Wow! , I forgot how good Ronnie's little black modified looked . The 57 T-Bird that he ran at about that time had the same color , same number , and same sponsor . The number went to 119 and the paint job to yellow when Ronnie teamed up with Jim Willy ( Jims Auto Service ) of Colorado Springs . And that was when he started to win almost every race he entered . I remember one season at Pikes Peak Speedway when Ronnie won , i believe , 19 of a possible 23 feature races that year . And his competition ( Carl Foster , Larry Martin , Mike Bonicelli , Bob Howard , Larry Carnes , Bob Silvers and others ) were as good as any drivers in Colorado . But the combination of Ronnie and Jim was just that much better .

Mike Croley

One thing that merits a mention when talking about Ronnie McDowell was the white patent leather shoes he wore when racing . The photo of Ronnie in victory lane at Pikes Peak Speedway shows those very shoes . It wasn't just for the photo . He wore them for every race for awhile , thought they looked good i guess . Mike Bonicelli , one of Ronnies' rivals then began to wear pink patent leather shoes which matched his car color .

Yeah, it's funny to think about what some of those guys wore back in the day while racing or working in the pits. I've got a couple of pics of good ol' Pete Stringer at Englewood wearing a fire suit and Indian moccasins! That's what he drove in at the time.

Another couple crew shots of other cars from the late '60's show some guys wearing sandals. Not to race in, but to tool around the pits in. Far out, man!!! I think I would want as much foot protection as possible if I was working in the pits.

Mike Croley wrote:

QUOTE:
One thing that merits a mention when talking about Ronnie McDowell was the white patent leather shoes he wore when racing . The photo of Ronnie in victory lane at Pikes Peak Speedway shows those very shoes . It wasn't just for the photo . He wore them for every race for awhile , thought they looked good i guess . Mike Bonicelli , one of Ronnies' rivals then began to wear pink patent leather shoes which matched his car color .

I couldn't remember if it was Harry Gant or Dave Marcis that always wore Wing Tip Shoes in NASCAR Races. According to a 17 FEB 2002 article at Jayski's website, it was Dave Marcis. ~VB
"Marcis Honored: A Goodyear Racing-commissioned bronze trophy characterizes retiring Winston Cup driver Dave Marcis from head to toe. Given to the NASCAR legend preceding his 33rd and final Daytona 500 race, the gilded gift encapsulates the Marcis trademarks-a worn pair of leather wingtip driving shoes and Goodyear racing hat . Marcis, 60, who drives the #71 Realtree Chevrolet, is second in all-time Winston Cup race starts with 882 to Richard Petty's 1,177.(Goodyear PR)(2-17-2002)

The trophy Dave Marcis got from Goodyear"
http://www.jayski.com/schemes/marcis-goodyear.jpg

I remember an article in Stock car Racing Magazine , or maybe it was Circle Track , that featured Beacon Hill Speedway and had a good write up of Ronnie McDowell . Does anyone remember that article ?

.

Great photo Rick . Thank you . Any idea where or when it was taken . I remember the car , saw it run many times at Sportsmans Raceway Park in Colorado Springs , also Beacon Hill in Pueblo .
I think this was the car that had a black vinyl top on it . All the rage at the time .