Catchfence

Bristol Motor Speedway Logo

Tommy Houston (talking about the old days)- “Dave hit it on the head. We raced in Maryville, Tenn.  one time and we came back down the road to eat. Sam Ard was in a restaurant over on Interstate 40 and still had his uniform on. Evidently, he put his uniform on when he left home, he raced in it and then wore it back home, but that is how it was in those days.

“I’m excited about this. It is something I’m looking forward to doing. I talked to Harry Gant about it. He said I hope you can do it. I’m really honored to get in and have a fun race.”

How is it different today than when you were racing? ”We would work on those cars through the night, then have to load up and be at the track the next day. The new guys don’t have to do that. They just show up and race.”

What do you expect to happen in the Scotts EZ Seed Showdown?- “I’m going to race hard. I’m in good health. I started a truck race in 2000. I had been out of it 4 or  5 years. When I started, it was like I raced last weekend.”

Which car wrap will you use? “ I’m not sure. It would be nice to stay with the #6 because that is the number most people associate me with.  We’ll just have to see what the guys here at the Speedway come up with. “

Favorite memory-“ I suppose my best is when Mark Martin pulled in on the white flag in 1994.  That and one of the first times I came here on a Sunday afternoon in a late model sportsman race. The only stands here at the time were the concrete ones. We had a three lap lead and when I came in for the pit stop about halfway, the oil pan had been hitting the track, and when they jacked me up, they wouldn’t let the car down because oil was pouring out. We had everybody beat pretty bad.”

“Harry (Gant) and I had some great races here too. I tell him everytime I see him, there was one race at Bristol I won. I tell him his scorer won it for him.

“I know Earnhardt knocked all four wheels off the car one time. We helped him load the car up and then raced our tow trucks across the mountain through Linville back home.”

A third of your wins were at Hickory. Why were you so good there? “We had a particular setup that we put under the car. When a lot of people would put stagger in the rear of the car to make it turn, I had it opposite. I had the left rear tire bigger than the right rear tire. It would turn good in to the corner, and then it would drive straight up off the corner. That was the biggest secret.”

Race fans were hard on Teresa, your niece. Did you think she was treated unfairly?-“ I did. The squabble between her and Junior, I can see her side of it. Dale built the whole organization so that Dale, Kelley and Kerry could go on to race out of that. I don’t blame her. If they would have held on a little longer and not been what I call “hard-headed,”  maybe they could have gotten everything worked out.”

Do you talk to Junior?” Yes, I do. As a matter of fact, I saw him a little while back and he invited me to come by his shop when I go by on my way fishing.”

What is your advice to him now? “Probably get a little more self confidence. I think when he started he had good equipment and a lot of confidence. I think a lot of the mistakes he made has torn him down a little bit. He’ll just have to go on. The one thing I learned racing is that from time to time and I think Andy, my youngest son put it best. One time he wrecked seven weeks in a row. One night at supper, he said ‘Pop, you think I’m going to wreck every race I go to?’ I said, ‘No, but if you race, you’re going to wreck.” It was the next week, I called him from Dover to see how he did and he had won a 200-lap race at Tri-County. We talked about it after that. It is just getting your confidence going and knowing you can do it. Junior needs to do that.”

Why did you have success at Bristol?- “We just raced hard. We never had good equipment until we got Southern Biscuit, Roses and Buick. We had good sponsor dollars. We had 10 or 11 guys in the shop. We never got to do wind tunnel testing, but the more resources we did have, the better we were. When we went to the big tracks, we weren’t a match with the people running the Cup stuff. We could run with them, but it was hard to beat them on a regular basis when you had 12 Cup guys in the race.”

You never won championship. Was that hard on you? “It was disappointing, but after Rob Moroso got killed, it wasn’t that important. I’m glad he won it. Rob went through some tough times, the family did. There are more important things in life.”

Jason Keller broke your starts record. Are you glad that it was him?- “Jason is a good racer. He races with a lot of respect. That is fine with me. I have no problems with that. “

What do you today-“ I go fishing. We have a home in Holden Beach and go down there a lot. I’m also building playsets for kids. I’ve probably sold a dozen this year. I build them and set them up for $950. “

Would it be special to win the EZ Seed Showdown?-“ It would be pretty special. I’m going to get in a little better shape. I could use some toning up. We’re going to come back and try to win it.”

- Bristol Motor Speedway, Press Release