A bit of NDRA history right here...

Robert Smawley gave me this business card when I was helping him do an NDRA sanctioning proposal to the fledgling WISSOTA Promoters Association in Eau Claire, WI in 1984 IIRC.

I was there with George England of North American Racing Insurance, in Smawleys hotel room, preparing to hand out one of three proposals to unite the NDRA with WISSOTA and the NDRA sponsor Stroh's Brewing.

We arranged to have Robert give me a signal as to which of those proposals I would hand out to the WISSOTA officials and select members/drivers.

They were for a one season deal of either $10,000...$20,000 or $40,000 going to the point fund. Plus marketing help for each WISSOTA track.

Smawley made it clear that attitude was everything and his proposal depended on how he was accepted by the drivers and owners.

At the special signal I handed out the $10,000 folders. The guys did so much bitching they talked themselves out of $30,000. Then they voted not to take the $10K.

You can't fix stupid.

BTW... England was trying to recommend me as the NDRA publicity director... a job I would have coveted. Like those WISSOTA guys I didn't get any $$$ either!!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/151953...posted-public/

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...aedf9260_h.jpg

I worked for a strohs distributor about that time and I had those same fold over business cards with the proud lion logo on the front just like that.

They sponsored a lot of drag racing back then too....went to many a strohs night of fire events.

You would be hard pressed to even find a six pack anywhere now a days.....I did come across some the last time I was in Kentucky.

I haul a lot of Miller products..had as many as 28 different labels in my trailer...Miller, Coors, Old Style, Schmidt, Pabst, Keystone even some of the fancy Boston Lagers are made by Miller.

Loved the rockem sockem outrageous wedge car days of NDRA, Stroh's beer that I was practically weaned on and the Stroh's trophy girl.

Creative cars not all copies of some other builder, a single location brewery that bought the much bigger Schlitz company, think Yugo buying GM, and that good looking chick in the shortened T shirt in victory circle. Good times.

The Commercials with Alex the Dog was pretty funny back in the day

Eva Taylor the original trophy girl was smokin hot . She was basically nude in those bikinis she wore they left nothing to your imagination.

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Originally Posted by Krooser

Robert Smawley gave me this business card when I was helping him do an NDRA sanctioning proposal to the fledgling WISSOTA Promoters Association in Eau Claire, WI in 1984 IIRC.

I was there with George England of North American Racing Insurance, in Smawleys hotel room, preparing to hand out one of three proposals to unite the NDRA with WISSOTA and the NDRA sponsor Stroh's Brewing.

We arranged to have Robert give me a signal as to which of those proposals I would hand out to the WISSOTA officials and select members/drivers.

They were for a one season deal of either $10,000...$20,000 or $40,000 going to the point fund. Plus marketing help for each WISSOTA track.

Smawley made it clear that attitude was everything and his proposal depended on how he was accepted by the drivers and owners.

At the special signal I handed out the $10,000 folders. The guys did so much bitching they talked themselves out of $30,000. Then they voted not to take the $10K.

You can't fix stupid.

BTW... England was trying to recommend me as the NDRA publicity director... a job I would have coveted. Like those WISSOTA guys I didn't get any $$$ either!!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/151953...posted-public/

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...aedf9260_h.jpg

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considering how things ended with Smawley, I sounds like a blessing in disguise for WISSOTA not to have been associated with him. j/s

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Originally Posted by One Man Gang

The Commercials with Alex the Dog was pretty funny back in the day

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I met that dog at the brewery in Winston Salem one year......a lot of the distributors from the southeast went up for a tour of the facility and Banjo( alex was the tv name) was there.

Cool company to work for in those days......I've got a signed book on the ndra written by Greg fielding sp? He is still living and very much still enjoys dirt racing.

My buddy and I took him to an ultimate race in Fayetteville a couple years back and he was a hoot to sit around and listen to.

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Originally Posted by over4T

Loved the rockem sockem outrageous wedge car days of NDRA, Stroh's beer that I was practically weaned on and the Stroh's trophy girl.

Creative cars not all copies of some other builder, a single location brewery that bought the much bigger Schlitz company, think Yugo buying GM, and that good looking chick in the shortened T shirt in victory circle. Good times.

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We had an old rc cola drink machine in our whs. That was always filled with close dated strohs and Schaefer and we could go back behind the driver check up room and for a quarter we could get an ice cold one right out of the drink machine......stroh light was actually a really good light beer.
The guy that owned the distribution rights and was the distributor I worked for back then was one of the coolest bosses I have ever worked for....his son and I are still best friends to this day.....I stopped working with them in 1987.

Oddly enough I wasn't that into dirt racing then, was more of a Winston cup and a drag racing fan back then......boy was I dumb.

Krooser - Thanks for posting the latest. Great memories for me on the mid 80’s NDRA days, as well as USAC DLM of the same time. Guys like Phillpis, TJ Pauschert, Kraft, and Essary (and that Moyer guy) at Lebanon, Bolivar, and Monett were hard to beat. Boy am I getting old.

How about the track Ferris Collier built on US 65 just north of Branson? Turn was was a devil...if you missed the turn you wound up in the trees!!!! I remember a Camaro hung in the trees for quite awhile.

I used to haul into Monett and Carthage a lot from '79 to '82. Went to those same tracks..laid over a lot of weekends.

I met a girl from Springfield and she'd drag me to Bolivar every chance she got.

Back in my day Strohs was famous for being involved in the dirt late model world. We had on the east coast Budwieser, Miller, Schlitz, Old Millwalkie, Old Vienna, Pabst, Genesee, Utica, Hamms, Kochs Schaffer, and later on Coors, etc. Now in todays world there is so many different brands and flavors that one could drink a different brand every day and still not cover them all !! So many different types and flavors !

I delivered a straight load of Hamm's yesterday.

I think it was 1983 or 1984 that my dad was sponsored by Stroh's in southeast Iowa (5th design Howe, great car!), we put a stuffed 'Alex' in the (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)pit a few times. Best year I remember him having, won probably a dozen races (and tossed twice for being light). Unfortunately he destroyed the car at I-70 at the end of the year.

There is older feller that still drinks strohs in my area in Ohio. Not sure where he gets it from though.

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Originally Posted by zyoung25

There is older feller that still drinks strohs in my area in Ohio. Not sure where he gets it from though.

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Alex fetches it for him

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Originally Posted by dmr37

Alex fetches it for him

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And Alex better be drinking water

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Originally Posted by dmr37

Alex fetches it for him

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That made me smile right there......:)

Stroh's was very big in my northeast corner of Ohio back in the day, "imported " all the way from Detroit. We also were into Detroit's AM rock station CKLW. Real imported beer was Carling Black Label out of Canada.

It was a smaller world and much simpler time then.

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Originally Posted by Krooser

How about the track Ferris Collier built on US 65 just north of Branson? Turn was was a devil...if you missed the turn you wound up in the trees!!!! I remember a Camaro hung in the trees for quite awhile.

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Never made it to that track. That’s probably only one of few in the tri-state area that I never made it to back in the day.

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Originally Posted by Krooser

I used to haul into Monett and Carthage a lot from '79 to '82. Went to those same tracks..laid over a lot of weekends.

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Pre-DLM back when Fyre, McCroskey, and Merritt were fast in street stocks. All were always trying to beat that Vaught guy. Good times.

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Originally Posted by over4T

It was a smaller world and much simpler time then.

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Pop-a-top of Stroh’s to that.