The Original Cat In The Hat

By Frank Morrison, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Carl Kiekhaefer. The founder of the Mercury Outboard division entered
NASCAR Grand National in 1955. The eccentric Carl Kiekhaefer was only
dominating force for two years in NASCAR (He raced white Chrysler’s and
Dodge’s). Kiekhaefer demanding only excellence from every part of his
team. He took on NASCAR with the passion of a stout business man and
the success that no team owner has been able to duplicate since.

Many of his records as a team owner have been deemed unbeatable even
today. The most prolific of his records is from 1956 when a car from
his stable won an amazing 16 races in a row. From March 25 through June
3, 1956 his team was undefeated.

Four different drivers from his stables won during this streak. Buck
Baker 8 times, Speedy Thompson 4 times, Herb Thomas 3 times, and Tim
Flock 1 time. Six times during the streak his cars lead from green to
checkered. In the Virginia 500 at Martinsville his whit cars led 494
laps of 500. Concord 199 of 200 laps. The 1956 standings showed Carl
Kiekhaefer’s team won 30 of 51 starts. The Champion from 1956 Buck
Baker drove a white Kiekhaefer as did the Champion from 1955 Tim Flock.

Flock’s 1955 run was more impressive than any other run before him and
better then any I can remember (Rusty with 10, Jeff with 13 nothing).
Flock won 18 races and 19 poles (Ryan maybe you should take some
lessons). Flock led from green to checkered in 11 races.

Carl’s record in his two years in NASCAR 90 starts, 52 wins (between 7
drivers). The white Kiekhaefer’s dominance caused a riff between him
and other owners and Bill France. Carl claimed his cars were sabotaged
if his cars didn’t win, and heightened suspicion when they did.

During an odd slide at the end of the 56 season Carl sent out a memo
offer a $500 dollar reward to the employee who found the other employee
who was sabotaging the cars. After that the team closed with 5 wins in
a row.

Carl and his entire crew were treated badly by the media and fans
because of the success (Jeff Gordon fans can relate). It hurt him
deeply and was often heard questioning out loud “What have I done?” or
“I guess they want me to quit”.

Carl’s fate was signed, sealed, and delivered at the end of the 1956
season. With Buck Baker trailing Herb Thomas (Quit Carl’s team mid
season) the final race at Shelby, NC was the deciding factor. Speedy
Thompson hooked Thomas’ rear bumper and sent Thomas into an end over end
spill that critically injured Thomas. Buck Baker cruised to an easy
victory and won the championship.

Carl never showed his face at another NASCAR race. He was quoted as
saying “We just can’t afford to have our name further associated with
racing”, was the reason he gave for not returning to NASCAR. Records
are made to be broken but it is doubtful his will be in my lifetime,
Brady if it happens put the article on your dad’s grave.

Well that is the story of the original “Cat in the Hat”. See you soon
with 1958 year in highlights “The year the boy who would become king
runs his first race”.

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Features, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Nascar, The People Of Nascar





Trackback URL for: The Original Cat In The Hat

By Marc, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday August 8, 2007
4:20am UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

How NASCAR operates before, during and after an event is always under scrutiny.

Condemnation comes from all sides. Fans, the press (both “beat reporters” and drive-bys that don’t now their ass from their hat) and those of us in the racing blogosphere, commonly called The Exalted, all take shots at Peoples Commissar of NASCAR Affairs (a/k/a Brian France) & Co on a regular basis.

Much of the column space and bandwidth is devoted to how NASCAR’s troop of inspectors go about their jobs and it’s not often one gets a chance to hear their side.

Well, thanks to Meredith Long of the The Sporting News we have that opportunity. What follows is a Q & A session Long conducted with NASCAR inspector Jim Wagner-Brownell.

(NOTE: Wagner-Brownell is real, his answers have been edited for “brevity.” Some would call it “literary license” or “artistic expression,” I’ll stick with brevity.)

How did you get started in NASCAR?

“Well Meredith, originally I wanted to be an optometrist but soon discovered I suffered from an extreme case of myopia, a condition of the eye in which objects can only be seen distinctly when near to the eye. In my case a 1/4 inch close. I always enjoyed NASCAR and figured, damn those cars are SO BIG myopia wouldn’t be a problem.”

What is the craziest thing you’ve seen on pit road?

