Terry Bivins - 3 Sisters Racing

TERRY BIVINS is a racing world legend, hailing from the same hometown as the 3 Sisters, Wellsville, Kansas! For real! Our mom grew up right across the street from Terry's dad, T.J. Bivins. Following is an excerpt from an article published in the Lawrence Journal World by Ned Kehde Sunday, February 3, 2002: "Back in 1976, Terry Bivins of Lebo gave Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison a run for their money on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit. Bivins finished eighth at the '76 Daytona 500. He even led the race for one lap. And at a number of other races, he placed high on the leader board. Moreover, he finished second in the balloting for rookie-of-the-year that season. Five years later, Bivins decided to retire from racing and switch to fishing." I left Wellsville shortly after graduating, but through the years have heard stories about this Bivins guy that was racing stock cars in the "big races". But at the time I was totally involved in the 4-legged horsepowered world... who would have thought that 25 or so years later

For more information about Terry, just surf the Web - there's tons of it out there - he has a large, loyal fan base. Only these days there is a lot of fishing stories with Terry as the leading man. Keep checking 3 Sisters Racing too, we gather information on a daily, sometimes hourly basis - we are proud to support and honor our Home Town NASCAR Driver!
Hey - check out this article about Kansas on NASCAR.COM - Terry's mentioned!

Also - check out the First Night Out page!
Terry came out of retirement for a couple of years, racing on the dirt at Lakeside Speedway - wheeling a Grand National for two seasons, then a modified - oh, what a thrill!! There are pictures scattered around on this website, especially the photogallery page.

Link to model builders site list, at bottom of page click on [to models index]. there lots of pics of all kinds of race car models. Story of Terry's on this page! Cool site! Oval Track Models

I couldn't believe it when I got about 1/2 way down the page and saw a scrapbook page that *I CREATED* had been included on your website - The "It Died a Horrible Death" picture! My dad built that car for Terry in 1972! I just completed a scrapbook for my dad, which tells the whole story of the "Isaacs & Bivins Chevy" that Terry drove in 1972. The pic that you have was actually taken of a "Photo Board" (where I had duplicated my scrapbook pages) that I made for my dad to use when he showed the "Replica Car" (commemorating the 30th year since Terry drove the car) that he built and showed at "Old Timers Nite" at Lakeside Speedway in 2003. As you can see by the pictures of that car, it was OBVIOUSLY NOT driveable after that crash (as Rusty Wallace stated in his interview)! FYI - Rusty was actually referring to a different time when Terry put the car OVER the wall (and landed a lot softer!) and then drove the car back in - I've been told that Terry did that twice at I-70 (in addition to the 1972 crash where he went THROUGH the wall)! So, the CORRECT "story" is the one in the article that appeared in the 2003 Lakeside "Old Timers Nite" Program, which I wrote and provided the photos for. Also, wanted to let you know about another story that needs to be corrected. The Terry "Wild Man" Bivins article that was printed in the CARB "Hall of Fame" program in 2004 had some incorrect info. I verified this with Claudia Bivins, as it didn't seem right to me when I read it! Claudia was NOT pregnant in 1972 when that wreck happened -- her boys were already several years old - as I recall, Jamie was 4-6 and Scott was 8-10 (I can remember being at their house with my dad during that time period). I can't remember who Claudia told me was pregnant at that time and actually made that statement. - Sharon Siegfried

our paths would cross at the races?? The Driver is now my father-in-law, his vivacious wife Claudia is my mother-in-law, and I'm married to son James, that makes Scott my brother-in-law. Claudia has told me some wonderful stories about their racing years in NASCAR, some I dare not repeat, but it's cool to hear "inside gossip" about the other legends. She's casually mentioned fishing with Kenny Schrader, Richard Childress, run-ins with Daryl Waltrip... I'd better stop, since I don't know a lot of details. There is a lot of info on the www about Terry - can't put it all in here or there won't be room for pictures! Locally, Terry Bivins is truly a legend; on the dirt, asphalt and drag strip - to quote Ned Kehde again, "Nowadays, just like when he was a race car driver, very few fishermen can keep pace with Bivins. He normally out-fishes the other anglers at the heated dock by a stunning 15-to-1 ratio." - by NASCarla

