PAPA Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 This driver was a LM driver here in texas that also raced ARCA and CUP. He had 4 CUP starts. In ARCA he won the poll at Daytona and the following year he won the race. What is his name and what was his CUP car number and what was his LM/ARCA car number? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 That would have to be John Rezek of Alvin. I think he competed in 4 or 5 Cup races back in '79 or '80 with the #31 car. Not sure how many ARCA events he entered but he did indeed win Daytona once (1980 maybe??). If it was 1980 then he won the pole in 1979. He also ran several TIDA events at TWS around that time using the #17 Late Model. Nick Holt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAPA Posted September 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 Nick is correct !!!!!!!!(Again). I talked with John Saturday afternoon and asked if he has any old photos. He said he has a few that werent distroyed in the flood they had a few years ago. Ill try to get these from him as soon as I can and post them. I also told him about TXSZ and that he should get on here. He has a lot of stories. While doing some research on John I found several other Texas racers that I didnt know about. Ill try to gather some info on them and post it. If anyone has some names of the older Texas drivers please post them.Lets see what we can discover about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAPA Posted September 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 A few other drivers I found were: John Haver of Weimar,TX. He raced one CUP race in 76 and one in 79 Bill Meazell of Nacogdoches,TX. He race one CUP race in 79. Bill passed away in 03 along with his wife in 03 in a plane crash. HB Bailey of Houston,TX. He had 85 races in 27 years. He too passed in 03. There is alot of history about him. Just do a Google search. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 I'll add a little about Rezek. He sat on the 1979 Daytona ARCA pole at a speed of 191.416. Kyle Petty won the race. He won the 1980 race at an average speed of 143.770 He ran a few races at TWS, and the local short tracks, in a late model that was owned by Curtis Payne. Payne ran RPM Enterprises in Alvin, which later relocated to Hueytown, Alabama. The car, a Nova, was purchased from the Rush Johnson Estate after his passing. You old timers know this car as the one that Larry Schild ran at San Antonio in 1977, a brown #11. Rezek crashed this car, and it sat a short time, and if I recall correctly, Joe Sturdivant bought it, and rebuilt it, running it at TWS as a #18. Payne had a couple of other cars in the short track stable, but the ex- Rush Johnson car was the most notable of them Rezek ran 4 cup races in 1979 in a car owned by Curtis Payne, at College Station. Ontario, Charlotte, and Atlanta. Best finish was 11th at TWS. These were also the only 4 races for Payne as an owner. You may have heard of Curtis Payne through his boy, Roy Payne. He ran about 45 Busch races in '93 to '94, in a car #27 sponsored by Hyde Tools for a short while, then various sponsors after that. In the 80's, Stock Car Racing magazine ran an article about Roy Payne, as he was living in Alvin, and driving weekly to Montgomery, Alabama to race a Sportsman Car in their NASCAR Weekly Series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97car Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 Bill Meazell also was a car owner,I cannot remember the drivers name,but it was a ex-childress car that was rolled down the back straight at Daytona,the driver was in a coma for a while before passing on.The car didn't look that bad,not as bad as Phil Parsons did. I think Bill has a son that is still racing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAPA Posted September 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Here are a few others: Elton Dotson of Allen,TX. He had two starts in 85 Wayne Strout of Dallas.TX. He had 1 start in 87 at Dover. Rick Baldwin from CC,TX. He had 11 starts during 81, 82, 83, 85, 86. Chet Fillip from San Angelo.TX. He had 24 starts in 85, 86, 87. Eddie Bierschwale from here in SA,TX. He had a total of 117 starts from 83-92. He finished 10th at the Daytona 500 on 5-19-89 Im sure there are others. If anyone has any info or stories about these drivers or others please let us here from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rookie49 Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Bobby Hillin raced at twin cities (Midland/odessa) when we were in high school. He went on to race a couple of hundred times in cup with one victory at the talledega 500 in 86. I believe he is now in Houston where he started a new company that waterblasts for earthmoving or something weird like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodlea Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Paul Jett, San Antonio - June 25, 1972 Lone Star 500 Winston Cup Race - TX World Speedway - Started 33rd - finished 18th. Driving Holman & Moody '72 Ford Torino. Paul bought car for about $11,000 brand new. He also raced it at Talladega - can't find results but next time I see him I'll ask