Nashville's Falls City 200 - part 1

For many years, Falls City was a coming of age and working man's beer. The Nashville-area distributor leveraged the brand as a frequent sponsor at the track most refer to as Fairgrounds Speedway through much of the 1970s.

Drivers such as James Ham, Flookie Buford, Charlie Binkley, Bobby Isaac, Buddy Baker and ... Darrell Waltrip sported the red and gold colors of Falls City at the Fairgrounds.

Falls City also sponsored an annual, late model sportsman race at the Fairgrounds from 1972 through 1977. Except for the first one, the Falls City 200 was scheduled between late May and mid-June. This post will highlight the first three editions - all of which had a common denominator.

Falls City 100 - July 29, 1972

The first Falls City race was 100 vs. 200 laps and the only one on the track's 5/8 mile, high-banked configuration that lasted from 1970 through 1972. Run under Nashville's lights, the race was scheduled the same day Joe Leonard won the second annual Schaefer 500 at Pocono.

Waltrip, Nashville's 1970 late model sportsman champion, won the pole and dominated the race for the win. The victory was his sixth of the season.

On lap 45, James Ham passed Charlie Binkley to move into third place. Jerry Long ran second early in the race, but he blew an engine just past the halfway mark. When Long's night became short, Ham took over the second spot behind a disappearing Waltrip.

Something broke on Ham's car with about 15 laps to go. He sailed head-on into the wall between turns one and two and burst into flames. Ham stopped along the inside hall, and he quickly bailed out. A year later in Nashville's Uniroyal 100, Ham suffered a similar wreck - including another fire - but once again escaped relatively unscathed.

Binkley was following Ham and slid down along the inside wall in an effort to avoid him. He needed an assist to get back in the action, did so, and finished the race in second.

Waltrip was greeted in victory lane by flagman Don Donoho and Ellis Cook, Nashville's Falls City distributor.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

1. Darrell Waltrip 
2. Charlie Binkley
3. Flookie Buford 
4. Joe Mangrum 
5. Ben Pruitt
6. James Climer
7. Windle Webster
8. Jim Berry
9. Jerry Sisco 
10. James Ham 
11. James Veach 
12. Jerry Long
13. Ray Chitwood
14. Freddy Fryar
15. Carl Layne
16. Rod Stillings
17. Everett Barnes 
18. Bill Morton
19. Jimmy Benson
20. Ronnie Dickson
21. Clyde Peoples

Falls City 200 - June 2, 1973

The third configuration of the Fairgrounds track (and the one still in place today) debuted in 1973. The banks were dropped to 18 degrees, and the official length of the track was reduced to .596-mile. Even though the track's length was no longer .625-mile, that didn't stop track management from boasting about the World's Finest 5/8 Mile Track. The same 5/8-mile reference continued to be used on programs through 1978.

Courtesy of Russ Thompson

Waltrip's crew brought two Chevelles to the track for the 1973 running of the Falls City 200. His plan was to race a newer car and have Walter Wallace pilot the older model.

After qualifying, Waltrip made a relatively last minute decision to swap cars. Wallace had qualified the older car fourth, but he exchanged seats with Waltrip. The decision turned out to be the right one.

Occasional Winston Cup racer Charlie Glotzbach came to town and won the pole in a Dodge. The car, owned by M.B. McMahan of Sevierville, TN, was already a two-time Fairgrounds winner in 1973. Cup regular Dave Marcis was at the wheel of McMahon's Mopar for two 30-lap features in the month of May.

McMahan wanted Marcis to race his car yet again - especially since Nashville had a $500 bonus for any Dodge that could win a national championship race. Practical logistics of shuttling Marcis between the Cup race at Dover and Nashville, however, could not be arranged. McMahan also considered Pete Hamilton and James Ham. Hamilton was already committed to a ride in a 200-lap LMS race at Middle Georgia Raceway near Macon, and Ham already had a ride in Nashville.

