September 3, 1973 - Nashville's Frank Reed 100

Some of NASCAR's finest national late model sportsman drivers in 1973 filed entry forms to race in the Frank Reed Memorial 100 on Labor Day night at Nashville's Fairground Speedways - later known as Nashville Speedway and today known as Fairgrounds Speedway.

Frank Reed tragically died while running third on lap 12 of a 15-lap race on September 19, 1956. The event was part of the 1956 Tennessee State Fair. Reed perished on Nashville's one-mile dirt track, the predecessor to today's half-mile asphalt Fairgrounds Speedway. The racer from Murfreesboro was 29 years old and a father of two young sons.

Reed was the only driver killed on the one-mile track. Three drivers perished between 1971 and 1972 when the track was steeply banked. None have died as a result of a racing accident at the track since.

Jimmy "Smut" Means won the pole for the Reed Memorial race. But he faced steep competition in his effort to win at the middle Tennessee track where he'd started racing in addition to racing regularly in Huntsville, Alabama.

Out-of-towners that rolled into Music City to battle door-to-door with the local drivers included L. D. Ottinger, Neil Bonnett, Grant Adcox, and three-time NASCAR LMS champion Red Farmer.

The list also included Jack Ingram, a 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee. Ingram won NASCAR's national LMS title in 1972 after Farmer's three-year run, and he was looking to repeat in 1973. One way to ensure a second consecutive title was to nab the victory and points at Nashville.

Source: The Tennessean

Local driver Darrell Waltrip also planned to challenge for the win - though he first had to arrive. Waltrip won Nashville's LMS title in 1970 and was in the thick of the mix for a second title three year later. While competing for the track's championship, however, DW had set his sights on a future career in Winston Cup racing.

After racing a used Mercury in several races in 1972 and 1973, Waltrip prepared to make his first Cup start for owner Bud Moore in the Southern 500 at Darlington. Once Waltrip finished his race in South Carolina, he planned to make a beeline to Nashville for the Reed race later the same day.

Source: The Tennessean

As it turns out, Waltrip made it to the end of the race in Darlington. He finished 8th in his first Southern 500, and he did not return to Nashville in time to race. He did, however, continue to race the remainder of the season and won his second track LMS title.

Source: The Tennessean

Farmer got by Means when the green dropped and led the first 17 laps in R.C. Alexander's famed #84 Harpeth Ford sponsored car. Bob Burcham, a frequent Fairgrounds racer from Chattanooga, then took the lead from Farmer.

Once Burcham went to the point, he defended the position from some worthy challengers. First, Farmer tried to retake the lead he'd lost earlier - but he couldn't get close enough to pass Burcham. Near halfway of the race, Ottinger took his shot. He got beside Burcham but couldn't complete the pass either. L.D.'s engine gave up the ghost about 20 laps after his surge, and he was done for the night.

Means hung around all night and watched as one driver after another took their shot at Burcham. As Ottinger's car was loaded on the trailer, Means found a bit more speed and went after Burcham.

For the final 30 laps of the race, the two cars battled side by side. As the duo continued to race off turn 4, however, Burcham always found just a little bit more speed to lead each lap.

The white flag waved, and the two cars sailed into turn 1 - Means to the inside and Burcham with his momentum on the outside. They stayed that way down the backstretch and through turns 3 and four. At the finish line, folks couldn't determine the winner in the near-photo finish.

But the call was made that Means had indeed edged out Burcham at the line - the only moment of the race that he led. The win was Mean's first at Nashville. Neil Bonnett finished third followed by Freddy Fryar and Farmer.

Source: The Tennessean

Means won the track championship in Huntsville in 1973 and notched his first win in Nashville the same year. He continued to race at the Fairgrounds in 1974 and captured the track's LMS championship.

Finishing order:

1. Jimmy Means
2. Bob Burcham
3. Neil Bonnett
4. Freddy Fryar
5. Red Farmer
6. Jack Ingram
7. Donnie Anthony
8. Paddlefoot Wales
9. Jimmy Wall
10. Charlie Binkley
11. Don Smith
12. Gary Myers
13. Wayne Carden
14. James Ham
15. Doyle Belcher
16. Dorris Vaughn
17. Jim Berry
18. James Climer
19. L.D. Ottinger
20. Ronnie Dixon
21. Windle Webster
22. Jim Robinson
23. Charles Greenwell
24. Phil Stillings
25. Bill Tate
26. Tommy Andrews
27. Johnny Johnson
28. Grant Adcox
29. Steve Spencer
30. Clyde Peoples

TMC