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29 | The Hard Charger Wins Slow T he story of the great racers from Harlan must include what happened to Tiny Lund. After almost being killed in his first NASCAR race in 1955, he borrowed the money to buy a 1956 Pontiac that was built into a new race car with the helpof Robert McKee.1 In 1956 McKee, Lund, and Ruthie, Lund’s wife, left for NASCAR and South Carolina. In twenty-­ one races, the Harlan driver managed one top five finish and eight top ten finishes, earning only small amounts of money. With so little success, Lund’s first effort to conquer NASCAR was a sad debacle: the car was repossessed because he failed to make his payments. Since Lund could not support his mechanic, McKee left and eventually went towork for Ray Nichols, whose garage built Cotton Owens’s winning 1957 Daytona Beach car. McKee went on to have a distinguished career as an automotive designer. Despite the massive setback, Lund would not be stopped. He loved to race, and he pulled together his grit for a second southern invasion. Later during 1956, he and one of his many friends, Kenny “Red” Myler of Missouri Valley, Iowa, again left for NASCAR. Lund, with Myler’s assistance, finished the season driving for owner Gus Holzmueller, based in Cincinnati , Ohio. But Lund had no better fortune with Holzmueller’s car than with his own.2 Between 1957 and 1962, Lund had fifteen more top five finishes and thirty-­six top ten finishes, but again they earned him little money. By 1960 he appeared to be withdrawing from NASCAR’s top division, Grand National , entering only eight events. The years on the road were difficult. He would sleep in the car near a motel, and when a guest left early in the morning, he would sneak into the room, shower, and sleep in the bed.When he could, hewould bunk in with other people. Part of Lund’s problem was that, although hewas thirty years old, he behaved like a teenager. RexWhite, who had pulled together a serious racing team in hopes of winning a 1960 championship, finally had to 156 | Chapter 29 encourage Tiny to spend less time in his garage because “Tiny was always cutting up and fooling around. He distracted everyone from the work.”3 Lund had another problem, too, the same old one that had frustrated Swanson—Tiny was a “hard charger.” He seemed deliberately to aim for the deep holes on the tracks. He needlessly banged and battled with the other cars. Many people over the years told Lund, “Tiny, you could break an anvil.”4 A car owner and a mechanic did not appreciate a driver ruining the equipment. Owners preferred pilots who were careful with the car out on the track and therefore were reluctant to let Lund get behind the wheel. In the midst of this adversity, Lund signed a long-­ term lease for a fish camp in South Carolina.5 The camp was primitive. Larry Frank, one of Lund’s closest pals, rigged up a bucket system so Ruthie could take a shower. Eventually, Lund had six house trailers and one small cabin on the property. At a minimum, this camp ended the precarious road life for Ruthie and gave her a place to live while Lund disappeared for weeks of racing.6 Frank “bottle” fished with Lund and “stood back-­ to-­ back with Tiny in bar room fights.”7 Marvin Panch remarked, “Frank, although not a big man, was about the only person Lund could not beat in a fight.”8 Once, Lund and Frank were arrested on a moonshine run, and Tiny became upset because he had never spent a night in jail. Frank graciously said he would take the jail night if Lund would call to make the bail arrangements. By January 1963, Ruthie Lund was weary of the hardship of the fish camp and her husband’s neglect. Ruthie now had another option, because her first husband had been released from prison and was available. Lund, with a few dollars in his pocket, departed for the 1963 Daytona 500. He had no car to drive in the big race and was suffering from trench mouth, a painful infection of the gums.9 On February 10, ten days before the race, Lund’s luck changed. Marvin Panch, scheduled to drive for the Wood brothers, was test driving on the big track. The Ford factory had installed one of...

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