Glotzbach got word of McMahan's need for a driver while hanging out in Dover. His Cup owner, Hoss Ellington, opted not to race at Dover following a tough effort a week earlier in the World 600 at Charlotte. Glotzbach contacted McMahan and agreed to fly to Nashville in his own plane.

Waltrip needed only five laps to take the lead, and he set sail once he got it. Eight cautions during the race helped make things closer for Waltrip than he would have liked. With each restart, however, Waltrip again pulled away from the field.

L.D. Ottinger finished second with Freddy Fryar in third - the only other cars on the lead lap. Jimmy Hensley made a rare trip to Nashville and returned to Virginia with a P4.

Jack Ingram somehow managed a fifth place finish despite being involved in a multi-car accident a few laps after the halfway point of the race. Much of his Chevelle's sheet metal was mangled, but he soldiered on to a top 5 finish. His tenacity in the Falls City 200 and throughout the rest of the season helped reward him with NASCAR's 1973 national late model sportsman division championship.

Waltrip got the repeat win, and others scored some valuable points for the national title. Red Farmer, on the other hand, had a trip to Music City that he'd just as soon forget - and perhaps has. The truck hauling his race car broke down on I-65 as he drove from Birmingham. After arriving, practicing, and qualifying third, he developed an overheating problem early in the race. His crew addressed the issue during a pit stop, but their efforts didn't last. More engine woes put Farmer's car back on the sketchy truck after 82 laps.

1. Darrell Waltrip
2. L. D. Ottinger
3. Freddy Fryar
4. Jimmy Hensley
5. Jack Ingram
6. Jimmy Means
7. Rod Stillings
8. Jerry Lawley
9. Robert Wales
10. Charley Glotzbach
11. Charley Binkley
12. Don Smith
13. Ronnie Blasingim
14. Neil Bonnett 
15. Walter Wallace
16. Wayne Carden
17. Alton Jones
18. Donnle Anthony 
19. Sammy Ard
20. Windle Webster
21. Steve Spencer
22. Jerry Sisco
23. Dorris Vaughn
24. Gary Myers
25. Red Farmer
26. Charley Greenwell 
27. Bill Morton 
28. Flookie Buford
29. James Ham
30. Dan Lawson
31. Terry Flynn
32. Carl Lane
33. Bobby Baucom

Falls City 200 - June 1, 1974

Waltrip returned in 1974 as the two-time defending race winner. He also returned as a two-time Fairgrounds track champion after having won the LMS title a second time in 1973. On top of his busy late model sportsman schedule, Waltrip had also launched his Winston Cup career.

The Falls City 200 lineup included a solid balance of local regulars and national hot shoes. Drivers such as James Ham, Flookie Buford, and Paddlefoot Wales got to race with Bobby Allison, Butch Lindley, and Jack Ingram.

A true out-of-towner who made the trek was Ray Hendrick. A winning, late model veteran of tracks in the eastern time zone, Hendrick had only raced at the Fairgrounds one time previously. He and Waltrip qualified on the front row for the track's 1974 season opener, the Permatex 200. The two raced hard and generally clean - until. The two came together, Waltrip sailed into the fence, Hendrick slid to the inside, carried on, and then raced Bobby Allison hard down the stretch.

Hendrick was back and ready to tangle with Waltrip, Allison, and others again about two months later. The Falls City 200 was Hendrick's second and final start in Nashville.

To the surprise of few, Waltrip won the pole and barely missed the track record in doing so. Hendrick lined up sixth but picked his way through traffic soon after the start. Within 15 laps or so, Hendrick found his way to second behind Waltrip.

The two stayed nose to tail through the first half of the race. Morgan Shepherd hounded Hendrick from third. He managed to take second but for only a lap before Hendrick roared back with a focused intent on tracking down Waltrip.

