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NASCAR Stars to Parade at Martinsville for Hanes 500

23 September 1997

           RACING GREATS TO PARADE AT MARTINSVILLE HANES 500
 

MARTINSVILLE, VA - Some of NASCAR's greatest racing figures will be on
display on Sunday, September 28 prior to the running of the $1,242,331
Hanes 500 Winston Cup race.

To help celebrate the speedway's 50th anniversary, the pre-race parade
of stars will include such greats as Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons, Buddy
Baker, Raymond Parks, Junie Donlavey, Glen Wood, Herb Thomas, Jack
Smith, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty,
Junior Johnson and H.  Clay Earles.

All have been invited to ride in convertibles prior to the event.

Jarrett, now a well-known television announcer, won the 1961 and 1965
NASCAR Winston Cup Championship and captured 50 races in his
career. He is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association
Hall of Fame.

Parsons, also a television announcer and a member of the NMPA Hall of
Fame, captured the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship and won 21
races in his career.

Baker, yet another popular television announcer and member of the NMPA
Hall of Fame, won 19 NASCAR Winston Cup races.

Parks owned cars driven by Red Byron and Bob Flock, who ran one-two in
the first race held at Martinsville Speedway on September 7, 1947 and
also was the owner of Byron's 1949 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
winning car. He is a member of the NMPA Hall of Fame.

One of the most beloved competitors on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit,
Donlavey has been bringing race cars to Martinsville Speedway for 47
years. He is the owner of the Heilig-Meyers Ford driven by Dick
Trickle.

Wood is the patriarch of the Wood Brothers Racing Team of Stuart, VA,
whose cars have scored 96 victories and a NASCAR Winston Cup
Championship. He won four Winston Cup races as a driver and owns the
CITGO Ford driven by Michael Waltrip.

Thomas was the 1951 and 1953 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion and won 48
races in a career that led him to the NMPA Hall of Fame.

Smith was a 21-time NASCAR Winston Cup race winner and is a member of
the NMPA Hall of Fame.

The head of the Alabama Gang, Bobby Allison was the 1983 NASCAR
Winston Cup Champion and winner of 84 races. He is a member of the
NMPA Hall of Fame.

His brother and another member of the Alabama Gang, Donnie Allison,
won ten NASCAR Winston Cup races.

Yarborough, now owner of the RCA Ford driven by John Andretti, also is
a member of the NMPA Hall of Fame. Retiring after the 1988 season,
Yarborough left a driving record that included 559 races, 83
victories, three NASCAR Winston Cup championships and over $5,000,000
in career earnings.

Petty, "The King" of NASCAR Winston Cup racing, was a seven-time
champion, winner of 200 races and a 15-time Martinsville Speedway
winner. He owns the STP Pontiac driven by Bobby Hamilton.

Johnson, Grand Marshal for the Hanes 500, won 50 races in his career
and is a member of the NMPA Hall of Fame.

Earles, founder of Martinsville Speedway, opened the track on
September 7, 1947, even before NASCAR was formed, and has guided the
facility ever since.

Following qualifying on Friday, Martinsville's 50th anniversary
celebration includes the Hanes 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race
at 1 p.m. Saturday, September 27 and the Hanes 500 at 12:30
p.m. Sunday, September 28.
 
By Martinsville Speedway Public Relations