BOB FREY'S CONCORD RETURN
Tue, 2008-09-16 10:29
A flat tire cost Bob Frey his chance of pulling off the Concord trifecta.
The veteran announcer was en route to emcee an event at the old Concord, N.C. drag strip, the same one in which Tommy Ivo ran his front engine dragster off a small cliff. He never completed the trip and headed back home.
Years later, under the employ of IHRA President Larry Carrier, Frey made the only other national event in Concord. This event was the IHRA Southern Nationals and was contested on pit road of Charlotte Motor Speedway. A flat tire cost Bob Frey his chance of pulling off the Concord trifecta.
The veteran announcer was en route to emcee an event at the old Concord, N.C. drag strip, the same one in which Tommy Ivo ran his front engine dragster off a small cliff. He never completed the trip and headed back home.
Years later, under the employ of IHRA President Larry Carrier, Frey made the only other national event in Concord. This event was the IHRA Southern Nationals and was contested on pit road of Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The race had its plusses and minuses, but Frey was there to call the action.
“The rocket car crash was something you will never forget and I just remember the novelty of the whole thing,” Frey said. “It was the first time I had ever been to one of the super speedways with the grandstands out there.”
The one trait of these large motorsports stadiums is the enormity of it made crowd estimates very difficult.
“You could have 10,000 people out there and it would still look like the clean-up crew so I can’t imagine how many people were there,” Frey recalled. “It was an interesting race and an interesting concept.”
For the been-there-done-that Frey, this event presented a first-time experience.
“I can’t ever remember seeing an eighth mile race before,” Frey admitted. “To watch Kenny Safford and all these big fuel cars running on an eighth mile, it was pretty amazing.”
The event was amazing to more than Frey as he recalled an incident with the minister brought in to do the invocation for the event.
“The track had built this little temporary tower that shook as the cars would go by it,” Frey said, voice cracking with laughter. “You had all these cars like the Blue Max and everything. It was a great invocation.
Frey continued, “He said all the right things, ‘Please Lord give us the strength to do this and do that, and watch over us and as soon as he got finished the first two cars started burning out and the tower started shaking and ceiling tiles fell out.
“The minister yelled, ‘Jesus Christ that’s loud!”
The veteran announcer was en route to emcee an event at the old Concord, N.C. drag strip, the same one in which Tommy Ivo ran his front engine dragster off a small cliff. He never completed the trip and headed back home.
Years later, under the employ of IHRA President Larry Carrier, Frey made the only other national event in Concord. This event was the IHRA Southern Nationals and was contested on pit road of Charlotte Motor Speedway. A flat tire cost Bob Frey his chance of pulling off the Concord trifecta.
The veteran announcer was en route to emcee an event at the old Concord, N.C. drag strip, the same one in which Tommy Ivo ran his front engine dragster off a small cliff. He never completed the trip and headed back home.
Years later, under the employ of IHRA President Larry Carrier, Frey made the only other national event in Concord. This event was the IHRA Southern Nationals and was contested on pit road of Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The race had its plusses and minuses, but Frey was there to call the action.
“The rocket car crash was something you will never forget and I just remember the novelty of the whole thing,” Frey said. “It was the first time I had ever been to one of the super speedways with the grandstands out there.”
The one trait of these large motorsports stadiums is the enormity of it made crowd estimates very difficult.
“You could have 10,000 people out there and it would still look like the clean-up crew so I can’t imagine how many people were there,” Frey recalled. “It was an interesting race and an interesting concept.”
For the been-there-done-that Frey, this event presented a first-time experience.
“I can’t ever remember seeing an eighth mile race before,” Frey admitted. “To watch Kenny Safford and all these big fuel cars running on an eighth mile, it was pretty amazing.”
The event was amazing to more than Frey as he recalled an incident with the minister brought in to do the invocation for the event.
“The track had built this little temporary tower that shook as the cars would go by it,” Frey said, voice cracking with laughter. “You had all these cars like the Blue Max and everything. It was a great invocation.
Frey continued, “He said all the right things, ‘Please Lord give us the strength to do this and do that, and watch over us and as soon as he got finished the first two cars started burning out and the tower started shaking and ceiling tiles fell out.
“The minister yelled, ‘Jesus Christ that’s loud!”
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