Nashville's 1964 Southern 300

The 1964 racing season at Nashville's Fairground Speedways brought significant change for drivers, owners, and fans. Gone were the modified coupes of the past six years. Replacing them were late model modifieds - full sedans.

Similar to NASCAR's top series, track promoters opted to have cars on the track that more closely resembled those in the parking lot. Also, several other Southeastern regional tracks made the switch to late models. Many drivers raced multiple tracks over varying weekday and weekend nights. So the alignment with other tracks helped Nashville continue to draw top racers who could continue to race the same equipment in different locales.

The decision to switch divisions went over with many about as well as a fart in church. Many owners, particularly owner-drivers, were less than thrilled with the idea of ditching perfectly good cars and spending hard-to-come-by dollars to buy or build entirely new cars. A couple of drivers retired rather than begin anew with the replacement division. In 2011, Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson blogged about the new era of racing at the Fairgrounds.

Despite the complaints by some, the switch was made. Though the late models replaced the modifieds, many of the same players returned for the traditional Southern 300. The seventh annual Southern was slated for Sunday, October 4, 1964.

Beginning with the first Southern race in 1958, the track wanted to build significance to the race by awarding a large trophy. Though the trophies were large in stature, they varied in design over the years.

The double-handed, fat jug design awarded to Friday Hassler for his 1963 Southern 300 win returned for the winner of the 1964 race. The size of it was compelling to the young...

...as well as to the restless!

The track offered fans a full weekend of track activity to enjoy: Sunday's 400 lapper, Saturday's qualifying, and Friday's Figure 8 races.

Figure 8 races have long since disappeared from the Fairgrounds, and much of the 1/4-mile track's infield has been paved. Some vestiges of the "X marks the spot" track, however, are still identifiable.

Bob Burcham from Chattanooga arrived in Nashville with a bit of momentum. About a month earlier on Labor Day, Burcham won a 100-lap feature at the Fairgrounds in somewhat of a tune-up for the Southern 300. He picked up where he left off and captured the Southern 300 pole.

Fellow Noogan Freddy Fryar qualified on the front row with Burcham. A year earlier, Fryar and Burcham started second and third, respectively, to pole winner Bobby Allison. The brothers Marlin - Coo Coo and Jack - took the second row. Local racer Charlie Binkley qualified fifth followed by  Hassler, the 1962-63 Southern 300 winner and a third Chattanoogan in the field.

The race had fans watching action on the track - and possible action in the skies. Hurricane Hilda battered the Gulf Coast in the days leading up to the race. Its remnants of heavy rain began making their way up through the south, and the hope was to complete the race before storms arrived.

The field included many top flight racers including several out-of-towners, but local favorite Binkley gave his guests quite the challenge. Charlie passed cars seemingly with ease throughout the race - including the leaders. After making his second stop of the race, Binkley found himself two laps down but kept digging. With about 50 laps to go, however, Binkley's engine had no more to give. The solid effort quickly devolved into a 13th place DNF.

Another local racer, Walter Wallace, triggered the day's most frightening caution soon after the 100-lap mark. Wallace spun in the third turn, and Bill Gregg and Fryar soon found themselves sideways after both clobbered the guardrail.

Fryar took the worst lick of the three. Track crews pulled him from his car and loaded him onto a stretcher as he complained of some whiplash. The rest of the field filed by as other workers began to sweep the debris.

When Allison rolled by, a spark from his car ignited a pool of fuel spilled from Wallace's Ford. A huge fireball suddenly erupted behind the yellow #62. Fortunately, Wallace, Gregg, Fryar, nor any of the track crew were injured.

Photo sequence courtesy of Russ Thompson

Over the next 200 laps, action at the front included Red Farmer, Coo Coo Marlin, pole winner Burcham, former NASCAR Grand National racer Joe Lee Johnson, and Binkley.

As the race headed into its final 50 laps or so, things began to sort out themselves.

• Farmer made an emergency stop to change a cut tire.
• Binkley fell out with his blown engine. 
• Coo Coo had to manage his fuel mileage to make it until the end.
• Burcham, Allison, and Johnson built a one lap-lead on the rest of the field because of the misfortune of others.

Burcham found his groove in the remaining laps and gapped Allison and Johnson a bit. With five to go, it was Burcham's race to lose. Then with two to go, that just happened. The Plymouth's engine delivered a crushing gut punch to its driver, and Burcham unwillingly traded a win for a third-place finish.

Allison lucked himself into the lead via Burcham's failed engine and completed the final two laps to win over Johnson. Joe Lee immediately cried foul believing Allison lost an additional lap during his pit stop than was scored. After a re-check, however, Johnson's protest was denied as Allison celebrated his unexpected W.

