freedlander 200, in the No. 31 Oldsmobile owned by his father. He started 16th but finished 30th due to engine failure. He ran three more races over the next two years, his best finish being an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hut Stricklin
Waymond Lane "Hut" Stricklin Jr. (born June 24, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Racing career Stricklin grew up in Calera, Alabama. He married Pam Allison, the daughter of NASCAR legend Donnie Allison after they were introduced by her cousin Davey. Stricklin was the last member of the Alabama Gang. In 1987, Stricklin won NASCAR's Dash Series championship and made his debut in what was then the Winston Cup Series. Two years later, he finished second to Dick Trickle in the NASCAR Rookie of the Year competition with car owner Rod Osterlund. In his sophomore season, he competed in only three events before taking over the driving chores of Bobby Allison's No. 12 Raybestos Brakes-sponsored Buick. 1991 turned out to be one of his best seasons, as he finished 16th in points as well as a career high second-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. With eight races left in the 1992 season, Stricklin was fired by Allison. Stricklin ended the seaso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Davey Allison
David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was the oldest of four children born to Bobby and Judy Allison. The family moved to Hueytown, Alabama, and along with Bobby Allison's brother, Donnie, Red Farmer and Neil Bonnett, became known as the Alabama Gang. Early career Growing up, Allison participated in athletics, preferring football, but settled upon automobile racing. He began working for his father's NASCAR Winston Cup Series team after graduating high school, and built a race car of his own, a Chevy Nova, with friends known as the "Peach Fuzz Gang". He began his career in 1979 at Birmingham International Raceway and won his first race in his sixth start. He became a regular winner at BIR, and by 1983 was racing in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) series. Allison won ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Farmer
Charles "Red" Farmer (born October 15, 1932) is a former NASCAR race car driver. He is a member of the Alabama Gang. Racing career His first race was at Opa-locka Speedway near Miami, Florida in a 1934 Ford in 1948. He became famous as a member of the Alabama Gang and he considered his hometown to be Hueytown, Alabama. Estimates of Farmer's career victories range from 700 to 900 victories, most occurring in the late 1950s and early 60's. He raced 36 NASCAR Cup Series races from 1953 to 1975. He won numerous championships at local tracks. Before racing in the Grand National series, he raced modified stock cars in the northeast. He was one of the first to transition from the modified series to the early Grand National Series. He was the NASCAR National Late Model Sportsman champion (later Xfinity Series) for three consecutive years from 1969 to 1971. Farmer's best finish in NASCAR's top division was fourth at both the 1972 Talladega 500, and the 1968 Middle Georgia 500 near Macon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil Bonnett
Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby and Donnie Allison. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s with his performances in cars owned by Jim Stacy and Wood Brothers Racing, becoming one of the top competitors in the 1980s. The Alabama native currently ranks 47th in all-time NASCAR Cup victories. He appeared in the 1983 film ''Stroker Ace'' and the 1990 film ''Days of Thunder''. Bonnett hosted the TV show ''Winners'' for TNN from 1991 to 1994. He was a color commentator for CBS, TBS, and TNN in the years until his death. Bonnett's driving career was interrupted by a severe brain injury from a crash in 1990. He was killed while practicing for the 1994 Daytona 500 for a much-anticipated comeback. NASCAR career Bonnett was born in the Birmingham suburb of Hueytown, Alabama on Jul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donnie Allison
Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the brother of 1983 champion Bobby Allison and uncle of Davey Allison and Clifford Allison. He was inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2009. NASCAR career Before racing in the Grand National Series, Allison drove modified stock cars like his brother Bobby. Allison managed to get ten wins in NASCAR Cup Series competition with his first coming at the 1968 Carolina 500 at Rockingham Speedway and his final at the 1978 Dixie 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Allison would suffer serious injuries at the 1981 Coca-Cola 600, this would end his career in NASCAR for the most part. Allison would only race fourteen more Winston Cup races (he would also fail to qualify four times for races during this time) from 1982 to 1988. Allison al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Allison
Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks with high purses. Allison raced competitively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1961 to 1988, while regularly competing in short track events throughout his career. He also raced in IndyCar, Trans-Am, and Can-Am. Named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers and a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, he was the 1983 Winston Cup champion and won the Daytona 500 in 1978, 1982, and 1988 His brother Donnie Allison was also a prominent driver, as were his two late sons, Clifford and Davey Allison. Bobby and Donnie's televised fistfight with Cale Yarborough at the 1979 Daytona 500 has been credited with exposing NASCAR to a nationwide audience. Allison was unusual for competing successfully with his own, low-budget team for much of his career. Early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alabama Gang
The Alabama Gang was the nickname for a group of NASCAR drivers (and subsequently their offspring) who set up shop and operated out of Hueytown, Alabama (near Birmingham, Alabama). In the late 1950s, young auto racer Bobby Allison left Miami, Florida, looking for an area that had more opportunities to race. He discovered central Alabama in his travels. The region was dotted with small dirt tracks, and Allison won big his first few times out. He returned to Florida to pick up his brother Donnie Allison, and friend Red Farmer. The trio set up shop in Hueytown, Alabama, and were dominant throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. In 1973, Jimmy Means joined the gang. Beginning in 1979, their sons and contemporaries began racing, and became known as members of the Alabama Gang themselves. Bobby's son Davey Allison, and fellow Hueytown residents Neil Bonnett, and David Bonnett. Donnie's daughter Pam married Hut Stricklin, who joined this generation. Other drivers (notably Dale Earnhardt) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
