Mike Curb has been many things – a successful record producer, the lieutenant governor and acting governor of the State of California, a national co-chairman in the presidential election of Ronald Reagan, and a veteran NASCAR car owner.
This weekend at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Curb’s history continues.
The man who fielded a car for Richard Petty’s 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win on July 4, 1984 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway – where President Reagan looked on from the broadcast booth – is a car owner again at Kansas.
In association with Richard Childress, Curb and longtime business partner Cary Agajanian are fielding the No. 98 Reagan Centennial/Camping World/Curb Records Chevrolet Impala in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. When the green flag drops, current NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship point leader Austin Dillon will have made his Sprint Cup debut, and Curb’s 100th start as a Sprint Cup car owner will be in the books.
As Curb’s record as a NASCAR car owner hits the centennial mark, the car carries the colors of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation’s Centennial Celebration, a historic, yearlong celebration to commemorate the 100th birthday of America’s 40th president.
It was Curb, who as acting governor of California – the state with the most electoral votes – orchestrated Regan’s 1984 visit to Daytona with Bill France Jr. In a scene that could’ve been scripted in Hollywood, Reagan gave the command to start engines from aboard Air Force One before landing at Daytona Beach Airport as the Firecracker 400 was underway. Whisked into the track by his Secret Service detail, Reagan visited the broadcast booth and attempted some play-by-play with MRN Radio’s Ned Jarrett.
Reagan stuck around for the end of the race where Petty scored his milestone 200th victory, and afterward dined alongside Petty, Bobby Allison and many other NASCAR drivers on Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pepsi. It was an all-American moment and a watershed mark in NASCAR’s illustrious history.
In the background for all of this was Curb, and now, nearly 30 years later, he is again promoting Reagan with a compilation album from Curb Records titled, “Together, A New Beginning: A Tribute to the Ronald Reagan Centennial.” The CD featuring 16 tracks by such artists as LeAnne Rimes, Clay Walker, Wynonna, Lee Greenwood and Tim Dugger will be available for download on iTunes and Amazon.com on Tuesday, and also at www.ReaganFoundation.org.
Dugger, a member of the National Youth Leadership Committee whose recording of “Stand Tall” is a part of the compilation, will sing the National Anthem prior to the Hollywood Casino 400. Fellow Curb Records artist Rachel Holder will sing the National Anthem prior to Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Both will be part of a free, post-race concert on the midway outside of Kansas’ 1.5-mile oval after the Nationwide Series race.
Putting an exclamation point on the weekend will be Dillon, grandson of Childress. The 21-year-old sophomore at High Point (N.C.) University is on the fast track to racing stardom. Last year’s Truck Series rookie of the year, Dillon is leading the championship standings in his second full season with only five races remaining. Thanks to four wins in 47 career Truck Series starts, Dillon is ready to tackle the elite Sprint Cup Series, where his grandfather has fielded racecars regularly since 1976.
The most prominent racer Childress worked with was Dale Earnhardt. The legendary driver won six of his seven Sprint Cup titles while driving for Childress. Curb was fortunate enough to play a part in that pairing, for Earnhardt’s first Sprint Cup championship came in 1980 in a Curb-sponsored car, a year before Earnhardt joined Childress to start their epic run together.
Now Curb makes his 100th Sprint Cup start as a NASCAR owner with Childress’ grandson as his driver, all while paying tribute to Reagan, one of the most lauded presidents in American history.
Curb Records at Kansas Page Two
And just as the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation’s Centennial Celebration has strong ties to Curb, it also has ties to Dillon, who serves as the co-chair of the Reagan Foundation’s National Youth Leadership Council.
It’s a full-circle weekend for Curb, where so many points of his history have culminated, including the birth of his grandson, Carter Curb Childress.
“I’m honored to be able to work with Austin Dillon and Richard Childress in support of the Ronald Reagan entennial,” Curb said.
“The Reagan Foundation is honored to join with Mike Curb and Richard Childress for this historic tribute,” said Stewart McLaurin, executive director, Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. “Mike Curb and Ronald Reagan were great friends and it’s a reflection of that friendship that this race connects the legacy of Ronald Reagan with the next generation of American leaders like Austin Dillon.”
Earlier this year, the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration logo was displayed on the Indianapolis 500-winning car which was owned by co-owned by Brian Herta and Curb-Agajanian.
“Winning Indy was a dream come true, particularly since I was able to share that moment with my lifetime partner in auto racing, Cary Agajanian,” Curb said.
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