[Fot] Phill Hill - Triumph - British Leyland party CSPRRC 1975

[RACER BUD]

Wonderful stuff   I'm gonna forward it to my newsletter Gang
Racer Bud
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: michael cook 
  To: Clark W. Nicholls ; fot at autox.team.net 
  Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 5:19 PM
  Subject: Re: [Fot] Phill Hill - Triumph - British Leyland party CSPRRC 1975


  We had that party at every Road Atlanta Run-Offs for about ten years. Theoretically it was only for drivers and crews of British Leyland cars but when we expected maybe 300 people we always got about 500. In 1971 or 72 we had the Playmate of the Year as a guest. Another year, Paul Newman brought in a rather large "professional" lady from Atlanta and had her go after Bob Tullius. She was only wearing something like a toga which didn't cover much.
   
  We had to be careful at one end of the party room because it was close to a church and it was illegal to drink liquor within a certain distance from a church. So there was a rope stretched across the hall about 20 feet from the end wall and you could not have alcohol on the other side of the rope.
   
  You had to have a private party in those early days to get a drink in Gainesville. We all had to imbibe freely before the Sunday night victory banquet because on Sunday even private parties were veboten and there were security guards stationed outside the Holiday Inn Hall, checking the guests for suspicious packages or concealed bottles.
   
  Actually, the British Leyland cocktail party began at the original "experimental" Run-Offs at Riverside and Daytona. I think the first one was at Riverside in 1968 and the host was a west coast PR agent named Ian Dunne who did the publicity for Kas's team. At Daytona we crammed ourselves into a room at the Daytona Plaza and honored a female driver ... Eloise Norris from Texas who raced a Mini. I have a picture of a cake we had made in the shape of a Mini.
   
  I don't have many photos - too busy being a good host and besides, one hand was occupied by a glass of JD. Or somethi9ng called Lightning Creek - memory of that is a bit hazy.
   
  No special diets, no vitamin drinks, no early to bed. Drivers could always come to the BL motor home in the paddock for black coffee and donuts the next morning.
   
  And there was great racing while the drug-running Whittington brothers who owned the track flew low over the circuit in a P-51 and a Bell AiroCobra.
   
  Since Clark asked, do you have anythiong to add Ted?
   
  Mike Cook



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  From: cwn74 at aol.com
  To: fot at autox.team.net
  Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:46:29 -0400
  Subject: [Fot] Phill Hill - Triumph - British Leyland party CSPRRC 1975



  I remember meeting and chatting with Phil Hill at the 1975 British Leyland party at the SCCA CSPRRC (Champion Spark Plug Road Racing Classic at Road Atlanta) at the Gainesville Holiday Inn.

  Boy were those the glory days!

  David Hobbs was there as were the BL team.
  The 3 Mikes: Mike Dale (drove a bug-eye at the time), Mike Cook (we all know Mike!) and Mike Barratt (east coast competition guru, I'm still driving his carb rebuild on my Spitfire).
  Group 44, Huffaker, all the drivers and crew of BL products (MG, AH, Triumph, Jaguar) were there.
  A grand time was had by all!
  If only I took photos!

  Perhaps Mike Cook and Ted Schumacher can expand on this gala event!

  My claim to fame was suggesting they have Watneys Red Barrel at this event (the bar had only 'merican brews). The next year we had Watneys!
  http://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_britain/keg_bitter/watneys_red_barrel.html


  Clark
  Clark W. Nicholls
  '72 Stag '74 Spitfire
  "Reality... It's not what you think.


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