Burcham returned to the Fairgrounds over the next several years and won Flameless 300 races in 1967 and 1969 as well as three additional 100-lap features. Following the Fairgrounds' rebuilding of the track to its high-banked design in 1970 and subsequently the 18-degree configuration that remains today, however, Burcham could no longer find victory lane.

Source: Nashville Banner

Allison had a couple of Grand National / Cup starts in his pocket from 1961. After winning the 1964 Southern 300, he raced another eight Cup starts in 1965. He essentially became a full-time Grand National driver in 1966; however, he continued racing modified and sportsman events whenever and wherever he could - not just in 1966 but for pretty much the next 20 years.

For the first time since the track's opening in 1958, the Southern 300 wasn't the final race of the year. Two weeks after the Southern, the Fairgrounds hosted a 300-lap Open Competition race. The field was again comprised of local and out-of-town racers but with a different twist. Late model sedans, modifieds, and winged sprints all raced together in somewhat of a run what ya brung format.

Source for articles: The Tennessean and Nashville Banner

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

1969 Flameless 300

As the calendar turned to 1969, only three seasons had passed since Nashville's Fairground Speedways re-opened following a devastating fire in September 1965.Yet the new tradition of the Flameless 300 as the track's season opener was by then old hat. The fourth running of the event was scheduled for April 19, 1969.

Several track regulars returned for another season at the fairgrounds. Included in that bunch were Jimmy Griggs from Donelson (TMC's stomping grounds as a yute), long-time veteran driver Bill Morton, future Winston Cup independent Dave Sisco (who would also claim the track's LMS title in 1969), and 1967 late model track champion Walter Wallace.

Source: The Tennessean via Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History Facebook page

One regular who did not return was four-time track champ Coo Coo Marlin. Tom Powell from The Tennessean noted Coo Coo "retired" following the 1968 season. Coo Coo didn't actually retire - he just didn't race at the fairgrounds as often. He focused instead on developing a NASCAR Grand National program and entered seven races in 1969 - including the inaugural Grand National race at Talladega. Though Coo Coo's GN/Cup program wasn't a winning one, it served as a proving ground over the next decade for his son, Sterling.

Source: The Tennessean

The Flameless 300 was scheduled as the track's season opener since 1966. In a bit of irony, rain arrived and postponed the 1969 Flameless. Instead of opening with a 300-lapper on a Saturday night, fans welcomed the new season with a Tuesday night slate of regular races. The 300 was rescheduled for the following Saturday, April 26th.

Source: The Tennessean

The late Joe Carver was track promoter Bill Donoho's right hand man when it came to promoting races. He polished the rainout by suggesting the makeup date would draw more big name drivers including NASCAR legends Junior Johnson, Rex White, and Red Farmer as well as two-time and defending Flameless 300 winner, Freddy Fryar.

As it turns out, none of the drivers teased by Carver showed for the race. Zero. But Carver always looked forward - not behind. After a few more years in Nashville, he moved to Virginia to promote races at Langley Speedway. Carver later became an integral part of Darrell Waltrip's management team - including the launch of his own Cup team, DarWal, Inc. The two met during Waltrip's formative and championship years in Nashville.

Source: The Tennessean

Ben Pruitt won the pole in his first late model sportsman division start. Though a late model noob, Pruitt was a dominant winner throughout 1968 in the track's Tuesday night limited late model division. Aboard one of R. C. Alexander's Harpeth Motor Fords, Pruitt had a so-so night in his debut. As it turns out, his Flameless 300 P1 start ultimately became his biggest accomplishment in the late model sportsman division.

Pruitt continued to race albeit with limited success. In August 1972, he was involved in a vicious wreck with James Ham in turn 2 as the cars entered the backstretch. Flames engulfed Pruitt's car, and his recovery from the burns all but ended his racing career.

Flookie Buford had been a 1960s era racer in the track's figure 8 and Cadet divisions. Like Pruitt, he moved up to the track's late model sportsman division as a rookie beginning with the 1969 Flameless. He joined Pruitt as a teammate in a second Alexander Ford. In the 1970s, Alexander provided late models for his son, Mike Alexander, who eventually had an injury-shortened Winston Cup career.

Pruitt set out to prove being fastest during qualifying wasn't his only skill. When the green flag fell, Pruitt buried his foot, hauled off into turn one, and led the first 107 laps.

