NASCAR's Illegal Moonshine Roots: From Criminals to Champions (Bill Blair Jr's Personal Museum)
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- Опубликовано: 8 апр 2024
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Bill Blair Sr was a prominent bootlegger with a skill for modifying his Flathead Fords to outrun the law who later became on of the first ever NASCAR drivers. Bill Blair Jr is a historian who preserved many artifacts from his fathers moonshine and racing career, along with other pioneer racing artifacts. We visit his shop/personal museum to get a firsthand experience on how these moonshine runners created the very first "hot rods" to carry contraband and outsmart the police. Bill Jr also built NASCAR engines for Richard Childress, Billy Hagan, and many successful drag racers as an avid Pontiac collector. Among his collection are numerous 1939 and 1940 Ford coupes, highly modified Flathead Ford V8 engines, a Pontiac raced by Mickey Thompson, and a couple former Ford stock car racers rescued from barns!
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It blows my mind to think this stuff was happening almost 100 years ago now. In my mind the 1920s still registers as 80 something years ago 😵💫
Stapletonautoworks.com
Same here…”50 years ago” is still the 1950s or earlier to me
I have a 1/24 scale Big Bear semi truck I've had since I was a child
Man I just thought, you probably weren’t far from Engle Hollow. You have got to find somebody to take you through Junior Johnson shop. I don’t know how much is left but Flossie ended up with the old place. We need to see what’s still there.
Some of the tuning technics he was talking about my dad taught me how to do. He would have been 88 years old now if he was still with us. A lot of old school knowledge left with him.
@@mickeyspeer4919 The people who live there now want to wait a while before filming anything there
Mitchell, you've only scratched the surface of the "OLD" Nascar era beginnings. I can't wait to see what you've uncovered next. The more your channel gets out there, the more I'd like to think the ole timers left will contact you to tell you their stories. Keep at it !!
Thanks man!
I ll tell ya Mitchell these with the first OHVs were crazy. The 303 Rocket 88 in a 39 Ford.
Yes. This is history at its best.
The guys this time. Hell ya.
😮😊
Yes that's what we hope for.
Solid interviews always!!
My dad gave me a 1946 Ford truck with a flathead and said "If you want to learn to be a mechanic, figure out why this truck has no power." My dad never told me that only 2 cylinders actually had compression. I changed the points, the spark plugs and took the carb all apart. I did this after school. I was only 10 years and I was excited that if I got it to run I would get to drive it. After 1 month of thrashing on this I finally asked for help to which my dad then taught me about why an engine needs compression to make it run. It is pretty rare today to have the art of repair taught that way anymore. Keep this kind of videos coming.
Thanks man! We will
My dad and uncle’s did the same thing with me. When the 352 and the 361 Edsel Police Interceptors came out, they’d be in 49 Fords and they would lay in the gravel. The first multiple carb FE intakes and Fenton headers would stay all over those 283 Chevys. The Fords were good handling being low to the ground. The 283s could rev up though.
Gotta have "squish" as the old timers said to me ...
Was born and raised in High Point. My grandmother was a Blair. If I remember she was a cousin. My father was raised on Clover Hill Farms dairy across the street from the old High Point speedway down on Johnson street. I met Bill Blair once as a kid at Harb's Garage. They had several old vintage racecars there for a carshow. He knew my dad and they talked for awhile. I was blown away that I was actually related to him. Back then I was a huge Nascar fan.
I'll be, we are cousins. My grandmother was Alwayne Blair, she grew up on the farm
Every time I watch one of these things, I am amazed at the memory these folks have. Mr Blair is 86 and his mind is still very sharp. Thanks for doing this. It is something that will one day be lost.
Wow, who would have thought that they were running nitro in the 40's, and no oil filters! This guy is a walking historian....loved it!! Keep em coming!
You can tell he really enjoys talking about the history of his dad an moonshine hauling an racing... 👌👌👍👍
The flat head / jerrycan dry sump, and oil pre-heat, blew me away.
Realizing it ain’t for everyone, seems many of these “visits”, understandably, get edited down. Maybe, “extended” versions, in all your free time,😜, on your second channel, could be a long term goal?
All of these episodes seem to have details, of innovations, that flash me back, that I suspect, would be of interest to other’s as well.
Great job Mitchell and Logan, preserving this history, not only of the various sports, but, the evolution of technology and innovation.
thanks man!