“Oh wow, there’s so many things. One time Dick Trickle tossed a Depends out of his window and it hit the jackman square in the face. That one cost 15 seconds getting those sticky strips off his face before the car got off the ground.

“Then there was the time Mark Martin lost a minute and a half thanking his crew for the 13 second stop 40 laps previously. A real gentleman that Martin.”

What is the hardest part about your job?

“You have to ask? It’s that damnable Mythical Rulebook!” It changes more often than Lohan hits rehab.”

“And then… then there’s that CORN thing. They roll one into the inspection stall and I get the overwhelming feeling I’m Dr. Frankenstein as that crab-like thing encloses it! It’s gotten so bad I’ve retained Dr. Phil for the 2008 season when the CORN goes full time!”

What is the one thing you see that doesn’t pass inspection the most?

“The Mythical Rulebook. With every reprinting it contains more spelling errors, grammatical faux pas and the worst part, each edition has another chapter printed in disappearing ink! I suspect by the 2010 season the entire thing will look like Saran Wrap”

“Oh, did I mention Jet Fuel Meredith? It fails every time.”

There you have it, the ever elusive NASCAR Inspector, unplugged! The Half-Vast Staff of Thunder Lounge would like to thank Meredith Long for this rare chance to get behind the scenes.

WAY, behind the scenes!

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Marc Boland, Nascar, Ridiculous Posts, The People Of Nascar





Trackback URL for: The Great NASCAR Inspector Inqusition!

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Sunday December 31, 2006
1:39pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thunder Lounge Uniting Fans With Free Blogs

Contact: Luke Poland
Email: http://thunderlounge.com/contact/
URL: http://thunderlounge.com/blogs/

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX (December 31st, 2006) – Local racing attraction at Texas Motor Speedway expands online efforts to improve fan experience.

Thunder Lounge has been a staple of entertainment in the Texas Motor Speedway infield for years. Having been featured in many articles, including from the Star Telegram, fans of Thunder Lounge have been left with waiting between events to continue their experience.

Thunder Lounge revamped their website last May, http://thunderlounge.com, to begin to bring a continuation of that experience once fans depart from the track. Since the relaunch in May of 2006, their website is fast becoming a staple for fans to get an alternative opinion on today’s NASCAR topics.

“One of the neatest things about Thunder Lounge at the track is that it is purely one giant Mardi Gras style party”, says Luke Poland, the online content manager and one of the network administrators for Thunder Lounge. “The experience is something that can not be provided elsewhere, and sticks in the minds of fans once leaving the track.”

With that in mind Thunder Lounge will continue to expand in 2007 by forging an online peer to peer interactive sports community through the offering of free blogs which will run the infamous WordPress blogging software (http://wordpress.org).

“In an effort to keep the spirit of Thunder Lounge alive and well, we have devoted a lot of resources and time to bring that same spirit to our online activities as well. Offering NASCAR fans, racing fans, and sports fans in general the opportunity to tell their stories and voice their opinion will further enable us to give our fans the opportunity to interact away from the track, and give them the ability to keep the party going,” continued Luke.

The Thunder Lounge Network is a new online service founded by a group of passionate NASCAR fans. Members of the Thunder Lounge team have created and managed some other large communities on the Internet over the last eight years, with some of their team having been involved in writing and producing open-source software for the better part of the decade. With the collective experience and knowledge acquired running these sites, they set out to develop a next-generation Internet community and social networking service for racing and sports fans all over the world.

While Thunder Lounge is NASCAR at its roots and in its heart, that doesn’t mean only NASCAR fans should register and use the site. With users getting their own domain name ( UserName.thunderlounge.com ), almost anyone can theme their site to fit their agenda. Thunder Lounge is open to anyone wishing to blog, provided they are blogging responsibly. With the use of currently available technology, Thunder Lounge also provides their bloggers advanced protection from spammers. In addition, the Thunder Lounge Network is monitored for any bad neighbors who may be using the service with malicious intent (sploggers, etc).

Thunder Lounge can be reached on the World Wide Web at http://thunderlounge.com to learn more, or at http://thunderlounge.com/blogs/ for direct blog information.

