The Scene Vault Podcast

This week, listeners are just gonna have to hear the first of our two-part interview with David Lovendahl to believe it. David was there as Mark Martin was first learning how to drive a race … he was there when Mark first went Winston Cup racing and when that all fell apart. Plus … let’s just say that he’s got some stories about Julian Martin, Mark’s dad. We then dig into the September 17, 1981 is...

We honor the memories of Steve Bird, the most successful crew chief in the history of the NASCAR Busch Series, and 2002 Daytona 500 winning team owner Bill Davis in this heartfelt episode. In a no-holds-barred interview conducted last year, "Birdie" shared his memories of his time with Race Hill Farms, Rob Moroso and BACE Motorsports drivers Jack Sprague, Johnny Benson and Randy LaJoie. NOTE: This...

Two-time Busch Series champion Randy LaJoie was diagnosed with prostate cancer in July, and he agreed to sit down with host Rick Houston last week to tell his story. Following the interview with Randy, Rick and co-host Steve Waid respond with some thoughts of their own and then close the episode with a conversation with Deb Williams, former editor of Winston Cup Scene and the recently announced 20...

This week in the third and final installment of our interview, Derrike Cope talks about his relationship … or lack thereof … with Dale Earnhardt and talk that his win in the 1990 Daytona 500 was nothing more than a fluke. We then tackle the June 7, 1990 issue of Winston Cup Scene. Derrike Cope wins at Dover ... and nobody has anything snarky to say about this one. Larry Pearson’s fledgling Winston...

First up is our conversation with Derrike Cope about his win in the iconic 1990 Daytona 500. We’ll then rearrange this episode a little bit from our normal format. We’re going to go through the February 22, 1990 issue of Winston Cup Scene … and Al Kinney’s archive … first and THEN add several perspectives that we’ve gathered over the years here on The Scene Vault Podcast about the 1990 Daytona 500...

This week in the first of what will be three installments with Derrike Cope, he talks about his baseball career, the injury that ended that dream … but began another … and how THAT journey was given a huge boost by a good first impression. We then take a look inside the May 1, 1986 issue of Grand National Scene, which carries coverage of Ricky Rudd outlasting Dale Earnhardt, Geoff Bodine, Joe Rutt...

How did the Darrell Waltrip-Waddell Wilson-Hendrick Motorsports Dream Team falter out of the gate in 1987? We answer that question in this special episode. NOTE: This show is not associated in any way with American City Business Journals, owner of the Scene brand. Be sure to check out the latest and greatest stories from the world of NASCAR at dailydownforce.com! Interested in The Scene Vault Podc...

This week in the second and final installment of our interview, Jerry Nadeau talks about the accident that ended his career and his struggle to find peace and contentment in the years since. We then dig into the May 8, 2003 issue of Winston Cup Scene. Joe Nemechek’s Winston Cup victory at Richmond is overshadowed by Jerry Nadeau’s career-ending accident. Some … including Jeff Burton … are left won...

This week's episode is dedicated to the memory of NASCAR Hall of Famer Rex White, who died July 18. First, we've got a candid interview with Rex and his longtime friend, Donald Johnson, who served as Rex's crew for a year back in the 1950s. Then, we get some perspective on Rex's life and career from Rick Minter, the former Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter who was responsible for bringing Rex...

Jerry Nadeau goes from racing in Russia on ice while fighting off a SEVERE case of food poisoning to spotting for Morgan Shepherd and trying to make a go of it with Melling Racing to victory lane with Hendrick Motorsports. We then tackle the November 23, 2000 issue of Winston Cup Scene. Jerry Nadeau dominates at Atlanta, but it’s a late-race caution that gets him back into position to regain the t...

This week, Joe Gibbs Racing's Chris “Spider” Gillin and host Rick Houston make peace over a LONG-ago column on Tony Stewart. NOTE: This show is not associated in any way with American City Business Journals, owner of the Scene brand. Be sure to check out the latest and greatest stories from the world of NASCAR at dailydownforce.com! Interested in The Scene Vault Podcast T-shirts? Check out thescen...

After being interviewed by Rick Houston countless times over the years, Busch Series legend Jason Keller decided to turn the tables and get Rick on the record. This episode is the result! NOTE: This show is not associated in any way with American City Business Journals, owner of the Scene brand. Be sure to check out the latest and greatest stories from the world of NASCAR at dailydownforce.com! In...

