NASCAR's 49-race 1966 Grand National season hit its halfway point with the East Tennessee 200 on the half-mile Smoky Mountain Raceway. The track was located in Maryville, TN - just south of Knoxville.
The 26-car field was missing a key, regular driver and included a local driver racing on his home track. The missing driver was The King, Richard Petty. Six days earlier, Petty's 43 Plymouth blew a tire and pounded the wall at New Asheville Speedway. The wreck damaged the car enough that Petty had to skip races in Spartanburg, SC and at Smoky Mountain as Ol' Blue was rebuilt.
The local racer looking to make an impact was Jim Hunter. Many fans are familiar with the Jim Hunter who worked for Darlington Talladega, wrote as a journalist and publicist, served as a NASCAR executive, and was passionate about racing history. The Jim Hunter at Maryville; however, was a local late model sportsman racer at Smoky Mountain. The 1966 race was his second of five career Grand National starts. Four were on his home track, and the fifth one was just up the road at Bristol.
Source: Knoxville News Sentinel
Tiger Tom Pistone won the pole in his independent Ford. He was flanked by another local racer, Paul Lewis. Rookie of the Year challenger, James Hylton qualified third, and David Pearson and Big John Sears rounded out the top five starters.
Pistone seized the lead at the start and began his domination of the race. Lap after lap, Tiger pulled the rest of the field around the half-mile, dirt track.
Hunter's shot at running with the big dawgs was short-lived. Overheating issues after only eight laps sent his Ford to the trailer before he could even work up a good sweat. Two laps earlier, J.T. Putney - another driver from relatively close to the area in Arden, NC - parked his Ford with engine issues.
The engine issues experienced by Hunter and Putney turned out to be a harbinger of things to come for a third driver - the lap bully Pistone! After leading 72 consecutive laps, Tiger's engine began overheating. He headed disappointingly to the garage, and Pearson assumed the lead.
With Petty at home and Tiger on the trailer, Pearson went the rest of the way unchallenged. He led the remaining 128 laps and won his 21st career race by two laps over second place Buck Baker. Lewis had a great night with a P3 finish. He backed it up by winning Maryville's second 1966 race in late July.
After missing two races, Petty returned three days later. He wore 'em out in winning the Fireball 300 from the pole at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway.
The track remains in operation today though it is now known as Smoky Mountain Speedway. Hunter was inducted into the track's hall of fame in 2014.
the 2.66-mile Alabama International Motor Speedway aka Talladega - winner: David Pearson
Nashville's fairgrounds speedway and its funky 1/4 mile pit arrangement - winner: Cale Yarborough (with Pearson at home)
the 600 mile test of man and machine at Charlotte - winner: Buddy Baker
As the tour turned early laps on the one-mile, asphalt Dover Downs International Speedway, the Wood Brothers Purolator Mercury continued to be fast. Pearson captured the pole. In the five races in which Pearson and the Woods competed from Darlington through Dover, the car started on the front row in all of them including three poles.
The top five starters are all now in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Cale Yarborough qualified second followed by Bobby Allison, Bobby Isaac, and Buddy Baker. Coincidentally, the next five starters have not made the HOF (as drivers). Independent racers Cecil Gordon and G.C. Spencer timed sixth and seventh. Richard Childress, Dave Marcis, and eventual 1973 Rookie of the Year Lennie Pond rounded out the top 10 starters.
Pearson seized the lead at the start and controlled about half of the race's first 150 laps. Allison and Yarborough split the other half. Yarborough was the lap bully over the next 100 laps as he paced the field for a stretch of 85 laps.
Once the second half of the race began, however, it was Pearson all the way. Except for two brief times when Baker's and Yarborough's numbers were posted P1, Pearson's #21 Mercury showed the way by leading 241 of the final 250 laps.
Pearson experienced a little bit of drama with about 100 laps to go. The car's handling went away a bit, and the team went to work trying to diagnose the problem as Pearson continued to hold a lead over Yarborough.
In an era before in-car radios were common, Delano Wood used a pit board to first signal Pearson that his clutch may be the source of the problem. After Pearson apparently conveyed all was OK with it, the team changed the message to TIRES - perhaps an indication of worn out Goodyears or maybe a loose wheel. Again, Pearson (or perhaps the stopwatch) noted diagnosis #2 wasn't valid.
The team finally deduced the 21's alternator had soured. Pearson began toggling switches to shut down as much power draw as he could. All hoped he could go the distance on the battery without any recharging efforts from the alternator, and that's precisely what happened.
Source: Wilmington Morning News
Pearson's 72nd career win extended a jaw-dropping 1973 performance. In the seven races in which the 21 team competed from Rockingham in mid-March through Dover in June, Pearson and the Woods captured six wins. Their lone blemish was a *gasp* P2 to Baker in the World 600 at Charlotte. Pearson also won back-to-back races at Dover after having led 350 laps to win the Delaware 500 the previous September.
