Former Goody's Dash Champion busted for Moonshining

By Monte Mitchell

Winston-Salem JOURNAL REPORTER

NORTH WILKESBORO

When a production company recently needed film footage to tell the story of Junior Johnson running from revenuers back in the day, former champion driver Dean Combs got behind the wheel of a 1940 Ford and made a bootleg turn for the camera crew.

It was a make-believe reenactment of the legendary roots of moonshine and racing.

In real life yesterday, Combs was charged in connection with running a moonshine still that authorities blew up within the shadow of North Wilkesboro Speedway, one of the cradles of NASCAR.

Combs, 57, is a five-time champion of the series that started as the Baby Grand Nationals, a former Winston Cup driver and a former crew chief for a NASCAR team once owned by Johnson. When Johnson drove moonshine, he was considered a master of the bootleg turn in which he would slide his speeding car 180 degrees and then speed off in the opposite direction of his pursuer.

As rain fell yesterday morning, Combs used his cell phone's camera to snap photos of the remains of a moonshine still that lay broken and blown apart on a hill behind his home and just a couple of hundred yards from the speedway that Combs' father had once co-owned.

Combs said he used the still to make cold medicine or brandy.

"I'd drink it for a cold," he said. "It was mostly for cold medicine. There's not been any good apple brandy out here for years. It's better than what you buy at a store."

The Wilkes County Sheriff's Office destroyed the still in two explosions. Residents as far as four miles away reported hearing the loud booms Thursday night.

Authorities seized about 200 gallons of corn liquor, said Shon Tally, an agent with N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement. Twenty-four gallons were in plastic gallon jugs, and the rest was in glass jars. They also seized 3,000 pounds of sugar.

Combs was charged with manufacturing nontax-paid liquor, possessing nontax-paid liquor, possessing ingredients to manufacture nontax-paid liquor and possessing equipment to manufacture nontax-paid liquor.

It has been about a year-and-a-half since authorities found a still in Wilkes County, Tally said. They often make purchases of nontax-paid liquor, he said, "but to actually find a still, they're few and far between."

Authorities acted on a tip.

"He had just finished running that morning," Tally said. "When he was draining the water out of it so we could move it, the steam was rolling off it."

Combs owns a defunct go-cart track near the speedway, and he said that the still was in one of the buildings there. When Tally and other agents came to his door Thursday afternoon, he took them to the still, he said.

"The ALE man he was very nice and very helpful," Combs said.

The still was made of stainless steel, and just the boiler weighed about 1,000 pounds. Agents were trying to figure out how to get it out to destroy it.

"He got his tractor, he pulled it up there for us," Tally said. "That's how accommodating he was. You couldn't ask for a nicer fellow."

Combs said that authorities were complimentary of the quality of his moonshine.

"They even bragged on it, said they'd never seen spring water that clear," he said. "I said, ‘You need to put a label on it and stick it in the store.'"

Combs said that his interest in moonshine reflects part of Wilkes County's heritage.

"It's something I was always interested in," he said. "I wanted to see if I could make something drinkable. I guess I gave someone a quart I shouldn't have."

NSCS Shelby 427 Recap: Kyle Busch Rallies For Hometown Las Vegas Win

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

LAS VEGAS (March 1, 2009) — So the last shall be first, and the first last.

For biblical scholars, that was Matthew 20:16. For NASCAR fans, it was Sunday’s Shelby 427 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Starting from the rear of the field because of an engine change during Friday’s practice session, pole winner and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch worked his way to the front throughout a race punctuated with a record 14 caution periods and streaked to a .411-second victory, his first of the season and his first at Las Vegas.

Matt Kenseth, first in the series standings entering the race, finished last, after his engine blew six laps into the race. That ended Kenseth’s bid to become the first driver to win the first three races in a Cup season.

“This is pretty cool,” Busch said after his celebratory burnout on the frontstretch. “I didn’t know exactly what it would mean, but when I was coming to the checkered flag, there were knots in my stomach.”

Clint Bowyer regained a lap he lost early and finished second, thanks to crew chief Shane Wilson’s decision to keep him on the track while the other front-runners pitted under caution on Lap 260 of the 285-lap race. Bowyer surrendered the lead to Busch off Turn 2 on Lap 269.

Jeff Burton, Bowyer’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing, took third, followed by David Reutimann and Bobby Labonte. Jeff Gordon (who assumed the series points lead by 18 over Bowyer), Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top 10.

Three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who led a race-high 92 laps, spun in Turn 2 to cause the final caution on Lap 280 and finished 24th.

“I’m sorry, guys,” said Johnson, who also had a tough day on pit road.

“It wasn’t meant to be today,” crew chief Chad Knaus responded over the team’s radio.

The race restarted with three laps left, and Busch pulled away from Bowyer and Burton.

Even though Busch started at the rear of the field, he still is credited for starting from the pole, making him the first to win from that position at Las Vegas. But that also meant Busch had to contend with traffic until he took the lead for the first time (other than during an early cycle of green-flag pit stops) on Lap 228.

“We just had to battle hard,” said Busch, 23, who won his 13th series race. “We didn’t have the best car today, but we had a car that we could keep working on and keep making it better.”

Bowyer credited Wilson, his new crew chief this season, for the call that gained him the runner-up finish.

“That’s where he shines,” Bowyer said. “He studies pit strategy real hard and really works on it. And that’s an area where I felt I could improve. I’m proud of him, proud of his call and glad it worked out.”

Notes: Busch has won nine of 39 NASCAR Sprint Cup races since moving to Joe Gibbs Racing to start the 2008 season. He won his first race for the new team last March at Atlanta, site of next week’s race. … Kenseth fell to third in points, tied with teammate Greg Biffle at 40 behind Gordon. … Johnson remained 19th in points, 145 behind the leader. … The only three drivers to score top-10 finishes in the first two races of the season — Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart — all had those short streaks broken. Kenseth was 43rd, Stewart 26th and Busch 23rd. … Rookie Joey Logano stayed on the lead lap and posted his best Cup finish to date: 13th. … For the second straight race, Mark Martin’s engine failed. He finished 40th and dropped to 34th in the Cup standings.