I knew both methanol and nitro were around back then but i never would have thought they would be running them in a 40's flathead at full noise for hours on end
SAME
Bill Giving a great History lesson,thank you.
Our pleasure!
@@Stapleton42 Your channel has great content. From outside Philly.
Also people don’t remember how bad brakes and tires and cars handled back then it’s amazing anybody towing and running hard survived. Pontiac at times over the years have some really special stuff. Yes we watch the videos to the end for sure
Absolutely. We appreciate you Jim
I am so thankful that you're preserving the memories of NASCAR's pioneers. That supercharger was wild.
Watch Iron Trap Garage,, he is using that sort of stuff!
You two have knocked it out of the park again! Just when I thought you got it all you stepped back further in history and found an absolute gem! Blair is a human time machine. I'm so impressed, thank you for this episode it was truly impressive.
thank you!!
Hey man - I’m writing an additional comment because I’ve been rewatching some videos of yours and thinking about your project here. First, it was so cool to revisit Jimmy Means’ videos and have more click into place, now that I’ve learned even more about him and the “Winston Cup” racing we all love. You two really are creating a body of work of histories and interviews, primary sources, that will serve as a reference for others. It is already doing this, and I’ve said it a lot, but this is super worthwhile. For example, Waddell refuting the rumor about the “show car from a local Hardee’s wins Daytona” is legit important history, without which the “funny story” becomes fact. So yeah, again, thank you.
I also wanted to encourage trying to get more interviews like this one, with people who experienced things first-hand but aren’t so famous that they have “set answers” to things after being interviewed so many times. People that come to mind are Robert Gee Jr., Tony Eury Jr., Jimmy Means’ son, the bus and hauler drivers, production assistants at CBS or MRN, less prominent NASCAR officials like flag men or the guys who stood at each pit, etc. I’m sure this has occurred to you guys and you definitely feature folks like the fabricator “Rambo,” but surely someone like Greg Sacks would have a ton of insight on Cup racing, Hendrick, as well as Days of Thunder since he drove as “Cole Trickle.” Anyway, just some ideas!
You are very right and we plan on doing just that!
You have a dream job and do a fantastic job. Keep up the great job. I wish someone would do something with the old time hot rodders and customizers.
@@jeffreykoller8929 Thanks man! Who comes to mind? Maybe we can do some of that.
its my buddy!! such a great man and even better friend! hope you got Jack Tant on your list! his wife Sheila is a wonderful pperson as well. you could of made this video 4 days long and you still would of only scratched the surface. he was on my radio show more times than i can count and always fun and always gracious with his time and knowledge .
Very cool that Bill gave you a really cool tour.
Definitely! He is a great guy
The pontiac stuff can be a video to itself. I remember Dave Johnson running I think a Jerico 4 speed in the white warrior 63 Tempest nostalgia super stock banging gears at Norwalk raceway park. The early 60s Tempest has very classic lines...love em!
That would be cool
Grancor was the brand that the Granatelli brothers had made and sold back in Chicago before the Indy 500 days and Studebaker and the world famous STP era
Southwest Virginia had one of the first Virginia dirt tracks post WW2. It was called Southwest Virginia Speedway. There is very little literature in existence about it. It was located in Marion Virginia. The location is a hayfield today but can be seen from the road. Bill Blair is noted in one of articles about racing here along with Curtis Turner.
Stapleton42 You are the Bomb! One more generation and no one will understand . These are priceless.
Well said. Man. That one more generation statement is very true. I will remember that one and use it later...
Bill Blair is a good man. Always like talking to him.
You’re providing an outstanding service of documenting authentic American history. Thank you, your work is invaluable.
Thank you very much!
Outstanding work! Please air the remaining footage. The amount of knowledge that Mr. Blair has must be preserved for all to see. Keep up the great work!
That old timer knows where everything is and what it does in that shop
He sure does
Bill Blair Jr, wow what a historic life I mean he was around for the forming of what eventually became NASCAR!!! I am like WTF he's 86 years old still going strong telling his stories sharing his wealth of knowledge, bless this man.
Mitchell and Logan y'all never cease to amaze me with the content you make, thank you once again for sharing this with all of us, it's a blessing.
Thank you !
How you guys find all these great stories that need to be told is amazing!! Thanks again for keep this piece of history alive! So Cool!
Thank you Joe!
My hometown of High Point North Carolina was well represented during that era! Very nice video guys! Thank you both.
Bob Welborn and Jimmy Lewallen were two other racers in Nascar early days from High Point. Maybe Jim Pascal also.
