I was in the third grade when my dad Red Hewatt started taking me to the races. It was the early sixties and there were several tracks to go to. On Sunday afternoons, it was Lithonia. Saturday was Hall County Speedway, in Braselton. Some nights it was Turner Mountain, in Cumming, which often would include Junior Samples showing up to bet 2 dollars on the #74. Athens Speedway, The Cow Pasture, Which was used to film a movie "White Lightning Road". I also remember one trip to the Peach Bowl.
My dad had some pretty good drivers including Pug Blaylock, Tommy Roberts, and a few races with Hugh Jones. Friends with many, including Jimmy Mosteller. His car competed against Billy Smith, Bud Lunsford, and Buster Bearden to name a few. My cousin and I had to stay in the back of the truck in the pits. We were not supposed to stay in the pits during the race, but we did. What memories!
          Jack Hewatt  Email: rjhewatt@tds.net     404-975-9374

I can remember going to the Peach Bowl back in the 60's.Jimmy Mostellar would ask for one of his little bitty buddy to come draw a ticket for a door prize. of course I was the man for the job. But I do remember T. C. Hunt, Mike Head...to many others to list. My dad also took me to Lakewood Speedway were we seen great racing in the 60's. Later in life I did have opportunity to race at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, GA.

       Joel Portwood   Email: joellcl85@bellsouth.net     404-983-8310

I love racing. I became addicted at a very young age by sitting in the turn 4 bleachers at Peach Bowl Speedway with Nina Jones the wife of Harvey Jones the car builder and mechanic. Those were great times, and boy did I miss that track when it closed. My father Dub Smith was a car owner, and it was great watching those races. One of the most memorable nights I had was watching as my Brother in Law Bruce Brantley crash over the wall. It was very scary, and fortunately he wasn't hurt to bad. I also loved watching Mike Head dominate the figure eight track. Who doesn't love figure eight's...To many memories to type them all here, but it is safe to say every weekend we all walked out of there with some wonderful stories, and life long memories.                       Dennis Smith  Thims@Yahoo.com 

....Approximately 1958 my daddy "Harold Kite" use to take me to Lakewood and the Peach Bowl on Friday and Saturday nites when he raced. I was only 2 years old a little girl who was suppose to be a little boy. I was babysat by the Pit Crew while my dad raced. How he got away with this when my mom was very strict you will never know. My nickname those nites was " Pit Baby " and from that point on I have been so fascinated with the history of Nascar. I lost my dad in 1965 at Charlotte Motor Speedway now known as Lowes Motor Speedway. My dad lives on today because his trophy for the win of " The 1950 Grand National Beach Run in Daytona " is on loan at Thunder Road's museum.         Lisa Carson - museum volunteer

....I have been a stock car race since the mid 50s. As a kid we would drive about 50 miles to attend the local races. Back then the we wanted new speed records at every event. After joining the Army I found out about NASCAR. This came about because I was AJ Foyt fan and raced everything. I still wanted new speed records the faster the better. We use to talk about NASCARS and INDY running against each other mixed field. Even talked about NASCAR replacing both CART and USAC at INDY. Because I wanted new speed records I found MR Speed of NASCAR and have been a fan of Bill Elliott. This I was at INDY when he won the Brickyard 400. At the end of the race my family raced form the start of turn 1 to the Start/Finish Line just in time for Bill to get line to kiss the yard of bricks. I took digial pix. Go Mr Bill. I plan in Oct 2002 to visit Thunder Road in Dawsonville