A caution with 50 to go erased Pearson's lead over Yarborough. In a matter of laps, however, Yarborough watched helplessly as #21 pulled away yet again. Cale hung in there to go home with a P2 lead-lap finish. Allison finished third, three laps down; and Richard Petty left with P4, five laps in arrears.
With the assistance of relief driver, Richard Petty, Marvin Panch won the World 600 in a Petty Plymouth at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 22, 1966. A week later, the Petty team and the rest of NASCAR's Grand National drivers struggled to keep pace with David Pearson at Dog Track Speedway in Moyock, NC.
Scheduled in the middle of the two races was a trip to New Asheville Speedway on Friday, May 27th. Rain postponed the Asheville 300 to Friday, June 3rd giving the drivers a welcomed two extra days between the 600 and the bullring at Moyock.
Petty captured the pole when the teams returned a week later. The top starting spot was his third in a row in 1966 and his sixth in seven races. The King would eventually extend his streak to eight poles in nine races.
David Pearson - winner at Moyock the previous weekend - qualified second and started alongside Petty's 43. The next three qualifiers were all a mild surprise. J.T. Putney timed third, Jack Ingram started fourth, and Elmo Langley rounded out the top five starters.
Ingram's quick lap may have been the least surprising - at least to local fans. Though he'd made only one prior GN start, Ingram knew his way around New Asheville. He stomped around the track for a couple of decades and won more than his fair share of races. Ingram's qualifying effort turned out to be the highlight of his day. He developed fuel line issues early in the race and finished 19th in the 22-car field.
Petty seized the lead at the start; however, Pearson took over the top spot on lap 10. The King attempted to keep pace, but he blew a tire and pounded the wall on lap 90. The DNF sent him back to Level Cross with a P17 - only two spots better than Ingram.
Once Pearson took the lead, the day was over for everyone else. Petty hung around until his tire failure and DNF. Putney put up a reasonable fight and notched a career best second-place finish, albeit one lap down to the winner.
Though Pearson led 291 of the race's 300 laps, the effort wasn't easy. With a bit over 100 laps to go on the 1/3-mile oval, the throttle hung on his Cotton Owens' Dodge. For the remainder of the race, he toggled the ignition switch while rolling through the corners to help avoid launching the car into the fence. The effort was successful, and Pearson captured his 20th career win.
After racing on a Friday night at New Asheville Speedway in North Carolina, NASCAR's Grand National teams rolled into Byron, Georgia's Middle Georgia Raceway for the Macon 300 on a Sunday afternoon.
Though the race was Middle Georgia's first Grand National race of the year, the track had already offered local racing action to fans earlier in the spring. Beyond action on the track, Middle Georgia experienced plenty of action under the track the previous fall.
On Saturday, September 23, 1967, the county sheriff and Federal agents discovered a remarkably well-concealed moonshine still under the track and confiscated 3,000 gallons of white lightning. Track owner Lamar Brown was arrested and charged two days later. Authorities opted to destroy the still by cutting it apart with torches rather than the traditional, more expedient method of using TNT. Had they chosen to blow up the still, the track above it would have been destroyed.
Source: Atlanta Constitution
With the track in tact and Brown out on bond as he awaited trial, racing continued as scheduled - including June's Macon 300. David Pearson recovered from an early DNF and a fracas between him, journeyman racer Stan Meserve, and their crews on Friday night in Asheville to capture the pole at Middle Georgia. Dodge driver and Pearson friend, Bobby Isaac, qualified second.
Tiny Lund qualified third in Bud Moore's Mercury. The day before the Macon 300 GN race, Lund won the Cracker 100 Grand Touring preliminary race in Moore's Mercury Cougar.
Richard Petty had won the previous year's Macon 300 and captured the win in Asheville two days earlier. The 43 team obviously planned to keep their mojo rolling, and The King led 54 laps. His opportunity at a Middle Georgia Threepeat (he also won the track's 1966 spring race) ended, however, when he had to make two unscheduled stops. Twice, sharp edges from broken asphalt punctured his Plymouth's tires.
Isaac paced the field for 11 laps in addition to the 54 led by Petty. The remaining 235 laps (including the final 92), however, belonged to Pearson. His #17 Holman Moody Ford rebounded nicely from a dismal Friday night. Pearson captured his 38th career win, his eighth of the season, and his lone victory at Middle Georgia.
Lamar Brown posted a win of his own. His trial began in December 1968, and quick proceedings resulted in his acquittal.
In the early part of the twentieth century, greyhound dog racing was all the rage in southeastern Virginia - especially for the Navy fellers in nearby Norfolk when they were in port with extra coin in their pockets.
When the local track's sport was shut down by state authorities, the money folk moved about a half-mile south across the state line to the small town of Moyock, North Carolina.