Allison, racing during an early June break in his Cup schedule, posted a poor qualifying lap and started 22nd. Once the green fell, however, he found his groove. He worked his way through traffic and tracked down Shepherd by halfway to take third.

As Allison eased into P3, a three-car accident slowed the field. Waltrip and Hendrick hit pit road with Hendrick getting the edge on pit exit. Both, however, were behind Allison who had made the decision to run the full race without pitting.

Waltrip needed only a couple of laps to pass Hendrick once the green returned. Allison did a yeoman's job of holding Waltrip and Hendrick at bay with their fresher tires. With about 50 laps to go, however, Allison's resistance was futile. Waltrip sailed around him - followed by Hendrick. Gremlins soon hit Allison, and the choice not to pit was moot. He cruised back to pit road and was done for the night.

With clean air, Waltrip put his Harpeth Motor Ford into the wind. He may have saved a bit from the early stages of the race, and he most likely remembered his previous Nashville encounter with Hendrick. Waltrip opened a comfortable margin and won his third consecutive Falls City race by about ten car lengths over the Virginian.

1. Darrell Waltrip
2. Ray Hendrick
3. Jerry Lawley
4. Richard Orton
5. Bob Burcham 
6. James Ham
7. Ray Milligan
8. Donnie Anthony
9. Wayne Carden
10. Dave Mader III
11. Jim Berry
12. Buck Hinkle
13. Wayne Gower
14. Dewayne Chaffin
15. Jack Ingram
16. Neil Bonnett
17. Bobby Allison
18. Phil Stillings
19. Robert Wales
20. Butch Lindley
21. Clyde Peoples
22. Bobby Hargrove
23. James Climer
24. Larry Catlett
25. Jimmy Means
26. Morgan Shepherd
27. Flookie Buford
28. Charlie Binkley
29. Red Farmer
30. Terry Miller
31. Chet Williams
32. Boscoe Lowe
33. Walter Wallace 

Part 2 about 1975, 1976, and 1977 Falls City 200 races will follow next week...

TMC

Earnhardt's final race in Music City

Dale Earnhardt began making the trek to Nashville Speedway in the mid 1970s. His first race at the Fairgrounds was the June 1976 Union 76 200, and he finished second to fellow North Carolinian Harry Gant.

Source: The Tennessean / TMC Archives

A little over a year later, Earnhardt and his crew towed to middle Tennessee again for the August 1977 World Service Life 200. He finished fourth in the race won by Butch Lindley.

Credit: David Allio / Racing Photo Archives

Earnhardt headed to Winston Cup full-time as a rookie in 1979; however, he still returned to the short tracks as he advanced in Cup. Sure, track promoters had to cough up some show money and frequently provide a car. The trade-off, however, was generally a boon with increased sales of tickets and concessions.

During his Wrangler era with Richard Childress Racing, Earnhardt returned to Nashville in July 1987 and raced a car provided by Tony Formosa Jr. From the 1960s through the 1990s, Formosa and his family raced at the Fairgrounds. Today, Tony Jr. is the leaseholder and promoter of the track now known as Fairgrounds Speedway.

NASCAR pulled its two Winston Cup dates from Nashville following the 1984 season. Earnhardt hadn't raced at the Fairgrounds since until his return for the one-off event in 1987. He started and finished sixth in the 250-lap race.

Source: Tony Formosa Jr. / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

The Nashville track went through all sorts of operational and managerial turnover through the 1980s...and arguably beyond. But two truths remained:

• Nashville racing fans remained loyal. They loved their Fairgrounds racing and traveled in large numbers to Cup races in most southern states.
• Drivers dug racing Nashville's .596-mile track - and still do.

Earnhardt returned to Nashville yet again - and for the final time as a driver - in May 1990 for the Motorcraft 200. Former Nashville track champions, Sterling Marlin and Bobby Hamilton, were also recruited to participate in the race. Marlin was in his third Cup season with owner Billy Hagan, and Hamilton was in his rookie Busch Series season with FILMAR Racing.