While Coo Coo Marlin turned his efforts to NASCAR's Big Time, his brother, Jack Marlin, returned for another season and shot at the Flameless 300 trophy. But as was the case a year earlier, Jack again had a miserable night. He wrecked early and finished 24th out of 27 cars. In 1967, Jack exited under a similar scenario and finished 25th out of 27 cars.

After leading the opening third of the race, Pruitt surrendered the lead to Bob Burcham. A junk dealer (*cough* retailer of used auto parts), Burcham qualified second to Pruitt and held his lead until he made a stop for fuel on lap 194.

Jimmy Griggs assumed the lead when Burcham and Pruitt pitted. Griggs had rallied from three laps down because of an early-race accident and extended time in the pits. But he made up the deficit and found himself in the lead when the top two made their stops. Griggs' lead was short-lived, however, as Burcham went back to the point on lap 202. Griggs later lost a right front wheel spindle but still managed a P3 despite his steering challenges.

Pruitt's #85 Cinderella chariot unfortunately turned into a pumpkin. Despite keeping pace with Burcham and maintaining a clean car, he cut a tire with 60 laps to go, popped the wall, and had to settle for an eighth place finish.

With Pruitt out of the picture and Griggs having issues, Burcham hunkered down and led the remaining third of the race.

Unlike his teammate Pruitt, Flookie Buford had a great night in his LMS debut with a P2 in the Alexander Ford. Buford really took to the division and won Nashville's LMS title in 1971 and 1972. His son, Joe Buford, later won four titles of his own between 1998 and 2002.

With four Flameless 300s in the books, two were won by Freddy Fryar and Burcham nabbed the other two. Burcham had an edge in overall stats with two poles and a P2 finish in 1968.

Source: The Tennessean

The race was the final Flameless on the Fairgrounds' original track layout. Construction equipment rolled in after the 1969 season concluded, and the track was rebuilt to a high speed demon. Gone was the original half-mile. In its place would rise a 5/8-mile oval banked 35 degrees - steeper than any track in the country including Daytona and Talladega.

Finishing Order:

1. Bob Burcham
2. Flookie Buford
3. Jimmy Griggs
4. Raymond Stiles
5. Dorman Adams
6. Tommy Andrews
7. Bobby Hargrove
8. Ben Pruitt
9. Phil Woodall
10. Donnie Roberts
11. Ed Kennedy
12. Charlie Higdon
13. Ron Blasingim
14. David Hitt
15. B.K. Luna
16. James Veach
17. Gene Payne
18. Don Binkley 
19. Bruce Hidenwaite
20. Chester Albright 
21. Otis Deck Jr.
22. Roy Brinson
23. John Nicholson
24. Jack Marlin
25. Walter Wallace
26. Charlie Binkley
27. David Sisco

TMC

1968 Flameless 300

Drivers belted in for the third annual Flameless 300 on April 20, 1968 - once again, the season opener for Nashville's Fairground Speedways.

Long-time Nashville racer and future NASCAR official, Walter Wallace, returned for another season but with a different panache. Wallace won the track's late model sportsman title in 1967 and returned for his defense of it - albeit with a different car and owner.

Source: The Tennessean

Chattanooga's Bob Burcham, the defending race winner and two-time pole winner, returned to middle Tennessee yet again with a high level of confidence. He had good reason for his optimism with a handful of other Nashville wins in 1967 in addition to his Flameless pole and victory.

Source: The Tennessean

After three Nashville titles in four years plus a bucket of wins in 1966 and 1967, Coo Coo Marlin began to reduce his time at the fairgrounds and increased his number of NASCAR Grand National starts. Yet, he was ready to go yet again for the big race, the Flameless 300.

Coo Coo's older brother Jack Marlin, however, still had a Nashville itch to scratch. Walter Wallace didn't win a race in 1967 yet won the track title over Jack. That fact alone provided a good bit of motivation for the 39 year-old.

Source: The Tennessean

In addition to the track regulars, season champions, and out-of-town ringers, the race featured another interloper of sorts. Country singer Marty Robbins took his racing as seriously as he did his musical craft. Though he didn't get to race as often as many of the regulars, Robbins made sure to do what he could to be right in the thick of the mix.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Source: The Tennessean

Even with his planned schedule reduction, Coo Coo came to race - not to play. He plunked his #711 car on the pole. Yet for the third year in a row, he simply could not muster a winning race in the Flameless. In the 1966 event, he blew a tire and fell out of the race at lap 78. In 1967, poor fuel mileage and/or pit execution relegated him to a P2 finish, two laps down to winner Bob Burcham.

