THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510200652
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
The death of Jimmie Lewallen this week marks the passing of another of NASCAR's earliest pioneers.
Lewallen, 76, of Archdale, N.C., also a decorated World War II veteran, died on Monday at a Winston-Salem hospital after a battle with cancer.
Although NASCAR is one of the youngest American sports and has yet to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Lewallen had been one of the few remaining living drivers who helped organize NASCAR.
Lewallen was one of a dozen racers who joined Bill France at the Rex Hotel in Atlanta on Oct. 12, 1947, for one of the earliest founding meetings of NASCAR. This was more than two months before the better-known meeting at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona in December 1947, during which by-laws and rules were drawn up.
Lewallen finished 16th in what is considered the first race of what is now the NASCAR Winston Cup series. It was run in Charlotte on June 19, 1949, and he won $25 for his efforts in a 1946 Ford.
He went on to compete in 139 Cup races through 1960. He never won, but finished second four times. Lewallen did most of his racing in the Modified and Sportsman series, winning dozens of events.
He had started racing in 1934 on motorcycles and competed on the old one-mile dirt track in his hometown of High Point in 1940 before going off to war.
Serving in Gen. George S. Patton's 3rd Army, Lewallen was wounded twice and won the Purple Heart, Silver Star and Bronze Star.
Although he continued racing professionally until 1975, Lewallen joined what is now Vann York Pontiac and worked there for 39 years. He also was a co-founder of the Old-Timer Racing Club.
MIAMI SPEED PALACE: Lewallen lived long enough to see NASCAR mushroom in popularity and become the nation's fastest-growing sport. And there's no better evidence of that growth than the new 1.5-mile ``mini-Indy'' track that is the Homestead Motorsports Complex just south of Miami, Fla.
Homestead will be inaugurated on Sunday, Nov. 5, with the Jiffy Lube Miami 300, the final race of the Busch Grand National series for 1995. The Saturday lineup also includes a SuperTruck exhibition race - featuring Ernie Irvan - and the final race of the NASCAR Goody's Dash series.
The Grand National banquet is Nov. 6 in Miami.
The Homestead facility, built by Miami racing promoter Ralph Sanchez, includes a road course, but the main track is a replica of Indy, except it's 1.5 miles around instead of 2.5 miles.
Many Grand National and Dash drivers tested there last Tuesday and Wednesday, and they obviously had trouble figuring the place out. A dozen Grand National cars crashed Tuesday and one more hit the wall Wednesday.
Joe Nemechek was the fastest, reaching 134.587 miles per hour on Wednesday.
``It's exciting,'' Nemechek told a track reporter. ``It's going to be a driver's race track. Along with getting the car to go around a corner, you're going to have to have a very good engine and very good brakes. It's kind of a short track and a speedway all put together.''
NON-WINNERS: The Winston Cup series heads to Rockingham this weekend with only three races remaining in the season and a number of prominent drivers still looking for their first win of 1995.
Ted Musgrave, who is still seeking his first Cup victory, is the highest non-winner in the points. He's in seventh. Bill Elliott and Ricky Rudd, 11th and 12th, are winless in 1995, as is Morgan Shepherd, Derrike Cope, Geoff Bodine, luckless Ken Schrader, Darrell Waltrip and Jimmy Spencer.
Kyle Petty, mired in 28th, is by far the lowest in points among race winners.
Rudd, for one, is not unhappy with his season.
``The points standings don't reflect it, but we've actually had a really good year,'' he said. ``We have more pole positions than we did a year ago (two compared to one) and we've had five outside poles.''
He's also had nine top-five finishes compared to six in 1994, and is one top-10 finish shy of last year's 15.
``Everything looks good except the win column,'' he said.
Pole qualifying at Rockingham is 2:30 p.m. today. by CNB