Great Night for NMPA Hall of Fame Induction

 

Richard Petty inducts brother Maurice.

Concord, NC Jan. 20,2007 8:00pm Eastern:Article by Jeff Kluss/Sports Image

Once again the NMPA’s came off without a hitch. The National Motorsports Press Association put together a wonderful event thtat started with a social hour that was more of a comedy hour listening to all the war stories from all the greats and near greats. Everyone from Humpy Wheeler, Harry Gant, Ned Jarrett, Mike Helton, Junior Johnson, of course Jack Ingram, and a host of others were present.

 Harry Gant and Jack Ingram at NMPA

Richard Petty started the after dinner festivities by introducing his brother Maurice at the inductions this past Saturday night. Richard, “When the chips were down Maurice pulled us through. But we backed each other up. He took over one part of the team operations and I took over the other. It was natural to me to race, but the mechanical part was natural for Maurice”

“When NASCAR turned us loose with the Hemi, Maurice really turned it on. When you look at what he accomplished as an engine builder, you have to look for second place because he was so far ahead. Over time it is evident that racing is such a team sport with the Crew Chief’s part, the engine builder’s part, and everyone else involved. I recognize that my brother was the very best engine builder in racing. He helped us in building our team and getting those seven championships.”

At that time Maurice was given the microphone by his brother Richard and began with “I happened along at the right time in racing and had a great time. But now I’m enjoying my grand-kids and retirement. I just want to say how much I do appreciate this honor.”

Richard Petty, Maurice Petty, and Dale Inman

After Maurice’s few short words for acceptance it was then turned over to Junior Johnson to induct Barney Hall. Junior started with “I’m not really sure if I’m supposed to be talking about Barney.”

At that moment Junior began telling a story that I have got to relate to our readers and began, “Well some years back Barney was talking with me and I was telling him about these grass carp that I had just stocked in a couple of my ponds on the farm since they were getting so overgrown. I told Barney how they had done such a fine job on clearing out the grass and brought my ponds back to life. I also told him how they weren’t legal in North Carolina. Well Barney told me to get him some of them carp since he was having the same problem with his pond. So I sent him some and he put them in his pond. Well a few weeks later Barney was watching this Whooping Crane eat some of them carp he had and got real upset over it. He told his wife to bring out his shotgun since he wasn’t going to have any Whooping Crane eat his fish. Well out goes Barney with his shotgun to take care of that bird. As we all know, Whooping Cranes are an endangered species and folks don’t take kindly to seeing them killed. Well Barney takes a shot at that bird, and along comes the Game Warden driving up. The Game Warden asks Barney what he’s doing. Barney replies, “Trying to shoot that Whooping Crane that is trying to eat my grass carp.” Of course the Game Warden didn’t take too kindly to ole Barney shooting at the Whooping Crane, much less the illegal grass carp in his pond to boot. As it turned out, Barney and the Game Warden were pretty good friends and it didn’t come down to him going to jail, but it sure was tense for a minute and Barney got to keep his carp.”

Junior continued by saying, “Barney has always been a great racing announcer and one thing you could always count on is that if Barney said it was so, it was good as gold. I don’t think you will ever see a better person, my friend Barney Hall.”

At that time Barney takes the podium by stating, “ It is such a great honor to be inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame. But it sure looks like I’m going to now be known for the man that had the illegal carp. Of course it sure is great being inducted by Junior since we go back a lot of years and are great friends as well.”

Barney went on to relate the following about Richard and Maurice Petty. “We were at Atlanta back in the 60’s and it just so happened that the Georgia Peanut Growers Association was one of the race sponsors. It was my good fortune to give away a 200 pound sack of peanuts to the winning team and I was to announce it and interview the winning driver. It just so happened to be Richard Petty that won the race and just as I was interviewing Richard over the track public address system Maurice could be heard in the background saying to Richard, “What the hell are we going to do with this big sack of peanuts. You can take these damn things home with you.”. Well needless to say, the Georgia Peanut Growers Association did not ever offer the Pettys any more peanuts again.

