> People, stay far, far away from virtual Talladega! We've called in
> Scully & Moulter to investigate, and we have Tom Cruise & the IMF team
> on stand-by.
> [...insert Twilight Zone music here...]
know how much you know about the history of Talladega, but some people say
that the real track is haunted. And, to their credit, some strange, eerie,
and tragic things have happened there over the years.
You see, the speedway was built over an old Indian burial ground. And,
legend has it that a medicine man cursed the land as he and his people were
led off of it by General Andrew Jackson. Many folks, especially residents of
Eastaboga, AL (where the track actually is) warned that the land was haunted.
Well, when the track opened, most of the NASCAR drivers boycotted the first
race because no one could keep tires on the cars for more than 5 or 10 laps.
The race was run with fill in drivers from another series.
Since then, there have been several tragedies, many freak or unexplained.
One driver was killed after barely bumping the turn one wall. One driver's
mother was walking through the garage area and was killed when she was struck
by the mirror of a passing truck. Richard Petty's brother-in-law was killed
when a pressurized water tank exploded. And, of course, Davey Allison was
killed in a helicopter crash while trying to land at the speedway.
But there are two incidents that most people talk about. In the 1975
Talladega 500 (now the DieHard 500) one of NASCAR's most popular drivers, Tiny
Lund, was killed in a pileup on the backstretch just a few laps into the race.
On the same day, Mark Donahue, one of the best drivers in any car, suffered
fatal injuries while practicing a Formula 1 car for Roger Penske. One week
earlier, Donahue had taken a Porsche Can Am car to the speedway, and set a
world closed course speed record. Coincidence?!
The most famous story--In the 1973 Talladega 500, Bobby Isaac was leading
the race in Bud Moore's #15 Ford. Suddenly, Isaac radioed the pits and asked
for a relief driver. Moore asked Isaac if he was sick and he said no. Isaac
pulled into the pits, climbed out of the car, and retired from racing! When
asked why, he said that a voice had told him to park the car and never race
again. Several years later, Isaac made a comeback by running a feature race
at his home track, Hickory Motor Speedway. After the feature, Isaac climbed
from the car, collapsed, and died of a heart attack. Makes you wonder,
doesn't it!
Now, insert the Twilight Zone music...
Pat
Just some information I thought would be interesting.
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Pat Campbell The Chevy Monte Carlo 6,94,88,16,4,25
Lexington, AL NASCAR's Wide Load War Eagle!!!
Home Page: http://www.racesimcentral.net/~pscampbe/pscindex.html
NASCAR Stats: http://www.racesimcentral.net/~pscampbe/nascstat.html
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