Insane Private Racing Museum! Phil Combs Shows Us His Massive Collection of NASCAR History

this is the truck that pulled Harry gant's very first race car that's where he ran into kill yber on the last LP this hat is that hat these were Danny's when he spotted for nhart Ray Nichols Nichols engineering the only toolbox that Jack hram ever used Ralph nhart banjo Matthews came out of Robert G's shop this is the used to put their hoses in that is so cool this is a wheel decal I think you know how much do you think a monument like that would weigh that's probably the last picture ever made of Rob maroso this is the fire suit from Bill Elliott's last NASCAR race I did not realize that smokey unic built this thing he said man that's amazing you saved that I said well I save a lot of stuff though I did wonder why your Tony Stewart display was by the toilet we've been to a lot of museums in a lot of places and this one in here is one of the biggest densest most interesting things we have ever seen hello folks I'm Phil cols and you're at the cols family museum in Shelby North Carolina a little bit of everything if you if this got the word racing attached to it I I like it you step right here there's one AJ sports uniforms the Copenhagen well I had some guys here yesterday I took him on a little tour and he was talking about Elmo Langley and I said well if you walk over here I said let me show you this A buddy of mine named Rusty Patterson who by the way his birthday is today he got that piece my brother actually and him went to the race into the pits that piece was sticking in the bike of Paul Goldsmith's car so my brother pulls it out of Paul Goldsmith's car and gives it to Rusty and said here's your souvenir to take home cuz you know it it's a treat for somebody don't get to go in the pits often to get to do something like that especially at this race and so he said well if I'm going to get this I need to get Elmo to sign it so they tracked Elmo down and got him to autograph it well the day that I opened this place up was on Mother's Day Sunday and I did it in honor of my mom who I wouldn't even had this place it one for her saving a allot the stuff that she had saved and so he came in and he told me he said you know I got that piece off Elmo ly's car he said I need to to bring it and let you have it I put this piece on Facebook in 5 minutes I get a message from Billy Hess and Billy hes own BSR hes race cars and I used to work there at one point in time Billy hes sends me a message say guess what I got I got the hood off the car wow and that's the car right there so what you're talking about when they did that like Legends Allstar race in the little quarter mile track in in Charlotte okay I watched that on YouTube Once I was like I never heard about this is the coolest thing ever they touch a little bit there as we look out the windshield of Junior's car boy watch him F the wheel knows how to hold him off boy they get together there pretty good Junior Johnson into the sight of 67y old Tim Block straightens him up here they come for turn one look at block though he's going to turn try to turn back into it see the deal was all those cars were borrowed from different race teams Rodney Colmes had a drive in school at time he he loan RJ Reynolds a bunch of the cars but they had a deal work with banjo Matthews Hutchinson Pagan bsrs and a couple other places to fix anything that got told tore up so when Billy fixed this car he put a new hood on it well that's where he put the bumper to kale on the last route on that so they put a new hood on so Billy kept the hood that is awesome they all you know were kind of serious about that they were kind of driving rough so at last I seen an opportunity to win and I I don't see nothing wrong with that do you no you know there it looks like you got into kill then you let him get straighten back out and you made another run at him there I backed off and let him get straight that one time when I got him sideways and when I got him again you know I had him out then I didn't have no reason to back off P car driver Elmo Langley becomes the race car Champion today and so it it was a perfect tie in to go with that well then here we'll take it a step further a guy seen my post on Facebook that his that his dad used to work on Elmo's car he said I've got some pit uniforms I'll send you to go with with the that so all three of those are from when he had Sunny King sponsoring a car and this one and the next step is this booby Harington daughter brought me this hat and it's autographed by everybody that was in the race even Smokey unic autographed it right there I don't know if I've ever seen a smokey unic autograph before I've got several of them H Ellington Junior Johnson tiger Tom pistone Richard Brickhouse one the first Talladega Bobby Allison there's Elmo signed it right there I mean there's some amazing autographs Tim flock cotton NOS cuckoo Marlon Cecil Gordon unreal DK or Ellington had almost every one of those