Bobby Labonte in the Penrose Firecracker Oldsmobile on the way to his first NASCAR Busch Series win at the spring Bristol race in 1991. He would go on to win the Busch Series Championship that year. It was also a big win for me in several ways. I had been working in public relations for teams and drivers in the Busch Series since 1983. After working PR in over 200 NASCAR Busch Series races, this was my first time to go to victory lane with a team I was representing. I also had a hand in the design of this car with Steve Bennett. We had worked hard to come up with a paint scheme that related to the packaging of the product being sold, the Penrose Firecracker Hot Sausage, and for the car to be TV friendly for visibility in the Sponsors Report that gauged a sponsor's monetary exposure value during a televised race.
This is what a race team that has its act together looks like at the track. Butch Lindley relaxing in the shade in the hauler while the crew works on his car at a July 1982 Budweiser Late Model Sportsman race at South Boston Speedway in Virginia. Emanuel Zervakis sits smoking a cigarette watching the crew get his #01 car ready for qualifying. Butch would put the car on the pole and finish fifth in the race won by Sam Ard. Phil Parsons blasts by on the track in front of the mostly empty grandstand on the hot afternoon during practice. The stands would be full when the race started that night.
Mark Martin at an American Speed Association race at the Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway in 1977. He won the ASA Rookie of the Year title that year at age 18. He went on to win the next three ASA championships in row, in 1978, 1979, and 1980. He didn't go into NASCAR until 1981 where his first start was in Winston Cup at North Wilkesboro Speedway in April. Paul Sawyer had promoted the 1977 ASA race at Richmond and in addition to the ASA regular drivers they had David Pearson, Butch Lindley and Kyle Petty in the race. His first NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series race was August 13, 1982, at Indianapolis Raceway Park, driving for Ed Whitaker.
