Baker Makes History... Again After breaking the 200mph lap record at Talladega in March 1970, Buddy Baker proudly posed with the pit board for the well known press photo you see below. Larry Rathgeb led the crew that prepared and fielded this car for Chrysler Engineering. After the record run, Ron Killen who worked on the electronics of the data acquisition equipment for the Chrysler development team wound up with the pit board and put it away for safe keeping. In 1990, Larry Rathgeb retired after a long career with Chrysler. At his retirement party, Ron Killen was there to present Larry with the pit board which had never been wiped, and was now beautifully framed. |
Fast forward to the 35th Aero Warrior Reunion at Talladega. Larry Rathgeb was there to visit with us one more time, and happened to bring the famous pit board with him. We has a roundtable discussion on Saturday afternoon which Buddy Baker was gracious enough to join us, and tell us about his time developing and racing the Daytona. After the talk, we were able to pose Buddy with the same pit board 35 years later. How cool is that? Photo credit: Steven Piantieri |
Window down, Baker makes a relaxing drive back onto pit road. |
Baker looks over the #88 car in the garage at Talladega. The photo taped to the dash is that of Dodge President, Bob "Captain Crunch" McCurry, "The Name of the Game is Win!", it says. McCurry passed away on November 13, 2006 at age 83. |