how he finished there. Richard Petty won this race. 2nd place: Bobby Allison; 3rd place CooCoo Marlin; 4th place Benny Parsons; 5th place Bobby Isaac. By the way, HB Bailey finished 13th. Clarence Lovell finished 19th - wasn't he from around here? Rodney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted September 21, 2005 Report Share Posted September 21, 2005 Clarence Lovell finished 19th - wasn't he from around here? His nephew is Cory Lovell who races the #61 USRA Late Model. Clarence was driving for Don Bierschwale when he died in the highway accident. Bobby Hillin raced at twin cities (Midland/odessa) when we were in high school. He went on to race a couple of hundred times in cup with one victory at the talledega 500 in 86. I believe he is now in Houston where he started a new company that waterblasts for earthmoving or something weird like that. Next USRA race, Ask Tuffy Hudson senior; he works for Hillin. Go to this link, and you will find information on any driver who ever ran a Cup, Busch, or Truck race: Drivers Here are some names not yet mentioned: Jerry Schild, Ronnie Chumley, Marc Madison, Freddy Fryar, Shorty Rollins, Jim McElreath, Tom Williams, Paul White, Robin McCall, Johnny Rutherford, Steve Perry, B.A. Wilson, Gary Wright, Ed Sczech, Joey Sonntag, Walter Ballard, Jimmy Finger, Fred Hill, Pete Arnold, Lloyd Ruby, Bud Rackley, Tubby Gonzalez, Blake Mallory. This list ain't complete, but should make a big dent in the Texas NASCAR racer list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supertx Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Damn Tom did you miss anybody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supertx Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Whoops Billy Wade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Dang, Tex, Ya got me on that one. Most of those came off the top of my head. And I didn't state the obvious, like the Labontes or Foyts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texastracker Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 Keith Green of Waco had a few starts. At one event @ TWS Green broke a part and needed a welder to repair it. A young man near by quickly brought his equipment over and repaired the part, his name was Dale Earnhart!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 I have written elsewhere in this section about Chet Fillip, but I'll do it again. Son of Marvin, started showing up in Marvin's 55 Chevy at Pan American in the early to mid seventies. Has a racing shock business called Advanced Racing Suspension located in Indiana, has raced Daytona and Indy, but mostly USAC Sprints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky161 Posted May 27, 2007 Report Share Posted May 27, 2007 I remember Tom Williams running a Chevelle in the TROC races at TWS and being real fast. It probably wasn't heavier than the Camaros but it looked heavier. He also ran several of the USAC stock car races there, although his USAC car was not a threat to win. I still pulled for him anytime I saw him run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tps48 Posted May 29, 2007 Report Share Posted May 29, 2007 I see Tom Williams all the time. He's slowed down a bit lately, but not much. His salvage yard is next to my salvage yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky161 Posted June 2, 2007 Report Share Posted June 2, 2007 I see Tom Williams all the time. He's slowed down a bit lately, but not much. His salvage yard is next to my salvage yard. Cool. Tell him you heard from one of his fans. I have written elsewhere in this section about Chet Fillip, but I'll do it again. Son of Marvin, started showing up in Marvin's 55 Chevy at Pan American in the early to mid seventies. Has a racing shock business called Advanced Racing Suspension located in Indiana, has raced Daytona and Indy, but mostly USAC Sprints. Chet ran that car in Lubbock too. I loved the car, but I wasn't all that impressed with his driving. Not that he was bad, I just didn't see greatness. I thought it was the car mostly. Nor was I terribly impressed by his qualifying for the 500 or his subsequent runs in nascar. But when he showed up at Phoenix with that big block Hite car, I was SOLD. He was scary fast in that thing. I've since noticed he's pretty tough in a sprint car at Winchester and I've been there once and there are NOT any slouches running fast at Winchester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer Duck Posted June 10, 2007 Report Share Posted June 10, 2007 I remember Tom Williams running a Chevelle in the TROC races at TWS and being real fast. It probably wasn't heavier than the Camaros but it looked heavier. He also ran several of the USAC stock car races there, although his USAC car was not a threat to win. I still pulled for him anytime I saw him run. I believe that Chevelle was the one Clarence built and sold when he went Cup racing. I see Tom Williams all the time. He's slowed down a bit lately, but not much. His salvage yard is next to my salvage yard. Tell Tom Clarence's brother, Charles, said Hi!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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