A Southern racing novel chapter 4
Today we return with the fourth chapter of a racing novel written a
racer who wishes to remain anonymous. You can find the first three chapters in
the Archive section to learn about with the cast of characters and
locations.
When I arrived at Standard Speedway about a dozen miles east
of town, I immediately noticed a dramatic difference from Union Speedway.
Although Standard also had a dirt parking lot, I noticed that the cars in the
lot were nice late model cars, many with out of state license plates. I followed the signs and parked off the
backstretch near the pit gate, and after giving the ticket lady my name, she pinned a cardboard 'official' tag on my t-shirt (glad I wore a clean shirt). I then passed
through the gate and got my first look at Standard Speedway.
Standard Speedway was nestled in a natural tree-lined valley
with a small creek running alongside turn two, the small covered grandstand was built
into hillside overlooking the banked 3/8-mile paved track. Unlike Union Speedway, the pit area was
located behind the back stretch. With all the trees, and the light breeze, the
temperature in the grandstand was at least 10 degrees cooler than it was in the
parking lot.
After I crossed the track and skirted the pond in the infield, I reached the pit area. As I wandered through the pit area, I saw that all the teams
brought their cars on trailers – no flat towing for these guys. I was surprised
by the high quality of the twenty or so shiny late model stock cars, some
accented with chrome wheels. I now
understood what folks meant about Standard being a huge step up from Union
Speedway; the cars were all well-prepared and for several teams, all of their
crew members wore matching uniforms.
I asked one of the passing white uniformed officials to point out John Johnson, and as he pointed I
followed his finger and saw a man wearing a seersucker sport jacket and porkpie
hat talking to another uniformed man. I walked over and introduced myself, and the
man in the suit said “Welcome Yank! My brother told me all about you- the
Hoosier boy who knows a lot about auto racing.” At a loss for words, I shrugged
and said, “I’m no expert.” He smiled and said “I was just kidding! Seriously
though, we are shorthanded with a man out tonight – could I ask you to help us
out?”
“Gee Mr. Johnson, I’ll be glad to help but I don’t have any
officiating experience” I said. “Call me John” he replied “I’d like you to meet
our Chief Steward, Bennie Benning.” The
tall dark curly haired man next to him stuck out his hand. “I’m pleased to meet
you Yank, and thanks for the help. All I need you to do is keep an eye on the
schedule and lineups posted on the pit board, walk that far line of cars over
there, talk to the crews and keep them moving – sort of like herding sheep.
Anyone gives you any guff, come get me or one of the other officials.” “Okay”
I stammered, as I wondered what I had gotten myself into.
There were 10 cars in the area that I was responsible
for, so I walked over to introduce myself.
As I met the crews and drivers, it turned out that they were all from
Memphis and raced together most weekends.
The most eye-catching entries were a pair of 1950 Ford coupes, the metallic blue #22 and a metallic red #55 I quickly learned that these beauties were driven by a pair of brothers, Ned and
Ed Ramsey. Watching their performance through warm-ups and qualifying, I began
to believe that the Ramsey brothers would be top contenders for the victory in
the night’s 30-lap feature.
There was the expected amount of banter about a Yankee
coming down South and ordering around the Southern racers, but all the teams were
easy to get along with and kept the program moving quickly through qualifying
and the heat races. My earlier judgments were proved correct as the Ramsey
brothers, Ned in #55 and Ed in #22 each easily won their 8-lap heat races to
transfer to the feature, and as they did
so, I noticed that the brothers had a fair-sized cheering section in the
grandstand.
After the heat races were completed, the loudspeaker in the
pit area crackled to life and directed the two top finishers in the heat races
to report to the main straightaway to draw their starting positions. The Ramsey
brothers, a fun-loving pair of stocky blonde farm boys, invited me to walk with
them up front. I hesitated, but I agreed when they promised to buy me an
ice-cold Coca-Cola from the concession stand.
Once all the drivers were gathered together under the flag
stand, a red Cadillac convertible with a pretty brunette who wore a short blue dress. The girl was perched on top of the
back seat as the pulled out of the infield and slowly circled the track as the girl
waved to the appreciative crowd before the Cadillac came to a halt in front of the flag stand. Like moths
to a flame, all the drivers crowded around the car, but I caught the girl’s eye
and offered her my hand as she climbed from the car.
“Thanks darling” said the
green-eyed beauty “You are such a gentleman! I don't thin I've seen you before. My name’s Janet- what’s yours?”
After I told her she giggled and said “So you’re the Yankee boy I heard about.
Charmed to make your acquaintance I’m sure.”
As the flagman led her away, she
looked over her shoulder and gave me a little wave and mouthed "later." Ned elbowed me, laughed and said “Wooo-ee,
Yank! You work fast- not only you tell us how to run our races, now you gonna come down here and take all our best looking women?”
The Ramsey brothers drew starting
positions on the front row with Ned’s Ford on the pole position. All the
drivers hustled back to the pit area and climbed into their machines for the
feature. I was standing behind the Ramsey pits when they started their engines,
and the exhaust fumes made my eyes water.
It seemed clear to me that someone
had added some additive to their fuel. I ran across the pit area and grabbed
Bennie’s arm. “Bennie! The Ramsey brothers are cheating! They added nitromethane
to their fuel.” Bennie looked me in the eye and repeated my accusation. “Yank,
that’s a serious charge but it’s too late now- the cars are on the track. We’ll
have to talk about this after the race.”