When the green fell on the 1968 race, Coo Coo hauled off into turn 1 and led the first 10 laps. He surrendered the lead and settled into a good rhythm for the rest of the evening. About ten laps later, however, his accelerator hung and he piled into the first turn wall.

Furthermore, Coo Coo was aching. He needed to be taken to the hospital to have his injured back examined and treated. But as long-time Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson blogged, he didn't want his wife, Eula Faye, to see him loaded into an ambulance so he slipped out the back gate in a wrecker instead. With true grit toughness and as a display of good sportsmanship, Marlin returned to the track before the end of the race and congratulated the winner in victory lane.

Three weeks later, Tom Powell from The Tennessean interviewed Coo Coo about the accident and his planned return to racing:

Coo Coo wrecked in the opening night Flameless 300 race when his accelerator stuck. "It was the worst wreck I was ever involved in," the blond farmer from Columbia confessed yesterday. "It almost knocked me unconscious."

Asked to describe the sensation he experienced when the throttle stuck, Coo Coo said, "It was like driving without brakes in that I kept picking up speed and couldn't do anything about it. There was no time to reach for the switch. Everything happened so fast."

Concerning his car that has been wreaking havoc for the rest of the drivers at the Speedways during the last couple of seasons, Coo Coo smiled and said, "If it’s better when we get it fixed, it'll be a dilly. I just hope it runs as good as the other one."

The car will have a new frame. “We're trying to salvage everything good from the other one, but we're completely rebuilding. The biggest damage was to the frame, but we haven't looked at the engine yet."

Coo Coo said he saw no way to have the car ready for this week's show and stated, "I just hope we can make it by the next week, but we've still got a long way to go."

Marlin admitted, "My wife's been after me to quit during this spell, so we just let the car set for three or four days, but we're going after it now."

Despite not racing last week, Coo Coo was in the pits watching the races. "I wonder what other people find to do on Saturday nights," he laughed. ~ May 3, 1968 The Tennessean 

With delays in getting his car rebuilt and listening to Eula Faye who advised him to back it down, Marlin did not return to racing until June 2. He finished fourth in the 30-lap feature  - six weeks after his Flameless misfortune.

Coo Coo's wreck was hardly the only DNF of the night. Nine cautions chewed up 70 of the race's 300 laps. When the checkered flag fell, only six of 27 starters were still around to see it.

Jack Marlin set the tone early with a second lap wreck involving himself, Charlie Higdon, and Robbins. Jack said later "This is a helluva way to start the season, but I had fair warning. Two black cats crossed my path today." Troubles for other racers after the Marty and Marlins exits including:

• Charley Binkley - engine issues
• P. B. Crowell - led 29 laps but fell out because of overheating
• Charley Stofel - steering 
• Walter Wallace - engine issues. He joked "I even got a haircut to cut down on the car's weight, but we must have broken about a dozen rocker arms."

As the car counted dwindled, two drivers separated themselves from the rest of the remaining field. Burcham and the 1966 Flameless 300 winner, Freddy Fryar, pretty well had the race to themselves.

Near the midpoint of the race, Burcham made an unscheduled stop under green because of a flat tire and lost two laps. Fryar made his planned stop later but was able to do so during a caution. Burcham made up one of his two laps during Fryar's stop, but he still needed good fortune to have a shot at Fryar.

Burcham was all over Fryar with 25 laps to go. He raced him hard but clean with the aggressive hope of getting back on the lead lap. He made the pass to get back on the lead lap - barely, but Burcham needed to see another yellow flag to close the gap.

With only six cars remaining, however, the race stayed green the rest of the way. For the second time in three years, Fryar again took home the trophy and the loot. Though P.B. Crowell fell out of the race as a driver, he still got to visit victory lane as the winning car owner.

Source: The Tennessean

Finishing Order:

1. Freddy Fryar
2. Bob Burcham
3. Donnie Carter
4. David Hill
5. Chester Albright
6. James Veach
7. Stan Starr
8. Donnie Roberts
9. Ronnie Blasingim
10. Bobby Walker
11. Art Ellis
12. Ronnie Muller
13. P. B. Crowell
14. Otis Deck
15. Tommy New
16. James Ham
17. Jimmy Griggs
18. Bobby Hargrove
19. Bunkie Blackburn
20. Charley Stofel
21. David Sisco
22. Charley Binkley
23. Coo Coo Marlin
24. Walter Wallace
25. Jack Marlin
26. Charlie Higdon
27. Marty Robbins

TMC

1967 Flameless 300

With the success of the Flameless 300 as the 1966 season opener at Nashville's Fairground Speedways, the track chose to again have the big race start the 1967 season. The second annual Flameless was slated for Saturday, April 22, 1967.