Terry Who? Can you believe I have heard that statement more then once this year? That guy that drives the #53 Grand National, you old folks (I am not even 50 yet and they are calling me old?) tell us he was a great driver but we young folks don’t see it. What? You got to be kidding me and then I realize time moves on. I have been attending races in the Missouri and Kansas area since 1964 (six years old). My uncle started racing at Humansville, Missouri in 1964 and normally competed at Cabool, Mountain Grove, Willow Springs, West Plains, Bolivar, Springfield Fairgrounds, and Rolla. Our family has lived in Kansas City since 1966 so Lakeside on Friday and Riverside on Saturday nights. Then in 1969 I-70 Speedway opened and we occasionally made it to that track, I mean understand I was only 11 and dependent on Dad for a ride to the track and I-70 Speedway was a way out there. On the bright side there used to be gas wars then, stations would try to sell gas for less, average price I remember during a gas war was $.19 a gallon. Oh those were the days… Back to this guy, Terry Who? Terry who is Terry Bivins. For the young group that was still in diapers and training pants in the late 60s and early 70s I would suggest doing a google search on Terry Bivins. Maybe we old folks should be saying Google Who at this point or what the heck is a google, anyway you young folks understand. You will find some amazing stats including in the 1976 Daytona 500 he had an 8th place finish and he led a lap (this was the race Pearson and Petty crashed heading to the finish line and Pearson re-fired and crossed first). You will also find that he finished second in Rookie of the Year and that became a bone of contention and speculation for Bivins’ and all his fans. Yep, politics played out on Cup scene even back then, Terry had more points and better finishes and yet for those of us locally you could say he just flat got the shaft. Understand he was a great driver! He could have been the person that Darrell Waltrip became because like Darrell, Terry will speak his mind. Picture for a moment, Terry Bivins in television doing some crazy boogity stunt at the start of a race. Terry spoke his mind then and he does today, however, back then I think he was more controversial then he is today. Today he talks from the past just like many “elderly statesman”. Let’s back up a few years to when he was racing locally and the controversy Terry was involved in. Clyde Ellis, then I-70 pit steward tells of the time he had to set Terry down for not following the rules. Dad and I were at Lakeside the night Terry and Dave Wall got together on the back straight and Wall flew over the turn 3 wall landing on his roof down the tall hill outside of the track. Needless to say, it appeared to be racing incident but the crowd was upset with Mr. Bivins that night. It became a Dave Wall/Terry Bivins rivalry and there were others. Even in that day because he was winning so much he was accused of cheating. Some of his work could be described as creative, some borderline, and some just outstanding ingenuity. Just like today though he was a winner back then and we all know all winners are cheating, just think if they would have had traction control back then? He has been to the top and done it, but this sport is more of a “what have you done for me recently sport?”, thus people

