Remembering and appreciating Buddy Baker's career
Longtime NASCAR driver, who died Monday at age 74, left his mark on and off the track.
IF NASCAR were a kingdom, Buddy Baker would've been knighted. Sir Buddy Baker has a nice ring to it. Nah, that's not him.
Baker (born Elzie Wylie Baker Jr.) was a self-described country boy. Born in Florence, S.C., he matured into an outstanding racer, with 19 Sprint Cup victories, and later was a respected and entertaining broadcaster.
Following his death Monday, at age 74, from lung cancer, tributes have poured in for Baker. Racing contemporaries such as Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip praised Baker.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted that Baker was "loved, appreciated, and respected."
Others accurately called Baker a caring, sharing person, a person you wanted to be around.
Stories? Baker had thousands of them. Whenever I heard him telling a tale on his SiriusXM radio broadcast in recent years, I always made sure I heard the completed story, smiling as I listened.
One of my all-time favorite racin' stories involved Baker. In the mid-1960s, he was racing at a half-mile track in Maryville, Tenn. He crashed early, breaking three ribs.
Baker was expecting to be transported to a nearby hospital in an ambulance. Instead, a hearse pulled up. As he told writer Rick Minter, Baker was strapped to a wheeled gurney and placed in the back of the hearse.
As the driver began to leave the track, he saw the race cars still circling the track under caution and gunned the engine. Someone forgot to secure the rear door of the hearse and Baker slid out onto the track. The racers avoided Baker, who was frantically waving, but the gurney then slid into a muddy area, stopping with Baker facedown.
Now out of patience, Baker told the rescuer who reached him, "If I live through this, I'm coming back here and beating the living tar out of you."
Then Baker learned the hearse driver didn't know the route to the hospital. He unstrapped himself and climbed into the passenger seat.
"I told 'em, 'If you guys are going to kill me, I'm going to see it coming,' " Baker said.
Baker frequently told entertaining stories about himself. After winning a race at Daytona, late that night he decided to check out of his hotel and head back to North Carolina. He said he had just crossed into Georgia when he was stopped by a police officer about 2:30 a.m. The officer recognized him, saying, "Buddy Baker? I've followed you for years. Sometimes you have the worst luck, and this is one of those times."
Dr. Jerry Punch, a longtime racing TV reporter, recalls an occasion at Watkins Glen, N.Y., on a Saturday when one of Baker's crew members asked him to check Baker, because he was "acting strange, staggering around."
Baker told Punch he'd had severe headaches since hitting a wall during the 600-miler at Charlotte a couple of months earlier. Baker said he'd been gulping Goody's headache tablets and was able to sleep only a few minutes each night.
"[Baker] said he'd hold both hands to the side of his head and press to control the pain," Punch recalled Tuesday. "I told Buddy it sounded as if he had a brain hemorrhage. Buddy was fearless. He was like [Dale] Earnhardt. If you said, 'We're going to tie you in the car and tie the throttle wide open, they'd say, 'Let's do it!' The only way you'd get these guys to a doctor was if you frightened them."
Punch made arrangements for Dr. Jerry Petty, a renowned neurologist in Charlotte, to see Baker. The next night, after the race, Punch was in an airport when Petty contacted him. He told Punch, "Do you have any idea how Buddy got here? He drove 12-13 hours from Watkins Glen. Someone else was with him, but Buddy did most of the driving."
When Petty operated on Baker, he told Punch "blood spurted out of him like a geyser." Punch said the doctor couldn't understand how anyone was able to stand as much pain as Baker did.
Among Baker's Cup victories were the 1980 Daytona 500, three 600-mile races at Charlotte and the '70 Southern 500 at Darlington. His 177.602-mph average speed in the 1980 race is still the fastest for a Daytona 500. Baker was the first driver to top 200 mph in a 1970 run at Talladega. In '98, he was chosen as one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers, along with his father Buck (46 Cup wins).
This week's race
Pure Michigan 400
Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Mich.
When: Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: NBC Sports Network/WNPV (1440-AM)
Course: 2-mile oval
Distance: 200 laps/400 miles
Forecast: clear, upper 80s
Last year's winner: Jeff Gordon
Last year's pole: Gordon, 206.558 mph (track qualifying record)
Track facts: Jeff Gordon paced the last 17 laps (68 total) to win last year's race. Kevin Harvick was second, Joey Logano was third. Gordon is a three-time winner at Michigan. Greg Biffle has the most wins among active drivers (four) ... Kurt Busch won the June race at Michigan. Polesitter Kasey Kahne (201.992 mph) finished 15th ... Despite a season cut short by injury at the start, Kyle Busch has climbed to 30th in points, the final cutoff for the Chase, in only 11 races. He is six points ahead of Cole Whitt ... Michigan native Brad Keselowski hopes to break his 0-for-12 record at MIS. The 2012 Cup champion has three top-five finishes at the track ... Clint Bowyer, 14th in points, has three top-10s in the season's last three races.
Wins: Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch, 4 each, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano, 2 each; Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., 1 each.
STANDINGS
1. Kevin Harvick ... 823
2. Joey Logano ... 781
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ... 750
4. Jimmie Johnson ... 747
5. Brad Keselowski ... 719
6. Martin Truex Jr. ... 714
7. Matt Kenseth ... 703
8. Kurt Busch ... 659
9. Jamie McMurray ... 635
10. Denny Hamlin ... 631
11. Paul Menard ... 622
12. Jeff Gordon ... 620
13. Ryan Newman ... 613
14. Clint Bowyer ... 612
15. Carl Edwards ... 589
16. Aric Almirola ... 562
17. Kasey Kahne ... 561
18. Greg Biffle ... 532
19. Kyle Larson ... 517
20. Casey Mears ... 493
Up next: Irwin Tools Night Race, Aug. 22, Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn., 7:30 p.m; TV: NBCSN; last year's winner: Joey Logano.