names to autographs I've never seen in person before that's insane and I don't think there's not a single one of these guys living now I don't think there's not a single one of them but Richard Chris he was in that race yeah yep Richard CH is the only one living that's true he's probably like the youngest guy in that race he was yeah how does how'd you get this Hood what's the story on that hood the day that I went and got the Elmo Langley Hood from Billy Hess he gave me this Hardies hood of and he also gave me the Harry Gant hood that I got in my Harry Gant room and he gave me this but this Hood right here you might want to look at to ask about this later the very first baby roof car when Gordon drove for Bill Davis Billy built that car and so they brought it back in to get something done and he took the hood off of it and kept it and Billy signed it up at the top left Bill Davis who owned it signed it right below him Ray everham who was a crew chief signed it Keith Simmons who was the engine builder sign it Gordon signed it and Billy let me have that also I don't even know what to say that's just this is like the some something that should be in the smithonian or something back in the day when I collected uh stickers I also collected decals and whatever I could get from the drivers so at this particular race of Hickory Speedway I was selling papers and and collecting decals and whatever I could get and Tony La comes up to get his pit pass with my mother and I asked him did he have any decals he said no I don't have any decals but I got a picture said they made a movie about me so I followed him back out to his truck and he on behind his seat he had an envelope and he pulls out this picture and he gives it to me and he signs his name right here well then Here Comes Richard Petty and I got him to sign it Roy tner lendell Scott Buddy Baker Ned Jarrett Wayne Woodward Bobby Isaac stick Elliot JD McDuffy JT Putney Curtis Turner and tiger Tom pistone all sign that one picture one day my God that's crazy that was really cool to I used to have it taped on the door in my bedroom at home you see the little tape marks that's where I had it taped up in my room you like a little picture of you when you were that little going and getting this that's insane crazy it survived especially being on the wall you know things on the wall get bumps ripped off messed up that's a rare autograph Curtis Turner that's the only time I ever got his autograph you see this picture right here that picture was the finish of the race at Daytona 1962 when far ball Roberts won and Smokey Unix Pontiac I got the pit board from that race no way I me to get over here get a better view it's actually a two-sided pitboard farall drove for Smokey in ' 62 but in ' 63 he went to hman Moody and on in ' 63 Smokey got Johnny rifer to drive the car and he actually won one of the qualifying races which were're 150 mi in and on the other side of it in Black electrician tape it says johw R but that's a two-sided pitboard and Smokey is the only guy that ever run those but that's a picture of Smokey and Mario Rossy right there with that pitboard you see and that's Mario Rossy right in pit on it right over there it's not even just like it's the same pitboard it is the same pitboard with the same hand painted Fireball on it oh yeah I guess it may have been updated a little bit cuz the RS beat up on that one whoever repainted it had really consist well you got to realize it's on both sides so that could be the other side of it oh that's true but if you see the thing right here the says Smokey's best damn garage the black and white thing that's the certificate of authenticity of a chair that I've got that's outside that's sitting right beside of that Jeff Bodine Monument they had two NASCAR tires and wheels on it yeah I wondered what that was well the seats missing off of it Ray everam bought that at Smokey's auction but when he bought it he robbed it he took the seat off of the seat belt the tires and wheels and use them on some project he was working on well then he took it to another auction and Bosco low and that picture right there him and Keith noral bought it and brought it to me and so I've got the tires and wheels but now I'm trying to find a banjo seat to go on it so if you happen to find one let me know I mean you can sit down in it right now if this car was here and just zigzag it around but I don't understand why he had a steering wheel on it so Smoky unic built this thing Smokey unic yeah what did you ever get a reason why he built it no you just bored no I don't know and he used actual but Terry Brotherton who sold it at the auction he was telling me you know he's seen it when it was in all put together there home and Moody hubs on it at least that one is I would imagine they're both the same but maybe not I don't know if the wheels are original or not I guess not that's a Mark Martin Rous wheel yeah that yeah this truck believe it or not if you look at this thing it