Trainers continue to run the dogs at the quarter-mile track known as Dog Track Speedway for several years, and the bettors followed. In the mid 1950s, however, North Carolina joined Virginia in doing away with dog racing which put the track out of business.
The facility was resurrected to host auto racing instead of the helpless dogs. The local promoter landed NASCAR in 1962 to begin a five-year streak of Grand National races. Putting their dog days behind them and positioning the track for the future, Dog Track Speedway was converted from a quarter-mile, dirt track to a third-mile, paved surface in time for the August 1964 GN race.
NASCAR's circuit raced once on the rebuilt oval in 1964, twice in 1965, and returned in 1966 for what turned out to be the locale's final big time event - a 300-lap, 100-mile swan song.
Though available resources note Petty raced #43 at Moyock, it's quite likely he raced #42 as still painted on Panch's Plymouth from a few days earlier.
David Pearson qualified second. Independents Tiger Tom Pistone, James Hylton, and Elmo Langley rounded out the top five starters.
When the green dropped, the King set sail in pursuit of his first Moyock victory. As he'd done frequently the previous few years, Ol' Blue found an early groove and intended to go wire to wire for the win. With the race a bit shy of the one-third mark, however, the 43's ignition began misfiring. Petty came to the attention of his Dale Inman-led crew, but nothing could be done in the moment to rescue the day. The car was loaded for the five-plus hour tow back to central North Carolina.
With Petty loaded and ready to head home, Pearson took over and went the distance unchallenged. He led the remaining 200+ laps to score his 19th career win. Despite the improvements made to the track, Dog Track Speedway no longer had healthy support and ceased operations later in 1966.
When the famed Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, a smaller track sat right off to its edge - the Daytona Beach Kennel Club. The track was a greyhound racing facility owned by John Masoni.
As an effort to promote the track and bolster betting... errr, races, Masoni lauched a race team in 1960 and hired mechanic Ray Fox to lead his efforts. He hired Junior Johnson as his driver, and *BOOM* just like that Fox and Johnson won the second annual Daytona 500. Johnson won twice more in 1960 before moving on to Rex Lovette's Holly Farms Chicken Pontiac team in 1961.
Though not at the same level as in 1960, Masoni returned in 1961 and ended up fielding cars for a handful of drivers. After putting established drivers such as Jim Paschal and Marvin Panch in his cars, Masoni gave young South Carolina driver Davie Pearson a shot in the World 600 - though late in the game.
A week before the 600, Richard Petty and Joe Weatherly won twin qualifying races. Their wins set them up for a front row start in the following Sunday's 600 and eased any anxiety they may have had about qualifying. Of course, neither driver ever showed much outward anxiety about their racing efforts anyway.
NASCAR sanctioned two Grand National points races in California as the regulars were in North Carolina. Lloyd Dane won at Riverside's road course the same day the good ol' boys ran the qualifying races in Charlotte. Eddie Gray then won a 100-mile race at the famed Ascot Stadium the day before the 600. No one in either race was a regular on NASCAR's GN circuit, so it's not as if anyone paid a points price for going coast to coast to coast in a matter of a few days.
Ralph Earnhardt finished second to Petty in the first qualifying race, and Johnson was runner-up to Weatherly in the second qualifying race. Unlike Daytona, however, where the qualifying races help set the odd and even starters, Charlotte's heats set only the front row. The remainder of the cars had to re-qualify for position in the days leading up to the 600.
Between Sunday and midweek, Johnson bailed from Masoni's car and latched on with the Holly Farms ride. Needing a driver, Masoni reached out to Pearson who hadn't even raced in the twin qualifying heats. The 1960 Rookie of the Year had made a handful of starts in 1961 with results that were all over the board. He jumped at the chance to get in Masoni's car and promptly put down the quickest lap during Wednesday's session to lock in the third starting position.
Despite finishing second in his qualifying race, Earnhardt ended up starting sixth in the 600 in Cotton Owens' Pontiac - the team Pearson joined in 1963.
The Petty team entered a second car for the 600. Family patriarch and the all-time winningest NASCAR driver (at the time), Lee Petty, continued his recovery from injuries suffered in a savage, over-the-wall accident at Daytona in February. Yet the team soldiered forward.
Richard raced his yet-to-be-famous #43 1961 Plymouth, and California's Marvin Porter was hired to pilot the team's #44 year-old Plymouth. Porter finished fifth in his qualifying race yet didn't fare so well when he re-qualified 31st. Things turned worse in the 600 when an engine failure doomed the effort to 45th place finish in the 55-car field.
Little Joe got the jump on Ol' Blue at the start. Weatherly led the first lap before Pearson jumped from his third starting spot to lead the next lap.
Weatherly rallied back to lead the next few laps before Earnhardt put Cotton's Pontiac in the wind to lead 75 of the next 120 laps or so.
