GATR Atlanta 250 1980 (Part 1/4)

[stlchucko]

The heaviest starting field of race vehicles ever

[ShyteKreek46]

WILD!!!

[8v92fan]

hear them GM's screamin!!!!!

[scantron81]

122 mph at AMS in a 12 foot high truck? SICK!

[chada75]

Hal Needlam is a GOD!

[YukiNekoPrincess]

I lol'd @ the banjo country soundtrack. This whole thing has such a Dukes of Hazzard feel to it, it's almost hilarious.

[cheese2507]

Europe stole this idea. And made this into road racing!

[DangerousD1551]

Fuck Eco-Friendly, these are the shit!

[racingformusic]

Ken Squier, and Brock Yates...In my book, that is 2 of the most legendary Motorsport Announcers ever.

[vrochest]

My Father, Gene Rochester, was the crew chief for Mike Adams and the Junk Yard Dog. He was thrilled to find these videos. Is there anywhere that I can find this video in full? I would love to be able to give it to him for Fathers Day. Thanks

[Petrooli]

Hi, nice to hear that :) Im very sorry but I don't know origins of this video, I found this from other interenet video site and uploaded here. Wish I could help you out...

[vrochest]

Oh well, that's too bad. Thanks for replying & thanks for posting the videos.

[V8Lenny]

You can find it from TV4U site.

[vrochest]

Thanks!

[Rcrby525]

@vrochest i think ESPN did the broadcast as a one-off

[nfn3vet]

damn i miss those days.thats the era that me into trucking

[VooDooRocketry]

What a time for racing this was! GATR was way too much fun. I made all the races at Pocono and the Dover race. I recall Baker claiming they were doing 155mph at Pocono, right about the time he could feel the valves 'float'. The names brought back a bunch of memories. Great stuff!!

[sjames500]

"Nascar started raising hell about us tearing up and breaking up the asphalt. Then we started racing on dirt tracks, my best memory is the Big Rig 150 Tour where we raced 3 races in 1 week. It started at Middletown,NY on like a Wednesday night race, then Friday night we were at another small track in NY and Double-Headered with the modifieds,then finished in Syracuse on Sunday."

I was at that OCFS race in Middletown, when I was a kid. You guys were wild.

[V8Lenny]

Hyvä että jollain on paremmat ohjelmat suojausten poistamiseen! Pitäis kehittää suomeen jonkunlaista highway hauler class truckracingiä kanukkien rodeo du camion tyyliin.

[Petrooli]

heh vähän myöhässä vastaus. mä veikkaisin et tollasella vois oikeesti olla kysyntää esim tractor pulling kisojen yhteydessä. pitäs tänne suomeen saada yleensäkki toi amerikan showmeininki moottoriurheilupuolelle :)

[redcarpetlounge]

Great post Petrooli.Great to know there is footage of this of the good ole days.

[gcrebel2008]

Man I wish I lived back in those days. I was born in 1990. I hate my generation. The music sucks and NASCAR is nothing like what it used to be.

[redcarpetlounge]

That's right trucks were real,the music was real,and there were no freakin' Toyotas in NASCAR.Plus there was no such thing as Global Warming BS.

[Polybun]

@gcrebel2008 You forgot to mentin that your father is a faggot and your mother is a whore.

[gcrebel2008]

@Polybun Well you're entitled to your ignorant opinion.

[ShyteKreek46]

@gcrebel2008 '87 and I feel your pain!!! Thank God for YouTube!!!

[bulletburposmiley]

How did this manage to fade into obscurity? This is something that should still be popular today!

[Petrooli]

I believe of what I know that it was too hazardous (right front tire couldn't keep up). Also it was thought that in hight speed crashes big heavy semi truck might go through concrete barrier into grandstands.

But I'm sure that nowadays they would figure out some safety things to make semi races on ovals possible! That would be SO COOL.

[bullrod002]

Nascar started raising hell about us tearing up and breaking up the asphalt. Then we started racing on dirt tracks, my best memory is the Big Rig 150 Tour where we raced 3 races in 1 week. It started at Middletown,NY on like a Wednesday night race, then Friday night we were at another small track in NY and Double-Headered with the modifieds,then finished in Syracuse on Sunday.

[acidblister]

bullrod, what truck were you working on? I lost track of everyhing in '87 and I'm trying to put the pieces together. What killed it? Insurance? Donnelly? Venues?

[bullrod002]

I was with the 93 owned by my father-in-law, Jeff Salmon driven by Charlie Baker after he left the 39. My father-in-law Jeff later drove the 69 for Jim Doyle's Wisconsin Farm Lines. He still holds the track record for a bobtail at 163 MPH.

[CnyAutofreak]

@bulletburposmiley the big rig racing was outlawed in the us by the government just like lawn darts lol

[gcrebel2008]

@CnyAutofreak Leave it to the government to screw everything up!

[104trucker]

it is a 361! :D

[oldspwr]

Great video! Thanks for posting!! My Dad took me to Pocono in the early 80's to see these trucks race!!

[Petrooli]

Oh my, that had to be a blast!

[Brockway700]

looks like a 361 at 7:25

[redcarpetlounge]

Uh roger that.Definitely a Brockway for sure.

[Brockway700]

yea but i'm not sure if its a 361 or a 761, We talked about it on Brockway website and there were some 761's that used to race so I think its a 761, Not sure though But a Brockway non the less!

[redcarpetlounge]

There were some Corbitt trucks also that raced the GATR circuit too.I'll have dig out my old American Trucker mags to remember there name.I know they were out of NC.That's where Corbitt was manufactured.

[bullrod002]

They were owned by J&S truck service out of Lexington, NC #'s 10 & 11 Corbitt's were made in Henderson,NC, my Dad worked there when I was a kid in the late 50's

[redcarpetlounge]

10-4.A buddy of mine has a couple of Corbitt's.A gas job and a diesel.I haven't talked to him in years though.