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The Legend Larry Shaw Built Race Cars For Mark Martin, Scott Bloomquist & Billy Moyer! · Kenny Wallace Media

0:00
Hello everyone and welcome back to Kenny.
0:03
Conversation brought to you by Jags, the leader in high
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performance aftermarketed car parts.
0:10
Remember to go to jags.com for everything you need to fix your
0:15
vehicle or hot rod up. And they are telling me that
0:18
they have parts in for trucks or jeeps.
0:23
Well, you're looking at it. One of my longest friends in
0:26
life, one of the most famous race car builders of all time,
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and I am going to call him the great because wait till you hear
0:35
these stats. That is the great Larry Shaw.
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Larry, how are you doing? Great, Kenny.
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Thank you. Larry Shaw.
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When I think of Larry, I think of my times where my brother
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Rusty raced against the great Mark Martin and Larry Phillips
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and our time throughout the Ozark region in Southern
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Missouri. But I also think of this new
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life that you made. Larry.
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You have built over 5000 asphalt cars and most recently dirt
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cars. Let's start with the early days.
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What do you remember when I first laid eyes on you?
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You were you were a crew member from Mark Martin out of
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Batesville, AR. Tell me about those times.
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Well, then it was good time. That was rough time.
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You know, Mark and Rusty, you know they didn't have a clock.
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You know, you worked, you got done at night.
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You know, we would work. Julian Martin had a trucking
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company, Mark's dad, and he ran his trucking company all day
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long and close around 5:00 or 6:00.
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And I had an auto repair and Body Shop business.
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So I closed at about the same time.
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And we'd go up to Mark and Julian's house and we'd work on
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a race car till 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning just about all the
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time. And if we wrecked on the
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weekend, we'd work more and more, you know, So that was in
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the early days when we was running a, we started off with
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255 Chevrolets first year and the second year and then third
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year we built a big block Camaro, which Junior was all
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about big blocks. You know, he wouldn't even ride
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the coffee shop with if he had a small block, you know, big
2:14
block. So he stuck this big block in
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this Camaro that Larry Phillips to put a rotate in.
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And now it's sticking out of the hood.
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So we had to get one for the hood scoop, got the hood scoop
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on it. Mark couldn't see over it.
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So we had to raise him up so he could see over it.
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But then the next thing, Kenny, it was a big block with all that
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weight on the front end and no power steering.
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He couldn't turn it, so that turned out to be an issue.
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So we went to salvage yard and got a lot of different type
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power steering pump and finally after we threw a lot of belts
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off, we finally got some of the wind.
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So when we did, Mark pretty well dominated everything in Arkansas
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and around surrounding state with that big block.
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Earlier we went to asphalt, like you said, that's kind of where I
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got tangled up with you and Rusty and Max.
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We would leave baseball and go to Springfield Fairgrounds and
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run on Friday night and then Saturday night we would drive
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all the way down to Fort Smith and race Asphalt tri-state.
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Now in the spring, Max Speak, the one that runs the
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Fairgrounds Speedway, would always have three or four races
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Sunday afternoon or Sunday night, and Mark was going for
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the points. So we'd have to run.
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We'd go Springfield on Friday night, go all the way to Fort
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Smith and then back to Springfield Sunday night to run,
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then come back to baseball. And that's how it all started.
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That's where I got to meet Rusty and visit with Y'all.
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And that was good days. And I know we'll forget the time
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with the tri-state. And you got run off the left of
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the service station. You remember my early days.
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And Larry, let me just say this. Let me let me remind everybody
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that's watching. We are going to talk about your
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relationship with Scott Bloomquist.
4:12
We are going to talk about Billy Moyer.
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We're going to get there and we're going to go back and forth
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because your stories are unbelievable.
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You, you have helped, you have raised some of the greatest race
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car drivers of all time. So we've just laid it out.
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You had an automotive repair shop.
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You, you got to know Julian Martin, which was Mark Martin's
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dad. When was the time that you
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realized Mark Martin was really something special, that he could
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be one of the greatest of all time?
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When was that? Do you remember a moment?
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I'm going to say about the fourth race we run Bajillion and
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Mark and myself, we worked all winter on that first race car.
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I mean I'm talking about from October to to 1st of April and
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we go out here at Independent County Speedway, which was
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basically Speedway. Now on about the 3rd or 4th lap,
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Mark got crowded off. I ain't going to say run off, he
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he'll say he got crowded off the racetrack and Junior lifted me.
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So we worked all winter in that car and that kid had done toured
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up. That's how he popped back up on
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the racetrack and ended up running 4th.
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So back then, Wade Brooks was who you had to beat in that
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particular class. So about five or six races.
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Then we finally beat Wayne and I don't know Mark, but just he
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does national talent, you know, just unreal.
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So that's how it all I realized right then.
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He's a good, good racer. Larry, this is all about you,
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OK? So we can't, we're not going to
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go minute by minute, day by day, year by year.
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What we're going to do now is we're going to go to you.
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We we've laid the platform where you came from, how you started.
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So let's talk about you, Larry. You're incredible.
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OK, so Mark Martin, he set sail, he becomes a NASCAR superstar.
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And then all of a sudden, I remember you going to Baker Race
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Engines up in Michigan. If I'm not right, straighten me
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out. So Mark leaves.
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Mark Martin leaves, and you got to have something to do.
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When do you close the automotive repair shopping?
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Do you go directly to Baker Race Engines?
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No, I sold the race car business the year that in 76 when Mark
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and Julia wanted me to work for them full time.
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So I sold the race car business and went to work for them full
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time. So you know, Mark and Julia
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myself, we've been together like five or six years night and day.
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You know, just like anything else, you just when you're
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around somebody like that so long, it just wears you out.
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And I ain't saying we got turned against each other or anything,
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but we still had a good relationship.
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But. You got tired of each other.
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Yeah, Kevin and Kirk and Cheryl, they stayed right with me all
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the way through this deal. And when Mark burped me out, we
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put that way. Mark burped me out and he moved
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to to Dillon in Indiana. And Ray Baker kept bugging me to
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come up there and work for it. And I didn't want to go to
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Michigan, but he sent Cheryl myself two plane tickets here
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and we flew up there and looked everything over.
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And Ray said, Shaw, what I want you to do, I want you to run my
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whole deal. You order all my parts, you get
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hooked up with all these manufacturers and you take care
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of all the customer. And sure, I'll work for him too.
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She's the secretary there. And I just want to build racing
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engine. That's all he wanted to do, just
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build racing and started running the whole deal in the first year
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there in that winter, they got 88 inches of snow without more
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snow than I've ever seen in my whole life.
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And after driving through them, rode snow pile 15 feet high on
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the side. I told Ray, I said man I'm out
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of here when them birds go South next year, right?
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I'm not staying. He said oh show you got to stay
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so I'll buy you a new, I'll buy you a new Blazer.
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I said you can take. Then he said what would it take?
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Well back then I knew that I headed into something.
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I said I'm going back S so that's when I come back and I
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knocked. I had called in house to see if
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he'd sell me parts. They had a dealer in Little
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Rock, which is 110 miles away, and their deal was they wouldn't
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put a dealer within 100 miles. So I called Herb and Ed and they
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said I told him I was going to come back South and build a race
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car. Well, they didn't recommend
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that, but if I was going to do that, they'd like to sell me
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parts. So we come back down here and I
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started Larry Shaw race car October 10th and 1979, and my
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first 31 or 32 cars was asphalt cars because that's world I had
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come out of, you know. Look, Larry, let me say
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something. I know that you watched Mike.
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Any conversation with Mark Richards, who runs Rocket
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Chassis? Yes, Sir.
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Sounds to me like both you and him.
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It Is it true Ed Howe was a God back then?
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Because it sounds like that's the way Rocket Chassis got
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going. Was Ed Howe.
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And now here you are again, Ed Howe.
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What was Ed Howe? The creator of building race
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cars. Yeah, Ed Howe was the one, you
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know, really he was. And you know, he, Junior Hanley
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was there and we went to pick up a car one time.