Racer Walter Wallace paired with owners Charlie McGee and Kenneth Wiser to race a #43 Chevelle in 1967. The relationship worked well as Wallace notched the first of his two Nashville late model track championships (the other title coming in 1975).

Source: The Tennessean

The 43 received support from Merrill's Restaurant on Nolensville Road in Nashville. The restaurant is long-gone, and a Burger King sadly now sits on the site.

Courtesy of Russ Thompson

Bunkie Blackburn, a part-time, ten-year veteran of NASCAR's Grand National division, relocated to middle Tennessee. He shelved his GN career and focused instead on racing at the local level.

Source: The Tennessean

Blackburn's limited GN career included a half-dozen races for Petty Enterprises in 1962. He and Jim Paschal were hired as platoon drivers as the Petty team continued its recovery from the loss of Lee Petty and development of the future King, Richard Petty.

Freddy Fryar won Nashville's 1964 modified-sportsman division championship as well as the 1966 Flameless 300. Originally from the Chattanooga, Tennessee area, Fryar relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and returned to Nashville to defend his 1966 win. Fryar's home base didn't seem to affect his racing career as he raced short tracks seemingly any time and anywhere.

Source: The Tennessean

After blowing a tire and falling out of the 1966 Flameless 300 before the one-third mark, Coo Coo Marlin went on a tear. He won more than a dozen races, his second consecutive track championship, and his third title in four years. Though the rush of weekly racing had started to fade a bit, Marlin was back again in 1967 looking to win the season-opener and pick up where he'd left off the previous September.

Source: The Tennessean

As racers arrived for preparation and practice, one 'driver' spotted on the track was Roy Drusky, country singer and songwriter. Drusky fielded a car for Blackburn in the Flameless 300 as noted in the above article, and he put others behind the wheel (including himself) over the next couple of seasons. Trivia unrelated to the race: Drusky was the first to record a song written by the legendary Kris Kristofferson, Jody and the Kid.

Source: The Tennessean

Chattanooga's Bob Burcham won the pole just as he'd done for the previous year's Flameless 300. Burcham led the first few laps before Marlin took over the top spot - a familiar sight for the field during the previous season. Coo Coo held the lead through nearly half the race before pitting for fuel.

Fryar raced in the top five for much of the race and stayed near Burcham, Marlin, and Wallace. With about 70 laps to go, however, he broke a wheel cylinder and was unable to keep up a contending pace. Even with fading brakes, the Beaumont Flyer still managed a sixth place finish.

Wallace took over the top spot when Marlin pitted a second time on lap 238. Walter put his #43 Chevelle in the wind and looked to be the car to beat over the remaining 62 laps. Until...

An inexpensive pulley belt broke on Wallace's car a dozen laps or so after taking the lead. The chance at the win was gone just like that. As was the case with Coo Coo a year earlier, a bad night in the season opener didn't derail Wallace's year. He soldiered on, had a solid year, and won the track title.

Burcham re-assumed the lead after Wallace's exit, but Coo Coo continued his pursuit. With five laps to go, however, Marlin had to pit an excruciating third time for a final splash of fuel.

A final caution flew with seven laps to go, and Burcham saw the green again with two to go. But with a two-lap lead on Coo Coo and his brother Jack Marlin, Burcham cruised the remaining laps to the win.

Marlin and his crew were perplexed as to how Burcham ran the race with only one stop vs. Coo Coo's two scheduled (plus one final top-off) stops. Rather than protest Burcham, Marlin returned to his Columbia, TN farm and waited for another race to win.

Burcham was worn out after the win but still enjoyed getting the spoils of victory lane. Winky Louise - Miss Firebird - was her elegant self in congratulating the winner. But somehow, I think Miss Fairground Speedways was none too happy about having the out-of-town pretty occupy her victory lane. MEOW

Source: The Tennessean

Finishing order:

1. Bob Burcham
2. Coo Coo Marlin
3. Jack Marlin
4. Jimmy Griggs
5. Sherrill Harris
6. Freddy Fryar
7. Ed Kennedy
8. Flemming Marlin
9. Walter Wallace
10. Jimmy Thurman
11. Ronnie Muller
12. Will Armstrong
13. Clyde Adcock
14. Darrell Waltrip
15. Butch Eades
16. Bobby Hargrove
17. Bill Morton
18. Jerry Long
19. Crash Bond
20. Charles Stofel
21. Chester Albright
22. George Bonee
23. David Hill
24. David Sullivan
25. Charles Loyd
26. Jimmy Brown
27. James Veach
28. Jerry Penick

TMC