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Felica Nunn
Nominated by Jody Shannon
Felica and Tony's wedding day January 3, 1981. Photo sent by Felica Nunn.
Felica Nunn with her husband Tony.
Felica Nunn with her son Chris and her Father. Three generations of
Budweiser.
Budweiser.
Another picture of the love of Felica's life Tony and daughter Sami.
Felica's baby Earnhardt .
Felica's other baby Poppy.
JT LeFever: Can you tell me how you got involved with dirt racing and what are some of
your first memories from the track?
Felica Nunn: I got involved in dirt racing in about 1963 when I was two, and my uncle
started to race and it was a family thing. I had no choice in the matter at that age, and as
I grow older I came to love the sport.
My first memories from the track, I have memories of tracks when I was very young,
and the cars, I have memories of that. But it wasn’t till I was eight or nine that I really
started appreciating what they were doing.
JT: What were your uncles names?
FN: Ira and Ezra Bastin.
JT: Can you tell me a little about both of them?
FN: Um, ok I don’t know how Ezra got started, but I know about how Ira got started. At
Bloomington Speedway, they didn’t have a Stock car division per to say, they called
them jalopies, it was kinda like a run what you brung. We were in the pits, and they
would shoot a gun and the first one to the start finish line was declared the winner. And
his career started there. Before that, my grandpa owned a junk yard, and they had
access to all kinda junk cars. My grandpa owned a large piece of land and my uncle and
his brother would all have cars and would race through the woods. There was one time
one of my brothers through he could split the trees and it got stuck, it took a cutting
torch to get it out. So it all started in a woods in Brown County.
He drove 96 for Gene Dalton, he drove 95 for Susie Miles, he drove 74 for Sunny
Arthur, T3 for Butch Tucker, and the he drove a 74B for himself in the 1990 and 1991
seasons.
JT: Who was some of your favorite drivers and why did you like and support them?
FN: There is just been so many through the years, here I am 40 years old and I started
in 1963 so the list could be so long. Of course I have to say my uncles cause the ones
that got me involved in the sport, and God I loved them so much. Um, Ray Godsey, he is
a friend of the family and still friendly, and I still see him on a regular basis. John Gill, I
met for the first time when I was 18 and I been a fan of his ever since that. Don O’Neal,
I am a real big fan of his, the reason I like Don so well to me is a very fan friendly
person and especially friendly with the children. The drivers that are friendly with the
children are the ones that win me over. Steve Barnett, Mark Barber, I am a new fan of
Justin Blackwell, I really like him and his style. The list could go on and on.
JT: Since you have been involved in racing what are some of the changes you have
seen?
FN: Well, there have been a lot of changes. The one thing I remember think of right
now, you look at the Super Stock of today they kinda look like Late Models, they kinda
look like the Late Models of 78’, 79’, 80’. The Wedge car phase too. The technical
things have changed so much and it’s made this a better sport.
I wasn’t a big fan of the Wedge cars, my uncle Ira had one and I didn’t like it, I didn’t
like the wings either. I just did not like the cosmetics of them, I think wing are for sprint
cars.
JT: If you could have inducted the first class of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of
Fame, who would your five be?
FN: Of course my uncle Ira, I am his biggest fan.
Kenny Simpson, he was a very fine man, and very friendly and approachable, and he
worked hard.
Larry Moore, he was one of the, weekly racers back when series racing started and
then he start traveling around.
Its very hard to pick these guys, I believe you should be out of the sport for five years
before you can be inducted. I don’t think current drivers should be in, so I am trying to
think of drivers from back in time.
Um, there is just so many that you could classify to put in this group that all belong.
Jack Owens, a lot of people don’t know him. In Indiana he was a force in the sixties and
early seventies, and he had a very untimely death. I think you would have seen a lot of
greatness had he not died unexpectedly. Same way with Kenny Simpson.
Butterball Wooldrige, Fats Coffey, it’s so hard to narrow it to five. Jerry Inmon, I think
he is still racing though. It is so hard for me to classify and narrow it down cause the
there are so many drivers that belong.
JT: What are some of your favorite racing memories?