The race was strategically scheduled for Saturday, May 12 - an open weekend for the Cup Series between Talladega's Winston 500 on May 6th and The Winston at Charlotte on May 20th.

A car was arranged for Earnhardt, and Hamilton agreed to shake it down and set it up for him. He apparently did so with the assistance of a pooch named Elwood.

Source: Joe Ryman / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Source: The Tennessean

Hamilton crammed a good bit of racing - and travel - into a single day. After finishing eighth in a Busch race at Pennsylvania's Nazareth Speedway, he hopped a plane and buzzed home to Nashville to race in the 200-lapper at the Fairgrounds.

He also offered somewhat of a prescient quote noting the race was

...a chance for a local driver to attract a little attention. In this sport timing is everything, and a good showing against a big-name driver might give a local driver his big break.

Source: The Tennessean

With Earnhardt and Marlin in town, Hamilton on his way home, and plenty of local racers ready to rub fenders with the big dawgs, all looked set. Lo and behold though, one of the worst things that could befall a race promoter and a fired-up set of fans happened. Rain.

Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson passed along this memory from driver Dan Ford:

They had to postpone the race. They got all the drivers together to tell them. Everyone was disappointed because Dale was here, and they all really wanted to run the race with him here. Dale spoke up and said, "Would y'all want to run the race Wednesday night? I've got commitments Monday and Tuesday, but I can come back and run on Wednesday." It was a unanimous vote. That's how they came to run it on Wednesday.

Weeknight racing was a regular thing in the late 1960s at the Fairgrounds, and track management experimented with a few Tuesday night shows in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Motorcraft 200 was the first Wednesday race, however, since Red Farmer won a modified feature during the Tennessee State Fair in September 1961.

Russ Thompson recalled:

[The Motorcraft 200] was scheduled for Saturday night and got rained out. They ran it on a Wednesday night and to everyone's surprise Earnhardt came back. Earnhardt was driving a black Goodwrench #3 that looked just like his Cup car. Gray Bickley was the owner.

The similarly prepared Olds of Hamilton and Chevy of Earnhardt were parked side by side as crews made final adjustments before qualifying.

Source: Sparky Harrington / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Source: Sparky Harrington / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

The black #3 won the pole, and Jeff Green from Owensboro, KY qualified alongside him. When the green flag fell, Green buried his foot and got the jump into the first turn. Earnhardt may have been the star attraction - but he was hardly the only big dawg that night in Nashville.

Courtesy of Mark Gregory

Fans witnessed high attrition throughout the 40-car field. Only sixteen of 40 cars remained at the finish. Hamilton was one of the drivers who loaded his car early. He and P.B. Crowell III tangled going into turn 1, and both were done for the night.

Green led frequently and in large chunks as others fell by the wayside. Marlin stayed in the hunt and was able to see clean air in the second half of the race - especially after Green made a pit stop. With fresh shoes, however, Green tracked down Marlin and went back to the point with about 30 laps to go.

Though Green dominated much the race, Earnhardt kept him honest. As he pursued Green for the lead late in the race, however, Earnhardt cut a tire, spun, gathered it back up, but didn't lose a lap. Fans got to see his experience and car control that was frequently on display during Sunday Cup races. During the yellow, Earnhardt changed tires and returned to the top five. He then battled with Dan Ford the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, Green pulled away and captured his fourth win in five starts of the season.

Source: Joey Kincaid / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Local racer Ford wasn't intimidated by The Intimidator and held on for second. Earnhardt sandwiched his P3 at Nashville between his Cup wins at Talladega and in The Winston. Marlin and Jason Kennedy rounded out the top five.

Source: The Tennessean

Green's win was more than just another notch in a dominating season at Nashville. Back to Hamilton's pre-race quote, Earnhardt took note of Green's performance. Five years later, Green was hired to race DEI's #3 Goodwrench Chevy in NASCAR's Busch Series.