I knew Jack Choquette who was the '53 or '54 NASCAR National Modified Champion. Was a really cool man. If he told me something about my racecar I did it. Jack is surely missed. GOD BLESS Mr. Choquette.
Man I love that you want to preserve this stuff. You said something in one of the race shop videos, that you like to stand where those buildings and just think about who else has stood there. I do the same thing! I’m 39 years old and I feel the generation behind me doesn’t care yet. So it’s awesome you are doing all of this!
Great video, Thanks again for keeping old NASCAR alive.
Mitch, just when I think you can’t possibly beat your last video. You can tell how much this old timer loved and admired his dad. Thanks for sharing bud, what a wealth of knowledge, he reminds me of my grandfather.
Thank you for showcasing the enginuity behind the founding idea of NASCAR!!!
Our pleasure!
It must take a lot of searching to find all this old school history Its really cool Thanks to you and Logan for bringing us old guys along Much appreciated
Thank you Mitchell for bringing us this awesome history content
Glad you enjoyed it!
Love what you are doing... Preserving, and finding, history is SO important.
thank you!
Bill really caught me off guard,, when he pointed to a photo of him racing in West Palm Beach, Fl. Sadly they demolished the entire facility 2 years ago and left it without building what they bought it for. Fantastic video!!
This. Is. Pure. Gold.
Wow, the amount of flammable, volatile substances these old timers were handling in their back yards and shops...just think of it as homemade chemistry labs but used for a very specific purpose of racing! Thanks for Mr. Blair. His collection is really good instruction on how racing was done in the 1940's. He was right in the thick of NASCAR beginnings.
Totally! I can't even imagine. Bill told a story of a big explosion but I think it got lost in the editing process shuffle
That you could just buy whatever chemical you felt like, unexplained & unregulated - WOW
@@RAEckart22 Yes, as the US Constitution is written, intended with NO Government Regulations, Restrictions, Authoritarian Governance/
They still knew they required the 18A to prohibit Alcohol Beverages, then the repeal 21A. then the Plaintiffs to sue in US Supreme Court to remove the US Congress Alcohol Beverage Prohibition Act, rule, as Unconstitutional in 1934 post 21A, thus Null and Void !!
Will any citizens follow these with proper legal action, suits again thus achieve the same results ?!
omg the original "hub" dyno! What a find! Great Video Mitchell! Thank You all!
I also love him discussing lb/hr needs for type of fuel and timing adjustments...I see sun distributor machine under a cover against the wall! This is pretty high tech stuffs!
DAMN one of my dad's best friends who was Track Champion at Greenville Pickens in the 50's recently passed, he was building flatheads with my dad the day he died.
In so far as drag racing :
Quain Stott who's family owns Stott Ford previously Stott Chevrolet in the 1960's owns and runs the Southeast Gassers Series race series... runs on the 1967 NHRA rule book.
Outstanding!
The Pontiac history was off the hook.
Audio sounds great with the guest wearing the microphone. You and Logan are documenting racing history for generations to come. Keep up the awesome work
thank you jared!
86 year old man, and he still talks about his daddy, that's a true bond of Father and Son.
Very cool thank you for documenting and preserving this history
Thanks man it’s an honor to do it!
My grandmas dad was racing these cars. He was a moonshiner in GA. We had a great photo of him and his team with the car at the track in black and white.
Much respect for you Mr Blair , you are an inspirational treasure .
This guy is such a badass! 65mph behind a station wagon 😂 This episode was amazing, thank you🙏
thanks man!!
This is what legends are made from, don’t forget where you come from. I’m from asheboro , few miles from the area , have family in the area now. Everyone that is a gearhead or something like that is interested in the moon- early days of nascar. These people and stories are it .
This is the pioneer era, if it weren't for guys like Bill Blair from this era, there would be no NASCAR that we have today. Bill stands on NASCAR's win list with three wins.
Great video! Mr. Blair sure had a great memory. Thanks for doing these videos, I have been following NASCAR and NHRA since mid ‘60s, I have heard of a lot of those people he mentioned in the video but I had never heard of him or his dad. Would be interesting to hear how you found out about them. Good job!
Thanks man! We met Bill at the NC auto racing hall of fame events!
