5 Strangest objects kept inside of a NASCAR

5 Strangest objects kept inside of a NASCAR

By Brian Cotnoir 

NASCAR Cup Series cars aren't like typical road cars, they lack basic parts like and amenities such as "windshield wipers (except at road courses), working head lights, AC, radio, cup holders, glove boxes, etc.   It's not without reason of course, the more stuff you have in a car, the heavier it weighs, the slower it goes.  That being said there have been some strange objects kept inside of a NASCAR race car, everything from the stuff as mundane as a cellphone and lighter, to live animals and lethal weapons.  These are the 5 strangest objects kept inside of a NASCAR. 

1.)  A Live Monkey

We're going to start off with the most famous and well-known of these strange objects.  NASCAR Hall of Famer, Tim Flock raced with a Rhesus monkey named "Jocko Flocko" for 8 races during the 1953 season.  The little monkey was actually in the car when Tim Flock won at Hickory Motor Speedway.  Jocko Flocko would be forced into an early retirement after he unintentionally cost Tim Flock at win at Raleigh Speedway when he opened a trap door above the right front tire and caused the little monkey to panic and distract his owner.   Flock was forced to pit from the lead to remove Jocko Flocko from the car.   Tim Flock was unable to recover his lead and wound-up finishing 3rd in the race.

2.)  Cigarettes & a Lighter

Old Habits are hard to quit: Short Track Legend Dick Trickle used to keep a cigarette lighter and cigarettes in his car so he could have a smoke break during cautions.  NASCAR's Cup Series was sponsored by RJ Reynolds Tobacco for more than three decades, so it's somewhat appropriate that Dick Trickle would be smoking during a race.

3.)  A Loaded Handgun

This was one I had no clue about until recently, but honestly, I shouldn't be too surprised.  Many NASCAR fans today are aware of the horrific prejudice that NASCAR driver & Hall of Famer Wendell Scott and his family endured in the Jim Crow South during his NASCAR career.  Scott had been banned from entering races at certain tracks and he was initially denied his first (and only) career victory at Jacksonville Speedway in Florida due to racism, but through it all Wendell Scott endured, but one year before his famous win, something happened that couldn't have ended Wendell Scott's racing career, legacy, and quite possibly his life.  

Scott and his family were--sadly--no strangers to prejudice and discrimination at racetracks throughout the South from both "fans" and some of the drivers he raced against on track.  In Brian Donovan's biography Hard Driving: The Wendell Scott Story, Scott recounts a series of incidents where he gotten wrecked by fellow competitor Jack Smith.  Scott decided that he had had enough with Jack Smith's on track antics and decided to fix the problem personally.   While under pace laps at a speedway Valdosta, Georgia, Smith pulled alongside and gestured to Scott that he was going to wreck him; in return Scott reached next to the holster he had fixed to his drivers seat and pointed a loaded handgun out the window at Jack Smith.   According to Scott's son's, Smith immediately hit the brakes and fell back.  NASCAR was unaware of the drastic--but justifiable-- actions taken by Scott, apparently both drivers had settled the feud (I.E. Scott said to Smith if you race me clean and beat me; we're good.  If you wreck my car again, I will not hesitate to kill you).   Unsurprisingly, Jack Smith never gave Wendell Scott any more issues on track, and despite winning 20 more races in his career then Wendell Scott, Jack Smith still isn't in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

4.)  A Cellphone

Another little PSA for y'all: "Don't Text in Drive"!   For a sport that was sponsored by Sprint/Nextel for 13 seasons you'd think this would have been commonsense.   In 2012, NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski sent a Tweet on Twitter from his racecar while under Red Flag during the Daytona 500.   Keselowski's image from inside of his car of the jet-dryer fire caused by Juan Pablo Montoya's unintentional collision under caution went viral quick over the internet.  Keselowski continued to Tweet during the Red Flag, and while these few Tweets did show NASCAR the power of Social-Media and fan & driver interactions, NASCAR quickly banned cellphones & other Smart Electronic devices from being in cars.  Since the ban a handful of drivers have been fined thousands for having there cellphone or smart device in their race car.  Last year, Tanner Gray got into trouble when he filmed himself driving during an ARCA pre-season test at Daytona International Speedway.  

5.)  A Life Vest & Oxygen Tank

The first time I ever saw or even heard of Tom Pistone was on a 2011 episode of the History Channel show American Pickers, but since then I've greatly enjoyed learning about the life & career of the man they call "Tiger Tom".   Pistone was an early pioneer in NASCAR in NASCAR and won 2 races in over 130 starts in NASCAR.  Pistone would go on to have a successful career a racing parts vendor and even built race cars for some of the best drivers in NASCAR, like Harry Gant.   A lesser-known story, I recently discovered about Pistone was that he raced the 1960 Daytona 500 while wearing a life preserver and oxygen tank!  In only the tracks second year of existence, fellow competitor Tommy Irwin flipped into the manmade Lake Lloyd in the infield at Daytona International Speedway during his Duel Race.  Irwin survived the wreck, but it still scared Pistone enough, that he donned a life preserver and oxygen tank during the race for fear that he could possibly drown if a similar wreck happened to him.   Tiger Tom lead 26 laps of the Daytona 500 but crashed with 4 laps to go (but not into Lake Lloyd), and surprisingly still finished 12th place.   And the last time a car actually crashed into Lake Lloyd was Dave Stacy during the 1994 Goody's Dash Series race at Daytona.   Due to safety improvements around the track, it is safe to say that there is no longer a need for drivers to worry about crashing into Lake Lloyd.