NASCAR WCUP: Flashback at Martinsville; Marcis Win Adds to the Headlines of 1975
30 September 1999
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
Martinsville, Va. -- The year was 1975. Saturday Night Live broadcasts its first show. Former teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa disappears and is presumed murdered. Bobby Unser wins the Indy 500. Saigon is captured by North Vietnamese troops and is renamed Ho Chi Minh City. The Suez Canal reopens to all international shipping except for Israel. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest sweeps the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress. The average income, $14,816. The price of gas, .44 cents. Winston Cup driver Dave Marcis wins his first premier NASCAR racing event in Martinsville, Va., on his 223rd start.
It doesn't seem that long ago that Marcis climbed in his No. 71 Dodge to run the half-mile oval of Martinsville Speedway under the direction of Harry Hyde. Marcis won $14,500 for his victory. Today's winner will walk away with $100,000 plus. Twenty-five thousand race fans watched Marcis cross the finish line. While today the track seats 81,000.
Boy, how times have changed. But wait a minute have they really? Marcis may be maturer at age 58, but he still has that undying desire to race cars and be competitive. And one thing is for sure, you won't see him in anything but his wingtip shoes when he's driving his race No. 71 Team Realtree Monte Carlo.
Marcis has seen history made here at Martinsville. From resurfacing the track to restructuring pit road, yet to Marcis it's still the same old track -- tough on brakes and tough on the rear gear.
"Martinsville is definitely a special place for me," said Marcis. "It's where I won my first NASCAR win and the Railroad Caf is here." For the last 15 years Marcis puts on a spaghetti dinner for crew and friends at the Railroad Caf during the fall events.
As the Wisconsin native competes here this weekend, he'll face the challenges laid before him with the eagerness of that 34 year-old who claimed his first victory at this famed track some 24 years ago. And come Saturday after Happy Hour, Marcis will trade in his Goodyear cap for his chef's hat at the Railroad Caf.
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