Conversely, the leading race-winners at the 20-race juncture, Ryan Newman (4) and Kurt Busch (3), ranked Ninth and Eighth, respectively, in the standings. Perhaps they do deserve more credit for winning, but they were essentially out of the chase because of a combined nine DNFs.
Robert Graham Latford was born in Middlesex, England, in 1935. At age 6, he came to America with his mother and two brothers to escape World War II, settling in Daytona Beach. He attended elementary school with France Jr., hung around Big Bill France's service station, sold souvenir programs at the old beach course races, and listened in on the historic meeting, at which NASCAR was formed at the Streamline Hotel in December, 1947.
After serving with the Army in the Korean War and graduating with a degree in education from the University of Florida, Latford's plans and life changed abruptly. His plan to pursue a master's degree in guidance was scrapped in 1958 when France Sr. told him he'd pay him more money than he could make with another degree to be assistant public relations director of NASCAR.
Latford often laughed at the thought. Nothing he had studied in college prepared him for the job and his only training was a summer internship in the NASCAR news bureau. However, the late Houston Lawing, a pioneer in motorsports PR, was his mentor. Among the great men Latford met, he ranked Lawing No. 1. "Being there," not formal training, was the best teacher, Latford said later.
In 1964, Latford, who had married Leslie Hart, affectionately known as Skimp, contemplated returning to college when Richard Howard offered him the PR job at then Charlotte Motor Speedway. The speedway was recovering from bankruptcy, but Latford liked the challenge. From scratch, he set up media information and public relations programs that became models-and remain so. A decade later, he accepted a similar challenge at Atlanta.
Latford's media-friendly information system is used at virtually every NASCAR track. He'd go to all the races and pitch in, initiating a spirit of cooperation among NASCAR tracks that exists today. "We were all selling the same product, just on different days in different places," he said in an interview. He made souvenir programs sold at tracks more attractive and informative. He was chief statistician for CBS race broadcasts from the first live telecast of the 1979 Daytona 500 until 2001. He groomed several of the sport's leading PR people, some of whom have risen to higher places in the sport. He was a reference source for reporters, their best friend.
As the Anheuser-Busch PR rep for legendary car owner Junior Johnson in the '80s, Latford drove the Budweiser van thousands of miles to races from his Concord, North Carolina, home, often choosing secondary roads over interstates to increase exposure for his product and racing. I took a memorable 574-mile trip to Pocono with him and his close friend, motorsports writer Jack Flowers. Flowers had warned me that Latford had a rigid agenda regarding routes and stops, that I should bring munchies and soft drinks and pray that nature didn't call before a scheduled pit stop. Even worse, though Latford smoked cigarettes profusely, he couldn't tolerate my cheap cigars.
The encyclopedia of racing knowledge and history is closed, yet the contents gleaned from it are very much alive. Thanks, Mr. Latford.