With the 'new' at Vegas, Barney Hall and Dale Inman were links to the 'old'
No matter how often something new comes to NASCAR it seems there is always a link to the old. The past is, in some way, represented in the present.
I thought of an instance of this at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Ceremony held for the first time in Las Vegas – something new.
It was simple, really, but it was real, and it involved two men whose distinguished NASCAR careers run long and deep.
Barney Hall of MRN Radio was presented the National Motorsports Press Association’s Myers Brothers Award for outstanding lifetime achievement in motorsports.
Dale Inman, Richard Petty’s long-time crew chief, was awarded NASCAR’s Buddy Shuman Award for the same reason.
These guys came from a different era, but their accomplishments were so great that today they were certainly not forgotten, and now have been given due recognition, at Vegas.
You must understand how completely Hall and Inman represent a simpler, long-past – yet still remembered - time in NASCAR.
Hall was, and still is, the consummate radio announcer. But more than that, he was a media member who fully understood that to do the best job possible, he had to cultivate good relationships with the competitors.
That’s the way it was done 30 years ago. To do it, Hall was never as much concerned about the “scoop” as he was about gaining competitors’ trust and respect. If he did that, he would always have the best knowledge of what was going on – and that would allow him to give his listeners the most up-to-date, in-depth information possible.
No one, and I mean no one, earned more trust and respect than Hall. Eventually he became a competitor confidant. He was told – and even asked opinions about – subjects that ranged from professional to personal.
He was also fully aware of what the public should or should not hear. That trait only intensified his good relationship with the competitors.
Inman, who helped Petty win seven championships and 198 of his 200 career victories, was a crew chief who was skittish when with the media. As it was with other competitors, trust had to be earned.
To get an interview with him wasn’t easy, as I learned. He seemed uncomfortable. He preferred to let Petty do the talking. It always appeared to me that he was afraid he would say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
I’m sure he had a good relationship with Hall, who might have been the only media member to gain his confidence. As a young writer I wanted to have it too.
So I followed Hall’s example. Many times I just spoke with Inman, asked him how things were going and, since I didn’t have a pen and pad in my hand, he would answer me. I just wanted him to be comfortable.
I’ll never forget that at Martinsville, in the mid-1970s, I mentioned to the late H. Clay Earles, the track’s president, that I wanted to interview Inman. Earles was well aware of Inman’s reticence and immediately led me to him – which surprised me.
“Now, listen to me,” Earles said to Inman. “This boy isn’t out to hurt anyone. All he wants is a story, and he wants it from you. You just answer his questions, and believe me, you won’t have a problem at all.”
Inman relaxed and answered every question I asked him. I believe, at that time, I produced the most complete feature about him ever written.
Of course, I could be wrong.
Afterward Inman and I always conversed freely, and I was able to ask him his opinions about everything – with limitations. He always gave me insider information, but he did so by saying, “Now, don’t say this came from me, but ….”
Obviously, it was a personally gratifying experience for me to see Hall and Inman honored in Vegas.
And it enforced the reality that no matter what is new in NASCAR there is always some instance, however small, where it is always linked with the old.
That is the way it should be.
