[Bette]

Originally Posted by PAPA

Bette
I have never had the honor of meeting Charlie so "NO" I don't have any pics of him. However...I do know where I might be able to get my hands on some. I'll see what I can do. I must advise you that you really shouldn't give Charlie a hard time.....He has a "Sickness". For many years now he has been secretly going to the shop and throwing large amounts of cash at the race car in there. Its not his fault. He has no control over it. There is no cure. So be easy on him ok?

How long has he been sick?? I noticed something was wrong as soon as I came across his posts on here. Is he on any meds? Maybe he should be.
Ok. I will try to be a little nicer to him, but I gotta tell you, its not going to be easy.

[Racer Duck]

PAPA was good enough to send me some pix I had posted on the Texas forum (my pictures are in an album my daughter has trying to repair the poor overstuffed thing .. so I don't have them at hand right now.)

These are all from the year 1972.

This is the '71 Ford at Texas World Speedway for the Lone Star 500 in June '72 .. Clarence's first "home track" appearance after getting into the "big leagues". Lone Star Beer was the top sellng beer in Texas at the time .. I think they coined the word "longnecks" to describe the long neck bottle. Since he was driving the "Lone Star Special", this race was as important, sponsor-wise, as any race he drove in NASCAR. He started 12th & finished 19th after engine failure on lap 218 of 250. He was the highest finishing car not running at the end.


This is Clarence chatting with his car owner Don Bierschwale at TWS.




Making a pit stop at the Aug '72 race at Talladega. Some interesting trivia about this race: Clarence started 42nd, finished 24th after engine failure on lap 124 (64 laps down) Benny Parsons finished 25th (67 laps down) David Pearson finished 26th (83 laps down)and Darrell Waltrip finished 27th (89 laps down)! Guess you could say he was in good company watching the end of the race...



Now, here's a race that's hard to find info on: the '72 ARCA Royal Triton 300

This is a copy of the front page of Motor Sport magazine. That's Clarence in the middle. This was an ARCA race at Texas World Speedway in Oct, 1972 - Clarence started 2nd and finished 6th.

[Bette]

Great pics Charlie. Thanks for posting them.
Did your brother get you interested in racing?
Brother was a good looking dude. Is it a family resemblance?

Lone Star Beer. That was some awful tasting stuff. Somewhere I might have an old can around here. My parents brought some along when they came back to Wis. for a visit. Yech!

[LSC9901]

What's with the body design of all those cars ?? They were all different from one another. They even had bumpers on them. I don't get it ???

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

What's with the body design of all those cars ?? They were all different from one another. They even had bumpers on them. I don't get it ???

That comment is so humid sarcasm is rainin out of it

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Quality88

That comment is so humid sarcasm is rainin out of it

. Moi?

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

What's with the body design of all those cars ?? They were all different from one another. They even had bumpers on them. I don't get it ???

amazing isn't it? back then there were "real diehard" manufacturer fans. and they could pick out their brand without a program!!!

a little more trivia about the '72 season. if you look at the record books you'll notice most races the winner had one or more laps on the field and the top 10 was usually each separated by a lap. also, usually half the field didn't finish the race.

I was able to make the Dover race to watch Clarence. after the race, his engine had failed like most races, he told me that since they had a "wet sump" engine, after about 300 miles the oil was super heated and began failing, so every pit stop they'd add more oil to the engine to try to get it to last a little longer. but it was a loosing battle, cause it was just a matter of time before it failed. it really had him frustrated, being a mechanic and all. so when he got a "silent benefactor" after the '72 season, the first thing he did (after buying the brand new Holman Moody '73 Laguna) was to put in a dry sump system (they usually carry between 18 & 24 quarts of oil - most of it in a tank behind the driver - which allowed the engine to stay cooler longer.) result was more finishes with the engine still running!

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by Bette

Great pics Charlie. Thanks for posting them.
Did your brother get you interested in racing?
Brother was a good looking dude. Is it a family resemblance?

Lone Star Beer. That was some awful tasting stuff. Somewhere I might have an old can around here. My parents brought some along when they came back to Wis. for a visit. Yech!

he was the ugly one

actually, several people said it was real hard to tell us apart from the rear. but since I wore glasses and he didn't, it was no contest from the front .. he had the better smile .. the girls really loved him. He was a half inch taller (6'4") than me but I was a bit thinner (he weighed in at 190 while I was about 180.)

the guys in my family are all tall: the 4 brothers and my dad are/were all over 6' but my mom could only make 5'2" on her best day.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

he was the ugly one

actually, several people said it was real hard to tell us apart from the rear. but since I wore glasses and he didn't, it was no contest from the front .. he had the better smile .. the girls really loved him. He was a half inch taller (6'4") than me but I was a bit thinner (he weighed in at 190 while I was about 180.)

the guys in my family are all tall: the 4 brothers and my dad are/were all over 6' but my mom could only make 5'2" on her best day.

But I bet like all Mom's ... she was in charge.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

But I bet like all Mom's ... she was in charge.

nobody messed with Mom! not even Dad!!!

I remember when I first discovered I was first taller than her .. I was just getting into Jr. Hi. and pretty full of myself .. but she quickly cut me down to size - about 4'2"

[PAPA]

I know this is a little off the topic but I wanted to let everyone know that Charlie's son Cory is also a very good racer himself. He also took the #61 for his race cars. The Lovell name is well known through out Texas. Maybe we can get the duck to post some pics and info on his son. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by PAPA

I know this is a little off the topic but I wanted to let everyone know that Charlie's son Cory is also a very good racer himself. He also took the #61 for his race cars. The Lovell name is well known through out Texas. Maybe we can get the duck to post some pics and info on his son. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

on that off topic topic .. there's a thread in "Other Motorsports" titled "Just wanna race", which I took form my son's sig at the other forum. the subject of the thread is our racing.

as soon as my son allows pics of the modified (he doesn't want anybody seeing our "speed junk" in the shop ), I'll be happy to post them. our current 2009 schedule is on the website (LOVELLMOTORSPORTS.COM)

as an FYI addendum to that, at the recent swap meet held at the local Kyle track (Thunderhill), or crew chief/sponsor bought back the chassis my son built in Mooresville at Rich Bickle's shop to Rich's specs and geometries. we had originally traded it for "stuff" for our SLM with another racer in the local area back in 2000. for some reason he never did anything with it. so, as a 2nd priority, we're in the extremely early stages of finishing the car (but it's just a bare frame and roll cage with a few suspension parts, nothing else.. ya have to carry it to move it!) maybe I can sneak a pic or two of it out without getting caught!

[tangosnipe]

First time I saw Clarence race was at a track near SA. early in 1971. The last time he was on TV at Talledega I think it was in 1973. I learned from his mother many years later that he had died.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by tangosnipe

First time I saw Clarence race was at a track near SA. early in 1971. The last time he was on TV at Talledega I think it was in 1973. I learned from his mother many years later that he had died.

Welcome tangosnipe. Obviously you are a NASCAR fan. Glad to have you with us. Hopefully you read a lot of this thread and realize that Racer Duck is the brother of Clarence.

[thunderfoot]

Love the pictures Ducky. The late 60's and early 70's was the years that NASCAR made a mark on my life. Thats why on my first couple posts I made the comment about real stock cars. Being a Ford kind of guy these are pretty hot.