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Junior was there and Junior had a brake caliber.
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He just about didn't hardly have nothing left of that brake
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caliber. I said, and him and Ed run
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against each other. I said, well, Ed grinded his
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like that Junior not right off, but he'll be forced to.
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So Ed, you know, he, you know, his body's one of the best
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section cars in the world. But what they would run and win?
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They they, they were ugly race cars.
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They were green black chassis. He just cared about safety,
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Robar padding and getting that geometry right.
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But looks didn't take you to Victory Lane.
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No, in black cars, everything was black and well, you know,
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when when we all started, everybody paid their chassis
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black. That was it, you know.
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And so anyway, when I decided to do this deal, I sold the car
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right off to Joe Shearer when Joe just passed away and he was
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a good racer. And then I sold Rick Corelli a
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car out West and I got hooked up with Doug Jeffrey in Washington
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out there and he had Toby Butler running something for him.
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And Toby took my car and took it to Phoenix and won the the 300
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lap. What was the name of that race?
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300 lap on in 1992. Big races.
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Yeah, Copper Classic 300, listen to that.
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They started 44 cars of that because I watched that video and
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Toby wanted Corelli was second and third was horn today and I I
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forgot who was filth. It was good, but AJ Ford, he had
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ranked his car the day before he come.
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They started 44 cars. He come from 44th and run sixth.
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Since I've passed 38 cars, they're having a good time.
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OK, so Larry, you are building asphalt cars and you're doing
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good. OK, The world knows you right
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now as one of the greatest dirt modified builders in history,
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and we're going to get there. We're going to get to you and
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Scott Bloomquist. OK, so you're building asphalt
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cars. You're happy.
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How in the world do you quit building asphalt cars and how do
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you end up building dirt cars? A gentleman from Ponca City, OK
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Mandy and will call me one day, he says.
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Shaw, you don't know me, but I'm going to buy one new car.
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I think he's going to run that little asphalt tracker and app.
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It's Oklahoma. I said, where were you going to
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run at? And he said, I'm going to start
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running dirt. I said, I I just built an
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asphalt car to build me one. I'll make it work.
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I said, well, I don't know anything about all that.
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And he said, well, go ahead and do it.
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So so I build him one. OK.
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So he went and raced it and what happened then on one Friday
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afternoon, Don Jeter from Woodruff, Oklahoma called me.
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He's oil well man. He said, Shaw, I hear you built
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a pretty good race car. I said, I think I do.
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He said, I'm going to come over. Are you busy Monday?
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I said, no, Sir, I'm going to come over and talk to you Monday
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about buying a car for Buck Catwell.
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Buck passed way down, too. All these people died on us.
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Buck had passed away. He was a good driver.
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So he landed out here and I didn't know he was in an
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airplane. He come off and he's like 6 foot
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eight. And he introduced himself and he
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said, so I want you to build a car.
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We're going to go and run some NDRA show.
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And I said that's pretty healthy.
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I know it, I know it, but I got a good driver.
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He's what kind of motor we need. I said, well, we need a Baker
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four O2 if you call up there, well, you got time to go with me
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up there. I said, when he said right now,
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I said I've got to be back here Wednesday night.
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He said, we'll be back. Well, I didn't know he had a
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King Air sitting at the airport. So we go get that King Air and
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we go to Baker's and we get up at Baker's and we go back and
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Ray's engine room, that's where he stayed all the time.
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And Don said, Shaw, which one of these motors we need here?
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And he had the tag on one that's at four O 2 and so we need that
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one like that 402 there. Don said we'll take it.
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Ray said, Oh no, no, that goes to Georgia.
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I can't sell that motor. He said, I'm shipping to you.
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I've been good. No one ship it in a couple
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weeks. He said, no, we want it right
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now. We got to have it now.
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He said when you going to race? He said a week from Friday.
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But see, that's the first I've heard of that.
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I mean, I've been building an asphalt car.
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Don't have a clue even start build that dirt car.
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But I went ahead anyway. He he pulled out a whole bunch
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of $100 bills and told Ray, he said I'll take that motor, pay
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for nothing and you can ship it to us.
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So, so, so when he had this airplane with it was this like
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this is the first time you, I mean, I know Julian Martin had a
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big trucking company. This is Mark Martin's dad.
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And I know Julian was wealthy for him to have an airplane and,
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and, and just pay for everything right away.
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He he, he had all wells and business and Woods were going
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home. He was real big.
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I think Woods were going to home.
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Everybody knows him. So we we leave Baker's we
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started back at the airport and nonsense Shaw what else we need
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in Michigan. I said, well, it hound and just
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built some new stubs and want me to try one and he said where's
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he at? I said Beaverton, MI.
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He asked that pilot. He said what's the closest town
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airport to Beaverton? He looked and he said Saginaw
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it's 3:30 in the afternoon. So I called Herb.
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I said, hey, Herb, you got in there new stubs done.
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He said, yeah, I'm getting ready to shift you 3 tomorrow.
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I said, hey, can I get one today before yet?
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I said Grand Rapids, it's a show.
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You're 2 1/2 hours for me, so we close at 5:00 and I've got to be
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somewhere tonight. I said, well, on your way home,
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can you take one to the Saginaw airport for me?
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You can get a stub at the airplane.
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I said yes, Sir. So anyway, we get the stub and
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here's how it all started. We get back home late that night
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and Tuesday morning, my little brother Dennis and called Reed.
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We started building that car and you know what I did, Kenny?
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I built something like an asphalt car.
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I mean, had it real close, aerodynamic, close to the ground
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and just real, real slick. Let me ask you this, Larry, I'm
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sorry to interrupt you, but it amazes me.
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I think what made Ed Howe great is he didn't mind selling
15:02
anything. So here he is selling you front
15:05
stubs and he would sell radiators and he would sell
15:08
steering wheels. This had to be an awesome deal
15:12
for you where you could just go to Ed Howe and they had you an
15:15
asphalt front clip designed. Yeah, he he did and then but you
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know, when when I got back down here and and we got we got that
15:25
car done and I'll finish up this little story.
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We lead up here and we go to I didn't even have grain scales at
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the time because asphalt cars you just kind of imagine did
15:33
stuff, you know, with the make them Cobb Forest home place,
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Tulsa home and use the scales. And we leave there and we go to
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Hutchinson, KS and I tell everybody the good Lord lined up
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everything perfect for me that weekend.
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We get out there, this was a brand new 3/8 mile slick, quite
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a bit of bank track slick from top to bottom.
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And we set QuickTime like the eight tenths won the trophy,
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Dash won the heat race. And the next day we lined up
15:59
around a 60 lap feature and we lapped all the way up the 2nd
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place car at the 2nd place car with that that guy, that was one
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of my dirt cars. You won Van Gimble, he runs
16:10
second to it. So when I left the racetrack
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that day, I had sold seven race cars and one of them was to
16:15
Billy Morton. Oh, here we go now.
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So when we started home, I stopped there, you know, I
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didn't have a phone back there. That was in 81801980.
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So I stopped at the truck stop and told Cheryl that well, we're
16:28
out of asphalt business for a little while because I sold set
16:31
of dirt cars out here. But that didn't go away because
16:34
later on, within five years, I had to be on Bill Davis and Mark
16:39
Martin. Some short track car from Mark
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went east and come back home with some issues.
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Now I built Toby them cards. I can't build an asphalt card,
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that dirt car, and it's hard to be both.
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It's hard to serve both people because the dirt people don't
16:51
like it because you'll be on the asphalt card.
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That's what people don't like, because you build dirt cars, you
16:55
know? Yeah, but you're a good person.
16:57
So Larry, I I like to steer these conversations.
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The one thing that you said that I listen to and you know, it's
17:07
sad to say in life. So, like people know me for TV,
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but I want them to know me for me.
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And you know, we all know you for being Larry Shaw, the great
17:18
race car builder, and everybody else knows you for Larry Shaw
17:22
and Billy Moyer. Whether we like these things or
17:26
not, it it, it, it feels to me like when you and Billy Moyer
17:30
got together, Oh my God, you were the you.
