Slammin' Sammy Swindell decided to retire from racing effective immediately! He wants to run the Chili Bowl and that's about it. He wants to support Kevin in his Nationwide efforts too! Great Career for one of my All-time favorites!
Wish he had waited until after the Four Crown! I bought tickets for the WoO for the first time and I hoped to see Sammy and Steve compete. He had a long and successful career, and was exciting to watch. You have to respect his talent, whether you like him or not.
Originally Posted by BigWheel7:
Anybody have word why the abrupt retiring?
In his statement he said he just wanted to be able to spend more time with Kevin and help him out. With him running full-time in the WoO you know family time is limited especially when your son is chasing his own dreams as far as racing goes. I know people don't always like him but Kevin is certainly talented in his own right and I think Sammy wants to help out where he can as far as helping Kevin progress.
I know he had been thinking about retirement for quite awhile and this just wasn't a split second decision and the fact he wasn't running top notch this year was probably a factor as well.
Sammy was my favorite growing up so I'm sad to see him go but I'm also glad he got out while he was ahead, he's still relatively young at 58 and he's still pretty healthy. He's got his name in the record books and holds track records all over the place so good for him. I'll still be cheering for him at the Chili Bowl.
I remember that race at Tri City. I also remember seeing her start ahead of both Steve and Mark in a heat race at Eldora. They never had a chance to pass her as they never caught her!!
I became a Sammy fan when he started showing up on Sundays at Haubstadt in the '70's when he was a teenager and so was I. He really made a big push at the Nationals this year but motor problems ruined it. It doesn't surprise me he is retiring but wish he was finishing out the year as Terre Haute and Eldora are two places I wanted to see him run at again. On another site someone said Sammy owed it to the fans to do a retirement tour like Kinser but that is not Sammy's style at all. He gave it everthing he had on the track for 43 years but some people think that that's not enough. Sammy still wanted to win and being a sideshow wasn't a card he was willing to play and I respect him for that. You can't be on the road racing and be with Kevin at the same time. All my best to Sammy, Amy and Kevin. Love him or hate him when Sammy was at the track everybody watched him. He was the "Black Knight" to Steve's "White Knight" and that sold a ton of tickets over the years and those two "made" the Outlaws with the "Steve and Sammy Show." Great job, Sammy, and thank you for all the thrills and excitement that you brought into my life at the race track. What a first class operation he always ran as well as his car and trailer were always impeccably clean.
Originally Posted by treecitytornado:
Slammin' Sammy Swindell decided to retire from racing effective immediately! He wants to run the Chili Bowl and that's about it. He wants to support Kevin in his Nationwide efforts too! Great Career for one of my All-time favorites!
No doubt he was a genuine wheelman with a talent unequaled on the dirt and only one of a very few sprint car guys who made an attempt at the Indianapolis 500. However his lack of social / communication skills probably hurt him early in his career when attemping to secure sponsorships.
Granted, Sammy was a quiet guy but he always had great sponsors and usually ones of a national brand such as Federal Express, Old Milwaukee, Hooter's, TMC, Channelock, drove the Nance house car and Jenkins house car, Kodiak, Sparks Electric and Bobby Davis Electric cars and Bruce Cogle Ford. I have to disagree with your opinion with this type of backing and always in top notch equipment. I remember when he drove for A.J. Jeffreys in the FedEx machine over 30 years ago and walked away from a front row starting spot in the A-Main at the Knoxville Nats. one year apparently over how the team was treating his then girlfriend Amy Gray. Now THAT is loyalty to your lady!