don't look like it's would pull a superstar NASCAR driver but this is the truck that pulled Harry gant's very first race car in 1965 at Hickory Speedway and and he won the track Championship but Harry was known and Harry's told me these stories himself because I've been a friend of Harry since I was 7 years old Harry was known for street racing and they raced for Miles I mean they set up a course they' raced like a 8 Mile course from one town to the next town in the middle of the night and and my dad always said I can remember this when I was a kid my dad said if he'll ever calm down a little bit said he's going to be a great driver and sure enough he ended up being a great driver but Harry Harry stood right there when I interviewed him during my last reunion that I have and I got one coming up April the 6th and talked about the history of this truck and it's just amazing they they actually this wasn't Harry this was when Benny started racing uh using it all the time they blew the engine up one night going to a race at Birmingham Alabama and they were only a mile and a half from the track so Benny unloaded the car off the trailer hooked a rope to the front bumper of the truck and the B bumper of the race car pull the truck and the trailer to the track run a 200 lap race as a national championship race they took the engine out of the truck they took the engine out of the car and put it in the truck and came back to North Carolina now you you you can't even think of anybody doing that this this area that we live in now no but that's that's a story that was told to me so and the guy that told it was the guy that drove the truck so I pretty much believe it word for word oh yeah especially back then when everything was kind of just your average different build levels of a small black Chevy I've heard other stories of people doing that before that's a that's a neat piece of History though it really is when we had the Hickory Speedway reunion uh John and his buddies got it running and drove it to the reunion well when they brought it down here the either the fuel pump's gone bad or the fuel filter stopped up so as long as I'm pouring gas in it it'll run but once I stop it quit so I'm going to put a fuel pump on it and try to get it going for my reunion in April that' be awesome can people come to that Reunion yeah how do they find out information about that if they want to through Facebook a special delivery from Mike Beam for your collection there he said we had to deliver this to you mik beam sent me this yes okay I don't know what the the terms or stipulations are we're just here to deliver it so have to ask him what it's for he'll know what it's for Mike beam and I have been friends for a long long time and oh man you know what that is if it is I do it's a it's a uniform for this Hood yep that's Mike gave me this hood and uh but I I can't believe this but this as cool as can be because you know that was a oneof thing that bill never raced that car but one time that was Bill's last NASCAR race are you serious this is the fire suit from Bill Elliott's last NASCAR race I did not realize that that's the most recent Nas car race he has run so unless he does another one that's Bill Elliot I appreciate this more than you know this is really cool to get this it is a great surprise too can you hold that up so we can see it everybody can see what it is y Bill ran I think it was was it uh Road America or Mid Ohio or something for Road America yeah for GMS last got Mike gave me the diecast for it too really yeah I got the die cast in the museum there's the hood hanging right there yeah let's go see that see Bill signed the hood too if you got the hood then the car must have been reused it still be floating out around there somewhere you can barely see it but these are original top row seats from Charlotte Motor Speedway now right on the other side of this right here this Monument back when Jeff Bodine bought Alan ki's race team they took Alan ki's monument and took it to Wisconsin and and put it in the memorial it's upon this it's a two-story building it's got a glass front and a light shines on it at night it's beautiful we've been there Jeff Bon had this made and set it right on the same pad where Alan Kies was so when he shut his team down this thing changed hands twice and the guy that ended up with it decided he was going to get rid of it and so Mike Wallace was over his place getting his motor home wrapped and Mike put a thing on Facebook and a buddy of mine Kyle Armstrong happened to see it and T me in it well I sent Mike a message and told him I'd like to have it to go here and so and this all transpired in 5 minutes from the time he put it on Facebook till the time he said I could have it was 5 minutes and so I went and got it the next day but the funny thing was I got to thinking you know how much do you think a monument like that would weigh I didn't have no idea is it all stone or is it uh all it looks like a giant headstone like did