17:34
You were and you were the biggest builder in America.
17:39
You, you and Billy Moyer. That set things on fire.
17:45
Tell me about that relationship with you and Billy Moyer.
17:48
Well, I got Billy's car done and he'd come and got it and he took
17:52
it back to Iowa and won a few races up there.
17:54
But I built a new car and he said he's going to run at Kansas
17:58
City. That was lakeside Kansas City.
18:00
Remember how big a bank that was?
18:03
He went over that wall. He set quick time in the heat
18:06
race. He went over that wall and
18:07
landed out there in a parking lot.
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So I I had to get my truck, drive down there.
18:12
I get around there and he's looking that thing over.
18:14
He said, Shaw, what do you think?
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I said, you ain't got nothing left here, Bill.
18:18
He said, what we going to do? I said, why don't you do this
18:19
here once you go back home and load up all your stuff, you got
18:22
up there and come to Basel and you can you can live with us and
18:27
I'll put a house car program together.
18:28
I was probably the one of the first one that did that house
18:30
car program. But what I would do, you know, I
18:32
said, come on down and if you need new brake rotors, we'll put
18:35
them on and then at the end of the year I'll sell them an
18:36
Oxford or something. I said, we've covered some of my
18:38
some of my business. So that's that's where we
18:41
started. And of course, you know, we get
18:44
back to Larry Feller committed. But right off, you know, when we
18:47
got hooked up, NCRA was a big deal that here at Larry and and
18:52
Billy running all the time Lebanon and bothering all the
18:56
tracks. So that's so Billy and myself,
18:59
we went. We won hundreds and hundreds of
19:02
racing hundreds. Yes.
19:05
And you know, I, I'm not saying I was the first one to come up
19:09
with a strut rod for the other, but I think I was because I was
19:14
at I30 Speedway, wasn't I? And the kid was driving a number
19:18
of car there where he is a 66 Ryder car trucking company
19:22
didn't have anything to do at any time.
19:23
But I remember that car. That thing was so fast through
19:25
the turn. Kenny, I wanted to talk to him
19:28
and I said, hey, the key know to me because in Arkansas it kind
19:31
of got to be a pretty good name. I said, can I look at your car?
19:34
Oh, yeah, I'll go ahead, Go ahead.
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I said, what is this? He says 65 Ford Torito.
19:40
I mean, Kitty, that thing was bad through the turn.
19:43
So I come back home Monday and I called Ed.
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I said, Hey, Ed, we didn't build some strut right front end.
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I said, man, I've seen one up there.
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And then I said, I think that's going to be the front end of the
19:51
future. Oh, Shaw.
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So I got all this stuff tied up there and I couldn't even think
19:55
about that. I said, I think I'm going to
19:57
build something. So I've I built some cars and
20:00
sure enough that strut right front end that you know, pretty
20:03
well everybody got strut right front end now, you know.
20:05
That that was it. You, you innovative.
20:07
And let's be clear about this you.
20:10
And that's what everybody has now.
20:11
The the the front strut the instead of a.
20:14
Ford Ford front end. OK, and but you know, everybody
20:17
ran the wishbone lower a frames. I'm I'm bragging on you right
20:21
now. Larry, you come out I got one I
20:24
I cut the front clip off my dilling car.
20:27
I can't do your shop. And, and it was Ferris who
20:30
helped me put it on one. One of your your fabricators, me
20:34
and Donnie Jumper came down there because it was all the
20:37
rage. Larry Shaw's got the front
20:40
strut. You are the first one.
20:42
You know, Bush Miller. Bush Miller put one on his
20:44
Harley Davis, I mean his Harley David, his port support City
20:48
car, and then he called one another one.
20:50
Then he called one another if I could make it with rear strut
20:53
rods because it was hitting a sway bar.
20:55
So I made him one, but that there was broadcast.
20:58
But Bush won a lot of motor races.
21:02
You're right. I, I believe we did go to the
21:04
rear and we cut a notch in the A-frame.
21:06
And anyway we're, we're seeing these nowadays, they are front
21:09
struts because we don't run sway bars on, on today's dirt super
21:13
late models. They do have a rear mount right
21:17
now to this day, but they do favor the front.
21:20
Everybody struts are to the front.
21:22
Larry, you deserve that credit. You created and you marketed
21:27
that that strut car. That was a the next thing
21:31
talking about more, you know, we pretty well we've won everything
21:35
around here and we decided, but the problem was back then Jeff
21:39
Curvis, the Scott Bloomquist had those leaf springs and cool
21:42
overs and Rayburn had some of the swing arm stuff.
21:45
And we we do pretty good here in Oklahoma, Missouri and Louisiana
21:50
and Alabama. But we'd go E Jeff Curvis then
21:53
would just kill us with those leaf spring cards at comic
21:55
Speedway where he's up on that bank.
21:56
They'd get launched off in turn and we we'd leave here with four
22:00
bar stuff on because we're pretty good.
22:01
We got to wear. We'd change that stuff between
22:03
the heat race and the feature. Oh my.
22:05
And put the leaf springs back under it, you know.
22:07
So in 19 and 86 I told Billy I said look here.
22:11
I called Earl Gurd, Earl Gurdy and asked if he helped me out on
22:15
the motor and he said he would. So he sold me a 430 motor. 430
22:20
Girty. Gave me a little time to pay for
22:22
it and I went back here and talked to Billy.
22:23
He's in the back shop. I said look here Billy, here's
22:26
what we're going to do. I said I just bought you a 430
22:28
guardian. No kidding.
22:29
I said yeah, here's what we're going to do.
22:31
The only way we're going to do this, I ain't I ain't close the
22:33
deal yet, so you have to go with my bill.
22:34
Now. What do you want to do, Shaw?
22:36
I said we're going to leave those leaf springs and cool over
22:39
here because we've been playing some bird cages, 4 bar stuff
22:41
we've been watching. We've got that from drag racing
22:44
people watching them, some of the drag people.
22:46
And Billy had that. We had the little draft board in
22:49
our office, so he played them 4 bars all the time and moved them
22:52
up, down and around. And I said we're going to leave
22:54
here with that 4 bar stuff under that car and we get to, we're
22:57
not even taking them leash and pull over.
22:58
We're going to go up and make that work.
23:00
So sure enough, we're going to Pennburgh, West Virginia for the
23:03
Pennburgh. Yeah, West Virginia for the dirt
23:06
Track World Championship in 1986 and we won it.
23:10
And KDF paid $40,000 in 1986, which I didn't get an opinion of
23:14
that, but that's what it paid. Larry, you, you are an
23:17
innovator. You are extremely famous.
23:21
You brought some of these ideas to the forefront.
23:25
We are running, you know, the the Birdcage 4 bars right now.
23:29
I remember, you know, putting the short J bar, except it was
23:34
just we were coming off the left side.
23:37
Anyway, we put some of these things on my brother Mike's
23:40
Rayburn car because you invented it.
23:44
That's what I'm trying to say. When you and Billy were
23:46
together, you set the dirt racing world on fire and you
23:51
created the struts. You created the four bar.
23:55
You really did reinvent dirt racing at that time, don't you
23:58
think? I think I had a big part of it,
24:01
but boy, there's so many good car builders out there.
24:03
But you know, back when when I started car Bill Carter building
24:06
car, they wasn't about five or six car builders all it was you
24:11
had Raven, he just got started. You had Callahan bullet and you
24:16
know, custom very right. They wasn't very and then cord
24:20
Masterbuilt and we get to Masterbuilt a little bit and
24:23
talk about Bloomquist, but that's that's about it.
24:25
You know, if you wouldn't want to race on Sunday or on the
24:28
weekend, you didn't have to win it.
24:31
But if you finish good, people are going to buy products off of
24:34
the next week. You know, you know, I had a
24:37
little attitude back then. You know, if if I if I didn't
24:41
win the race, I mean, you had to really be hustling to beat me
24:43
out of the pits because I'd get out of there.