Russ Thompson also noted:

Two months later, that same car was green with a #33 and Skoal on it. Harry Gant finished 4th to Jeff, Dan Ford, and Michael Waltrip [in July 14 Ford Dealers 200]. Ten days later, in another rained out race [July 24], Bobby Hamilton drove the same car in the same scheme and won. It was one of very few races that year Jeff didn't win.

Source: Bob Ray / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Hamilton set up the top-shelf late model for Earnhardt to race at Nashville in 1990. I'm sure he was glad to see Earnhardt remembered that arrangement six years later when the two of them battled in the late stages of the Cup race at Rockingham. Oh. Wait. OK, never mind.

TMC

1971 Flameless ... err, Permatex 200

Beginning in 1966, Nashville's Fairground Speedways opened each season with the Flameless 300. The banking was raised to a Talladega-esque 35 degrees when the track was rebuilt in 1969-1970, and the toll on the cars, tires, and drivers was felt immediately. During the 1970 Flameless 300, the majority of the field was gone by lap 200. Darrell Waltrip cruised the final third of the race and won by five laps over the second place finisher.

Following the race, track promoter Bill Donoho floated the idea of cutting the race length to minimize the risk of another ho-hum affair. Sure enough, the lap count was cut by 100 laps, and the Flameless 200 was set for April 17, 1971.

Ticket and Nashville Banner photo courtesy of Russ Thompson

The race distance wasn't the only change for 1971. For the first time, the season opening race received a title sponsor, Permatex.

The changes marked a transition for the track.

• More than five years had passed since the September 1965 fire that destroyed the track's grandstands.
• Gone was the original half-mile track.
• A new track now stood along with brand new, covered grandstands.
• Increased corporate dollars were beginning to flow into motorsports - both at the national level with NASCAR and R.J. Reynolds and at the local level such the Permatex support and branding at Nashville.

In the weeks leading up the race, however, the local paper (and the tickets) still referred to the upcoming Flameless 200. Why The Tennessean mentioned the Flameless vs. Permatex race name isn't known (at least to me).

Perhaps the paper intentionally avoided referencing a sponsor that hadn't bought advertising in the paper - or the announcement of Permatex as the race sponsor came closer to race day  - or old habits were just hard to break. One could consider the race as the final Flameless 300/200 or the first Permatex 200. Either way, it was time to race.

Source: The Tennessean

Source: The Tennessean

Source: Nashville Banner /  Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

After missing the Flameless for the first time in 1970, two-time race winner and two-time pole winner Bob Burcham was back. Unlike his winning ways on the old track, however, Burcham would have a tough night in his first Flameless on the new surface.

Source: The Tennessean

Freddy Fryar, two-time Flameless 300 winner in 1966 and 1968, did not return for the final one in 1971. He instead dominated a 25-lap late model sportsman race at Jackson International Speedway in Mississippi.

Source: The Tennessean

James Ham backed up his fast test session by winning the pole with a track record speed. He broke the record previously held by Red Farmer set just a few months earlier in the 1970 season-ending Southern 300.

Waltrip, Nashville's 1970 late model sportsman division champion, returned for another full season in 1971. Gone were the traditional orange-and-white colors of owner P.B. Crowell. The #48 Chevelle instead sported a red-and-gold scheme tied to Waltrip's new sponsor and lined up alongside Ham on the front row. Coincidentally, the front row matched the two cars side-by-side in the track office's mural.

Farmer arrived in town but hardly ready to race. He suffered a broken leg on April 5th in a multi-car accident during a 100-lap race at Smoky Mountain Raceway in Maryville, TN. Farmer was a two-time, back-to-back NASCAR national late model sportsman champion in 1969 and 1970. Though early in the season, Farmer was already in a tight points battle with Georgia's Sam Sommers.

