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Marty Robbins had right stuff for racing Q: Greg, I'm a big fan of the late, great country and western singer Marty Robbins, who I feel did a pretty good job behind the wheel of a race car too. In your estimation, was he competitive in racing, and what other "stars" tried their hand at big-time stock car racing? - Lou K., Wisconsin A: Yes, Marty Robbins was competitive, Lou. In fact, I would have to say he is probably the biggest name celebrity to actually run in NASCAR and do well at it. As for other celebrities who strapped into real stock cars, no one has come close. The last "celebrity" of sorts that I recall in a stock car is former Atlanta Falcons coach Jerry Glanville, who ran some Busch Series and Craftsman Truck races in the '90s. Robbins, as you already know, was a great musical talent and was pretty good at racing, too. He befriended many of the drivers and offered his expertise in their record album debut, "NASCAR Goes Country." After a few years of amateur racing, Robbins gave NASCAR a try, running one race in 1966 against the likes of like Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Junior Johnson and David Pearson. He also competed one time in 1968 and again in 1970 in NASCAR Cup competition, with limited success. Marty always had heart and other medical problems that slowed him down, but in 1971, he ran five races with a best finish of seventh in the prestigious Southern 500 at Darlington. In 1972, he had an eighth-place finish in the Miller High Life 500 at Ontario, Calif., and another Southern 500 top 10, finishing ninth. He ran ninth at Talladega in 1974, proving he was indeed a real race driver. His best finish was a fifth in the Motorstate 400 at Michigan in 1974. Overall, Marty competed in 35 Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) races and scored five top-10 finishes. He drove purple and yellow race cars, most of them Dodges, prepared by the legendary Cotton Owens. Had Marty gone racing full-time instead of becoming a country and western star, he probably would have been a winner. His last race was a 33rdplace effort in the Atlanta Journal 500 on Nov. 7, 1982. He died just one month later on Dec. 8 following a heart attack after bypass surgery. He was 57. No other "mega star" from other mediums, be it movies, singing, TV, et al., impacted the sport of stock car racing like Marty Robbins did, and I doubt anyone ever will. In ending, however, I must mention Paul Newman, the movie actor and Indy Car team owner, who won numerous road races in pro series competition and was a true racing champion. Newman didn't run stock cars, but deserves mention. Other movie actors who could drive and race well were James Garner, Steve McQueen and James Dean, the latter two now gone but certainly not forgotten. Notable, too, is "Beverly Hills 90210" TV and movie star Jason Priestley, who was seriously injured in a crash during final practice for the Kentucky 100 Infiniti Pro Series IRL race in 2002. Priestley won his first race at Mid-Ohio in 1998, but retired from open-wheel pro racing following his recovery. Write to Greg Zyla in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL32853-6475, or send an e-mail to letters.kfws@hearstsc.com.
(c) 2007 King Features Synd., Inc.
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