Our focus this week is on two men who grew up watching their dads race … and then took up the sport themselves as drivers… Kyle Petty and Larry Pearson. NOTE: This show is not associated in any way with American City Business Journals, owner of the Scene brand. Be sure to check out the latest and greatest stories from the world of NASCAR at dailydownforce.com! Interested in The Scene Vault Podcast...

This week, we’re going to share stories of run-ins that Richard Petty and David Pearson had with OTHER drivers, including Ned Jarrett, Bobby Allison and Tim Richmond. NOTE: This show is not associated in any way with American City Business Journals, owner of the Scene brand. Be sure to check out the latest and greatest stories from the world of NASCAR at dailydownforce.com! Interested in The Scene...

This week, we share an extraordinary conversation with David Pearson recorded in 2009, and then, we'll remember a conversation between hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid and the late, great South Carolina motorsports journalist Jim McLaurin and none other than Leonard Wood that was recorded not long after David died in November 2018. NOTE: This show is not associated in any way with American City B...

This week, we focus on The King ... Richard Petty! We’re sharing our Richard Petty interview and then NOT discussing it. What could WE say about Richard Petty that hasn’t already been said a million time? Instead, we’re going to share some of the stories ABOUT Richard from some of our past interview guests that aren’t quite as common as so many of the accolades he receives. NOTE: This show is not...

This week's show begins with a brief celebration of accomplishing a major task in the life of The Scene Vault project. In our first segment, hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid take a look at the numbers of the Petty-Pearson … SLASH … Pearson/Petty conflict … courtesy of NASCAR Reddit. Then … talk about digitization … we’ve got A TON of clips from races in which these two legends finished in the top...

Petty vs. Pearson: The Rivalry That Shaped NASCAR is an absolutely spellbinding account of the thirty-year relationship between Richard Petty and David Pearson. It was authored by seven-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year and former NASCAR Scene staffer Mike Hembree. In Petty vs. Pearson, Mike chronicles a (mostly) friendly rivalry between Richard and David, who met in 5...

In the second and final installment of our interview, Greg Zipadelli talks about Tony Stewart’s success when driving angry, his eventual move to Stewart-Haas Racing to oversee operations, the disappointing end of that deal and what he’s doing now. We then take a look at the June 14, 2007 issue of NASCAR Scene. Jeff Gordon wins a rain-shortened race at Pocono, and there’s also a ton of reaction to...

In the first of what will be TWO installments, Greg Zipadelli joins us to talk about his racing roots in Modifieds, his move south to go to work for Roush Racing and driver Jeff Burton due to a breakfast that WASN’T, a dinner that WAS and an awkward phone call. He then takes us through getting started, winning races and then championships with Tony Stewart. We then take a DEEP dive into the May 25...

Our roundtable discussions are always wildly popular, so it's intimidating to try to come up with a group conversation that lives up to the billing. This time around , we scored another blockbuster session with late 1990s and early 2000s Busch Series stalwarts Randy LaJoie, Tim Fedewa and Jason Keller. They discuss everything from their early careers to Winston Cup regulars invading the Busch Seri...

In the third and final installment of our interview, Frank Stoddard gives us even more on his split with Jeff Burton and Roush Racing, but adds that his issues were NOT with team owner Jack Roush. And … just for the heck of it … we get a Kurt Busch story or two … or three or four. We then take a look into the September 12, 2002 issue of Winston Cup Scene. Matt Kenseth wins at Richmond, but most of...

In the second installment of our interview, Frank Stoddard gives us an unfiltered, no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners, damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead, INSIDE look at how his time as Jeff Burton’s Roush Racing crew chief came to an inglorious end. We then take a look inside the March 7, 1996 issue of Winston Cup Scene. Jeff Gordon wins on a COLD weekend in Richmond, while Jack Roush isn’t sat...

In the first of what will be three jam-packed segments, Frank Stoddard remembers going to work on a farm at an extraordinarily young age and how that played into him getting into racing. We then go Busch North racing … then Busch South … then back to Busch North with Stub Fadden, before finally heading to the Winston Cup circuit with Jeff Burton. We then dive into the January 20, 2005 issue of NAS...

In the third and final installment of our interview, Andy Papathanassiou remembers the departure of Ray Evernham from Hendrick Motorsports, the establishment of what amounted to a pit-crew department there, a terrible day in Martinsville and finally, his own departure from the organization he’d served for nearly three decades. We then take a peek at the October 1, 1992 issue of Winston Cup Scene....