NASCAR Legend BUDDY BAKER Dead of Cancer at 74

[Florida Cracker]

A real Racing legend, from the days when race cars actually resembled real cars, Buddy Baker, who drove a Bad-Ass Dodge, has died of Lung Cancer. Prayers for his family.

Buddy Baker, a former Daytona 500 winner and NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee, has died after a brief battle with lung cancer. Baker was 74.
SiriusXM NASCAR Radio announced Baker passed away early Monday morning. Baker stepped down from his role as co-host of "The Late Shift" for the station last month when he announced he had a "huge tumor" in his lung that was inoperable.
"Do not shed a tear. Give a smile when you say my name. I'm not saying goodbye. Just talk to you later," Baker said in his final radio appearance.


http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2015...r-gentle-giant-dies-at-74-cancer/?intcmp=hpff

 

[timwinters]

May the Gentle Giant continue to gently turn left into eternity.

 

[RotorAndWing]

Never heard of him.

 

[Florida Cracker]

Never heard of him.

Not surprising. He's one of the icons of the glory days of NASCAR when Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, and Buddy Baker about owned the sport.

I remember them racing to the death in cars, instead of the scientifically designed identical looking boxes of today.

 

[N801BH]

May the Gentle Giant continue to gently turn left into eternity.

Very well put........

 

[Zeldman]

One of the icons is an understatement..... back in the day when they weren't all about looks and appearances....or politically correct....and were not afraid to get their point across with a right hook....when sex was safe and racing was dangerous.

 

[Florida Cracker]

One of the icons is an understatement..... back in the day when they weren't all about looks and appearances....or politically correct....and were not afraid to get their point across with a right hook....when sex was safe and racing was dangerous.

I used to LOVE his Chrysler/Dodges, especially the Road Runners.

 

[SkyHog]

Wow. That was really fast. He announced that he had inoperable lung cancer about 2 months ago.

 

[Mike Smith]

He was a class act long before NASCAR and stock car racing became acting.

 

[Dr. O]

Well one could blame all the dust and exhaust he inhaled in racing
But I rather suspect that two packs a day for 50 some years had more to do with it

 

[pilot_dude]

Met him and Bobby Allison at Talladega about 15 years ago. Both guys were gracious and accommodating.

 

[Anthony]

I remember watching this races as a kid with Chris Economaki doing the announcing. I really wasn't a NASCAR fan but with only three channels it was the best thing on during a rainy Saturday.

 

[MikeELP]

Never heard of him.

That's OK.

He never heard of you, either.

 

[Bill]

I remember watching this races as a kid with Chris Economaki doing the announcing. I really wasn't a NASCAR fan but with only three channels it was the best thing on during a rainy Saturday.

Well, four, if you include the one UHF channel we could get...

 

[SkyHog]

Best Buddy Baker story ever involves Chocolate Meyers and Dale Earnhardt - if you can imagine the giant Buddy Baker moments away from beating the snot out of Dale, and Chocolate Meyers being the only thing between the two, you get the jist of the story.

 

[narchee]

A real Racing legend, from the days when race cars actually resembled real cars,

Condolences to the family and friends.

I also never heard of him.

This is the only country where driving around an oval is considering racing. To me it's more like watching a dog chase its tail. Vaguely interesting at first then it gets really old.

 

[Anthony]

Well, four, if you include the one UHF channel we could get...

Eventually, we were up to THREE UHF channels plus PBS!

 

[SkyHog]

Condolences to the family and friends.

I also never heard of him.

This is the only country where driving around an oval is considering racing. To me it's more like watching a dog chase its tail. Vaguely interesting at first then it gets really old.

The old adage is:

If you want to see excitement, watch the last lap of a NASCAR race.
If you want to see excitement, watch the first lap of a Formula 1 race.

Ultimately, there is a lot to enjoy about both - oval racing has fast, side by side action with a lot of wrecks as the drivers push their cars to the limits without much room for error. Lots of passing. Road course racing has slower, more strategic moves where the driver is in a battle against the course for his best lap. Almost no passing.

I happen to prefer oval racing, but I get enjoyment from both.

 

[DaveA]

We always would say that Roger Penske hired Buddy Baker to teach Rusty Wallace social graces and table manners first , and as a driver's coach second. Both were challenges...

He will be missed around here.

 

[Florida Cracker]

....ain't that the truth...

