NASCAR COLLECTIBLES
Y M T U O K CHEC TION! COLLEC
NA SC AR R WATCH IN G R PA SS ION FOLLECTI BLE AT A TI M E. EI TH ED RN FANS HAVE TUDI NG M EM OR IE S ON E CO BY VAN COX IL TH ES E NA SC AR Y AN D AR E BU BB HO A TO IN
finding 30 years ago,” he said. “People are cleaning out their attics and basements and selling books you would never have seen years ago.” Internet auctions allowed Todd to significantly add to his collection, including two pieces that would have once been nearly impossible to obtain. He has been a big Curtis Turner fan since childhood, so it should come as no surprise that the legendary driver was the topic of two items on Todd’s mostwanted list. “One was the book, ‘Timber on The Moon,’” he elaborated. “When I started looking for one, if you found one that somebody was willing to part with, the asking price was usually really steep. I also wanted the 1968 Sports Illustrated magazine
DAVE TODD
Quenching a Thirst for Knowledge
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n this digital day and age, even the most obscure racing information is just a
keystroke away. It wasn’t always that way. Just a few short years ago, those with a hunger for NASCAR knowledge were forced to sift through countless books, magazines, programs and any other printed material they could come across. Consequently, many a learned stock car racing historian compiled an extensive library during that elusive quest for knowledge. Dave Todd, a retiree living in western Massachusetts, has amassed so much reference material that he has literally lost count of just how many pieces of motorsports media he has in his possession. “If I counted it all, it would be several thousand pieces,” he said. “I don’t mean for that to sound like I’m bragging. But if you count books, magazines, record books, programs, media guides … I gave up trying to keep track of just how much I have 10 or 15 years ago.” Todd’s vast collection initially took the green flag in the late 1960s with his first purchase of a copy of Stock Car Racing magazine. “I picked it up off the magazine rack in the local pharmacy of all places,” he recalled. “Of course, I was just a kid, so one magazine at a time was all I could afford. But after a few months of raiding the magazine rack every month, I saved up enough to buy a subscription, and I was hooked!” Soon, the titles on Todd’s required reading list was growing by leaps and bounds. If it had anything to do with NASCAR or high performance, it was going on his bookshelf. Todd considers the centerpiece of his library to be his extensive collection of vintage Official NASCAR Record Books. He owns early copies documenting the sanctioning body’s statistical history all the way back to the early 1950s. “I think I have all of them except for a couple,” he said. “Record-keeping during the early years of NASCAR was sometimes a little ‘iffy,’ and I think there were a couple of seasons that they didn’t publish the Record Book. But I have most of them from the beginning right on up to present day.” Originally published specifically for members of NASCAR and the working media, these Record Books contain many facts that aren’t readily available anywhere else. “The Record Books give pertinent information on all of the top drivers and virtually every division of NASCAR,” Todd explained. “They even cover every NASCAR-sanctioned weekly track and document their point standings from the previous season. It’s amazing the information you can find in them. Without a doubt, they are my most prized possessions.” Like many collectors of vintage memorabilia, Todd acknowledges that the advent of the internet auction platform eBay, more than two decades ago, has been a godsend to his hobby. “It has enabled me to purchase books and magazines that I could have never dreamed of
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with Turner on the cover and the story ‘King of The Wild Road’ in it. A couple of years ago, I was able to buy both of them on eBay within two weeks of each other for a very reasonable price. I felt like a kid at Christmas.” The one aspect of Todd’s collection that evokes an added measure of pride is its diversity. His assemblage of motorsports journalism is by no means limited to traditional NASCAR publications. Here is a quick sampling that offers a glimpse at the depth of his library:
•• 1924 Charlotte (N.C.) Speedway (Board Track) Souvenir Program
•• 1957 Chevrolet Black Widow Competition Guide •• 1950 Southern 500 Program •• 1987 Allan Grice Aussie Assault Press Kit •• 1978 Metrolina (N.C.) Dirt Track Rule Book •• 1967 NASCAR Summernationals DRAG RACING Program
•• 1998 Adam Petty Media Guide While he readily admits that the computer age has brought a plethora of information to our fingertips in the blink of an eye, Todd insists that we should view the past with the reverence it deserves. He also believes that the younger generation is missing out on something, “The internet is great,” he said matter-of-factly, “but there is still something special about being able to physically hold a book or magazine in your hand and flip through the pages. There’s nothing quite like it.”
