Below is an excerpt with a little different point of view from Allpar. In a
nutshell, Kiekhaefer got into auto racing to sell his Mercury outboard
motors and got out when crowds started booing his team. Apparently his
drivers didn't like him too well either.
--Roger van Hoy
EXCERPT from Allpar website:
However, 1955 was one of the best years for Chrysler despite themselves. The
1954 NASCAR Champion, Lee Petty, (sire of the NASCAR King Richard Petty) had
kept his winning 1954 Chrysler and used it in a few 1955 races, picking up
some wins. The "Forward Look" by innovative styling leader Virgil Exner led
Chrysler Corporation far away from the days of dumpy looking vehicles.
The high powered 300 had made a serious impression on a man that had the
time and the money to make things work. He also instituted many innovations
that were unheard of then that are common practice today in NASCAR.
Back then, since the rules for NASCAR were called "strictly stock," a
manufacturer that came up with something that was better and faster than the
rest, just kept on winning. Karl Kiekhaefer was a hard nosed businessman.
He wasn't interested in racing nor was he even a fan. However, his research
had shown that wherever a NASCAR race took place there were tremendous
potential for sales of outboard boat engines. As the owner of Mercury Marine
Outboard Engines, he saw hard dollars in using the races as a means to
advertise his outboards. The rest is history.
Between Karl's 3 team drivers, and Lee Petty, the 1955 300 notched an
incredible 27 wins. 14 top 5 finishes and the NASCAR Championship to Tim
Flock who took home $37,779 for his efforts.
In a harbinger of things to come, Karl Kiekhaefer left little to chance. He
dug deep into his pockets. 1956 was a racing season that set chills up Big
Bill France's spine when he saw the Kiekhaefer teams pull into a NASCAR
event. France was not in control when it came to Kiekhaefer. In an era when
some of the racers were actually driven to the track, then raced, Kiekhaefer
equipped each car with a box truck full of spare parts, tires, tools, and
test equipment; the truck towed the car to the races. Besides the original
three drivers of 1955, Karl had hired two more drivers for 1956, fielding 5
cars. He would test the track, sample the dirt, and had a weatherman check
for conditions up to 5 days before a race, just to make the right tire
selection for the race. He applied military like discipline on his drivers,
keeping them all in the same motel, imposing a nightly curfew and making
them sleep away from their wives to avoid distractions. Truly, the man was
just about 40 years ahead of his time.
Big Bill France had every car fielded by Kiekhaefer torn down, double
checked, and would disqualify them for the slightest infractions. However,
none were ever found. All France could do then is hope that they broke or
blew up. A rare event. The cars competed like the stock champions that they
were. At the end of 1956, the mighty teams had won 30 of the 50 events
sponsored. At one point the 1956 300 B models won 16 races in a row. Prize
money amounted to $70,000. Big money in 1956.
However, an interesting phenomenon started to occur. The Kiekhaefer teams
were being booed. Beer bottles were thrown at the cars and drivers. By the
middle of the season, fans started staying home in droves. Purse money went
down. The fan appreciation that Karl had expected, especially in regards to
selling his outboard engines, did not happen. Instead of respect and good
will, he received boos along with a total lack of respect. At the end of
1956, he pulled out. Left everything and quit for good, never to return.
Rumors float around to this day, that have taken on the hard edge of truth
that Big Bill France had actually not only encouraged the showing of utter
disrespect, he may have been responsible for paying some few "good ol' boys"
to institute the booing and beer bottle heaving shows.
That left Lee Petty as the only major Chrysler Corporation car user. He ran
1956 in a Dodge Coronet 2 door sedan, with the big D-500 option. He won two
races. He finished the year in fourth place in the Grand National standings
with $15,000 in winnings. When you consider that most workers were getting
about 1.85 cents an hour, he didn't do too badly.
Taking heed of the lack of further development or encouragement from
Chrysler Corporation, Lee Petty switched to Oldsmobile in 1957. After all,
that division had come calling and even helped him obtain two 1957 models!
So, the end of the 1956 NASCAR season was the end of the mighty Chrysler
Corporation mark on early racing. There would not be another notch on the
tree until 1959, when the Petty team returned to Plymouth. Dodge would not
see another win until they snuck one in 1960. Chrysler would not be back on
the record books until 1961.
----- Original Message -----
From: "eastern sierra Adj Services" <esierraadj@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:29 PM
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] '57, '58 Dodge production
I PM'ed Paul, to apologize about saying anything definitive about 300's,
but, Paul, can you give us any info on the AAA sanctioned racing, for
1957?
As far as NASCAR is concerned Kiekaefer had a bit of a feud with Bill
France, ostensibly regarding carburetion, IIRC.
K. DID order a D501, and took delivery of it around 4/8/57 (iirc); it
was a Coro hardtop, but built on a convertible frame. The car was never
campaigned, & its whereabouts/disposition is unknown to me.
Meanwhile, the car companies agreed, during a
NASCAR meeting on 6/6/57 (WAY after the racing season began, in JAN/FEB
'57) to terminate their official sponsorship- participation of stock
car racing.
So, K.'s non-involvement in NASCAR racing, early-on in the racing season
may have been due to his having become tired of the hassle and/or
expenses involved in funding his racing teams, in relation to the
advertising benefits which would have accrued therefrom, and he might
have liked the idea of having a "feud" with NASCAR, in order to have an
excuse to end his association with organised racing events.
In other words, if he had really wanted-to, K. would have had at least 5
months to have participated in NASCAR racing before the "factories"
officially agreed to terminate their above-the-table sponsorship of
organised racing.
Neil Vedder
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