 

[ateamer]

Get rid of restrictor plates and car body templates, bring back racing to the flag under caution and racing at the classic tracks. That's the only way I'd have any interest in NASCAR again.

 

[SkyHog]

Get rid of restrictor plates and car body templates, bring back racing to the flag under caution and racing at the classic tracks. That's the only way I'd have any interest in NASCAR again.

In other words, revert everything done to keep the drivers from killing themselves for entertainment value...

 

[Bill]

Eventually, we were up to THREE UHF channels plus PBS!

Bet you had color, too.

 

[Anthony]

Bet you had color, too.

You know, I am trying to think when we got our color set. I want to say around 1968 or so??? Maybe 1969, but somewhere around there.

 

[ateamer]

In other words, revert everything done to keep the drivers from killing themselves for entertainment value...

Templates have nothing to do with safety. They are to make the cars as generic as possible, eliminate any advantage gained by having a latter-day Smokey Yunick on the team and to try and keep the cars in a pack, supposedly better for TV viewers.

NASCAR abandoned the smaller and older southern tracks to move races to L.A., Vegas, Chicago and other new markets.

With modern safety features (full-face helmets, HANS devices, crushable impact zones), supertracks can be safe. Putting all of the cars in one big pack thanks to plates causes huge multi-car wrecks.

 

[Florida Cracker]

Condolences to the family and To me it's more like watching a dog chase its tail. Vaguely interesting at first then it gets really old.

that is exactly how I feel about soccer. I hear ya' man!

 

[Mike Smith]

Templates have nothing to do with safety. They are to make the cars as generic as possible, eliminate any advantage gained by having a latter-day Smokey Yunick on the team and to try and keep the cars in a pack, supposedly better for TV viewers.

NASCAR abandoned the smaller and older southern tracks to move races to L.A., Vegas, Chicago and other new markets.

With modern safety features (full-face helmets, HANS devices, crushable impact zones), supertracks can be safe. Putting all of the cars in one big pack thanks to plates causes huge multi-car wrecks.[/QUOTE]

Which is what people pay to see.

 

[SkyHog]

Templates have nothing to do with safety. They are to make the cars as generic as possible, eliminate any advantage gained by having a latter-day Smokey Yunick on the team and to try and keep the cars in a pack, supposedly better for TV viewers.

NASCAR abandoned the smaller and older southern tracks to move races to L.A., Vegas, Chicago and other new markets.

With modern safety features (full-face helmets, HANS devices, crushable impact zones), supertracks can be safe. Putting all of the cars in one big pack thanks to plates causes huge multi-car wrecks.[/QUOTE]

Which is what people pay to see.

The plates didn't cause pack racing, the aero rules did, and for what its worth, 3 years ago, packs didn't exist.

The huge multi-car wrecks aren't nearly as dangerous as they were years ago, before the plates existed, because we don't have cars driving 250mph wide throttle.

As for the smaller and older tracks, Bristol, Martinsville, Darlington, and Richmond would be those - the season is a fair mix of:

.250 Milers (1 of them)
.5 Milers (2 of them)
.75 Miler (1 of them)
1 Milers (2 of them)
1.5 Milers (5 of them)
Road Courses (2 of them)
2+ Milers (the rest)

The only thing missing is dirt, and even the CWTS has a dirt race each year.

 

[N801BH]

The plates didn't cause pack racing, the aero rules did, and for what its worth, 3 years ago, packs didn't exist.

The huge multi-car wrecks aren't nearly as dangerous as they were years ago, before the plates existed, because we don't have cars driving 250mph wide throttle.

As for the smaller and older tracks, Bristol, Martinsville, Darlington, and Richmond would be those - the season is a fair mix of:

.250 Milers (1 of them)
.5 Milers (2 of them)
.75 Miler (1 of them)
1 Milers (2 of them)
1.5 Milers (5 of them)
Road Courses (2 of them)
2+ Milers (the rest)

The only thing missing is dirt, and even the CWTS has a dirt race each year.

Hmmmm.....

Rusty Wallace took a open motor a few years back ( 760HP) and ran at Talladega on a solo run..... Wide open he hit 227 mph... Scared the siht out of him.....

What track is 1/4 mile in length ???

 

[SkyHog]

Hmmmm.....

Rusty Wallace took a open motor a few years back ( 760HP) and ran at Talladega on a solo run..... Wide open he hit 227 mph... Scared the siht out of him.....

What track is 1/4 mile in length ???

I was wrong. I incorrectly remembered the length of Martinsville.