Met Bill Many times over the years at Piedmont Dragway and Farmington Dragway during the Nostalgia Drags at both tracks,saw some of his Super Duty Pontiacs!! I really like NASCAR history, but man I love Drag Racing history, maybe do video with Bill about his Drag Racing Days!👍 love the Channel and the Content! Thanks for sharing.
thank you Chris! We could definitely do that
(Fancy cap) A wicked stretch of road... right up there with mount eagle mountain right out side Chattanooga TN when it was a 2 Lane...
Thanks for doing this you two. We really appreciate it. I am so happy you spent the day with Ed Pink. He is a drag racing legend. Get Prudhomme next, he has some stories. Take a couple days and visit his shop in California. It's awseome!!
I would love to. Maybe Kenny Wallace can help us with that
I bet the Pedregron family or the Rahal family could help... or anyone that knows them. We need the same type of history in NHRA. Keep it coming. The legends and their stories are slowly fading@@Stapleton42
Awesome stuff! Very cool to see more on the vintage cars and the people behind them. I race a vintage class in Eastern WA/ North Idaho. '28-'48 original steel bodies, straight axles and leaf springs, and either flathead v8 or inline sixes for power. Some of the most fun I've ever had! The cars always get a TON of attention.
Man that is awesome
I swear I had a grin from ear to ear watching this. This is the best video yet! Man you're just killing it!!!
thanks man that is my goal for every video for at least one person to say it was their favorite!
@Stapleton42 I don't think thats the first I've felt that way and I have no doubts that I'll be saying it again.
If possible play the whole unedited video I would love to watch the whole thing. Thank you for your wonderful videos.
I loved it. He is a walking talking history book. Keep them coming, I love this.
God bless you both.
We will don't worry!
Damnitboy. You knocked this one outta the park. I remember being a fan of this guy drag racing in the late 60's and early 70's and wondered whatever happened to him. I really had no idea who he was and certainly didn't know anything about who his dad was and his connection to pre Nascar stock car racing and moonshining. This is definitely one of your best videos yet. What a wealth of knowledge and a cool dude this man is. I bet he does have some stories. LOL Great job by you and Logan. You guys are absolutely crushing it!
Thanks man!! Small world!
How could you not root for the strip teaser?haha..
Love hearing the story’s of these moonshiners, you hear people talk about them as the start, but you don’t hear the specifics like them getting caught 😂😂
Right!
That was great! You guys are doing a great job gathering this history. That early supercharger was really cool, well, everything was really cool!! Thanks, cheers!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Once again a awesome video, I hope somewhere all this information is recorded. So its not lost.😁👍👍👍
Working on doing our part for that!
Junior Johnson
Another neat story is the Sox & Martin drag racing story, out of Burlington NC alot of those guys are still living.
Working on that one with Buddy Martin and Herb McCandless!
Old Nascar and a big time Pontiac drag racer.Wow!
Thank you sir please keep telling the history of nascar you are awesome me and my dad watch all your videos just know that there are people out there that really appreciate what you’re doing
Very interesting man with a great memory
We towed a 1965 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia all the way from Miami, Florida to Ontario, Canada using one of those clamp on bumper tow bars. We used them all the time in the 70's, but that was the longest distance I towed a car with one.
For the tow vehicle, we used my 1978 Plymouth Volare station wagon. The year was 1985.
Those bumper tow bars were still readily available at the local automotive hardware store (Canadian Tire and similar stores in the US) in the 80's.
My Volare did get pushed around quite a bit, and the VW's steering liked to turn full lock to the side quite often, trying to make the back of my car skid out to the side...
Lots of fun when running at wide open throttle (about 75 mph going down a small hill).
Other than a couple of blown front tires at 70 mph on the Karmann Ghia, we didn't have any problems.
Mr . Blair is a living encyclopedia.
Sad that in 150 years unless ur a prominant or popular person. We will not be remembered in future generations. Sad. An thanks for what an all ya do to preserve history.
Much appreciated
It’s a history lesson that is fun with all the stories behind every part 🏁🏁🏁
Great content thanks for sharing
Glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely amazing to hear and see that stuff. What a treasure he is to be still here to share his stories. Brilliant job capturing it all. I even heard him say that he had audio of some meetings organizing rules….just amazing !!
Oh man I loved this guy a wealth of information
Love seeing all the early parts and stories!!!! To hear this Gentleman's knowlodge and history !!! Great Stuuff !!!