As the race neared halfway, Earnhardt faded a bit as Petty, Pearson, and Fireball Roberts hogged the top three spots. The trio exchanged the lead after each led a chunk of laps and set themselves up for the final quarter of the race.
Several laps shy of lap 300; however, the caution waved for a vicious accident. Reds Kagle tore through the guardrail between turns three and four. His car came to a sudden stop as the guardrail pierced through the car mangling Kagle's left leg. Remarkably, Kagle survived though he did lose his leg to the accident.
When the race returned to green after about 25 caution laps to tend to Kagle, Pearson seized the lead. While running second with about 70 laps to go, Petty's engine met the fate of his teammate. The pole winner, who had already endured engine failures in a few other races earlier in the season, cruised helplessly to the garage and had to wait another day for his third win of the season.
With his toughest competitor sidelined, Pearson built a three-lap lead over Fireball. Fox was in position to lead his team to another big win - when racing luck turned against him and Pearson.
As Pearson headed down the back stretch on lap 398 and looking for the white flag, his right rear tire blew. Being on the backstretch helped him a bit as he didn't spin. In the era before safety inner liners, Pearson's tire went kablooey and collapsed to the rim. He dropped to the apron and slowed his speed to a crawl in an attempt just to keep the car going straight for the next one and a half laps.
Fireball stayed in the gas to make up as much lost time as possible. Though he made up a lap and then some on the leader, Pearson coaxed his car around the final four corners to score his first career NASCAR Grand National victory.
The middle third of the 30-race, NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1978 schedule opened with the Mason-Dixon 500 at Dover.
Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers
Buddy Baker captured the pole in M.C. Anderson's Chevy. Baker always had a reputation for running fast in small bursts - such as in qualifying. Yet his top spot at Dover was his first pole since the next-to-last race of the 1976 season at Atlanta. Baker's run also made him eligible for the inaugural Busch Clash scheduled for the following February.
Benny Parsons timed second in L.G. DeWitt's Chevy. Coincidentally, Parsons would move to Anderson's team in 1979 as Baker moved to Harry Ranier's team. David Pearson qualified third followed by Lennie Pond in the Ranier ride that would soon belong to Baker.
In an interesting twist on qualifying, drivers participated in some sort of drawing. Only the top 16 numbers were eligible to qualify on the first day. Richard Petty didn't draw high enough to lay down a first day lap. Pearson and his Wood Brothers team also missed the drawing as they were addressing an engine issue before their expected qualifying session. Yet the top 16 first-day qualifiers weren't locked in to their spots. Pearson returned on the second day, posted the third quickest lap over the two days, and knocked down the starters behind him by one spot.
Baker took off at the start to lead the first 24 laps before being passed by Pearson who led 10 of his own. Seventh place starter Darrell Waltrip then got around both of them and set sail out front for a stretch of nearly 50 laps.
Waltrip's career finishes at Dover had been nothing to boast about. He'd averaged around a P30 result for the first few years of his career. In 1977, however, the #88 Gatorade DiGard team found a little sump'n sump'n. DW finished fifth and sixth in Dover's two 1977 races, and the team looked to improve even more in 1978.
Through a couple of cautions and cycling of pit stops, Baker, Pond, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, and Dave Marcis all took turns leading a lap or two. Waltrip, however, rallied back each time to lead sizable chunks of laps.
After leading a stretch of nearly 100 laps, Waltrip pitted during a caution on lap 333. By that point, he'd lapped most of the field and was on his way to going +1 on all of the field.
He hit pit road for routine service. A stop that should have been a quick tire change and fresh supply of fuel instead turned disastrous. A wheel stud snapped during a left front tire change. The crew hastily replaced the stud and sent Waltrip back on track. In making the change, however, a brake line was not reconnected. After Waltrip nearly ran through another car, he eased his way back to the pits for the additional repair. After leading about 300 laps and gaining a one-lap advantage on just about everyone, Waltrip lost three laps and eventually settled for a bitter tasting P6. He had to wait two more seasons before capturing his first of two career wins at the Monster Mile.
Source: The Tennessean
Shortly after Waltrip had his woes, Baker had even greater ones. His engine failed, and he returned home with a P23. With the fastest car three laps down and the pole-winner loaded on the trailer, Pearson found his groove and led 137 of the final 150 laps.
Pearson's 101st career Cup win was his first of the 1978 season. It was also his fifth and final Dover win - all earned in the Woods' Purolator Mercury. The 21 team notched two more Dover wins with Neil Bonnett in 1979 and 1981.
The 12th race of the 30-race, NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1975 schedule was the Mason-Dixon 500 slated for Sunday, May 18th at Dover Downs International Speedway.