Two weeks after breaking his leg, Farmer somehow managed to belt into the car, make a pace lap, and then turn his car over to relief driver Tommy Andrews. Reason? Simple. That's what racers of that era did. Andrews did just as he was asked. He took care of Farmer's ride and managed to finish one spot ahead of Sommers. Farmer's commitment and toughness were rewarded when he won his third consecutive LMS title in 1971.

Tiny Lund was a somewhat surprising entrant. The big fella came to town with somewhat of a dual agenda (and the legendary experience of destroying his car and part of the track during the 1963 Nashville 400). He planned to race in the 200 of course. His second plan, however, was to promote the Baughman Hi Speed 100, a NASCAR Grand American division race for "pony cars" scheduled for three weeks after the 200. After qualifying mid-pack, Lund never got to tackle objective #1. He burned a clutch and didn't even start the race.

At the drop of the green, Ham took advantage of his top starting spot and led the first 48 laps. But  with a good rhythm rolling, Ham suddenly lost a water pump, had to make an extended stop, and struggled to a 20th place finish. For the second consecutive year, Ham had a fast car but little to show for it.

Waltrip won the 1970 Flameless 300 in dominating fashion, but the same couldn't be said a year later. Though he qualified second and led a few laps, a blown right front tire slowed his roll. When the night was done, he finished 21st - one spot behind pole-winner Ham.

Burcham won the Flameless in 1967 and 1969. He had to like his odds of winning his third one in an odd year, but a blown engine at lap 150 pretty well ended that quest.

Local driver Flookie Buford went to the point as Burcham exited and seemed to be in control for the win. A cut tire with about 20 laps to, however, doomed his chances. He made his stop and returned to action, but he was in third and a lap down to two drivers in front of him.

As Buford limped to pit road, Chattanooga, TN's Friday Hassler took the lead. Hassler, the 1970 Flameless 300 pole winner, had to be pleased with his reversal of fortune. A year earlier, he fell out of the race after only 10 laps. In 1971's race, he found himself sitting pretty with only 20 quick laps standing between him and the trophy. But then Hassler had to have exclaimed you've GOT to be kidding me! With just six laps to go, Hassler's Chevelle broke a driveshaft. Though he had enough laps on the car behind him to not lose a position, the P3 finish was little consolation.

By process of attrition and misfortune of others, journeyman racer Art Ellis found himself out front in a lap of his own. He knocked down the handful of remaining laps and headed to victory lane. Buford finished second after his late pit stop but was still a lap down to the winner.

Source: The Tennessean

Tragically, Ellis was able to savor his big win for only a couple of months. During a 30-lap, LMS feature race at the Fairgrounds on July 3rd, Ellis veered towards the inside of the backstretch while running fourth. He struck a large tire surrounding a utility pole, flipped several times, and was killed.

Source: The Tennessean

The Flameless race era was over - and Ellis was its final winner. The race began following a disastrous fire in 1965, and the final one was tied to tragedy with Ellis' death. Nashville continued hosting 200-lap season openers through 1978. Permatex returned as the race's title sponsor through 1974, and R.J. Reynolds' Winston brand sponsored the races in 1975 through 1978.

Finishing Order:

1. Art Ellis
2. Flookie Buford
3. Friday Hassler
4. Jerry Echols
5. David Sisco
6. Dorman Adams
7. L. D. Ottinger
8. Dexter Brady
9. Red Farmer
10. Sam Sommers
11. Bob Burcham
12. Rod Stillings
13. Ben Pruitt
14. Harold Carden
15. Bill Morton
16. Charley Binkley
17. Bob Brown
18. Robert “Paddlefoot” Wales
19. Rhea Greenwell
20. James Ham
21. Darrell Waltrip
22. Chester Albright
23. Clyde Peoples 
24. Junior Caldwell
25. Don Anthony
26. Bobby Walker
27. Paul Lewis
28. Ronnie Blasingim
29. Chuck Hunter
30. Tiny Lund (DNS)

TMC