Mitchell, my ears perked up for the Pontiac stuff. My high school shop teacher was a huge Pontiac guy. He raced a '62 Pontiac from 1963 until he died in 2007. He also had one of the factory aluminum '62s. I never realized how big he was until I went to his funeral and was reading the cards on the flowers. One of them was from Arnie and Evelyn Beswick.
You should check out our video with John Callies. He was Pontiac motorsports manager for a long time
@@Stapleton42 I'm gonna catch up eventually!
Thirty seconds in and I new this was gold. Great stuff!!
Hello Stapleton, this is the best yet. My first car was a 1950 Ford with the V8. Brings back memories just as you see.
Thank you!!
Every time I watch one of your new Racing History video I learn something or are reminded of something I had not thought about for a while. I myself would have no problems with a hour and a half video learning history and early horsepower tricks . today is there a wholesale / retail supplier for Nitromethane ? NHRA gets it somewhere. Thanks for all the camera / edit work. Mr. Blair is a great interview and his collection is outstanding.
Good question Steve!
Bill Blair has some of the rarest of rare Pontiac parts and the red Pontiac aluminum fenders, hood, bumpers. Pontiac built rare swiss cheese cars, Light weight. 421 super duty engines, a friend of mine has one of them. The exhaust system he showed I would say that is all thats around. I would love to see that shop .
Bill is a super cool dude!
I don’t like not knowing either. I know I thanked you already but I just came back to finish this and got to the end. Hell yeah man, I want to know it all
thanks man!
Mr 42 you found your passion and doing a great job with this
Thank you an much Respect for the Blair Family
Wow, just wow! Awesome that you have documented his story! Thanks y'all, good stuff!
It's amazing how you have managed to find so much history of stock car racing
there is a lot of it!!
FYI - For many years before Hot-Rodders started using it - it was a solvent for ink used in printing presses and news paper printing - it dries really fast
Incredible episode! Thanks for visiting Mr Blair and bringing his wealth of knowledge to us!
Glad to be of service!
Very cool video. I really enjoy the olden days of racing and Nascar. The history my stay alive. Keep-a-hammerin Stapelton42
These videos are Priceless bro don't stop doing this man it's very interesting I love listening to the Old Timers talk❤
When I was 17, Fonty Flock, took me around the Daytona International Speedway in a Florida Hiway Patrol Car at 150 MPH.... No seatbelt, helmet, nothing... He was a great guy... Took me into Frances office. Introduced me and gave me a small card signed by Bill France. I was a dumb kid but he took the time to do that...great guy. True Story..
Wow, what a video!! How did an hour fly by so fast?? I'm telling you again Mitchell, THANK YOU for documenting this!! All these stories and facts, the history would be unknown to so many people if it weren't for your iterest, curiosity and EFFORT! THANK YOU!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
this has got to be the coolest thing I've seen on RUclips and a long time!
Thanks James!
You guys rock man!
Awesome history and stories.
Well done!
This was really interesting, getting to see the connective tissue between moonshine running and racing. Fully support this part of your work, tracking down stories and figures who had a closer connection to the stock car racing NASCAR is named after.
Chillicothe Federal Prison still stands today, (C.C.I) on State Route 104 Outside Chillicothe Ohio. It has an really old cooper roof on it. Junior Johnson did his prison sentence there. Wondering what other nascar Legends did time there?
I bought my last truck at a used truck dealership in Chillicothe 😂
@@Stapleton42 If I had to guess you bought it from Chillicothe Truck right off U.S 23? 🤷♂️ If you drove 5 more mins outside chillicothe you would have drove right passed it. I think even some famous country singers did time there like Johnny Paycheck.
@@Mr.Magicstick Yep thats the place lol
Probably one of the best ones yet. I have always been intrigued by the flock family.
Great stuff yet again. What an interesting cool fellow, Nascar pioneer history and Pontiac drag racing histpry all in one. Some reallu cool memorablia there too.
Glad you enjoyed it! Maybe we can do a Pontiac specific video with him
These are the story's great movies are made of, great interview once again, keep it up
They did make a movie out of it actually. Red Dirt Rising
Epic episode from SAW. Loved this content. So much information to digest. Will need to watch it twice. Thanks SAW God Bless
Another great video Mitchell ! Love hearing the old stories and the old tricks that were used way beck in the days ! And I agree , hanging the microphone on your guest's make them very easy to hear as some are not easily understable at times , You on the other hand have a very clear distinct voice and is easily heard . Keep up the good work !
Love your ch dude. Your content is awesome. Keep finding these people so they can share before the stories are lost!