# # #

4 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series, Features, Nascar, Nascar History, Nextel Cup, Press Releases, Teams, The Chase, The People Of Nascar, Thunder Lounge, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Free Blogs From Thunder Lounge

By Frank Morrison, Thunder Lounge
Saturday December 23, 2006
9:38pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

[thumb:387:l] Sorry this is late but we got 3 ft of snow here in Denver so just got done digging out thanks to my fellow Gulf Coasters who sent the storm to us anyways on to Tim Flock. If you look up the school of hard knocks you will find Tim Flock as the most distiguished graduate.

Read more of this »

6 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Features, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Nascar, The People Of Nascar





Trackback URL for: The People of NASCAR: Tim Flock

By Frank Morrison, Thunder Lounge
Friday December 15, 2006
11:38pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

[thumb:387:l] In the begining Bill France only allowed NASCAR to run on oval tracks. Hence Go Fast Turn Left. A nice variety of ovals between 1/2 a mile to 2 miles (Grand National Cars never raced on Daytona Road course though all the Grand National Drivers tried to qualify for it). Grand National circuit tackled it’s first road course on June 13, 1954 when race promoters staged the International 100.

Read more of this »

Join the discussion.

Filed Under: Features, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Nascar, The People Of Nascar





Trackback URL for: The People of NASCAR: NASCAR’s First RoadCourse

By Frank Morrison, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday December 6, 2006
10:43pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

[thumb:387:l] In Early 1953 Hudson owner Ted Chester was shopping for a family member in an Atlanta pet shop. While browsing Chester noticed a Rhesus Monkey. Chester bought the monkey with a strange idea in his head. He thought the monkey would make a good teammate for Tim Flock by driving in the car with him as a fun gimmick for the younger fans that came to the Tracks to watch the race. When Chester approached Tim with the idea Tim thought Chester had drank one to many adult beverages. The more Tim thought about the idea the more he liked the idea of the little monkey riding around the track with him.

Read more of this »

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Features, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Nascar, The People Of Nascar





Trackback URL for: People of NASCAR: Jocko Flocko

By Tim Spencer, Thunder Lounge
Sunday December 3, 2006
3:23pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Texas Native, Terry Labonte, at the age of 21 had his first career start for Bill[thumb:239:r:s=1:l=x]Hagan in a race that saw him post a resulting in a fourth place finish at the famed Darlington Raceway. Terry went on to run another four races in 1978 and then moved to a full schedule in 1979.

Read more of this »

Join the discussion.

Filed Under: Features, Nascar, Nascar History, Nextel Cup, The People Of Nascar, Tim Spencer





Trackback URL for: Texas Terry Steps Down

By Frank Morrison, Thunder Lounge
Tuesday November 28, 2006
8:40pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

[thumb:387:l] Marshall Pleasent Teague, the most brilliant racing mind of the early days was born in Daytona Beach, FL. His racing career began on December 2, 1945 at Seminole Speedway in Orlando, FL. Marshall was still a Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps so his name on the entry list as LT. Marshall Teague. Marshall was one of 22 drivers entered in the event with headliners such as Bill France, Fonty Flock, and Sgt. Red Byron. Teague finished second to France in his first effort.

Read more of this »

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Features, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Nascar, The People Of Nascar





Trackback URL for: People of NASCAR: Marsall Teague

By Frank Morrison, Thunder Lounge
Thursday October 12, 2006
6:26pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

[thumb:387:l:s=1:l=x]Born in Olivia, North Carolina was NASCAR’s first superstar. Herb was the first driver to hit the $100,000 mark, while en-route to 48 Grand National wins, and winning the most races in three different seasons. Herb won the premiere race, the Southern 500, three times and Grand National championship twice. He did this in only seven full seasons as a driver.

Read more of this »

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Features, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Nascar, The People Of Nascar





Trackback URL for: The People Of NASCAR: Herb Thomas

By Frank Morrison, Thunder Lounge
Friday October 6, 2006
11:34am UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

[thumb:387:l:s=1:l=x]Harold Brasington went to his first auto race in 1925 at the age of 14. The teenager marveled at the speeds that were reached on the 1 1/4 mile oval. That race set him on fire, and he was determined to do something in the field of auto racing. That decision sealed the fate for creating a legend.

Read more of this »

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Features, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Nascar, The People Of Nascar





Trackback URL for: The People Of NASCAR: Harold Brasington