Coming off his fifth championship season in 1974 and third title in four seasons, Richard Petty kept the mojo rolling in '75. He'd already won five of the season's eleven races. And despite some engine hiccups in the Daytona 500, his STP Dodge had the strength to draft with Benny Parsons and help BP win it. Having won four times at Dover - including three of the track's first four Cup races between 1969 and 1971 - the King certainly ranked among the favorites to win once more.
David Pearson was also a previous Dover winner with three consecutive victories from 1972-1973. After three stellar seasons with the Wood Brothers from 1972-1974; however, Pearson had gone winless through the first third of the 1975 season. Though many believed he and the 21 team could contend for the win at Dover, it was anyone's guess if he would do so.
Having said that - and to the surprise of no one, Pearson plopped his Purolator Mercury on the pole. In seven previous Dover starts, Pearson had four poles and started no worse than fifth. Buddy Baker qualified second in Bud Moore's Ford. The King, Cale Yarborough, and Dick Brooks rounded out the top five starters.
Darrell Waltrip laid down the eighth quickest time - and was perhaps aided by full flowing adrenalin. Ol' DW was a week removed from his first career Cup win at his home track, Nashville's fairgrounds speedway.
As the race got underway, Pearson seized the hole shot and led the first ten laps. Once Baker got Bud's Ford wound up though, he roared past Pearson and led the next eleven laps.
When the first caution flew around lap 20, the leaders hit pit road for an early stop. Good ol' Coo Coo Marlin stayed on the track and found himself scored as the leader for a handful of laps. After he surrendered the lead to pit and the race returned the green, Baker went back to the point - but only for a lap.
Fourth place starter Yarborough in his white, Junior Johnson Monte Carlo - recently adorned with Holly Farms Chicken as a sponsor - shot past Baker to grab the top spot. Yarborough had won the previous year's Mason-Dixon 500 after leading 200+ laps but winning only because the King inexplicably ruptured an engine while leading with three laps to go.
Credit: Lee Greenawalt
Once out front, Cale found his groove and intended to make short work of the the 500-mile marathon. He led a stretch of 70+ laps before making an emergency stop for a cut tire. As he pitted, Pearson took over for a couple of laps before the handling suddenly soured forcing him to pit road as well.
Benny Parsons, who'd started way back in 23rd spot, had worked his way into the top 10 during the first 100 laps and found himself out front as Cale and Pearson made their stops. Ten laps later, rain arrived.
Cale returned to the attention of his crew as did Pearson, Petty, and pretty much everyone else. Parsons, however, stayed on track. Light rain persisted, the field continued under caution, and BP remained in the lead lap after lap after slow lap.
NASCAR wasn't quite ready to stop the race and instead allowed the field to continue circling the track. As the average race pace fell precipitously, the Wood Brothers crew had plenty of time to diagnose their handling woes. As it turns out, the 21 had a broken shock mount. Over the next 30 laps, Pearson pitted eleven times to make the needed repair.
After those 30 laps when the rain wouldn't relent and Parsons wouldn't pit, NASCAR threw in the towel for the day. When the red flag was displayed, soggy fans headed for the parking lots as the cars headed for the garage at lap 140 - well short of halfway and an official race.
Source: Wilmington Morning News
Drivers, crews, and much of the crowd returned on Monday to give it another go. Parsons picked up where he left off on Sunday afternoon by leading the opening five laps of chapter two - albeit under caution before the race returned to green. Pearson had new life after believing his handling issues were resolved by replacing the broken shock mount. And Cale looked to remind the field that despite the overnight delay he still had the the car to beat.
Instead of returning to his dominating way, Yarborough struggled throughout the new day. He didn't lead another lap and puked a motor just before lap 300. Shortly before Cale's exit, Petty had his own issues - though they didn't result in a DNF as happened to Yarborough.
Independent Dean Dalton blew a right front tire and spun into the fence between turns one and two. Rather than go low, Petty guessed Dalton may slide down the track and took the high line. The King then whipped his wheel hard left but nonetheless clipped Dalton and slid himself to the muddy apron. Safety crews pushed the 43 from the mud but not before Petty had lost valuable track position. He fell further behind as the Petty Enterprises crew made a few battlefield repairs. Though he soldiered on, the four time Dover winner could only muster a third place finish, ten laps down to the winner.
As the race made its way into the second half on the second day, Parsons' #72 Monte Carlo continued to hang with Pearson's Mercury. Pearson led big chunks of laps, but Parsons occasionally made his way back out front.
With 140 to go, however, Parsons suffered the same fate as Yarborough: engine failure. Buddy Baker inherited P2 with Parsons out of the picture. Yet he too lost an engine - but in more spectacular fashion than Parsons or Yarborough. With about 30 laps to go, Baker's engine let go as he sailed through turn one. His Ford swapped ends, it side slapped the wall, and flames erupted from underneath the car as Baker rolled down the banking to a stop.
