Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

Nov. 11, 1962: NASCAR came to Tampa Bay

Forty years ago today, Golden Gate Speedway in Tampa hosted the predecessor of the Winston Cup. The cars didn't look anything like they do today and they weren't nearly as fast, but that was no problem when the engines, and the crowd, roared.

By JOANNE KORTH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 11, 2002

Buzzie Reutimann scoured the local junk yards for fresh fenders and a hood to put on the beat-up 1960 Chevrolet. He worked all night getting that car ready to race.

It wasn't pretty.

It wasn't terribly fast.

But Reutimann, a 21-year-old racer from Zephyrhills, was turning laps at Golden Gate Speedway in Tampa on Nov. 11, 1962. He rubbed elbows and an occasional fender with the likes of Fireball Roberts, Ned Jarrett, Buck Baker and a skinny kid named Richard Petty.

Forty years ago today, NASCAR came to town.

"Those guys were all big and famous, and I was just a little guy from a local track," said Reutimann, 61, who still lives in Zephyrhills. "I just stayed out there and stayed out of trouble. I got to run into Richard Petty a couple times when he passed me -- not too hard, just a doughnut on the door."

Twenty-four drivers took the green flag for the race in NASCAR's Grand National division, known today as Winston Cup. Petty, 25, started fifth in a 1962 Plymouth owned by his father, Lee Petty. He took the lead 20 laps into the 200-lap event and led the rest of the way, claiming the 14th victory of his blossoming career.

He won $780.

A sellout crowd of 8,000 went wild.

"It was big-time then," Petty said recently, laughing and flashing his bright smile. "We'd run in Florida one week and New York one week and North Carolina one week. We went all over running 50 races a year, two or three races a week, 100-mile races. If we had 6,000 people we thought it was a big crowd."

Frank Dery Jr. opened Golden Gate in 1962, building the 1/3-mile asphalt track on a 40-acre site on Fowler Avenue. Dery, who owned a wholesale florist company for 54 years before liquidating last year, was meticulous about his race track. He fussed over every detail, from concessions to landscaping.

Before long, people asked Dery when he would host a NASCAR event, so Dery went to see founder and chairman Bill France in Daytona Beach. He came home with a race date -- Nov. 11, 1962.

"I went ahead and accepted that date thinking I was going to get a bunch of cars," said Dery, now 81 and living in Tampa. "When it was getting closer to the date, I called them up to see who was coming and they said, "That's up to you.' "

NASCAR officials told Dery to go to a race in North Carolina a few weeks before his date to sign up drivers. Dery had no idea securing top talent would cost him top dollar.

"I go to North Carolina and talk to them, and everybody wants to know if I'm going to pay their way and all this kind of stuff," Dery said. "It cost me more for deal money than it did for the purse."

Golden Gate had an all-star lineup: Petty, Roberts, Jarrett, Buck Baker, Rex White and defending series champion Joe Weatherly. All were later named to the list of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers. Dery brought in extra grandstands and offered a $4,500 purse.

Admission was $5.

The race was the second of 53 in the 1963 season. White, the 1960 champion, won the pole with a lap of 60.15 mph. Petty completed the 662/3-mile race in 1 hour, 9 minutes, 54 seconds, averaging 57.22 mph.

Only three drivers finished on the lead lap: Petty, teammate Jim Paschal and Weatherly. Six failed to finish, including Jarrett, who retired after 92 laps because of a rear-end problem, and Roberts, who wrecked on Lap 88. Local-boy Reutimann, driving the 2-year-old Chevy owned by Dery, was 10th, four laps down.

Today, NASCAR is a billion-dollar business. A ticket under $100 for a seat along the frontstretch is a rare bargain. Every race is nationally televised, and corporate sponsors pay millions to have their logos adorn the hoods, bumpers and quarter panels of Winston Cup cars.

Not in 1962.

"You had no sponsor for the car, so what you worked on the car with next week was how much you made this week," said Petty, who won 14 races and nearly $48,000 during the 1963 season. "You just lived from race to race and Daddy paid all the bills. If we didn't win any money, we didn't buy any equipment. We were fortunate because we were making enough money the week before to buy good equipment.

"You only had one car, and the only engine you had was in the car. You didn't have a spare with you. You carried a few spare pieces, but not much. To get ready for the next race you put new spark plugs in, changed the oil filter and went to the next race."

There were no transporters. Petty drove the flatbed trailer that carried two of the team's three cars to Tampa, arguing with Paschal about the identity of crops growing in fields along the highway. Jarrett, who delivered a speech at a banquet in upstate New York two nights before, took a bus to Cleveland, then flew to Tampa just in time for the race.

"Airline choices were not as great back then," Jarrett, 62, said recently. "I got there pretty late and, as I recall, I had some sort of mechanical problem. But it was a nice little track."

Golden Gate was a smashing success.

"It was terrific," Dery said. "It was unbelievable. The people were just all up in arms and, of course, they wanted me to continue with the NASCAR races. But in order to be in NASCAR, you have to pay, pay, pay. I didn't lose any money, but I didn't make any money."

NASCAR never returned to Tampa.

Dery continued to run the speedway, holding races on Friday and Saturday nights for 17 years until he grew weary of battling local residents who complained about the noise. He sold the track, and today avoids driving past the Fowler Avenue location because it hurts to see a flea market on the site of his beloved speedway.

This weekend, Reutimann will be at the season-ending NASCAR races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His son, David, will drive in the Busch Grand National event and will compete in the series full time next season.

Seeing how NASCAR operates today, Reutimann thinks back to the day he raced against Petty in an old Chevy pieced together with junk yard finds and almost giggles.

"We worked all night a few times getting it ready," he said. "When we got to the track, the only thing they made us do was bolt the doors shut so they wouldn't pop open. Other than that, we were in good shape. That sure couldn't happen anymore.

"Sometimes I think we've advanced too far. It takes some of the fun out of it. I still think it would be more fun just to go down to Golden Gate Speedway and race."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright