donbosco
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From the State Archives of North Carolina
"It’s National Moonshine Day!
Sometimes seemingly uninteresting photographs can reveal surprising treasures if you look long enough. When this collection was processed a few years ago, this photograph was looked at a little closer. Zooming in, barely legible on the top of the door, is a name spelled out in what appears to be white tape, "J. R. Streeter," perhaps the young man seen driving the car.
After considerable research, staff reached out to a man we thought might be Streeter’s son. He informed us that his father was alive and well at the age of 90 and would love to speak with us.
The next day we conducted a telephone interview. He told us that the car was a 1936 Ford Club Coupe he'd bought at a federal government auction for $75. The car had been seized in a raid after being used to run moonshine. Naturally, the engine had been souped-up for its life of crime—perfect for racing. And race, he did.
Streeters' first race was an outlaw (non-NASCAR) race in Danville, Virginia. After the long slog from Raleigh, he arrived to a pre-race inspection where officials informed him that he couldn’t enter due to the car’s lack of seat belts. Being an industrious and determined young man, he found a nearby aviation scrapyard and salvaged a few straps and buckles, bolted them in and drove back to the track.
Cleared for racing, he had officials announce over the intercom that “he might need a ride back to Raleigh if he smashed up his car too much.” Two Duke students agreed to help him if he needed a ride. Streeter not only finished the race, but he also kept his car intact and drove it all the way back to Raleigh.
Impressed by Streeter’s driving, the Duke students called him up a few weeks later and asked him to drive their racecar at the next event. He remembers racing alongside Ralph Earnhardt (Dale Earnhardt’s father), Bill France, and Lee Petty (Richard Petty’s father). A young Richard Petty played in the pits with the son of Bill France and absorbed everything around him--later to become a legend himself. Streeter continued to race for several years before giving it up to focus on work and family, but he told us it was a lot of fun."
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PhC_145_Bx2_F6_09
From the Archie and Vallie Henderson Photograph Collection, State Archives of NC