24:45
I got over that finally, but I want to win.
24:48
Yeah, well, it brought you a lot of success.
24:50
You sold over 5000 race cars, made a wonderful living.
24:54
Now you look good right now you're retired down there.
24:57
Are you in Batesville, AR still? Yes, Sir, I'm still here.
25:01
OK, now we're, we're going for the, the granddaddy of them all,
25:05
one of the greatest stories in the history of all dirt racing
25:10
and it does not have to do with a super late model.
25:13
So one of the greatest stories in the history of dirt racing
25:17
does not have to do with a dirt super late model.
25:22
It has to do with the Alltel 100 championship in Batesville, AR.
25:28
This race is going to pay $100,000 to win for modifieds
25:34
and, and in America, all the racers.
25:38
I mean, there's 340 cars entered and I'm going to let you tell
25:42
the story. Now you receive a phone call
25:45
from Scott Bloomquist. Tell us where this goes.
25:49
Well, let me I'll take when Scott come from the West Coast
25:54
going east. Yeah.
25:57
He stopped it. He put My race car shop was on
26:00
the side of a small St. He pulled up out front in an old
26:04
truck and a a trailer. I think it had house trailer
26:07
actually. It just looked like it's barely
26:08
hanging together. And he stopped and told me he is
26:11
Scott Bloomquist. And I said who?
26:13
And he told me to repeat it so I don't make sure I had the name
26:16
of it. He said Scott Bloomquist, I'm
26:17
from California. I'm going east.
26:20
I'll find a place I can stop and somebody let me race out of
26:22
their shop. I'll pay rent.
26:24
I didn't need a place to stop. And so he said, I stopped at
26:27
Fort Smith and talked to Donnie Frasburg SW Speed, but he didn't
26:32
have room for me. Tommy Lasher was running his car
26:35
at the time and you're at my next stop.
26:37
So I I had just had more here a couple years and I had him back
26:41
shot and I didn't really have no room for him.
26:43
And so I told him I didn't man. I said, alright, do something
26:46
stop. I think so then he goes on these
26:47
to get over around Newport and comic Speedway and he started
26:50
off over in a in a stock stuffed car running with him late while
26:54
when NDR he come to town. I don't remember qualify the
26:58
second or third, but he did run 4th in that 100 lot feature.
27:02
You know it stops up. So after that Master Bill takes
27:05
it and you know that rest of its history.
27:08
Now back to the Alltel. He called me.
27:11
Let me ask you this first. When Scott, when Scott
27:14
Bloomquist came from the West, he was out there in California
27:18
and they said he was a hippie. He had the long hair.
27:22
He like the the beach atmosphere.
27:24
He like the look of these rock'n'roll people.
27:27
When he rolled up to your place years ago, did did he look like
27:31
a hippie? Did he have all that long hair?
27:33
He did. But yeah, he that that's what he
27:35
had it. It was just like you're talking
27:36
about. That would have been the 1982 or
27:39
83 somewhere right around there. Yeah.
27:42
OK. Let's let's go to the Alltel
27:44
100. Bloomquist calls you.
27:47
He called me about 3 weeks. Let's start off.
27:51
We'll meet you back up here, Mooney.
27:53
When he got ready to do that, he told me he's going to run, pay
27:55
100,000, win and he's going to cut the entry off at 400.
27:58
Well. Yeah, I said I don't don't know
28:01
if you can get that name, Monique, because I said when you
28:03
going to run it? He said May or June.
28:05
I said, well, IMCA is going to already start their season.
28:08
You're not going to get their car.
28:09
They'll come for $100,000. Well, he had 403 cars and three
28:15
of them was NASCAR, Kenneth Straighter, Bill Elliot and Dave
28:20
Blaney and maybe one more. So he had over 300 cars because
28:25
then when it runs IMCA, they didn't come.
28:27
They went ahead and run a week to show to get points for the
28:29
end of the year. But they had 300 and something
28:32
cars. And what Looney did he run each
28:35
night? He he qualified it.
28:38
Jeff Floyd actually worked for me at the time.
28:41
He said QuickTime Scott was second and Jeff Taylor was
28:44
third. So Looney had 15 heat races.
28:49
He takes a winner only that goes to the A feature first time and
28:55
then he runs 15 BS and take them winner only.
28:58
They go in behind those. OK so when they take off Blue
29:04
quiz end up running 7th. Now I'm all I'm tickled to
29:07
death, but I need to. Get in the a main that.
29:09
Night a main that night he runs seven, he gets over the pits and
29:12
I said well we're the show Scott No, not y'all.
29:14
I threw it away. I said do what I said Scott,
29:17
there's still over 300 cars here and we got 7 in.
29:20
Well, he didn't say he couldn't win it.
29:22
He's I'm going to start 19. He didn't say he couldn't win it
29:25
from there. His word would it'll be harder
29:28
to win it from there. He was planning on winning the
29:30
rain, but he won't get closer to the front.
29:32
So the next night he comes out there and he wins A50.
29:38
So now he's going to start middle road.
29:40
Moon is going to start 33 cards, 11 wide.
29:43
I mean three wide, 11 D, he's going to start 33 cards.
29:46
So Scott's in the middle and so we come back out there for the
29:51
future day and he three or four cars parked around.
29:55
He went there and talked to that one kid.
29:56
He said I'll tell you what I do. I buy you 4 brand new tires.
29:59
If you give me those four tires right there because it's season,
30:02
you know that's what you want. Hold on, hold on, Larry.
30:05
You're using dirt terminology. These people don't understand
30:09
this. You're saying that Scott
30:11
Bloomquist looked at some competitor and said, give me
30:15
your 4 used tires and I'll give I'll give you 4 new ones?
30:20
That's right. Oh my gosh.
30:22
So anyway, he rang more, he puts him on rotisserie.
30:25
He he's talking to me while he's doing this, you know, I said
30:28
Scott, and that's before moon. They put dirt on the track and
30:31
they've been having trouble having flats out there and he's
30:33
done ground that eighth inch off of his tire.
30:36
And he was telling me he was doing it for rotation weight and
30:40
unsprung weight. And he said rotation weight is
30:42
more important than unsprung weight.
30:44
And he's telling me all this stuff, you know, and I, we got
30:47
all lined up and ready to run out of the race.
30:49
I told my munch. I said we'd better get a bunch
30:50
of Target if we're going to have a lot of pit stops.
30:53
Was the pit area? Was the pit area watching Scott
30:57
grind these tires crazily? Yeah, yeah.
31:00
And, you know, that's all kind of rumor you can hear any kind
31:03
of story. You wanted to probably about
31:04
that. They thought he'd lost his mind,
31:06
you know. Anyway, when they started the
31:09
race, he laughed all the way up to 4th.
31:15
Oh, my God. OK, so right now.
31:18
OK, this was May 8th, 2004. Charlie Marlo.
31:22
Charlie, we want to drop that picture in right now.
31:26
All right? Charlie is putting this picture
31:28
in right now. So here you are, Larry.
31:31
You're to the left. You're like me.
31:33
Your hair's darker. Look at this young Scott
31:38
Bloomquist to the right. He is so happy.
31:41
The trophies taller than him. And there it is, Alltel
31:45
Championship 100,000 to win. There was his wife at the time.
31:51
What? What do you remember?
31:53
Where were you when you all won this $100,000?
31:57
It was your car. Tell me where you were.
32:01
How did you get to Victory Lane? I was on the infield.
32:03
That's what we we get. We painted on the infield.
32:06
We need to so aren't already out there and everything.
32:08
But what what was funny about, you know, we just banned in
32:12
towers. You know, I said something to
32:13
him. I said, I said, dude, they're
32:15
bad about having a flat here. He said Shall have a little
32:18
faith, I know what I'm doing. I said OK, so in Victor Lane,
32:22
that's the first thing he told me.
32:24
He said I told you shall, but trust me, I said I did.
32:28
Was there a story, was there a rumor going on that when they
32:31
threw the checkered flag, he he blew a tire out?