 ....On August of 1997, I had the opportunity to attend the Brickyard 400. When we left for the race from downtown Indianapolis, I had no clue what I was in for. The track was filled with the scent of 76 racing fuel and Goodyear tires. “Gentleman start your engines!” The rumble from the 750 horsepower engines vibrated the stands and gave me goose bumps; I knew I was in for a great race. From the first to last lap, everyone was on their feet each time the cars drove by. During the final laps a drunken fan yelled, “Jeff Gordon, you’re going to loose!” The number ten Tide car driven and owned by Ricky Rudd won the race that day. From that day on, I became a diehard NASCAR fan because of the door handle to door handle racing, like many other fans. I also began to show brand loyalty buy drinking coke, using a sprint pcs phone, and eating at McDonalds. Through the years, NASCAR has become more than a southern sport but has evolved a mainstream part of American culture.NASCAR is a way of life for me. I wake up in the morning in my checkered flag sheets and look around at my NASCAR collection which mostly Bill Elliott memorabilia. Then I head to work, Jewel Foods a subsidiary of Albertson’s, in my Ford Taurus. At work, what do we talk about, the race and what die-cast we just bought. Then the day at work is over and I come home and couch in front of the TV for a while, maybe have a Coke or a Miller Lite while catching up on all the latest news on NASCAR. When I am not working I am at school writing papers about NASCAR in my gen. ed. classes so I can earn a marketing degree in order to have a job that allows me to deal with NASCAR in some manner. Then when summer comes around my family and I are off to the city of Dawsonville. I become overwhelmed with such great things I can say about the city and the history that exists there. Every time I return the love that I have for racing grows larger and larger. From eating lunch at the Pool Room, going to Thunder Road, driving up and down the state highways thinking about the good old days of moonshine, and just knowing that I am in the same town that Bill Elliott is from. Now I find myself sitting here five years later from when I saw my first race and Bill Elliott is the 2002 Brickyard 400 winner. Although I see the race in person, in my mind I was. Over the years I have seen Bill race
though the some of the worst and best times in his career. I am proud to say I am a Bill Elliott fan.

Thanks Bill!!

....My father was Roscoe Thompsom, he was one of the first race car drivers back in the 1940's. He was good, he raced at the Peach Bowl, Lakewood Fair Grounds and a lot of other places. Back in his day you didn't make that much money but he loved the sport. He was an original driver, he drove moonshine at the beginning and later started racing. Glad to hear he will be  inducted into Thunder Road.

....My dad has always been a NASCAR fan and a fan of Richard Petty since the 60's. Of course, you knew where the television was tuned on Sundays. I remember watching the races with little interest. However, the 1987 Winston changed everything. I remember watching Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt battle it out for the lead in the famed "Pass in the grass". There was no doubt in my mind who had the faster car but as circumstances would play out, Earnhardt would go on to win. From that day forward, I was a fan of Nascar and a fan of Bill Elliott. It was about a year later when my Uncle took me to Daytona Beach to watch the Pepsi Firecracker 400. It was my first Winston Cup race and Bill was starting well back in the pack. I remember watching with keen anticipation as Bill gradually and methodically worked his way up to the front to take the lead. Of course, with fist clenched and in intense anxiety, I watched Rick Wilson in the Kodak car pull down to the inside of Awesome Bill as they were racing through the Tri-Oval, but when it was all said and done, that Coors/Melling Ford had the guts to pull back up on the outside and edge Rick Wison for the Win. What an incredible result and experience for my first race. It will be one that I will not forget anytime soon

....I just want to thank the Elliott family. Back in 1985, NASCAR was not a very popular sport here in Maryland. With Bill's success it drew my
family's attention to the sport. At the time I was 10 years old. My family
and I became addicted to the sport and we actually began to field a NASCAR Late Model a few years later. As I grew up I went from a helper to the chassis man to the driver. Now my younger brother drives....I appreciate how the sport has brought my family together. Thanks to the Elliott family.

....My name be Butch Bubba. I start racing in 19 and 45. I was a moonshiner, the last of a dying breed. Those Nazi's were bombing Pearl Harbor. I just ran moonshine for money. Then I raced on a track. I never won and money was better in the moonshine business so I quit. I like Bill Elliot. I'd marry him if I got the chance. That's all I have to say. Racing is fun. I like cars go fast. Have fun in hall of fame I will hope.
 

...I have been a (AWESOME BILL FROM DAWSONVILLE) fan for many years, and I'm going on vacation this month and am looking forward to coming to "DAWSONVILLE". My first stop will be the pool hall so I can see the infamous bell and really hope to hear it ring on race day. Also my wife and I are really looking forward to seeing all the exhibits at Thunder Road. This is a experience I'm really looking forward to. And who knows I may even see Bill. That would be awesome, excuse the pun....Bill

....1965 jams Herrington (my father) won 27 races N the sportsman division. He ask me who my favorite driver was, BUCK SIMMONS, I said. He didn't take me 2 a race for 2 weeks. Back then we went 2 the track 4 times a week.
 

