The engines of some early NASCAR racers weren’t just powered by gasoline, but the moonshine they transported with the same intensity displayed on the track — a legacy to be celebrated next weekend in Mount Airy.
“It’s to do with history,” chief organizer Phil Marsh said of the fourth-annual Moonshine and Racers’ Reunion scheduled Saturday (Sept. 9), which fans consider a truly unique event — one that is free and open to the public.
During the gathering, to begin at 10 a.m., downtown Mount Airy will be filled with vintage race cars and ones used for hauling illegal liquor — which in olden days often were one and the same.
Along with the historic vehicles, notable racing figures will be on hand to sign autographs, including retired NASCAR champion Bobby Allison and a host of others who once populated tracks and circuits both big and small.
Others are to include Glenn Jarrett, Frank Fleming, Waddell Wilson, Chocolate Myers and Dink Widenhouse, among a long list of participants.
Family members of deceased racers such as Wendell Scott, Curtis Turner, Tim Flock and J.D. McDuffie also will be present, according to Marsh, along with a former Miss Winston Cup and Big Chuck from the “Moonshiners” reality-TV series.
The racing notables will be stationed on North Main Street to greet fans, with the cars to be displayed the length of that street from Independence Boulevard to Pine Street. These will occupy the left lane of North Main heading south, leaving the right lane open for traffic.
Between 80 and 100 cars are expected, along with 120 individuals from the racing and moonshine realms, moonshine stills, demonstrations and additional activities including a silent auction.
The yearly Moonshine and Racers’ Reunion in Mount Airy has proven to be a big hit with fans, typically drawing crowds all up and down North Main Street. The legions of autograph seekers are another testament to the event’s popularity, to which the participating drivers can attest.
“Some of them said they signed so much they couldn’t even move their fingers,” Marsh added Thursday.
Local historic track
As part of the appreciation of history next Saturday, Marsh said a parade of race cars will leave the downtown area about 3 p.m. and proceed along West Pine Street (N.C. 89) to visit the former Mount Airy Speedway/White Dirt Race Track.
It is located, appropriately, on Race Track Road west of town.
“The Sheriff’s Department will escort us up there,” Marsh said.
Last year, people living along N.C. 89-West lined up to watch the cars pass, he recalled.
Mount Airy Speedway, which opened in 1946, drew some noteworthy racing figures of that period, including Curtis Turner and the Wood Brothers, according to Marsh.
The former track is a shade of its former self. “Right now it’s in a cornfield,” Marsh said, although the outlines of the old dirt bleachers are still visible.
Marsh and other organizers are excited about the Moonshine and Racers’ Reunion unfolding once again and helping to preserve such history.
“We’d just like everybody to come out and join us,” he said.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com