More Marshall Tucker Racing Memories

Posted: May 29, 2009

Not too long ago I wrote a dispatch about my old friend George McCorkle of The Marshall Tucker Band and his love of racing cars. Recently, I ran across a couple of old photos of George's cars that I wanted to share with y'all. That got me to thinking about Doug Gray, who was also into racing, and I dug into some never before published interviews to revisit those heady drag racing days of the 1970's.

See, lead vocalist Doug Gray has always loved his music, his cars and the women - not necessarily in that order, mind you. Back in the seventies, he had always liked to drive fast, so it was almost a given that he would one day join band mate George McCorkle on the drag strip. That day came when Gray went down to Atlanta to watch George race in August of 1976.

“Doug got into drag racing a little after I did,” the late George McCorkle told me a few years back. “I ran a few races with him. I know we ran Atlanta International Dragway a couple of times together. He might have ran at Greer or Spartanburg with me a few times too. I was a little heavier into it than he was.”

“When I went to Atlanta and sat down with all the people down there, you knew what it was all about, being competitive,” said Gray in the August, 1977 issue of Drag Review. “In the music business, somebody is always trying to do something to you or hassle you. Whereas, at a race, they don’t mind helping you if you have a problem. That’s exactly what made me decide to start racing.”

“Both of our cars were built by Gene Fulton, of Fulton Competition in Spartanburg,” said McCorkle. “A real good mechanic and a real good racer too.”

“I knew of Gene and he had the name around town for hot cars,” McCorkle told Drag Review. “When I first got into it, Gene and Tommy Hall talked me into getting a Camaro. Harold Bradey was also responsible for my getting a Camaro. I got the Camaro body from Doug. I traded him a ‘62 Chevrolet for it. I couldn’t help it that the motor in the ‘62 blew up, ” he said laughing.

“Before drag racing, we ventured into round track racing,” recalled McCorkle. “Dirt track. Those boys loved tearing that thing up. Drunk rednecks on a Saturday night, what do you expect?”

Keep it Real. Keep it Southern.

Buffalo