32:35
Or is that false? I don't remember that.
32:38
OK, so so he did not. OK, so he did not have a.
32:41
Flat. You, you, you prepare a car for
32:45
him. Now was this your car and your
32:47
motor? Yeah, everything was ours.
32:51
Did did you get any of the $100,000?
32:54
No, I didn't get nothing. We sold cars.
32:55
I didn't get no money. Hey, it's kind.
32:59
Of like when Warrior won the dirt Track World championship,
33:01
we sold 246 cars that year, but I didn't get out of 40,000.
33:06
Listen up children. Listen up, children.
33:09
That right there is why the man you're looking at, the great
33:12
Larry Shaw, is a genius. He supplies Scout Bloomquist a
33:17
car and everything. And, and how many cars do you
33:20
think you sold after Bloomquist? One the 100,000.
33:27
I don't know. It was a lot.
33:28
We had a lot on order. You know, the way I got
33:30
modified, I back up here, the way I got the modified business,
33:33
my race car business shop, pretty well everything was lost
33:37
in 1994. The day the Daytona 500 were
33:39
going on in 1994, we had a huge floor.
33:42
I was actually Daytona. It pretty well lost everything
33:45
we had. And that's where I lost a whole
33:47
bunch of my late model racers because here it is 20th of
33:50
February and they all got carved on order and they did not think
33:53
I could get them done. So quite a few of them left me,
33:56
you know, Greg Herron, Darryl France or some of the local
34:00
people. They stayed with me, but I lost
34:02
Wendell, Billy Moyer, Gundecker, you know, just on and on because
34:06
and I don't blame them that they didn't think I could get them a
34:08
car down, but I could. But they didn't have the faith I
34:12
had that I could do it. But so they anyway, that's about
34:15
a year there when that gone happened.
34:17
And then I decide the modified market would be pretty good to
34:20
get into it, so that that's when I got in the modified market.
34:23
Larry, this is a this is a big story right here and you're
34:26
you're glossing over it. In 1994, a fire destroys your
34:32
business and the the late model guys, they're racing every
34:36
single day. They're late model guys are
34:38
vagabonds. They're nuts.
34:40
You know that if if they ain't racing, they're they're tweaking
34:43
out so you can't get them new cars to go to East Bay.
34:49
And now this is a very pivotal point that you just taught me.
34:52
So this is how you get into the modifieds.
34:55
Yeah, the the my late model people left me and I've seen
34:59
that they wouldn't that many modified builder, you know,
35:03
Clark up at Walker, Missouri built modified.
35:05
There's one or two more around, but I could see that market was
35:08
wide open and we built one. Well, first one we built, I took
35:15
a Ford front stud and turned around backwards.
35:17
Well, IMCA kicked that thing out right quick.
35:19
We won two or three races with it.
35:20
So then we had to go back and do what everybody else had done and
35:23
put the stuff on. So that's kind of where that all
35:26
started Beyond. You know you, you are a kind
35:30
man. You don't brag on yourself, but
35:33
but I have I have good ears and you've done so many thing to
35:38
ignite auto racing. Whether it's the clip that you
35:41
decided to get, that was your decision from how then you
35:45
decide to go to the strut, which is what we have now today.
35:49
The the, the bird cage, the four bar.
35:52
You really were an innovator in your time.
35:56
You might, you might not be an an engineer, but you were the
35:59
one that said, here's what we're going to do.
36:02
Where did you come up with these brilliant ideas?
36:05
Were were you born with this? Was your mother and father good
36:08
leaders like you? No, they was they was nine of us
36:11
kids and I always thought I was the best one, but there there
36:14
was nine of us. So it was I had a rough time in
36:18
life. I mean, I had a good time, but
36:20
you know, it was pretty rough. We lived on the farm and my dad
36:24
just he was a hard worker. And then when I got out of high
36:29
school, I got drafted in the military 656667 without.
36:34
I really don't have a problem with that.
36:36
I really, I'm really a veteran. I like it that.
36:38
Way, thank you. Thank you for your service,
36:40
Larry. Yeah.
36:42
Back to how back to how I figured out how to do a whole
36:46
lot of thing. Moyer was a real good testing
36:48
tool for me. We would like go.
36:50
We went to Paducah, KY one time and Kevin take home was leading
36:56
the race and Moyer got around him and down there in turn one
37:01
there was a big hole more. He kept running through that
37:03
hole every time just hit the hole, but every time.
37:05
So after the race we started home, we'd all we'd talk about
37:07
stuff. I said, Moyer, why did you keep
37:09
running through that hole? He didn't need a stopwatch.
37:13
He said, Shaw, that was the fastest way around the
37:15
racetrack. So that's how we do that.
37:18
So like back then, standard rent at Muskogee, OK, which he passed
37:24
away too. And Bill Wellard at Lebanon,
37:27
they paid, they paid Billy $500 to come up there and run, you
37:30
know, to try to beat Phil or beat somebody.
37:33
And so I told Billy one time, I said, hey, standard Rep, once
37:39
it's come to Muskogee Friday night, I said I'm going to turn
37:42
down the $500 if he'll let us have about 15120 minutes after
37:46
the racetrack so we can test. So because every time we leave
37:49
the racetrack, Billy said, well, we should move that one bar up
37:52
or do this or that. So when the race show is in
37:55
pitch, that's where you think we should down.
37:56
Well, he told me that I said go ahead and do it because we got
37:58
the racetrack. So we would test after the
38:00
racetrack and learn stuff, you know, and Billy would just he's
38:03
so talent. He could tell you, yeah, that's,
38:05
that's a lot better. So that's how we really picked
38:08
up and learned a lot. You don't I I want to get back
38:11
to. Scott Bloomquist for a minute,
38:13
you know Scott Bloomquist, we just lost him.
38:18
He he passed away in a in a horrible plane wreck and it has
38:22
shocked the dirt racing community.
38:25
What besides Bloomquist winning that 100,000 to win and shocking
38:32
the modified world? I believe at that time we really
38:36
knew how great he was because he comes out of a super late model,
38:39
goes into a mod, immediately wins 100,000.
38:42
What? What do you remember about him?
38:45
Do do you think he was different?
38:47
A lot of people say he was weird.
38:49
What do you remember about Boom Quest in your dealings with him?
38:53
I think I think he was. Just so smart that he was
38:57
smarter than the rest of us. And maybe we didn't know how to
39:00
how to take some of that stuff on.
39:01
And he was talking about, you know, and then you, you got
39:04
Randy sweet, you know, that was right there on the same deal.
39:08
And I'll come back to Randy a little bit.
39:09
I'll talk to you about the car. Rebel for Warrior 97.
39:12
But man, Scott would just you talk to him and you think he's
39:17
out there, but come find out. It worked.
39:20
Yeah, because he'd go to Victor Lane.
39:22
That's how he'd prove it, right? Yeah, I talked to Jeff.
39:24
Purvis one day last week and we was busy about that and you
39:30
know, first time blueprint went to L Gore, he passed Purvis and
39:34
won the race. So I mean, he never had been
39:38
there before in his life and he won the war 100, you know, So,
39:41
yeah. OK, so.
39:43
You're you mentioned 1997, did you OK, what what happened?
39:47
There so. Far I started building a.
39:49
Modified at Randy Suite. I called Randy one day.
39:52
I said hey Randy. I said I'm going to build a new
39:54
car for Moyer because Moyer had kind of started running some
39:58
Raybird stuff, you know, after my car.
40:00
I said I want to build a new car for mortgage.
40:02
I want to run the world. I want to run the topless 100 in
40:05
a few more races. He said cut it down there, Shaw,
40:08
get it done. He told him what to do.
40:09
We did it. He made some special spinels and
40:11
we put them all in 1997 more year one topless 100, you know,
40:17
and then we started building some late models again in your
40:20
car in my. Car, yeah.
40:21
This is incredible story. And this is one of the phrases
40:25
that I've made famous over the last two years.
