Willy T. Ribbs

There was a moment in American motorsport when it looked like Watkins Glen, the legendary road course carved into the hills of upstate New York, might never roar back to life.

By the early 1980s, the circuit that once hosted the world's greatest drivers had gone silent.

The gates were locked, the asphalt was cracking, and the ghosts of the infamous bog of the mid-70s hung over the place like a storm cloud.

But the dream of racing at the Glen never really died.

I also helped independent NASCAR driver Ed Negri find a car dealer to sponsor his Dodge for Pocono's 1976 NASCAR race.

I started making plans for the 77 Daytona 500.

I covered Ed at his home for a few days in Concord, North Carolina that December, and he took me to several of the shops of the independent drivers.

I even had lunch at the Apollo with Ed and a few friends, including Dale Earnhardt, who had driven Ed's car in his cup debut at Charlotte.