....I've been around racing since I was 3 years old in Miami, Fla. My Dad helped build Bobby Allison's car in the 1950's. I grew up knowing Red Farmer and going to the race track every Saturday night. I'm a Mark Martin fan but living in Gainesville, Georgia, you have to love Bill Elliott (the hometown boy). Right after Bill won his first Daytona 500, we were in Miami visiting my Dad and we came out of a store to see Bill's #9 sitting in the parking lot. My son wanted us to wait until "Bill" came out and got in his car. Well, Bill didn't come out, but another gentleman did and he said the car was there to be in the Orange Bowl parade. We were proud to tell him we were from Bill's "neck of the woods" and my son was ecstatic to touch Bill's car.

....I've been a Bill Elliott fan ever since his dirt track days and still am. My trailer I pull behind my motorcycle was build when Bill ran for Coors. It has a picture of him and his car on the rear of it. I only live about 40 miles from Dawsonville and I'm looking forward to my first trip to Thunder Road.

Bill Hembree

....I'm a great race fan, always have been. I think that it's the greatest sport of today. The first race I went to was at Talladega Super Speedway. Then I started going to Hamilton Raceway. I started going every time it came around. That's all I have to say. I am a big Mark Martin fan. I think he is the best driver. I love Mark because he loves kids and is part of the Big Brother/Big Sister program.

Bobby Tuggle

....One day while looking for a wheel for an old Ford we wound up at George Elliott's junk yard. I said "Mr. Elliott I really enjoy watching Bill go around that track, in a calm voice he said...really, well do you think that wheel will fit with?...with all the admiration I said yes sir it will, without even looking at it (the wheel).

J.P.HOLBROOK

....My favorite racing memory takes place at " The Mountain" in Cumming, GA. Every Saturday night we went because my daddy was the flagman.  The best part of the night was when I would get a quarter from George Elliott (Bill's dad) to sit in the stands and be good.  I was about 3 years old then and a quarter would buy a lot.

Denice "Sissy" Padgett Stokes

....We took our granddaughter to meet Bill Elliott when she was 4. She loves him. But she really had her eyes on his son, Chase, she fell in love that day. She has a Bill Elliott race car, but it's 94, she's waiting for a number 9 to come out. She goes to the races with us just waiting to see Bill Elliott, and of course Chase.

....The year was 1985, Fathers day to be exact, the Coors Melling Thunderbird was fast. My father took me to my first Winston Cup race in Brooklyn Mi. My hero Bill Elliott showed the field how to run the 2 mile oval by winning in dominant fashion. There were many more victories there after, and many more to come.

John Krezman, Jr.

....I saw my first stock car race in Newton Iowa when I was eleven years old. The noise, dirt, dust, oil, and smells were intoxicating and filled me with a tremendous desire to be behind the wheel and to win. That was 54 years ago and I have been to many races since but have always been behind the fences. I still get the same feeling and still have the same desire to drive...I love everything about racing and am looking forward to racing my son and grandson on the simulators...I just hope them smell, feel and sound like the real thing.

....The year was 1955. A friend and myself had just finished building a 1935 Ford Coupe race car. He was going to drive it at West Palm Beach and I was to drive it at Hollywood. Both NASCAR tracks. There was a starter at WPB by the name of Bud Berry. His wide Florene operated a souvenir stand selling race related items. My friend rolled our freshly built race car three times down the WPB front stretch. A young girl, Marilynn Berry, come over and talked to my friend about his wild ride. She wrote an article for one of the racing magazines. This was Bud and Florene's daughter. I had never met her. I told my buddy later that day as we were watching Marilynn, from a distance, typing our her story, "I'm going to marry that girl". The following week we had a date. We were married August 18, 1957 and many races, three children, and 10 grand-children and we're still together. That's one time I was glad we wrecked a race car.

Tommie Clinard

....We took my 4 year old twin girls to Charlotte last year to their first NASCAR race. They just love Bill Elliott and when his car came out on the track they literally shook from head to toe every time his car went by. They thought that was just the best thing ever to get to see him race. They didn't want to leave the track because they thought he might come back out on the track. They watch the races on TV with my husband every week and no one in the family can believe how much they enjoy watching the races.

Kim Biebel