NASCAR WCUP: McReynolds To Be Honored at Track Where Career Began
12 October 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
WELCOME, N.C. -- Larry McReynolds will be honored Oct. 14
at
Birmingham (Ala.) International Speedway, the track where his racing
career
started in the 1970s, for the accomplishments he achieved in a 20-year
NASCAR Winston Cup career.The crew chief of the No. 31 Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse Racing team announced Aug. 10 that he would be leaving his post with the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Winston Cup team at the end of the season to become an expert analyst for Fox Sports' NASCAR television broadcasts in 2001.
"What this means probably won't set in until we get there and see what it's all about," said McReynolds. "I got a taste of it when I saw the Larry McReynolds Night advertisement that's running in Birmingham right now.
"I've always tried to look back and thank the people who made a big impact on my life and contributed to me being able to become a winning NASCAR Winston Cup crew chief. I hope that this will not only be a night for my family and me, but also a chance for me to pay tribute to those special people. It's also special for me to go back to Birmingham Speedway, the place where I was raised in racing, only a block and a half from where I grew up. It's going to be a very special night, with my wife Linda and my kids there to enjoy it along with my grandfather who is 103. It's all pretty overwhelming."
McReynolds began his NASCAR Winston Cup career as a mechanic in 1980 and has racked up very impressive statistics since becoming a crew chief in 1985. In 452 starts with 12 different drivers, he has 23 victories (with six different drivers), 21 poles, 122 top-five and 207 top-10 finishes, earning more than $20 million in the process ($20,047,900 through the Oct. 8 UAW-GM 500).
Ceremonies to honor McReynolds are scheduled to begin approximately at 9 p.m., prior to the 100-lap Southern All Start Asphalt Racing Series State 100.
Text Provided By David Hart
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