FN: My favorite racing memory, not to sound to sound corny or anything was a
gathering of the family. It wasn’t two or three family members, when Bastin family went
it was like twenty people going. It was a lot about family I happen to be there Labor Day
weekend 1979 when he won the Kentucky Dirt Track Championship. I was there that
Sunday night for that and that is a real fond memory. Ira won a six and a half foot trophy
and it was a real thrill leaving our home track and driving three and a half hour and
coming home with a victory.
The family togetherness, it was all just a big family event for us.
The first time I went to Eldora 1978, I was a seventeen year old girl and it was beyond
my comprehension. The size of the track and all the different cars, it just took my breath
away.
JT: What are some of your favorite tracks?
FN: My favorite track of course is Brownstown Speedway, I been going there, god since
I was five maybe. And that track holds so many good memories, and to this day I am
very loyal and true that Brownstown.
Terre Haute Action track, I love to watch the Late Model’s there when they come out
of turn four, I love to watch them.
I been to Eldora and really enjoyed it and those have to be my three favorites.
I been to many large tracks and I been to very very dinky and small tracks, and a lot of
the tracks that I went to no long exist.
JT: What are some things you can tell us about yourself?
FN: Well, I ain’t afraid to admit I am a forty two year old mother of two. I have a twenty
two year old son and a fifteen year old daughter. My son’s name is Chris and my
daughter’s name is Sammy. I been married for twenty two years, Tony is my husband.
When it’s not racing season, it’s bowling season everyone in the family bowls, from age
five to sixty three bowls. I have a new hobby and that is gathering useless trivia.
Did you know a rat can go longer without water than a camel can?
Did you know the Lone Ranger’s real name is John Reed?
Unless trivia like that! I try to learn something new everyday every, rather it benefits
me or not.
JT: What do you as a fan think you can do to help promote the sport?
FN: Bring people to the track! I work with a lot of people and try and get them to the
track, and most of the people I bring come back more than once. Don’t try and sugar
coat it, but always try to speak positive about the sport. Always try and have something
good to say about racing and just try and get more people there, so the sport can grow.
And stay in the stands for the support the support classes they work just as hard as the
Late Model’s and they deserve it. Some tracks run two classes and some run three, and
I just hate it when that last class is out, and there are not many fans in the stands. They
deserve attention to, they work just as hard as anyone and deserve fan support as much
as anyone.
JT: Is there anything else you would like to say to other fans reading this?
FN: Support your weekly racer! And go to the track, because without your fans, you’re
not going to have a local track. Yeah it is nice to see what is termed as the big dogs but
you really need to support your local track.
your first memories from the track?
Felica Nunn: I got involved in dirt racing in about 1963 when I was two, and my uncle
started to race and it was a family thing. I had no choice in the matter at that age, and as
I grow older I came to love the sport.
My first memories from the track, I have memories of tracks when I was very young,
and the cars, I have memories of that. But it wasn’t till I was eight or nine that I really
started appreciating what they were doing.
JT: What were your uncles names?
FN: Ira and Ezra Bastin.
JT: Can you tell me a little about both of them?
FN: Um, ok I don’t know how Ezra got started, but I know about how Ira got started. At
Bloomington Speedway, they didn’t have a Stock car division per to say, they called
them jalopies, it was kinda like a run what you brung. We were in the pits, and they
would shoot a gun and the first one to the start finish line was declared the winner. And
his career started there. Before that, my grandpa owned a junk yard, and they had
access to all kinda junk cars. My grandpa owned a large piece of land and my uncle and
his brother would all have cars and would race through the woods. There was one time
one of my brothers through he could split the trees and it got stuck, it took a cutting
torch to get it out. So it all started in a woods in Brown County.
He drove 96 for Gene Dalton, he drove 95 for Susie Miles, he drove 74 for Sunny
Arthur, T3 for Butch Tucker, and the he drove a 74B for himself in the 1990 and 1991
seasons.
JT: Who was some of your favorite drivers and why did you like and support them?
FN: There is just been so many through the years, here I am 40 years old and I started
in 1963 so the list could be so long. Of course I have to say my uncles cause the ones
that got me involved in the sport, and God I loved them so much. Um, Ray Godsey, he is
a friend of the family and still friendly, and I still see him on a regular basis. John Gill, I
met for the first time when I was 18 and I been a fan of his ever since that. Don O’Neal,
I am a real big fan of his, the reason I like Don so well to me is a very fan friendly
person and especially friendly with the children. The drivers that are friendly with the
children are the ones that win me over. Steve Barnett, Mark Barber, I am a new fan of
Justin Blackwell, I really like him and his style. The list could go on and on.
