Re: [FWDLK] '57, '58 Dodge production
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Re: [FWDLK] '57, '58 Dodge production



Kiekaefer was a private businessman, involved in racing to promote his
private company's financial interests.

K. had no other sponsoring agencies; he was into racing, alone.

K. paid his teams very well, & incurred a lot of racing expenses, which
had to be balanced against the financial benefits that his company
realized, as the result of its racing activities.

NASCAR was a very small-time, Southern-regionalized activity, whereas
his outboard motors were marketed nationally.

K. was a Yankee.

K. had a huge ego, and was very self confident.

His racing efforts produced outstanding results, which probably upset
Bill France, who wanted better competition (read: Chebby 'wins', and,
preferably  by a Southerner.)

K. probably recognized France's efforts to try to castrate K.'s
competitive advantage, and said: "I've had enough", and his  company had
realized as much promotional advantage as would  probably ever see, so
he took his "football, and went home".

The so-called booing crowds was never a consideration, in his feuding
with France, over any carburetor restrictions, in France's efforts to
try to slow down K's cars.

K. did not need NASCAR, and NASCAR did not need (or want) him or his
cars.


Neil Vedder


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  • From: Jan & Roger van Hoy <vanhilla@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:34:26 -0700
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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