40:28
My brother, the great Rusty Wallace, he said, Herman, it's
40:32
sad to say you got to remind people because they remember
40:36
what they want to. So you're telling me Moyer goes
40:39
to Rayburn and you go let me build you a car and he comes
40:44
back, gets your super late model, immediately wins at
40:48
Eldora? Is that right?
40:49
No, I went into topless out here.
40:51
It's right here at my track. OK, Yeah, OK.
40:53
Let. Let let's forget about Eldora.
40:56
But still, still he wins the topless, which is one of the
40:59
crown jewels, Yeah. That had to make you feel,
41:02
really. Good it did.
41:04
And then? Shortly after that, we'll come
41:06
back to this a little bit too back now.
41:08
I did a deal with Ken Hendricks and myself.
41:10
I'm part of a company called S&H Industrial.
41:12
We did conveyor system and Ken and myself went together and put
41:17
MacDowell in a car that we run together five years.
41:19
We won the top list and the World 100 and some more stuff,
41:22
you know, so that's another that kind of got me back in the lake
41:24
model business too. Yeah, you are.
41:27
I want to make a comment. You don't need to respond.
41:30
But for everybody that's listening, great people like
41:34
Larry Shaw, the man you're looking at right now, they just
41:36
gloss over things that are that are huge to us.
41:42
Larry, you're, you're smarter than the average man, that's for
41:47
sure. You've made a lot of great
41:49
decisions in your life. You, you always talk to me about
41:55
the Wallaces, my family. You're, you're always talking
41:58
about Rusty and Mike, my brother.
42:02
This is what I want to educate people on.
42:05
My brother, Mike Wallace is the most raw, talented race car
42:11
driver of us all. Mike Wallace, my brother, one
42:15
hundreds and hundreds of dirt races and was just unbelievably
42:20
fast. Tell me your dealings with Rusty
42:26
Wallace, my brother and Mike Wallace.
42:29
Well, Rusty. When I when I was building an
42:31
asphalt car, you and Rusty and Mike had that chassis visit.
42:35
Poor boy. Race car chassis in St.
42:38
Charles, MO. And Rusty actually built some
42:41
stubs, sway bar. He made about all but brackets
42:44
from asphalt car. And about every two or three
42:46
weeks he would meet me at Poplar Bluff, MO, which is about
42:50
halfway clean here in Saint Louis, and I would get all the
42:54
parts and, and pay him for them. And sometime, you know, Rusty
42:59
went wide open all the time. Sometime we would eat at Poplar
43:02
Bluff at a steakhouse where we met, but sometime it didn't.
43:04
But Rusty, he helped me a lot in my asphalt days.
43:08
He sure did. He'd give me good feedback on
43:10
stuff I was trying to find out, you know, so and then unlike me
43:14
and Mike, he, he was just unbeatable at Saint Charles and
43:20
and Pigley and Granite City. Just he, he not like I tell
43:24
people, I probably kept him here two or three years longer than
43:29
he would like to stay. He he'd come pick up a new car,
43:32
He'd tell me, he said, shall I'm about ready to leave this vacuum
43:34
cleaner bitch. I think I'm going to go to North
43:36
Carolina's race next. I said, man, you're witness to
43:38
me races here, Mike. I don't know if I'd go.
43:40
Well, maybe not so then. But finally he went.
43:43
And of course, you, you've been a huge part of my life, too.
43:47
Yeah, well. I'm seven years younger than
43:51
than Rusty. Rusty, I'm 61.
43:55
Rusty's 68, Mike's 65. I always know that Rusty's seven
44:00
years older than me. Mike's four years older than me,
44:03
Like Bill Elliott said, Larry, timing and circumstances.
44:07
I, I was a child and I was, I would hide it, you know, to get
44:12
into pits and help. And I remember you just like
44:15
yesterday. You know, Larry, one thing I
44:18
wasn't going to talk about, but when I, when I think about you
44:22
and Julian Martin and Mark, even Bill Davis, that that group down
44:27
there in Batesville, you all are extremely clean people.
44:32
Your, your, your jeans are always pressed.
44:34
Your houses are beautiful. I know it's a strange question,
44:39
but I, but I want to get this off my chest.
44:42
Even to this day, Lance Landers and Mark, their stuff is nicer
44:47
than anybody in the world. Where did all this cleanliness
44:51
or was it? Did you all see Julian and want
44:54
to be like him? Where did all this?
44:56
You were perfect. Where did all this come from?
44:59
Probably Julian, mostly. Because he always wore those
45:01
starch Levi's with a crease in them and he wanted to wear those
45:06
dingo boots and always had a starch shirt turned up on the
45:10
collar or whatever. You know, he, he and his
45:12
vehicles was always real clean and neat.
45:15
So that's kind of, I think where a lot of that come from.
45:18
You know, he like on a Sunday morning Earth, we race.
45:22
He'd, I mean, he'd spend an hour washing that car, you know, and
45:26
just, and then Bill Davis, how can you say nothing about him?
45:29
You know, he, he has done so much.
45:32
He has done so much for racing that people don't really know,
45:34
you know, he, he was the one that when Mark went east and had
45:37
a little trouble come back, Bill called me and said, Hey, I'm
45:40
going to Bill Mark a couple cars.
45:42
So we built two cars and he, I don't remember went to Nashville
45:46
or Cincinnati, but we went to London track and Mark and Daryl
45:50
went back on back and forth and Mark was leading the race with
45:53
two laps to go and somebody had a rack and the caution come out.
45:58
Well, Mark radioed in. That's when everybody listened
46:01
to everybody's radio. Mark radioed in and said I don't
46:04
have no brakes. Of course he used another word
46:05
there and so we can't come in. But Daryl heard that and he shot
46:10
in, put new tires and he passed us on the back straight away and
46:13
won the won the racer is in. So it took me a little while to
46:16
get back home Gatorade after that.
46:18
Wow. So I want.
46:20
To talk about this a little bit, but I want my Charlie Marlow.
46:23
Charlie, we're going to insert a picture here for everybody that
46:27
doesn't know the great relationship between the man
46:30
you're looking at right now, Larry Shaw and Mark Martin.
46:33
Charlie, let's insert that picture right here.
46:36
So Larry, what we're looking at right now is you built a dirt
46:41
modified about three years ago or so.
46:44
You painted it just like Mark's old cars, orange and white, and
46:48
you put 5000 and there's Mark and your son and your group,
46:54
your wife. You dedicated that to that 5000
46:58
car to Mark Martin. Tell me why.
47:03
Well. Mark actually told me he, I told
47:06
him he called one day and he won't know how close I was to
47:10
build that 5000 race cars. I said we're it's coming up
47:12
pretty quick. He said, I want it.
47:14
So that that was a car that I built and he wanted it.
47:18
He took it. He kept it for a while and then
47:21
he didn't have a place to put it.
47:22
So we actually sold it to some gentleman in California.
47:25
But yeah, he, he wanted that car real bad, you know, and you
47:31
know, Tony Stewart, you know, he come to Mark's place and did
47:34
some autograph stuff and everything.
47:37
And Tony had ordered the car from it.
47:40
And Mark called up and he said, hey, Shaw, Tony's dad come to
47:43
get that car. They don't have enough money to
47:46
pay for that thing. Don't worry about it.
47:47
We'll let them have it. So Mark took care of that for
47:50
Tony because he said he's done so much for me.
47:52
I've got he won't take no money and I've got to do something for
47:55
him. So Mark bought that brand and
47:57
then we went to Tony one that's come to Paducah that he's going
48:02
to rent that next night. So Kevin, myself, we go to
48:04
Paducah and he wins the race and it's kind of like it was really
48:09
funny. After the race, he's in his
48:11
trailer and people want the T-shirts and different things.
48:13
You know, he's over here holding on.
48:14
I'm going to talk to Kevin Shaw for a minute because after the
48:17
heat race, Kevin moved some bars around and changed front end and
48:21
he did three or four things. And Tony, he's going to learn
48:24
this stuff. I mean, he said, Kevin, tell me
48:27
all them three or four things you did, which one was the most
48:30
important one? So and then he told him and then
48:34
he went back signing autographs. So that was pretty exciting, you
48:37
know, I know that. Everybody that's listening to
48:40
this, you have helped so many people.