With virtually every other name driver out of the race, Pearson led the final 140 laps and won by seven laps over second place Cecil Gordon. The P2 was a career best for the independent race who later worked for Richard Childress Racing during Dale Earnhardt's Goodwrench era.
As Pearson celebrated his 85th career Cup win, fourth Dover victory, and first of 1975, a reporter asked him how his motor lasted the full 500 miles when much of his competition broke one engine after another. The Silver Fox replied "I guess they didn't have the right oil filter."
NASCAR completed the first third of its 49-race, 1968 Grand National division schedule with the Tidewater 250 at Langley Field Speedway in Hampton, Virginia.
Track promoter Henry Klich noted how NASCAR was evolving. New speedways had opened or were on the drawing board. Several dirt tracks had begun a conversion to a paved surface. So after years of operating as a dirt track, Klich replaced the red clay with asphalt. The project was completed in time for the GN regulars to roll into town.
Despite Langley Field's switch from dirt to asphalt, Richard Petty captured his third consecutive pole at the track. He was also the two-time defending winner of the race after going back-to-back in 1966 and 1967.
To the surprise of no one, David Pearson joined Petty on the front row. What was a bit of a surprise, however, was Pearson's appearance at all. Just three weeks earlier, Ford Motor Company announced Pearson and his Holman Moody car would stop running the short tracks and focus on speedway races. The announcement was made despite Pearson's three short-track wins to that point of the season. In doing so, Pearson would also forfeit his shot at winning a second Grand National points title.
In the days after the announcement, Pearson won his fourth short-track race of the year at Asheville-Weaverville followed by a win at Darlington. Ford reversed its decision, and Pearson continued to enter all races. He notched his fifth short-track race of the year at Beltsville Speedway in Maryland the night before Langley Field, and was looking to extend his winning streak to four on the newly paved Virginia track.
Though it's not clear who or what led Ford to backpedal on their position, one person quite happy with moving forward was Pearson's crew chief, Dick Hutcherson. Just four years earlier, Hutch relo'd from the midwest and a successful IMCA stock car career to try his hand at NASCAR.
After earning an impressive 14 wins in 104 starts, Hutch left the driver's seat after the 1967 season to become a crew chief for Holman Moody. Paired with Pearson, the duo began racking up wins on a regular basis.
Source: Newport News Daily Press
Pearson got the jump on Petty as the race began. He led the first 55 laps around the tight track before Petty went to the top spot.
After a few laps, Pearson got back by Petty's 43. His return, however, was short-lived as Petty once again put his Plymouth in the wind with no intentions of surrendering the lead again.
Petty led about 100 of the next 120 laps. Buddy Baker led a stretch of about 20 laps during a cycling of pit stops. Eventually, however, Petty returned to the top and seemed to be on his way to a Langley Field threepeat.
Things tightened up though with about 80 laps to go. Pearson's Ford closed on Petty's Plymouth, he got alongside him, and the two battled side by side for about 20 laps. The 43 then twitched a bit and doored Pearson's #17. As Petty cracked the throttle to straighten his car, Tiger Tom Pistone doinked him to send the King spinning.
After popping the fence, Petty headed for the pits but lost three laps as his Dale Inman-led crew thrashed to make sure the car was okay to return to the track. Petty roared back into action and made up one of his lost laps.
The damage and Petty's urgency to make up the lost distance were too much for the car's engine. The Hemi started bellowing smoke with about 10 laps to go, and Petty finally had to park it with four to go. The DNF was his second in as many nights and his fifth in seven races.
With Petty's late race issues, Pearson rolled on with no pressure. He led the last 60+ laps to capture his 37th career win. The victory was also his sixth short-track win of the year and his fourth consecutive victory.
Though Petty missed out on his threepeat, Pearson began one. The Silver Fox went back-to-back with a second victory in August and then completed the triad in May 1969.
NASCAR's Grand National drivers battled in mid-May 1969 for the third time in a week and on back-to-back nights. After racing at Beltsville Speedway in Maryland on Friday night, the teams made the short trek to Langley Field Speedway in Hampton, Virginia for the Tidewater 375.
The six previous GN races at Langley Field had been 250-lap, 100-mile events around the 4/10-mile, paved oval. The distance was extended for the first time in 1969 to 375 laps for 150 miles.
David Pearson captured the pole for the race and was flanked by Bobby Isaac. Pearson had already won four races during the season-to-date, and Isaac had claimed six victories - including at Beltsville the night before the race at Langley Field.
Independent, lower-funded drivers comprised much of the rest of the 24-car field. Virginia racing legend, Ray Hendrick, had planned to run the race. Hendrick knew the track like the back of his hand and won often at Langley Field in the track's modified and late model sportsman divisions.
Source: Newport News Daily Press
Hendrick raced in a handful of GN events - including a month earlier at Richmond. Though it's not clear if Hendrick failed to make the race during qualifying or if his expected ride didn't materialize, he wasn't on the track when the field took the green that Saturday night.