After a brief pause for the laughter, Barney went on to relate how it was his great fortune to have been hired by Bill France, Sr. back in 1958 to be part of MRN and he has not regretted one day of it since. “It has been my privilege to work with the likes of Fireball Roberts, Buck Baker, and many other NASCAR greats which is something that you will remember your whole life. I’ve worked with many great folks in my career but most recently one of the best ever that I enjoyed more than the rest was Benny Parsons. I owe so much to so many in this group that have gotten me to where I am. Richard Petty was the first that made me feel as if I belong to this great group in NASCAR. Any time that I needed an interview to put on the air, Richard was always available to me. Course any time that I put a microphone in front of his brother Maurice he would always say, “Naw I ain’t got the time, I’m too busy.” Then I would interview Dale Inman who was the first crew chief that was known well in NASCAR since the driver’s were always the stars before Dale arrived.”

Barney Hall went on to recognize the crew of folks that he works with including Alan Bestwick and Eli Gold amongst others. “And thank you to the NMPA for this special night. I never dreamed I would ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame and it is truly an honor. It has been a long hard ride, and most of all I would like to thank my wife.”

Barney Hall and Maurice Petty Class of ’07

Benny Parsons passes from complications caused by lung cancer.

Charlotte, NC January 16, 2007
Article by: Jeff Kluss/SIT Sports Director

 

Even when you know that the inevitable is going to occur you are still in shock when it finally happens.  It is with deep regret that SIT informs you of the passing today of one of the great authorities and personalities ever to have graced the race track within the ranks of NASCAR.  Benny Parsons was the class act that we wish could be cloned and made over and over again to be representative of what makes NASCAR racing great.  He passed after a bout with lung cancer which was discovered in early 2006 and was thought to be in full remission.  He was readmitted to the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte on December 26th and passed today in their ICU from complications stemming from his battle with the cancer.

It was my pleasure and privilege to have met BP for the first time at the NMPA (National Motorsports Press Association) Hall of Fame inductions back in 2002 in Florence, South Carolina.  I was (as Iron Man jokingly calls it) Jack Ingram’s date for the event and to be able to sit at the table with the likes of Richard and Linda Petty, Sam Aard and his daughter, Jack of course, and BP was nothing short of a childhood dream come true for me.  I will never forget the laughter, the jokes, the stories, and just plain fun of this great occasion.  But since I never participated in racing, I think that Linda Petty, Sam’s daughter and myself were the only ones that didn’t have a hearing problem at the table.  The problem was that these great Hall of Famers were typically deaf in their right ears (since the exhaust came out against the wall of the track and they didn’t have ear protection back then to protect them against the noise bouncing back into the car) and when you sit at a round table….someone is going to miss out on the joke.  I have never repeated jokes so many times in my life to folks sitting at the same table, but it was worth every second because these are great memories.  BP of course was always the life of the party with a story to tell or something of amusement to pass on to those around him.  The one thing that was most memorable about BP was that no matter who you were he always seemed interested in what you had to say.  Not only did he share his words of wisdom and experience, he listened too.

Growing up in the era of all the greats such as David Pearson, Harry Gant, Richard Petty, Ned Jarrett, and so many others my dream was to be able to one day meet these folks.  Well I did get to meet them and many other greats in this wonderful sport and once again I went back to my younger days and saw them through the eyes of a child that believed in heroes.  Heroes do exist, I still believe in them, but it is sad that all heroes do pass and all we have left are memories.

BP was born on July 12, 1941 and won the NASCAR Winston Cup championship in 1973.  He had 526 career NASCAR starts and left the car in 1988 and took up the microphone as a broadcaster.  Benny Parsons will be missed but always remembered.

Copyright 2007 Sports Image Times

Great Articles Great Images

Welcome to Sports Image Times, created by sports fans for sports fans. When it comes to the visual side of sports imagery the fans are typically left wanting more. Newspapers cover box scores and use either Getty, Reuters, or AP and their stock images that were taken by a camera on a tether with no photographer in sight. We are doing in-depth interviews when possible and bringing you the old-style editorials and features that used to be prevalent in the media of 40 years ago. We are giving the fans a glimpse of what we envision of sports coverage as we too are fans in desire of something more than the fluff of SI, or the less than personal coverage by your typical newspaper who is trying to stay alive by purchasing their sporting news outside their organizations. We do not offer quantity, but we do give quality.