Charlie Burkhalter ready to race at Athens Speedway in 1967.
A couple of weeks before Christmas in 2009, they had a wedding anniversary in Shake Rag, GA. Of course, I got lost and was late. It was almost dark when we arrived. Our host, Charlie Burkhalter, Jr., directed us to a parking space and said he was going to get the trailer. I knew what he was talking about. Everybody there knew what he was talking about but his father, former famed Athens racing driver Charlie Burkhalter, Sr. You see that was the surprise!
A year or so ago, Charlie Jr. called me and said he had found one of his dad’s old race cars. He had grand ideas of restoring the car to the condition and look as when his dad drove it. We tried to find some parts for him. Then he called and said they had found another of his dad’s race cars. Since it was more complete, they decided to restore it. This was about three months before the party. Charlie Jr. called to say that the party was between Commerce and Athens off US Highway 441.
“I’ll be there,” I said.
When I got there, quite a crowd had gathered. Shake Rag is a very nice hunting lodge about four miles off of US Highway 441 between Commerce and Athens. The lodge is built like a large house with a big deck off the back. An awning stretches in front of the double doors that open into one large room. But all the action was outside.
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Charlie Jr. pulled the long trailer under the awning and opened the back. The family had gathered but not Charlie Sr. As the restored racer was unloaded, you could see the care to detail that was put into this job – loving care from the racing family of Charlie Burkhalter Sr. Several of his closest friends and family escorted Charlie outside to see the car for the first time since the late sixties. He was astonished!
The car was what was commonly called a “skeeter.” They were a frame, an engine, running gear with tires and a seat for the driver. Charlie’s cars were always number 75 and gold and this one was too. The engine was a small block Chevy that most everyone used. The wheels and tires were the “mag wheels” that everyone used as well as grooved slicks. The only thing missing was red clay stuck to the frame rails and tires! The family had recreated that same car that ran so many years ago.
For more of this story, visit our sister site, Georgia Racing History.com.
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