Another driver who wasn't in the field was Richard Petty. Two weeks earlier, Petty suffered what he says was the toughest hit of his career. He blew a tire coming out of turn four during the Fireball 300 at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, and stuck it in the wall. Long before SAFER barriers and unlike many other tracks who used wooden or steel guardrails in that era, Petty's 43 Ford drilled the concrete wall and stopped suddenly.
The King rallied his sore body to qualify second and finish 11th the next weekend in the Rebel 400 at Darlington. The Petty Enterprises team, however, skipped the next two races at Beltsville and Langley Field.
Physically, Petty may have been able to make the starts. The Weaverville wreck destroyed their short-track car; however, and it wasn't rebuilt in time to run the back-to-back races.
A couple of calls were placed to other Ford teams to see if a spare car could be rallied for Petty to run the two races. When nothing surfaced, the team focused on readying Ol' Blue for the upcoming World 600 at Charlotte and getting the short-track car back in form for races beginning in June.
With almost no other top team cars in the field, the race was a battle between rivals and friends Pearson and Isaac. Pearson leveraged his top starting spot to grab the lead at the start and hold it for the first 40 laps. Isaac then passed Pearson and paced the pack for about the next 30 laps when the race's first caution flew.
Dick Hutcherson, Pearson's crew chief, called the #17 Ford to pit road. Isaac's crew chief Harry Hyde, however, made the call for Isaac to stay on the track. His plan was to have Isaac build a big lead over Pearson after the race returned to green and then pit under a subsequent caution.
With the race back under green, Isaac extended his lead over Pearson who was navigating traffic behind Isaac's #71 Dodge. Isaac remained out front for over 125 laps.
As the race neared halfway, Hyde realized his pit strategy had backfired. The subsequent caution never occurred, and Isaac was forced to pit under green and surrender the lead back to Pearson.
Though Pearson returned to the lead, Isaac tracked him down after 60 laps and motored by him with about 150 laps to go as he sought his seventh win of the year.
About 25 laps later, Pearson made a second stop to ensure he had enough fuel to go the distance. Though the second stop put him well behind Isaac, Hutcherson firmly believe Pearson still had a shot at the win.
Isaac continued to churn lap after lap as the race neared its conclusion. But then with about 15 laps to go, his Dodge's Hemi burped as the tank ran dry. As he coasted to the pits, Pearson flashed by to take the lead. Isaac's stop was agonizingly slow as the crew scrambled to get the car to re-fire. In the blink of an eye, Isaac went from a dominating day and a possible win to a P4 finish seven laps down to the winner.
Pearson led the rest of the way. He banked his 51st career victory, his fifth of the season, and his third consecutive win at Langley Field.
NASCAR's Grand National fleet rolled in to the small state of Maryland on a Friday night in mid-May 1968. The teams hastily prepared for a one-day show to qualify and race 300 laps around the paved, half-mile Beltsville Speedway.
Richard Petty won the pole for Beltsville's 1967 200-lap spring race and led 151 laps en route to a second place finish. He returned in September to again win the pole for the track's first 300-lap race. The King also finished one spot better than he had in the spring by leading 171 laps and capturing his first win at Beltsville and eighth in a row - a streak that ultimately grew to ten.
Petty picked up where he'd left off eight months earlier. He set a track record and captured his third Beltsville pole in a row. David Pearson, winner of the circuit's two previous races at Asheville-Weaverville and Darlington, timed second.
Pete Hamilton qualified third. Hamilton captured NASCAR's GN rookie of the year title in 1968 and later drove a second Plymouth Superbird for Petty Enterprises in 1970. Virginia's Bill Champion and James Hylton rounded out the top five starters.
Petty wasted no time in regaining his groove from the previous September. He launched at the green and led 158 consecutive laps. Then as the 43 headed down the frontstretch with a 10-seconds lead over second running Pearson, POOF - the King's Hemi went up in smoke.
In 1967, the Petty Plymouth was seemingly untouchable with 27 victories including 10 in a row. The 1968 season, however, brought new challenges. The 43 team suffered its fourth engine failure of the season at Beltsville and fourth DNF in six races. Over the next two races, the lousy streak would grow to six DNFs in eight races.
As Petty coasted to the garage to try again another day, Pearson went to the point. The Holman Moody #17 Ford led all but twelve of the remaining laps. Bobby Isaac led the other twelve laps and finished second to Pearson.
Pearson claimed his 36th career win - and this third one in a row in the '68 season.
NASCAR began the second quarter of its 1970 Grand National division season with the Rebel 400 at Darlington on Saturday, May 9th. Because of state blue laws, Darlington's races were held for years on Saturday in the spring and Labor Day Monday in September for the Southern 500.
