Network
Few of us can remember the NASCAR greats from decades ago. Being born well after these men made names for themselves doesn’t help the situation either. However, these NASCAR champs are notable in history for their accomplishments in the automotive world.
Recently, 1970 NASCAR Champion Bobby Isaac was featured on Jalopnik.com. However, it was not for his accomplishments but for other notable behaviors.
Isaac, although not well known by many today, was a stellar NASCAR driver. Along with being the champion in 1970, he won 20 poles one year and 17 races another year. Later on in his life, Isaac even set an outstanding 28 records at Bonneville. However, this was not why Jalopnik featured him- it was because of his undeniable temper.
The excerpt from Steve Lehto’s book “Bobby Isaac: NASCAR’s First Modern Champion” paints Isaac as an ill-tempered man, both on and off the track.
The excerpt states, “At small tracks, Isaac thought nothing of dispensing his own justice after a race – perhaps punching a driver who had bumped him unfairly – or during a race, by running a driver off the course if the infraction couldn’t be ignored at the time.”
While Isaac was fined every time he let his temper get the best of him, he continued to fight at track after track. This, in turn, impeded his career until one phone call set him straight. After fights took place at two tracks in one weekend, Isaac made an inevitable phone call to Pat Purcell, NASCAR’s executive manager at that time.
Purcell had had enough of Isaac and his ways by that time. Purcell cussed Isaac out and told him, “Racing doesn’t need you, but it’s up to you to decide if you need racing. Racing is going to get along without you unless you change your ways and learn to use your head instead of your fists. Now it’s up to you.”
This statement finally got through to Isaac and he changed his ways, at least for awhile. His career accelerated, allowing him to win the NASCAR championship later on.
Because reporters couldn’t dog on Isaac for fighting anymore, they found new ways to make jabs at him. In 1970, the year of his NASCAR championship, a Car and Driver reporter suggested that Isaac was illiterate. This stemmed from the fact that Isaac had dropped out of school early, something he never discussed in detail with reporters.
While the phone call with Purcell years earlier had seemingly changed Isaac for the better, the report pushed Isaac back to his old ways. When Isaac saw the reporter after the public jabbing, he punched the reporter in the side of the head. The portion of the excerpt on Jalopnik doesn’t say what ever became of Isaac after that except that he died in 1977. However, it does make the point that obviously Isaac could read.
While he accomplished great things, Booby Isaac will forever be known for his “salty” behavior. It is a shame that someone with so many notable NASCAR and, other automotive-based, accomplishments fell victim to his own temper. Who knows how many other things Isaac could have accomplished had he been able to keep his temper in check. Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to get out of his own way to go even further in his life.
