5/9/2022
Postman 68
Blog: My LOVE Of Throwback Weekend
Put me in the “LOVE Throwback Weekend at Darlington” category. I think as this goes on longer it gets better because drivers and teams are digging deeper into the roots of our sport for throwbacks.
Sure, there always seems to be Wrangler cars, black threes and Valvoline schemes and recalling those great memories is wonderful. What I prefer are the “less than obvious” throwbacks.
As a lover of sprint cars, Aric Almirola and Dean Thompson had cars that made me happy.
Almirola threw back to his grandfather, Sam Rodriguez. Rodriguez was a three-time Tampa Bay Auto Racing Association (TBARA) Champion and between 1984 and 1994 he racked up 90 victories. Almirola idolized his grandfather and has always wanted to run a tribute to him; he got to do that in his final NASCAR Cup Series season at Darlington.
For Thompson it was a throwback to another Dean Thompson. Thompson – the truck series racer – is in his rookie season driving for Niece Motorsports. Thompson – the sprint car racer – was a three-time California Racing Association (CRA) Champion and won 111 times on the wild bullrings of California. The truck series racer was born in 2001; he is no relation to the sprint car driver who died in 2003.
My first racing love was the big-block dirt modifieds of the Northeast and Stewart Friesen (who races modifieds and NASCAR Trucks) delivered a modified on his throwback truck.
It started with a winning bid of $4,000 to Aim Autism by Shawn and Billie Beckhorn, with that they got to design the throwback truck. The picked the 1983 paint scheme of Modified Hall of Famer “Jumpin” Jack Johnson for the Friesen truck.
Johnson was part of my childhood. My home track was Five Mile Point Speedway, near Binghamton, N.Y. While Johnson was never a regular there we knew when his home track – Fonda Speedway – rained out, he would be on his way.
Between 1975 and 1985 he won eight times at Five Mile Point, not only those pop in races but big year end events as well. His first Five Mile Point win was the 1975 Southern Tier Open, he would also win the Southern Tier 100 twice.
Not only did we watch Johnson at our home track, but we would travel to tracks throughout Upstate New York where he was always at the front. He had 428 wins at 35 different tracks. He was a six-time Super DIRT Modified Series Champion, and at Fonda he won 149 times (more than anyone else) and was an 11-time Champion.
Jack passed in April 2021, but his memory lives on in those of us fortunate enough to watch him race that orange No. 12a big block modified.
His story was told this weekend at Darlington on throwback weekend, another example of why I am in the “LOVE Throwback Weekend at Darlington” category.
-- Steve Post
Submitted By: Steve Post
