She Has No Taste for Sundae Drivers

Six years ago, Nicki Taylor was making banana splits and selling sandwiches at the family-owned ice cream parlor on the main street of Big Bear Lake, where she and husband Bill, a former Pacific Coast stock car champion, had moved to retire.

Retirement didn’t take.

Today, Nicki and Bill travel to all 29 Winston Cup stock car races--from Florida to California and back--in their 38-foot motorhome, working with NASCAR, Simpson Race Products, Busch and the Pennzoil Bahari racing team. In her role as safety equipment inspector for Simpson, the 5-foot-2, redheaded Nicky, 64, is one of racing’s most visible personalities as she moves from car to car, checking to see if all helmets and seat belts are in proper working order.

“Sitting up there in the mountains was too slow for us, even when we were working 12-hour days during the tourist season,” she said. “What really got us moving again, though, was that we’re both ‘race-aholics.’ I guess once you get the bug to go racing, you never get over it.”

She and her husband were involved in racing long before they met. Bill won the Pacific Coast crown in 1948 and made unsuccessful attempts to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1949 and ’52.

And Nicki? “I got into racing when I was hanging around a dirt track near Detroit in 1953 and some of the guys dared me to drive one of the race cars,” she said. “I called their bluff and raced an old ’37 DeSoto.

“In 1957, I wound up in Daytona Beach and set an unofficial world record for women at 157.698 m.p.h. in an experimental Mercury Turnpike Cruiser. The only time I had a good scare was in 1947 driving a Ford Courier in the Baja 1,000. I went over on my head. I didn’t get hurt, but I messed the truck up pretty good and couldn’t finish the race.”

Today, the Taylors are in Long Pond, Pa., to help teams prepare for Sunday’s Champion 500 at Pocono Raceway.

“Our main job for the first day is to check Simpson’s safety equipment,” she said. “That takes us nearly all day because it’s hard to keep up with all the cars. They’re moving in and out of the garage so fast, a lot of times we’ll just stay near the tech inspection area and do a little inspection ourselves.”

When Busch pole qualifying starts on Friday, Nicki straps on a headset and monitors each driver’s lap times. It’s easy to know where she is because a crowd is usually gathered around her huge wax pencil board while she tracks each driver’s performance.

Early on race day, she and Bill give garage tours for NASCAR to special groups.

Once the race starts, however, she switches allegiance to Pennzoil and becomes the team scorer for the No. 30 Pontiac driven by Michael Waltrip.

“I’ve been the official scorer ever since the Bahari team was started,” she said. “And I plan to keep on doing it as long as they’ll let me. It gets a little hectic when Morris (Metcalf, NASCAR chief scorer and timer) is giving us information, the team is talking on the radio and I’ve got to remember to mark down the time the official race clock shows when Michael goes by.

“That can go on for three hours. And I’m just like a driver--I can’t take a break.”

She also scores for Waltrip’s Busch Grand National car, and when the Bahari team isn’t racing, she volunteers her services to other teams.

If Waltrip--who calls her “Mom”--has anything to say about it, she’ll be around for a long time.

“She’s just an incredible person,” he said. “I can’t think of anybody I’d rather have scoring me. If she were just visiting the garage I’d ask her to stay because of the positiveness she brings with her. There’s just no one like Nicki.”

After a recent race in conditions of about 100 degrees and humidity hovering near 95, Taylor was asked if sometimes she didn’t long to be back in the cool climes of the San Bernardino mountains.

“Naw,” she said with a big grin. “This beats selling ice cream all to heck.”

Briefly

STOCK CARS--Saugus Speedway will feature NASCAR Winston Racing Series competition Saturday night for sportsmen, pro stock ovals and Figure 8s, plus a train race. Sean Woodside leads in sportsmen points with 170, followed by John Higgins and Pat Mintey Jr. with 158 each and Russ Beckers with 157. . . . After a three-week layoff, the Coors Light series returns to Ventura Raceway on Friday night. . . . Sportsmen cars will also headline Saturday night’s program at Cajon Speedway. . . . Late models will race Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway and Blythe Speedway.

MOTORCYCLES--The Willow Springs Motorcycle Club will hold the fifth round of its championship road racing series Sunday on the 2.5-mile course east of Rosamond. . . . Speedway racing will continue Saturday night at Speedway USA in Victorville, but there will be no racing at the Orange County Fairgrounds until July 30 because of the county fair.

SPRINT CARS--Wingless cars of the California Racing Assn. will be at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix on Saturday night. . . . Winged cars of the Budweiser Golden State Challenge series will be at Kings Speedway in Hanford on Friday and Saturday nights. Brent Kaeding has a 606-582 lead over Steve Kent in the series. Both have three victories.

MISCELLANY--Jeff Kowalczyk, formerly with Rogers & Cowan public relations agency, is the new director of corporate communications for the Indy car series. . . . Midgets will race Saturday night at Santa Maria Speedway. . . . The Southern California Timing Assn. will conduct a speed meet Sunday at El Mirage Dry Lake.