Nelson Stacy's Southern 500 winning '61 Starliner

[LUKE'57]

Still one of my very favorite hand lettered cars. Found a good side view in an old Atlanta race program and knew I had to have me an "Ol' Yeller" of my own. What do you think?

[LUKE'57]

Real Nice. I love NASCAR, especially the history & the GOOD OLD DAYS when it was REAL cars w/ GOOD OLD BOYS Drivin.

Usually it's good OL' boys but in this case you were very close to the truth. Most of the front runners were in their late twenties to early thirties but Stacy was a creaky old man of forty when he waxed those "young'uns" hienies at Darlington that day.

[LUKE'57]

Still, the best single day performance has to be Gentleman Ned Jarrett whoopin the field by 14 LAPS at DARLINGTON no less (1964?) Imean Darlington?? 14 laps ahead of second?? ######!!!!!!!!!!!

That would have been in '65 and ol' Ned was switching the ignition off down the straights to cool it with raw gas because it was overheating. Can you imagine the backfire report under those covered grandstands when he switched it back on? And to make it that much more impressive, the guy he beat by those 14 laps was Buddy Baker!

[MarkJ]

That would have been in '65 and ol' Ned was switching the ignition off down the straights to cool it with raw gas because it was overheating. Can you imagine the backfire report under those covered grandstands when he switched it back on? And to make it that much more impressive, the guy he beat by those 14 laps was Buddy Baker!

I remember watching that race on Wide World of Sports, I think, and the victory wasn't as lopsided as it seemed. Jarrett had the only factory ford left in the race. All the others had wrecked or blown up. If Darel Dieringer in a 64 Bud Moore Mercury hadn't lost his differential with 19 laps to go he would have probably won the race. He had led the most laps. But a win is a win.

[LUKE'57]

I remember watching that race on Wide World of Sports, I think, and the victory wasn't as lopsided as it seemed. Jarrett had the only factory ford left in the race. All the others had wrecked or blown up. If Darel Dieringer in a 64 Bud Moore Mercury hadn't lost his differential with 19 laps to go he would have probably won the race. He had led the most laps. But a win is a win.

I've got it on tape and ol' "Yancey" ran out of brakes but not "braves". Everytime he hit the brakes the grease from the diff would catch fire so he tried a few laps without them. Anybody who tries to sail "brakeless" through the "old Darlington's" narrow third and fourth turns is braver than Dick Tracy! His spirite was willing but the "iron" was weak, so to speak and he had to park it. Darel was one of my very favorites and one of the main reasons I bought a '66 Cyclone as my first car bought with my own money. Got to meet him shortly before we lost him and I was NOT dissappointed. Class act all the way around.

[Guest zebm1]

Nice Yaller Race car.....got a pic of Tiny Lund's '61 Sportsman......in 1967

Looks like Tiny waz Bumpdrafting even way back then....

[LUKE'57]

I thought about doing the Daytona Permatex 300 superspeedway version of that car but I think it'll probably wind up Banjo Matthews' '61 Grand National car.

[Nick F40]

Still one of my very favorite hand lettered cars. Found a good side view in an old Atlanta race program and knew I had to have me an "Ol' Yeller" of my own. What do you think?

You never cease to amaze me, I love your models. When NASCAR WAS NASCAR!

[LUKE'57]

You never cease to amaze me, I love your models. When NASCAR WAS NASCAR!

You are way too kind. Thank you for appreciating my ol' redneck race car models.

[Guest zebm1]

Yah know...thet looks like Luke behind tha wheel......Luke must be almost mummified by now.......

[LUKE'57]

Yah know...thet looks like Luke behind tha wheel......Luke must be almost mummified by now.......

Mummified??!?!? Nope. Embalmed.........mmmm.....could be. LOL

Here's my brother and an ex-cop friend of mine getting ol' Roxanna ready to roll a few years back.

Edited June 20, 2008 by LUKE'57

[Guest zebm1]

Iz that a Brandywine paint on Roxanna Luke? Perhaps an Edsel paint?

Edited June 20, 2008 by zebm1

[LUKE'57]

Iz that a Brandywine paint on Roxanna Luke? Perhaps an Edsel paint?

Zeb,

The factory color was called Vintage Burgandy (maroon metallic). IIRC Brandywine was about the same color. I had a friend that painted several of his dirt track cars Brandywine.

There's a strange story about Roxanna's color that goes like this. The paint was pretty good when I bought her as just a body and, since the first '64 I saw up close was that color, I just waxed her and let it go for several years. The paint started getting a little "chalky" so I decided she was ready for a facelift.

I had been seeing this little mountain girl (ex- Miss Ford Motorsports, naturally LOL) and she came down to help me sand one evening. She got this strange look on her face as she sometimes did around battlegrounds and "fairy places" and said that Roxanna was "talking" to her (her grandmother was full bloodied Cherokee and she seemed to have taken after her) and said that Roxanna told her that she wanted to be white.

I had seen, many years ago, a white one with the silver painted area in the chrome "spear" painted red and really liked it so I told her I would think about it. I got a little pale and weak in the knees when I took off the first piece of side trim to check for rust. The car was white beneath the chrome so I checked the vin number and it came up Wimbledon White. Needless to say Roxanna is now white.

[Guest zebm1]

Hehehe, white 'eh? I used to work for a guy down here in Tampatown who was car owner of Late Models and Modifieds, Jack Lamphier, his Driver was Will Cagle. Anyways, he painted all of his cars a bright white, number 11...his reason...white shows up in your peripheral vision way before a dark color...said he could see other Drivers jig left when Will drove up on tha right side.

Used to be tha only way to get real metalic paints was to use Edsel paints. Do you remember Larry Brazil and tha color he painted his modifieds? I have some of that paint, have never used auto paint on model cars, but I'ma gonna try it.

[LUKE'57]

Never was into the Modified much so I didn't see that one run but I read a lot about it in the early Stock Car Racing Magazine. Always wondered if he was related to Reds Kagle who ran Nascar back in the day. I've used all kinds of paints in the forty or so years I've been replicating cars for the local racers so if you can screw up a model with paint then I've probably done it. LOL

Take a piece of the same kit that you want to paint that won't show, like the outside of the interior tub or the inside of the chassis, to use for the "test mule". I've seen some plastic "take" a certain 1-1 paint while it would craze and wrinkle another kit's body. Just prime the car with a good primer to seal it before you use the 1-1 paint and it usually works well. I've had good luck with just flat black, light or dark grey from the cheap "big rattle cans" and it's also great to use on the chassis.

Edited June 21, 2008 by LUKE'57

[Guest zebm1]

I don't think they were related, Will spelled his last name with a C. He and Buzzie Reutiman used to run the NC, SC, VA, TN circuits....raced modys 5 nights a week. Pickup truck and a trailer, usually 1 Gofer.