48:44
You know, nowadays when somebody does something, they think I got
48:48
to get paid first. It seemed like back in the day,
48:51
Larry, you were very generous. I'll build you a car.
48:55
We'll take care of this. I mean, did you eventually ever
48:59
get paid for this or did you build these people cars?
49:02
It didn't make money after they won in that car and you'd sell
49:05
the car. What was your philosophy?
49:07
Always helping people Well. I was like I said, I was
49:12
probably first want to start that house car program and that
49:14
thing got out of hand right quick.
49:16
You know, they had all the different circuit that USAG,
49:19
NCRANDRA, World of Outlaw, It seemed like it took a different
49:25
car for every one of those. So Moyer had four cars, four
49:28
house cars when I built for Moyer.
49:30
You know you there's a picture of it somewhere.
49:32
All four of them there. And then I had a Willow Wallace,
49:35
Kevin Gundecker. I don't know Mike.
49:38
I think Mike always bought his. He probably didn't know
49:39
everything. But anyway, I had all them house
49:42
for a program and what I would do like at the end of the year,
49:46
I would get them back, straighten them up and sell them
49:48
and recover most of my money. That's kind of what my program
49:51
work. But but.
49:52
Them winning was the greatest marketing tool of all time for
49:57
you. So you were a genius before
50:00
everybody else because they would win and then everybody buy
50:03
your cars. Yeah, my.
50:05
Pastor at my church, brother Kirk Howard, he asked me one day
50:10
what it took, what did I do to sell some mini race cars?
50:16
I said we just win, we win races.
50:18
He was using that to tell people to win.
50:19
So, you know, he said, Larry Shaw told me the way he sold all
50:23
those red cars would just win races.
50:26
So you know, and nowadays it's there's so much of it Back then,
50:29
you know, we all we had was newspapers.
50:31
You didn't know anything about it till the next week.
50:33
You know, I just did a special. About that on social media
50:38
about, you know, some sometimes people still want to smell the
50:42
ink of an old newspaper nowadays.
50:44
And the boy news travels fast now, Larry.
50:47
So, Larry, you look good. Are are you on your cell phone
50:53
now? Do you use your cell phone?
50:55
I use it, I keep up. With you, you know.
50:58
I've I've. Had cancer three times.
51:00
I've got four MD Anderson Encarta out, but I'm all good
51:03
right now. Got a little I got a heart
51:07
monitor on. They think there's something
51:08
wrong with the heart. I don't know what that could be.
51:09
But rather than that I'm good, I feel good and I'm getting on up
51:12
in the years and everything. Hey, can I touch on one thing?
51:17
We may get on Larry Phillips here in a minute, but but I got
51:20
inducted into the Dirt Track Hall of Fame in 2004.
51:24
Congratulations. That's a.
51:25
Huge deal Larry. I think I was third bunch in.
51:28
So anyway, I'm sitting next to Chris Carmacka.
51:30
You know, he's there talking to tell me jokes.
51:32
And I'm he, he's a funny man. He was a funny man.
51:35
And I'm trying to concentrate because I'm going to get up
51:37
there and say something. I'm trying to get myself
51:39
prepared. And he's telling me these jokes.
51:41
And some of them wasn't real good, but that was funny.
51:44
And then he asked me who I thought the best race car driver
51:48
in the whole world. He said the whole world.
51:51
And I said, well, my opinion, Larry Phillips, because he
51:54
started on asphalt. He went to dirt, back to
51:56
asphalt. He won all those NASCAR
51:58
championship. And he told me, he said ever
52:01
since Larry Phillips has come on the scene, he has been on the
52:04
cover of National Speed Sports magazine more than any race car
52:08
driver in any league. That's a big deal.
52:11
So let me. Say this myself and Mark Martin,
52:17
your best friend in life. I know how close you and Mark
52:20
Martin are. Mark Martin and myself done a
52:24
catching up with Mark Martin last week and it was Mark.
52:27
Mark wanted to bring it up. So Mark Martin is just appalled
52:34
that he's that Larry Phillips. Mark Martin is appalled Larry
52:38
Phillips is not in the NASCAR Hall of Fame because Larry won
52:42
like 5-6 NASCAR regional championships.
52:46
Now hold on, that's Mark Martin. Then Mark Richards of Rocket
52:51
Chassis. During Kenny conversation I said
52:54
who's the greatest race car driver of all time and and he
52:58
brings up Larry Phillips again right away because in those days
53:02
Larry built everything by himself.
53:07
Why do you think Larry was the greatest?
53:11
Well, if you had to line up against him and run, you found
53:14
out right quick. I mean, he, he did, he did not
53:17
make no mistakes and he knowed all the tricks.
53:19
And you know about this one trick he did.
53:21
They'd bring Dave Watson and all Senator and all them people in
53:24
the video. Well, he had, I, I thought we
53:26
shot one. He had a cigarette lighter in
53:28
the car. So we got that cigarette lighter
53:29
out for a lighter. He'd smell sometimes I like
53:31
smoke. But what he would do, he would
53:32
light up a cigarette on the parade lap on the caution deal
53:36
and he'd have that hand out the window.
53:38
Well, if you didn't run there all the time, you didn't know
53:40
what was about to happen because on that coming off of four, they
53:43
have to take the checkered flag. He still had that hand out when
53:46
that guy behind me halfway asleep.
53:47
So he's not going to go. He still got that cigarette out.
53:49
He put that cigarette out and he's gone, you know, just little
53:53
bitty things and and man, he just didn't make like I build
53:58
him a new dirt car with for Jeter.
54:00
When when Jeter and Kevo split up that belt, Larry, a new dirt
54:04
car and I go up his house and at Springfield, we leave there and
54:08
I go, I go to Denver, Co with him out there and he went to
54:11
race at Denver. And I mean, just that was after
54:16
the asphalt day that I got to know him pretty good on guard,
54:18
you know? Yeah.
54:20
The great Larry Phillips. You know what I think about,
54:23
Larry, as I'm talking to you, as much as it aggravates me that
54:28
the Northeast controls the NASCAR Hall of Fame, you know,
54:33
and I get it. They're very proud out there.
54:35
But when I think about our area, Larry, listen to this.
54:39
In our area, the Ozark region, Missouri, you, you have the
54:45
Wallaces, Kenny Schrader, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Larry
54:52
Phillips, Billy Moyer comes down to Arkansas.
54:56
We have as many greats that have won more NASCAR races, Cup
55:00
races, than anybody. If you if you added Rusty
55:03
Wallace's wins, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards, Kenny Schrader,
55:09
Kenny Schrader. Yeah, we have some.
55:11
Great. Racers in this area, Larry,
55:13
don't you think? I think so, and I guarantee.
55:16
You one thing, if NASCAR Hall of Fame was located in Springfield,
55:20
MO, he would have been the first one in my opinion.
55:24
You're exactly right. Well, Larry, I want to just,
55:30
we're, we're getting towards the end here.
55:31
We're already on an hour. I want to go back to your
55:34
military days. First of all, I want to say
55:36
this. I'm not half the man you are.
55:38
Larry, I want to thank you for your military service.
55:43
Just touch on your military days.
55:45
Well, I got drafted. In 1965 and I got sent to Fort
55:49
Polk, LA in July of 1965. Now that's the hottest place in
55:55
the world. We had wooden barracks, no air
55:57
condition. And that was really rough for
56:00
that 12 weeks we spent down there.
56:02
And I got when I got out of there, I got sent to El Paso, TX
56:06
and I got out there and after I was in the military 15 months,
56:12
they promoted me to E5, which you got Private E1E2E3E45.
56:18
So I got promoted to E5. And the reason they promoted me,
56:22
they needed a motor Sergeant in the battalion.
56:25
So I got to be the motor Sergeant in the battalion in
56:29
1966 and that's when I come home and got married in 1966.
