Mackvader™ of Powershift Performance
Truck Racing Legends
While traveling around the country racing, Mike Morgan has made an effort to contact some of the truck racing legends and invite them to come watch and/or participate in the track activities. Here are some of the legends encountered over the past several years.
The Rubber Duck from Movie "Convoy"
On October 6, 2018 at the A.T.H.S. Heart of Dixie Truck Show in Guntersville, Alabama, Mackvader met the Rubber Duck Truck from the movie "Convoy" complete with original tanker. This 1970 R700L Mack was restored by Danny Bruno.
Anthony Fox is the current caretaker of this piece of history — one of the original 1970 Mack trucks driven by the Rubber Duck character in Sam Peckinpah's 1970s movie "Convoy" staring Kris Kristofferson and Ali McGraw. And it's not just the truck. The 5,800-gallon shell of a Trailmobile tanker, used for asphalt at some point in its life, is also an original from the movie, and bares the scars of some of the high-action shoot.
Bill "Plowboy" Johnson, Veteran GATR
On October 14, 2017 two GATR veterans lead the parade laps of the A-Main Race at Hickory Motor Speedway. Bill "Plowboy" Johnson in the #11 Corbitt and Don Norman in the #50 Ford were having fun. As they slowed down to pull off the track Mackvader "lapped" #50.
The Bandit and the Sheriff
On September 2, 2017 at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway the "Bandit" and "Smokey" led the parade laps.
The Junkyard Dog
Enroute to the Greenville-Pickens Speedway on April 14, 2017 Morgan met with GATRs Gene Rochester and Wayne Yates while Mackvader checked out the Junk Yard Dog.
Gene owns the #97 “Junk Yard Dog” that won two national GATR championships and was featured in the Smokey and the Bandit II movie starring Burt Reynolds.
Don and Charles Norman
During the races at Hickory Motor Speedway on March 25, 2017 Mike Morgan and Brian Madsen spent some time with GATR racer Don Norman and his son Charles Norman who had a hand in restoring the #11 Corbitt seen above.
Gene Rochester
After the races on November 5, 2016, Mike and Matt met up with Gene Rochester, owner of the Junk Yard Dog, a big winner in the GATR series.
GATR, Great America Truck Racing
The Great Amerian Truck Racing Series started in the late 1970s as the American Truck Racing Association. Under new ownership in 1980, the organization began a run that would last close to ten years of races.
According to the GATR facebook page: "Beginning with the opening scenes of the truck race at the Atlanta Speedway June 17, 1979 seen in Smokey and the Bandit II big rig bobtail racing was born in the USA. The phenomenon survived until it's final race at Rolling Wheels on July 31 1993."
For most of the lifespan of this organization the trucks raced with 12,000 pounds as their legal weight. Late in the series life, race weight was dropped to 8,000 pounds and tube chassis were starting to appear. That was shortlived as the series died in 1988 as escalating costs and apparent insurance and venue troubles ended its existence.
From Bangshift.com (videos of races also)
