The world had literally never seen the likes of anything similar to Talladega Superspeedway when it opened in September of 1969. Immediately thrust into controversy when NASCAR drivers, led by Richard Petty packed up and left before the scheduled race over safety concerns involving tires. The big, heavy cars of the time were running speeds far beyond what they ran at other tracks and the tires that they were being provided were not robust enough to keep up with the conditions, so Petty gathered the big name drivers and virtually all of them bolted. It sure didn’t stop Bill France from patch working a race together and giving the tens of thousands of paying spectators a show. Richard Brickhouse became a footnote in NASCAR history by winning that race, his only victory in NASCAR.
Wanting to head any issues off at the pass for the 1970 race, the tire companies spent all winter working on new designs that would live under the harsh conditions at Talladega. The only way to see if their work would bear the desired results was to get a race car and a driver onto the track and let’em both go as hard as they could go to make sure the tires were happy. The man was Buddy Baker and the car was a blue Dodge Charger Daytona with a full-race Hemi in it. Baker undoubtedly knew that no one had ever broken the 200mph barrier on a closed course before so he went out and hammered the car hard enough to do it. No small feat, especially in an era when brute strength, guts, and the feel in the seat of your pants were the three main elements of a successful driver.
This video shows that day, March 24th, 1970. You’ll see and hear the awesome lap and you’ll also see and hear Baker’s post run interview where he drops the phrase “tickled to death” enough that we got a little weirded out. Kidding, of course. Baker is one of the sport’s true stars and is regarded as a genuinely good guy. He was certainly the hottest shoe in the stock car racing world once news of this exploit got out…and Goodyear as well as NASCAR saw fit that it did get out, far and wide. Since that first issue at Talladega, things have been running on a yearly basis….with a virtual guarantee of at least one huge wreck over the course of the race.
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE SPECTACULAR 1970 FOOTAGE OF BUDDY BAKER BREAKING THE 200MPH BARRIER ON A CLOSED COURSE! THE FIRST MAN TO DO SO!
Back in the days when race cars were Real cars and drivers were Real men
Two minutes and eleven seconds of that is better than the last 40 years of NASCAR combined. Full stop.
You’d think the Frances would make the teams run 1960’s/1970’s full size bodies on the new chassis for a year to at least try to win back some fans.
NASCAR stands on the shoulders of drivers like Buddy Baker who made it popular back in the day. Buddy was always good to anyone who he came in contact with. Now for some good story telling.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CbxnD6nU4Mw
Back when racing was REAL! This new nascar is garbage, I refuse to watch it, because I started watching in 1973, it was real then. Now its set up so screwy that it doesnt even resemble nascar. It used to be bring your best driver and your favorite brand, go up against other brands and their drivers and GO! First one to finish is the winner. If you outran all others by 2 laps, that just showed who was best. Now its like nursery school racing. Makes me sicj
K that a great sport was ruined, by trying to make it better. ULTRA-FAIL!!!
I started racing, and watching NASCAR in 1960. I was, and am always MOPAR. My main guy was Richard, but Buddy and a few other drivers, including David P was in there also. You could build a NASCAR equivalent car in those days for less then $5K, even with a HEMI. I copied Richards frame mods, got advice from Maurice, and Ernie Derr, drove my late model and later a winged sprint. I truly believe some of the guys I raced with could beat most of the drivers today without having to disrespect the confederate flag or get another driver banned because of a very commonly used word, mostly by other blacks. Things like that were settled by a nose to nose talk, or a punch in the nose. Afterwords, a beer together in the beer garden. In the approximitly 15 years I raced, I never met a wimp like todays 5’4″ midgets that actually try to act tough at times. You brought your car, raced it and went home with less then a hundred bucks…..if you did well. At the end of the year you sold your car to a starting driver and built a new one. Rules, if any stayed basically as visable stock. If one of these dingbats from today raced back then, they would finish last every race.