JT: Since you have been involved in racing what are some of the changes you have
seen?
FN: Well, there have been a lot of changes. The one thing I remember think of right
now, you look at the Super Stock of today they kinda look like Late Models, they kinda
look like the Late Models of 78’, 79’, 80’. The Wedge car phase too. The technical
things have changed so much and it’s made this a better sport.
I wasn’t a big fan of the Wedge cars, my uncle Ira had one and I didn’t like it, I didn’t
like the wings either. I just did not like the cosmetics of them, I think wing are for sprint
cars.
JT: If you could have inducted the first class of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of
Fame, who would your five be?
FN: Of course my uncle Ira, I am his biggest fan.
Kenny Simpson, he was a very fine man, and very friendly and approachable, and he
worked hard.
Larry Moore, he was one of the, weekly racers back when series racing started and
then he start traveling around.
Its very hard to pick these guys, I believe you should be out of the sport for five years
before you can be inducted. I don’t think current drivers should be in, so I am trying to
think of drivers from back in time.
Um, there is just so many that you could classify to put in this group that all belong.
Jack Owens, a lot of people don’t know him. In Indiana he was a force in the sixties and
early seventies, and he had a very untimely death. I think you would have seen a lot of
greatness had he not died unexpectedly. Same way with Kenny Simpson.
Butterball Wooldrige, Fats Coffey, it’s so hard to narrow it to five. Jerry Inmon, I think
he is still racing though. It is so hard for me to classify and narrow it down cause the
there are so many drivers that belong.
JT: What are some of your favorite racing memories?
FN: My favorite racing memory, not to sound to sound corny or anything was a
gathering of the family. It wasn’t two or three family members, when Bastin family went
it was like twenty people going. It was a lot about family I happen to be there Labor Day
weekend 1979 when he won the Kentucky Dirt Track Championship. I was there that
Sunday night for that and that is a real fond memory. Ira won a six and a half foot trophy
and it was a real thrill leaving our home track and driving three and a half hour and
coming home with a victory.
The family togetherness, it was all just a big family event for us.
The first time I went to Eldora 1978, I was a seventeen year old girl and it was beyond
my comprehension. The size of the track and all the different cars, it just took my breath
away.
JT: What are some of your favorite tracks?
FN: My favorite track of course is Brownstown Speedway, I been going there, god since
I was five maybe. And that track holds so many good memories, and to this day I am
very loyal and true that Brownstown.
Terre Haute Action track, I love to watch the Late Model’s there when they come out
of turn four, I love to watch them.
I been to Eldora and really enjoyed it and those have to be my three favorites.
I been to many large tracks and I been to very very dinky and small tracks, and a lot of
the tracks that I went to no long exist.
JT: What are some things you can tell us about yourself?
FN: Well, I ain’t afraid to admit I am a forty two year old mother of two. I have a twenty
two year old son and a fifteen year old daughter. My son’s name is Chris and my
daughter’s name is Sammy. I been married for twenty two years, Tony is my husband.
When it’s not racing season, it’s bowling season everyone in the family bowls, from age
five to sixty three bowls. I have a new hobby and that is gathering useless trivia.
Did you know a rat can go longer without water than a camel can?
Did you know the Lone Ranger’s real name is John Reed?
Unless trivia like that! I try to learn something new everyday every, rather it benefits
me or not.
JT: What do you as a fan think you can do to help promote the sport?
FN: Bring people to the track! I work with a lot of people and try and get them to the
track, and most of the people I bring come back more than once. Don’t try and sugar
coat it, but always try to speak positive about the sport. Always try and have something
good to say about racing and just try and get more people there, so the sport can grow.
And stay in the stands for the support the support classes they work just as hard as the
Late Model’s and they deserve it. Some tracks run two classes and some run three, and
I just hate it when that last class is out, and there are not many fans in the stands. They
deserve attention to, they work just as hard as anyone and deserve fan support as much
as anyone.
JT: Is there anything else you would like to say to other fans reading this?
FN: Support your weekly racer! And go to the track, because without your fans, you’re
not going to have a local track. Yeah it is nice to see what is termed as the big dogs but
you really need to support your local track.