asking me Terry Who. Times have changed since Terry was in Cup. Times have changed since Terry raced locally. Terry stopped racing for a number of years and became a fisherman. Always competitive he was as good at fishing as he was at driving and won fishing tournaments. That competitive nature is what has brought him back to racing. Gone are old archrivals Larry Phillips (I saw them run side by side for 100 laps at the Springfield Fairgrounds), Dick Trickle, shoot even that youngster Rusty Wallace has retired. While he was gone fishing the racing world changed. In his day they utilized the same car for both dirt and asphalt racing. Today there are many differences in the suspension setup between dirt and asphalt cars. Racing has become more specialized. Late Models in the 70s were the same cars that were available on the show room floor. Today’s cars involve frames and suspension parts made strictly for racing. The closest cars to the cars of yesterday are the Factory Stock or Street Stock cars. Safety has also changed. I am glad to see in some of the old pictures of Mr. Bivins he utilized a full face helmet, but where was the window net? Actually window nets did not become a requirement until the mid 70s after the Richard Petty crash at Darlington in 1970 when his arm came out of his rolling car. I wonder if there was as much complaining about adding a window net as there has been about a head and neck restraint system. There again is the difference in age as time has changed items in the race car that were not available in Terry’s hay day. I will say Terry did email his objections to a head and neck restraint system during the winter but he does compete with one. The difference in cars from the 60s and 70s is so much different than the race cars of today especially for returning past champions. My uncle last raced in 1973 at the Rolla track and yes Terry Bivins was there along with a young 16 year old driver named Rusty Wallace. When my uncle walked away from racing he stayed away until 1993 when he was part owner of a dirt late model that competed at the West Plains track. One night the pit crew challenged my uncle to hot lap the late model which any racer will gladly oblige. However, the set up of the car, the light weight of the car, and the horsepower provided by today’s engine, he promptly put it into the wall. Does that remind you of Terry Who when he returned to racing? One of the great things about our sport compared to other sports is age is not a factor. We have teenagers racing against grandpas. In football when a player turns 30 he is on the downside of his career. In baseball a player may still be active until about age 40. In racing there is no age limit. Terry Who is C.A.R.B Hall of Famer Terry Bivins. One of the original fifteen inducted into the first class of the Hall of Fame. Don’t know if it was coincidence or if being inducted re-lit the spark but Terry, now in his 60s, is again racing. We are fortunate to have racers like Terry return to racing. He challenged me to mix it up with those on the internet at this year’s Hall of Fame dinner that is why I agreed to do a blog. Oh and did I mention he was challenging me while complaining about a lack of Lakeside practice time? Now the challenge to Terry, get that #53 back in victory lane so you can reclaim your last name. Oh yeah, remember to read the rules, all the rules.

Taken out of a newspaper article, don't have the name of the paper or the date: For defending champion Bob Senneker of Dorr, Mich., and local favorite Terry Bivins of Shawnee, the day of racing was the pits. Senneker had the pole and Bivins started second, but their cars developed problems. Senneker went out after 137 laps when his oil pressure dropped. Bivins parked his car after 47 laps because of torn-up oil filters. "I'd just as soon go out on the first lap." said Senneker, who pulled a relief stint for Dick Trickle, nineth place finisher. "I wasted half my tires here, and I've got a race Friday night back in Michigan." Bivins said the only crash of the day threw him off and caused his car to malfunction. Bivins took a turn relieving Fred Whisler when the Buckner driver needed a rest because of a neck ailment. Whisler took over at a late pit stop and finished the race in sixth place.

I have heard two versions describing this crumpled 'hugger-orange'#53 car:
From the Lakeside Speedway Program, 2003 Old Timers Night edition - "The (Duane) Isaacs & Bivins Chevy 'died a horrible death' (after a very short season) on July 8, 1972 at I-70 Speedway. The throttle stuck while going down the front straight, and the car crashed THROUGH the cement wall in the #1 turn, and flipped violently, end-over-end outside the track... and Bivins walked away. When help arrived at the car, Bivins had already climbed out. The story that has been told was that his first words were to his engine builder, Earl Rand. Terry said "Earl, she never stopped pullin!"
From Trackside, Kansas Speedway, 2004 - Clint Bowyer was up for the interview, Rusty Wallace was on the panel. If that wasn't cool enough, when Clint was talking about the local tracks and got onto the subject of I-70, Rusty broke in, all excited, and told everybody his version - this isn't exactly word for word, 3 Sisters was at that Trackside show, but luckily I had my DVR taping at home. That's why the picture of Rusty looks fuzzy, it's a picture of the TV

3/6/2004 Terry Bivins was inducted into the brand new C.A.R.B. (Central Auto Racing Boosters) Hall of Fame, Kansas City. Nominees covered all of the racing in the Kansas City area - any person who contributed to the advancement of Circle or Figure 8 Track racing in Missouri or Kansas could be nominated, along with anyone from the area who had contributed to the same in other areas of the country. The first Hall of Fame Inductees...
Virginia Nelson, Vito Calia, Jud Larson, Billy D. Roberts, Bill Crane, Taylor "Pappy" Weld, Junior Hower, Bud Hunnicut, Virgil Chapman, Charlie Kraft, Larry Kaster, Jon Backlund, Richard "Dick" Sutcliffe, Terry Bivins and Clyde Ellis. The write-up comes from the Induction Ceremony program book, each Inductee had a page, fascinating stories of past accomplishments!