he have a headstone company make this thing it did yeah he did so so I said called a good friend of mine that runs a monument company here in Shelby and told him what I was going to do I said how much do you think this thing is going to weigh and he said I don't know he said probably about 2500 lb so so I thought heck can I haul it in the back of my truck or not so uh I did I was going to take my trailer and get it I thought well heck that's going to be worse than having a truck you know I'm going to have even more weight so I put it in the back of that truck and I look like these guys those Carolina squatters at the front end jacked up on their truck I come down there stayed 85 and the rear of the truck was was something like that but I had to take it to the monument company to get it off and then he brought it here and set it up for me jeez Jeff Bon knows it's here he's if he ever comes around he's supposedly going to come and see it cuz I got some more of his stuff in the museum what is this piece of wood from oh man Matt dyner gave me this uh from the Del Junior Dirty Mo media lost Speedways that's from Columbia Speedway a piece of the original fence from Columbia Speedway and this is actually the first racetrack that I ever went to in my life really yeah in Columbia another interesting piece is this in the picture frame right over here in the gold frame that's a letter that Chris aaki that's pictures of Chris right there that Chris aaki wrote my dad typed it and signed it sent to my dad in 1958 on May the 1st well I ran into Chris at Daytona at the airport back in about gosh I guess it was probably 07 and we was sitting beside each other waiting on get on a plane to come back to Charlotte and I told him I had that letter and I said I want you to sign something for me and uh I said but I don't want you to do it to a certain day I said I want you to sign it on May the 1st of 2008 and this was like a year later and he said you just mail it to my secretary and tell her what you want me to do and gave me his business card and said I'll do it so I mailed it to her and he he signed it 50 years after he originally wrote it but my brother sold speedport newspapers and the bicycle that's in the house that you'll see later on he bought his first bicycle or one of his first bicycles with the money made from selling those papers all right that's that's my dad giv Junior Johnson the checker flag in his last win at North wilsor 1965 that's another win that he got in 65 at Asheville right there and if you can turn around the corner that was my t-shirt right there Johnson's that's insane that you that that shirt was kept that long I don't know if I have any shirts of mine when I was a kid like that that's that's awesome this is my Junior Johnson collection my dad and Junior my dad and my mother both were really really good friends with Junior and my mother was exceptionally good friends with flossy and flossy this is a cookbook that she wrote you know she was a great cook she gave my mother this book in 19 uh 1995 any good recipes in there I don't cook so I don't know unless it's on the George Foreman grill I can't cook it I have to ask you before I get overwhelmed and forget about it there's an engine block over here this 351 there's a bunch of Ki stuff around it is this a Ki block okay here's the story on this engine I'm trying to get it documented right now with Ron Neil but the story that was told to me by Mike chicolo who goes by chick and that's his decal well you can't see it from here but anyhow chick and I are friends we raced the first time I ever raced a car we raced against each other in 1977 so chick ended up moving here and worked for AJ F he worked for a lot of famous people but he ended up going to work for Alan kcki when he bought uh Bill Terry when when he first bill Terry yeah big daddy out so later on down the line chick went to work for Jeff Bodine so whenever chick went to work for Jeff Bodine this block was at Bodine shop and the engine shop so if you see it's only got one piston in it and the story is told to me that they use this to degree the cams in oh well when he won Rookie of the Year in that car he had one car and he had two engines this is supposedly one of those two engines really and like I said I'm trying to get it documented now with Ron Neil that this is right but that's the story that I've been told that's awesome and he basically kept it for sentimental reasons soorry it's got all kinds of numbers stamped in it like yeah it everywhere you got 105 105 yeah there's numbers back here too that's why I was inspecting ear so the engine was from the first year when he drove for Bill Terry and then he kept it and ran it in ' 86 but the guy that cleaned it for me at engine service here in Shelby he said I can't understand how this thing a't blown up he said it's full of stress tracks yeah so it probably he said this thing is completely full of stress crack so there but there's no telling how many miles is on it…