Bart Stevens’ interest in Sam Nunis goes back to the late 1980s when his name appeared more than once in Chris Economaki’s weekly column, “From the Editor’s Notebook,” in National Speed Sport News. Bart was fascinated with the stories of the East Coast promoter with whom Chris had worked side-by-side and held in such high regard, but also referred to as Slippery Sam.
In 2005, Bart spent half a day with Chris while he was in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the Grand Marshal for the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. As they drove around Tulsa, Bart drilled him with questions about Nunis, and he obliged by sharing firsthand stories of his days working with Nunis. Then, in 2006, when Chris released his wonderful book Let ‘Em All Go, he dedicated an entire chapter to working with Nunis. In fact, his book title was a Sam Nunis phrase.
In the fall of 2018, Bart was a guest speaker at a racing history banquet and spoke about the life and times of Sam Nunis. Mike Curb, the legendary man in both the world of popular music and auto racing, was in the audience and suggested that Bart write a book about Nunis. As Bart pondered the subject, his two worlds came together – racing and music.
Bart accepted the challenge and as he began to lay out the Nunis story, he realized that Sam’s life on the road as a nomadic race promoter was very similar to the early musicians who crisscrossed the country looking for their next gig and a warm place to sleep.
Some of the stories in the book are based on real life events told to Bart during the interview process. Bart’s imagination led him to craft a story, a fictionalized story, about Sam Nunis and his best friend from childhood, Robert Johnson. The legend and folklore around Johnson’s life is huge, but short lived. In this fictional story, Bart carried on the life and career path of the blues singer well after he died in 1938.
Enjoy the story of two greats who changed the worlds of racing and popular music.