56:36
Cheryl myself, we got married. Of course, she'd be, doesn't
56:38
happen. Sorry about that.
56:39
But we got married in 1966 and then I went back to El Paso and
56:44
then shortly after I got out, Kevin was born.
56:47
And then Kurt was born. Cheryl and Kurt and Kevin,
56:50
they've been a huge part of my life because Cheryl never did.
56:53
I mean, man, you know, I'm going to load up and go to go to
56:57
Michigan and she's wearing everyone, dude.
57:00
So that's kind of it, man. We've got a lot of people.
57:03
Around there you think of Don and Doug and Dennis Schoenfeld,
57:08
the Schoenfeld here real quick. Everybody listen to this.
57:12
Straw race cars, Schoenfeld headers, Larry Phillips, Rusty
57:17
Wallace, Mike Wallace, Carl Edwards, Kenny Schrader.
57:21
You get the picture now. Great area.
57:27
Well, Larry Shaw, yeah, one other.
57:29
Thing Kenneth Schrader told me to tell you to bring up Terry
57:32
Holt. So let me tell you the story
57:35
there. Terra Haute, Indiana.
57:37
That's some track he ran at Palladega.
57:39
Sunday and I had built him a new race car and he had his men to
57:42
come and get it and was going to take it to Terry Holt to run
57:44
Sunday night and he asked if I'd come up there.
57:47
I said yeah, I'll come up there. So I rode up there with Moyer.
57:51
He he passed Moyer and won the race and I'm in Victory Lane
57:55
with stranger. I said, I don't know how I'm
57:56
going to get home. I rode up here with Moyer and I
57:59
you know, Moyer, he was all about winning and probably need
58:01
the money too. But strader always he brings
58:04
that up every time I seen that that that I had to ride back
58:07
home before he has to let that go.
58:08
I said, oh, it cooled off that time about down around popper
58:11
glove. He got better.
58:12
I I I'm going to add to. Something like that.
58:15
Kenny Schrader is the most humble man.
58:18
He always worries about his talent.
58:21
And I've told Kenny Schrader, I said, Kenny, stop it.
58:25
You were one of the greatest race car drivers of all time.
58:28
So Kenny Schrader out running Billy Moyer that day.
58:33
That's because Kenny does not recognize how great he was.
58:37
Schrader Schrader's got a handful of rings from, you know,
58:41
non wing U sax, Sprint car champion, Midget champion.
58:45
I mean, I deal with Kenny on a daily basis and I always got to
58:50
tell him how great he is. That sounds like a Kenny.
58:54
Kenny straighter bragging that he outrun Billy Moore.
58:56
Well, Kenny's one of the greatest, don't you think he is
59:00
one of the greatest? Sure.
59:01
Well, we're we're so fortunate to have all these good race car
59:04
driver right here in the Midwest.
59:06
You know, somebody said one time that baseball was a said NASCAR
59:10
Charlotte, the hub of NASCAR racing, but there wasn't for
59:14
sure if baseball Arkansas wouldn't the hub of short track
59:17
racing. And that may be true.
59:19
It's you, Larry. That is you, you know, listen,
59:22
Mark Martin from Batesville, AR and that's awesome.
59:26
That's awesome. But Larry Shaw, Shaw race cars.
59:30
I mean, most likely if you ever say the greatest modified
59:34
builder of all time, you know, it's it's going to be Shaw race
59:37
cars. I mean, that's all there is to
59:39
it. So you all have made that little
59:41
bitty town very popular up that big hill with that river on the
59:46
bottom and just old country town.
59:49
Hey, were you born in Batesville?
59:52
I'm born in Newport. About 30 miles away.
59:55
Yeah, well, that's awesome. Larry, we will end like this.
1:00:00
Now let me ask you some bullet point questions.
1:00:07
How are you doing right now and what are you doing?
1:00:11
Well, I've got some. Real stuff.
1:00:13
And I can't play with real estate a little bit.
1:00:15
And I got a cattle farm. I got all of Bill Davis's.
1:00:18
Bill's got a big grammar cattle ranch up here in the hills and I
1:00:22
got all his stuff. And I just kind of, that's what
1:00:26
I do to take care of my cattle and my rim stuff.
1:00:28
And I got some real estate stuff I deal with off and on.
1:00:30
And I don't play around, play around classic cars.
1:00:35
I. Want to brag on people from
1:00:37
Arkansas? I know a lot of people think
1:00:39
that Arkansas's a bunch of rednecks with gravel back roads,
1:00:43
but the people from Arkansas like yourself and Bill Davis are
1:00:47
geniuses. You all start businesses.
1:00:50
I know Bill went back and started ranching with Black
1:00:52
Angus. You know, and you guys are
1:00:56
always money makers. You innovate.
1:00:59
You re innovate when you're done with one business.
1:01:02
I admire you Larry. I admire you very much.
1:01:05
You all always keep it going. If one business ends, you start
1:01:09
another business. So that's my next question.
1:01:13
What did you do with Larry Shaw race cars?
1:01:16
Who owns Larry Shaw right now? Who owns the race car business,
1:01:21
Scott? And Marlene Mosley, they're from
1:01:24
down the lower part of the state.
1:01:26
When I going through all that cancer and everything, I just
1:01:29
didn't feel like working. I go back and forth and begins
1:01:32
and just didn't have no energy. And I took chemo there every two
1:01:35
weeks for 14 months. It just like 52 hours.
1:01:39
It just took everything of them. I didn't have no energy, just
1:01:42
really didn't even feel like doing anything.
1:01:44
And they come to anyone to buy and I sold it to him and Kevin
1:01:48
still works there. Well, I'll be going.
1:01:50
I, I always thought that, you know, Jeff Taylor owned it.
1:01:56
He's he's involved with. That they was his sponsor so
1:01:59
he's involved with them pretty heavy there.
1:02:01
Yeah. Got you.
1:02:02
Just just, you know. This is funny because you and
1:02:05
Mark Richards from Rocket, you, you guys admire each other.
1:02:08
It's, it's always funny. I learned that Mark Richards
1:02:12
does not own Rocket Chassis, and now I've learned that Jeff
1:02:16
Taylor's Jeff Taylor doesn't own Shaw.
1:02:20
Say those two names again that own Shaw, Scott and Marlene.
1:02:24
Mosley, I'll be darned well you just.
1:02:26
Taught me a lot, my friend. Yeah, look at him, everybody.
1:02:31
There he is. The great Larry Shaw.
1:02:33
Larry. Yeah.
1:02:34
I want to say one thing here. First of all, I want to thank my
1:02:37
wife, Cheryl and Kevin Church. They have been a huge part of my
1:02:39
life. They've been with me all the
1:02:41
way. And then all these race fans,
1:02:45
car owners and man, I had the best race car drivers as it was
1:02:50
out there. You know, Steve Arkin, he drove
1:02:54
my race car, he's from Canada A, and I had this tremendous amount
1:02:58
of race car. McDowell, he was super for me.
1:03:01
I just always had real good race car drivers and we didn't.
1:03:05
It would be interesting to know how many races we actually won,
1:03:08
but I don't have no clue at all. Pretty much all of them.
1:03:11
Back in those days, you know, we, we want.
1:03:15
Any Ford I know, any big race from the 80s till 90s, I want it
1:03:21
at least once or twice. So, yeah, I will take a little
1:03:24
bit of credit there and we'll leave it.
1:03:26
Right there, everybody from 80 to 90, that man you're looking
1:03:31
at right there, he was a car building 1.
1:03:33
Every type of big race there was one of them all, one of them
1:03:36
all. Well, Larry Shaw, I want to
1:03:39
thank you so much. Listen, everybody, we are in
1:03:43
podcast form. You can listen to Larry on the
1:03:45
way to work and on the way back home maybe two or four times.
1:03:49
We're in. We are on iTunes and Spotify.
1:03:53
Larry, thank you so much. Thank you.
1:03:56
I appreciate it. Thanks.
1:03:58
Goodbye everybody.