REPORTING FROM ... THE DARLINGTON
HISTORIC RACING FESTIVAL

Ryan McGee

The old guys can't help themselves around these machines.

You'd think it would be impossible to trump the legendary rides of Junior Johnson, Darrell Waltrip and David Pearson, especially when all three drivers show up to talk about them in person.

But you'd be wrong.

During the Darlington Raceway's inaugural Historic Racing Festival, Junior, Jaws, and the Silver Fox (not to mention the cars of The Intimidator, and A.J. Foyt, and Fireball Roberts) were all put a lap down by…brace yourself…

A '74 AMC Gremlin.

"Look at that!" Waltrip exclaimed, walking past the number 11 Budweiser Chevy in which he won a championship driving for Johnson. "You see a car like this and you just want to jump in and race!"

To be clear, this is not the same lime green hatchback that Uncle Dan drove to his senior prom. No, this is a tricked out, stretched out, bored out, orange and black racing machine capable of belching out 650 horsepower.

"When you think of a classic modified racer," Johnson said with a smile as he stroked his hand over the nose of the Gremlin. "This is what you think of right here. People forget, but before NASCAR got into the stock car racing business, we raced modifieds like this one. You pull the fenders off it and do whatever you want to go fast. I loved it, still do. And I'm not the only person who loves it."

No, not judging by the size of the crowd mashed around it, a mob that all but ignored the cars around it, including Jeff Gordon's first NASCAR ride, the number one Baby Ruth Ford. Kurt Busch wasn't at Darlington, he was a little busy with the Sprint Cup race in California, but earlier this year he spotted the Gremlin and was so impressed that he whipped out a Sharpie and scribbled his signature onto the wall of the cockpit.

Someone pointed across the paddock to the '72 Pinto once raced in the legendary northeastern modified circuit by driver Bill Thomas. "You're kidding," said the three-time Daytona 500 champ, immediately ending the conversation. "Well, that's where I'm headed."

"It gets a lot of stares," admits the proud owner and builder, Terry High, a Reading, Pennsylvania short track racer and also the owner of High's Heating Service and Fab Shop. "It makes you feel good when you see the legends of the sport get so excited about it."

There were 125 classic racecars on display at NASCAR's oldest speedway, including three Indy 500 winners and the wildest collection of old sprint cars this side of Indianapolis. More than twenty living NASCAR legends signed autographs, answered questions, took laps around the track in their old cars (albeit much slower than when they first raced them at The Track Too Tough To Tame), and walked the garage area to gawk at the refurbished rides just like the fans who'd paid for the privilege.

But everyone—and everyone's cars—took a backseat to a dude from Reading and one of the worst cars to ever roll off an American assembly line.

"I don't care if it's a Gremlin or a Pinto, if it's a racecar I want to race it," said Bobby Allison, suddenly sounding much younger than his 71 years.

That's when someone pointed across the paddock to the '72 Pinto once raced in the legendary northeastern Modified circuit by driver Bill Thomas.

"You're kidding," said the three-time Daytona 500 champ, immediately ending the conversation. "Well, that's where I'm headed."

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