Cotton Owens finally got into the NASCSAR Hall of Fame. He should have went in on the first vote…js.
He joins Bud Moore and David Pearson from my home town… Now all we lack is Jack Smith.
If it were’nt for Spartanburg there wouldn’t be a NASCAR. Spartanburg was the Charlotte in the early days. All the teams were here. Bill France was going to build the “Talladega” track here and already had the land set aside but the county council wouldn’t allow racin’ on Sunday. If racing commences on Sunday then folks might miss church to get an early seat and once the race starts folks might be tempted to drink beer which would lead them to look at a womern’s legs…<sigh.>.
I might have been a little strong with that statement but in the 50’s all the big teams were here and others were starting to migrate in this direction. Cherokee, Greenville-Pickens, Spartanburg Fairgrounds, Confederate Motor Speedway & Shelby were the premire tracks. These are the ones where Cotton, Pearson, Ralph Earnahrt, Lee Petty, Jack Smith, Buck Baker, & Bud Moore and the like won their first races and started getting things off the ground. That’s what made Bill France Sr want to build the big super speedway here. Around here we say “county council dropped the ball and Bruton Smith got the call”.
