Much later, they teamed again in operating the Buck Baker Driving School, a school for new and aspiring racers, at North Carolina Motor Speedway.
![cotton rocket instagram cotton rocket instagram](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5349ba13e4b095a3fb0ba65c/1616594197084-XP5RR05VI620FNPUN3P0/Esleeck-Typewriter-Paper-Writing-Samples.jpeg)
He was a person you wanted to be around because he always made you feel better. “Buddy was always wide open, and that’s the way he raced and lived his life,” said Petty, whose team employed Baker as a driver in the 1970s. A newspaper once asked him to wear a pedometer on qualifying day to record how many miles he walked, but he grew tired of the experiment and removed the device before jumping in his car.
![cotton rocket instagram cotton rocket instagram](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/74/36/ca/7436cabf0053db21b7de8cf3f74a4cf8.png)
Amused garage area workers would watch as he paced up and down the garage waiting for his turn on track. He was particularly nervous before qualifying.
#Cotton rocket instagram drivers
I remember them asking me, ‘Have you shaved yet?’ or ‘Are you still on milk or have you gone to a grownup drink yet?’ ”īaker did grow up-at 6-5 he was one of the tallest drivers in motorsports. And by the time you get good enough to beat us we’ll be retired anyhow.
![cotton rocket instagram cotton rocket instagram](https://joyslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/VinylR15-768x373.jpg)
“The first thing the veterans told me is that it’s impossible, that you’ll never beat us. But every time you get a little overconfident like that, you get knocked back about 50 feet. “Then you say, hey, maybe I’ll make it now. “The first time I beat them I realized you’re not really beating them, you’re beating the day or the situation,” he said. Baker said he grew up racing against men he called his heroes.