What Are Voting For Again?

A friend of mine posted on Facebook this past week - "You know this election is really bad when my atheist friends are saying; "Thank God this is almost over." And so it is..." While we here at Full Throttle are not taking sides, (are there any sides to take?), it got me to thinking about some of the same BS the automotive industry has gone through. And true to form, when we human beings get involved, some of the deepest BS has been self-imposed.

Now, before the hate mail comes flying in, let me do some clarifying - the automotive industry and especially the racing industry have made a vast amount of improvements throughout the decades that are way too numerous to count that have not only saved lives, but have bettered the industries as well. The problem seems, is there never really is (or has been) a balance. First always comes a burst of innovation in one area, then there's a period of correction to allow things to catch up or balance out. Two classic examples were NASCAR racing from the early 60's, and funny cars from the late 60's.

In regards to NASCAR, as the tracks got better, and engine power was rocketing through the roof, speeds were increasing rapidly. Track records were being broken faster than store-front windows during an inner-city riot. Drivers were complaining the cars were getting too fast and more than a handful to drive. The problem was, tire technology as well as chassis, steering, and suspension setups were not keeping pace with engine power and smoother tracks. Tire blowouts were very common as were blisters on drivers hands after the race. It took a few years, but things finally balanced out. But not before a few lives were lost due to the imbalance.

Taking a brief look at funny cars from 1966-1968, not only were they crude, but twitchy as hell. Did I mention also rather unpredictable? Many a driver like Don Nicholson, "Fast" Eddie Schartman, and Dick Landy got out of the funny car scene due to one too many close calls and back into Pro Stock. Schartman recalls when he got his first look at his flip-top 1966 Mercury Comet funny car; “I walked in there, looked at the car, and said, ‘What the hell is this?’ It was a dragster with a body on it and the driver in the back seat and not the front seat, where you belong. I told them, ‘I can’t drive something like that.’ My car would run 125 mph, but these things would do more than 160. They were a real handful; they never wanted to go straight. On my first pass, I went 166 mph and took out the finish-line lights. It took me several runs to get the hang of it and actually keep the damn thing in my lane. People loved them, the demand to see them race went through the roof; the phone was always off the hook. But, man, those cars were nuts."

Now - getting back to the BS - mostly people. If there's anything more dangerous than enemies with an ax to grind, it's fickle friends, as Bill France and NASCAR found out in 1957. By that point, the auto companies (mainly the performance divisions) were heavily involved with stock car racing. Basically, it boiled down to pure marketing. Cars that ran well in NASCAR tended to sell well too. The Automobile Manufacturing Association, a group comprised of the heads of most major car companies, took a rather dim view of the horsepower wars. To help appease their concerns, Bill France banned the use of superchargers and fuel injection. In a rather surprising move, he also banned the car companies from using race results in their advertising.

But on May 19th, 1957, tragedy struck the Grand National event run at the Martinsville Speedway. Billy Myers was leading the race in his Mercury when he collided with a lapped car driven by Tom Pistone. Myers' Mercury was sent spinning and cannon-balled through the guard rail and a fence, becoming airborne. That was bad enough - what resulted should have never happened. There was a big sign right there that clearly read "NO Spectators." But there were people gathered around that area to enjoy an up close view of the race and Myers' car struck seven of them, four being seriously injured, including an eight year old boy. The race was red flagged to let the medics attend to the injured, and never resumed because of rain. The wire services and other media quickly broadcast the tragedy in time for the evening news and morning papers. Most accounts included a note that Myers was driving a Mercury, and that's not the sort of publicity the auto maker needed. The media seemed to forget the no spectator area aspect of the story as well.

The rest is history. A few weeks later the AMA met, and on June 6th, 1957 they reached an accord. All the major auto manufacturers agreed that they would no longer have any association with or support auto racing of any sort. At least until 1960-61 when Pontiac and Chevrolet couldn't take it anymore. Things would continue to evolve, especially when it came to racing. The safety changes that would occur over the next 10 years would be staggering.

Maybe that's what we need to do - put a ban on all things political for approximately 4 years, let things chill out, and have the balance be somewhat restored. Then maybe things might change for the better. It just depends on us people.

Until next time, peace out.
Dave