Reece Gibbs was a mainstay in super stock racing in the Southeast from his home base near Blue Ridge, Ga. His "Bad News" '62 Ford was a familiar sight to fans at the Double H, racing in super stock events on into 1965. "Bad News" had an excellent pedigree, starting out as a "BARC" of Ford ace Phil Bonner; Gibbs also would own a couple of other cars of regional notoriety.
 A particularly tough foe of Gibbs and "Bad News" was the '62 409 "Esso Special" owned and driven by Bob Thomas.  When Thomas switched to a Ford Thunderbolt -- the ''Strip Teaser" -- in 1964, Gibbs bought the 409.
Gibbs and Thomas would do business again when the Thomas team built a Falcon A/FX car for the 1965 season, and Gibbs acquired the Thunderbolt, sans engine, which Thomas kept for the new Falcon. Paul Gibbs says his mother did not like the "Strip Teaser" name or the image of the checkered-flag-draped woman posed seductively on the door, so the white Thunderbolt soon acquired a new "bittersweet orange" color. 
By most accounts, Gibbs never raced the Thunderbolt. About this time, one of Gibbs' sons, Jackie, riding his bicycle, was killed by a "hot-rodder" speeding down the road in front of the Gibbs' house. The tragedy was a huge blow to the family, and the involvement of a speeding hot rod in it led Reece Gibbs to sell his cars and quit racing. He died in 2007.
The trophies pictured above, including at least three from the Double H, were won by Gibbs. Paul Gibbs says there were a lot more, but they were often playthings for the children, and got broken. "That's all that's left after raising four kids," Paul said.


The headline this Sunday for the "'62 Georgia Super Stock Champ"? We're running in A/G.

                                                                                                                                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Left, in a1965 SS/S race, most likely with a 427. Above, as Phil Bonner's "Big Ma Mau No. 2"

The repainted Strip Teaser Thunderbolt. With the car is Reece's late son, Jackie.

 

Paul Gibbs went to races with his dad, and has been racing pretty much ever since he got out of the military in the early 1980s. He's 47 now, and every change of cars has always been about trying  to go faster. 
He started out in a 1966 Fairlane in the old Sportsman division, ran various Super Pro cars (among them, a Roadrunner and a 1970s straight-axle funny car based on an Opel GT), and finally moving up to the serious speed of Pro Mod racing.
  His first Pro Mod car was a home-built 1972 Cuda that Paul admits wasn't enough car for the horsepower of its supercharged hemi. A Dart nitrous Pro Mod was an interim ride while his latest car was under construction at Jeffers Pro Cars ( www.jeffersprocars.com ) in Missouri.
It's also a Cuda, 1970 model, and is state of the art in every respect. Its first outing this year was at a race in Bristol; rain kept it off the track, but the weather didn't keep fans from admiring the Cuda's classic good looks. Among the garishness of many Pro Mod cars, this one stands out with its simple but elegant paint and 'hockey stick' decoration.
The car's first full weekend race was over the Fourth of July at Huntsville, Ala., as part of the Southern Outlaw Pro Mod tour. Paul qualified with a 4.655 at 153.37 mph, and lost in the first round. Based on the performance of other Jeffers machines, Paul is hoping for sub-fours with everything dialed in.