The 1970 Rebel edition was the final one held on Saturday. A change in law or some sort of lobbying resulted in the 1971 race being scheduled for a Sunday. Darlington didn't host another Saturday Cup race until 2005 when their relocated Southern 500 was booked the day before Mother's Day for the better part of eight years.
Chargin' Charlie Glotzbach set a track record in winning the pole in his purple, winged Dodge Daytona. Bobby Allison timed second in another winged Daytona prepared by Mario Rossi.
Defending and three-time NASCAR Grand National champion, David Pearson, qualified third. During practice prior to qualifying, Pearson clipped the wall four times. Crew chief Dick Hutcherson made several spring adjustments, and the changes helped as Pearson logged the third quickest lap without any additional misadventures with the fence. Nonetheless, the track's PA announcer had a bit of fun at Pearson's expense by introducing him to the crowd as David "Wall" Pearson.
Pearson was flanked by Pete Hamilton who was driving a second Plymouth entry for Petty Enterprises. After Hamilton's qualifying run, he commented candidly to reporter Bob Myers:
I honestly believe we are running too fast for this race track. In the fourth turn, we are headed straight for the wall coming out. There it is near impossible to avoid hitting the wall. - Charlotte News
Though Hamilton was in a second Petty team car, he had the only Petty Superbird in the race. His teammate, the King, qualified his Superbird seventh on the first day of time trials. After logging his lap, Petty returned to the track during a follow-up practice session. Just as Hamilton had observed, Petty lost the handle coming off turn four, popped the wall, sailed back across the track, and pounded the pit wall.
Source: Greenville News
Source: Charlotte News
The crew loaded the trashed Superbird, forfeited their starting spot, returned home to Level Cross, and readied the team's Plymouth Roadrunner short track car to qualify again the next day. After a quick night's work - likely with limited, if any, sleep - the team returned with its backup. The Roadrunner was plenty quick, and the King timed 12th - only five spots lower than his forfeited day one slot. Yet his weekend problems were far from over.
Glotzbach grabbed the lead at the drop of the green. After a few laps, Allison roared back by him to lead for over 50 laps.
After the two Dodges led the first 60 laps, its factory cousin let it be known it wanted some prime time exposure. Hamilton's Superbird seized the lead for a couple of laps before teammate Petty put the Roadrunner out front.
Allison, however, wasn't done. His red and gold Daytona returned to the point to lead a couple of stretches for another 30 laps or so. Near halfway though, the Dodge's Hemi could handle no more. Allison was done for the day, and he headed to the garage to join Glotzbach who'd also retired with engine issues about 10 laps earlier. After starting on the front row, Glotzbach and Allison ended their days by finishing 22nd and 20th, respectively.
Four laps after Allison's exit, Pete Hamilton spun and destroyed the Petty team's second Superbird in only a matter of days.
With Glotzbach's and Allison's winged Daytonas out of the race and Hamilton's wounded Bird loaded for the ride home, Petty's short-track Roadrunner suddenly became the stalwart Mopar on the track. The car was fairly sporty after having led a few laps. The 43 bunch just needed to wrap up the day and hope for better ones down the road.
About 25 laps after Hamilton's wreck, however, the Petty team's weekend devolved from bad to worse. Much worse. Similar to the wreck he experienced in the Superbird, the King destroyed a third team car with far more force and in the most spectacular fashion. As he did following qualifying, Petty pounded the wall coming off the fourth turn and drilled the pit wall. The force broke the cement wall and sent Petty's Roadrunner into a series of terrifying flips - right in front of the packed grandstands.
The 43 crew, driver LeeRoy Yarbrough, Francis Allen (a Yarbrough crewman), and Glotzbach crewman Buck Brigance immediately broke into an all-out sprint to the car. Many fans and crew members feared the worst - especially when it seemed his body had come apart and ruptured blood onto the track. Though bad optically, it was several red shop rags that had flown out of the car. For much of his career, the King kept a wet rag in his mouth in an effort to help with hydration.
Though he was alive, the battered driver suffered a dislocated shoulder. The injury forced him to miss the next five races. The team skipped four short track races and fielded former team driver Jim Paschal in the World 600 at Charlotte.
After Petty's wreck, the race concluded with 100 caution-free laps. The final third featured great racing between factory rivals on the track but between drivers who were good friends off the track. Pearson in his Holman Moody Ford battled Bobby Isaac in the Harry Hyde-prepared Dodge Daytona. Each took turns leading sizable chunks of laps before the other went back out front.
With about 30 laps to go, however, Isaac drifted high with a cut tire. Pearson decided it was go-time and seized the moment. He eased by Isaac and led the remaining laps to capture his 58th career win. The victory was his second Rebel 400 win in three years after also capturing the 1968 Rebel 400.
Though Petty spent the night in a hospital bed as his rival celebrated in victory lane, the King exhibited class as he always has. He called Pearson on Sunday morning to congratulate him on his win.
