March 28, 1964 - Greenville 200

The 11th race of the 1964 NASCAR Grand National season was the Easter Saturday night Greenville 200 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina. Four of the season's 11 races had been run in November and December 1963.

Dick Hutcherson, an IMCA champion from the midwest, made his way south to give NASCAR a go. In his first career GN start and in a Holman-Moody Ford, Hutch won the pole with a track record.

Source: Greenville News

Lee Roy Yarbrough started second with Ned Jarrett, Jimmy Pardue, and Ralph Earnhardt rounding out the top five starters. Other notable starters included:

• Maurice Petty qualified 16th in the 22-car field. The race was the 7th of eight times Ralph Earnhardt and Chief qualified for the same show.
• Richard Petty started seventh in a second Petty Plymouth.
• Jim Paschal started eighth in Cotton Owens' Dodge as a teammate to ninth place starter David Pearson. Paschal started the season with Owens. After a few more races, however, he returned to the Petty Plymouth team for whom he'd raced a good bit in 1962 and 1963.
• Marvin Panch, the 1961 Daytona 500 winner, qualified 10th in the famed Wood Brothers Ford. One has to laugh at the caption of the photo featured in the Greenville News. Panch had his greatest success at the wheel of the Woods' car, but it's rather certain the owners/crew were the ones providing the instructions. 

Hutcherson leveraged his top qualifying spot as the race began. He got the jump on Yarbrough and led the first 60 laps. When Hutcherson pitted, Richard Petty's Plymouth then went to the top of the board where it remained for nearly 30 laps before falling by the wayside with mechanical issues. 

Another Ford driver assumed the lead as Ned Jarrett led 88 of the next 89 laps. Along the way, the King took over the wheel of brother Maurice's #41 Plymouth. It's uncertain if Chief wasn't feeling well or if team owner and father Lee believed the car could get a better finish with Richard at the helm.

With just over 30 laps to go, Wendell Scott blew a tire on his Chevrolet. The car then rolled over although Scott was uninjured. 

When the race returned to green with about 20 laps to go, Pearson wrestled the top spot away from Jarrett as the two banged doors. Jarrett maintained hot pursuit, but Pearson led the rest of the way and won by about 100 yards ahead of Ned. Panch finished third - the only other car on the lead lap.   

Pearson's fifth career Grand National win came with his first of four victories at Greenville-Pickens. It was also his second win in three races having won at Richmond about three weeks earlier. Pearson took naturally to the track in a GN car as he'd run and won on his home track often in the track's sportsman division in the late 1950s. 

Source: Greenville News

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July 19, 1958 - Bob Welborn Grabs Greenville

NASCAR's convertible division raced at Greenville-Pickens Speedway on July 19, 1958. The 200-lap, 100-mile race was the third of four ragtop races at the track from 1956-1959 in the short-lived series.

Greenville-Pickens (web | Twitter) continues to operate today with a full slate of late model hot shoes.

Car owner Julian Petty fielded three cars in the 1958 race. Two-time convertible division champion Bob Welborn drove his customary #49. Ken Rush belted into a #44 Chevy, and Jim Paschal - who later raced and won for Petty Enterprises in the 1960s - started 9th in #49A.

The race was held the day after Julian's brother Lee and nephew Richard raced north of the border in Toronto Canada. Lee won the race which frankly is better remembered as the King's first career Grand National / Cup start.

In looking at the finishing order, one might think the race was uneventful. The top 10 starters finished in the same order except for the third and fourth place finishers who swapped spots from where they began the race.

The race, however, did have some late race drama. Knoxville, TN's Tootle Estes made a late race pit stop with about a dozen laps to go.

View image | gettyimages.com

Ken Rush - NASCAR's 1957 Grand National Rookie of the Year - was leading and headed towards the win. Instead of taking the checkers, however, Rush clipped Estes' car as he pulled back onto the racing surface after completing his stop. The collision caused Rush to hit a dirt bank, and the hit negated his chances for victory.

Welborn assumed the lead and led the remaining laps to claim his fifth convertible win of the season. Teammate Rush recovered from his late race encounter with Estes to finish 3rd - albeit 3 laps down to the winner.

Fin	St	#	Driver
1	1	49	Bob Welborn
2	2	76	Larry Frank
3	4	44	Ken Rush
4	3	87	Buck Baker
5	5	21	Glen Wood
6	6	36	Tootle Estes
7	7	41	Whitey Norman
8	8	66	Roy Tyner
9	9	49A	Jim Paschal
10	10	999	Wilbur Rakestraw

Source: Star-News via Google News Archive

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May 30, 1964 - Tiring Night at Greenville-Pickens

Six days after a tough race at Charlotte where Fireball Roberts was critically burned in an early race accident and on the same day Dave MacDonald and Eddie Sachs died from injuries suffered in a second lap accident in the Indianapolis 500, NASCAR's Grand National drivers did what they always do following a tragedy. They raced the next event.

The drivers rolled into Greenville-Pickens Speedway for the 200-lap, 100-mile Pickens 200 on a South Carolina Saturday night.

Marvin Panch won the pole in the Wood Brothers #21 Ford. David Pearson - who'd become the driver of the Woods' 21 less than a decade later - timed second. Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty made up the second row, and Buck Baker rounded out the top 5.

Panch led 55 laps as he got the jump on the field from his top starting spot. Then the second place starter Pearson took over. He led the next 129 laps and had the checkers in sight ... until he lost an engine in his Cotton Owens' Dodge.

Lee Roy Yarbrough inherited the lead with 16 laps to go and a one-lap lead over second place Petty. But then...

Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal via Google News Archive

King's memory was close but apparently not quite spot-on. Yarbrough was the first to blow a tire. He did so with about 10 laps to go and made the call to go the distance. He rolled slowly around the track as Petty hustled to make up his lap and another to take the lead and win the race. Instead, as King remembered, the 43 also blew a tire.

As the two cars battled one another to the line with blown tires, the flagman waved the checkered flag instead of the white one as the two drivers completed lap 199 - one lap early. Nonetheless, Lee Roy Yarbrough in a year-old, independent Plymouth was declared the winner with Petty finishing second - two car lengths behind.

Instead of Petty pocketing what would have been his 31st (and ultimately 201st) victory, Yarbrough banked his second career GN win.

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Edited May 31, 2015

July 31, 1959 - Petty Picks Greenville-Pickens' Green

July 31, 1959: Lee Petty wins his second and final career NASCAR Convertible Series race in a 200 lap, 100 mile race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina. Son Richard Petty struggled mightily in the race and finished 19th in the 22-car field.

Lee's win in his familiar #42 Plymouth came in his 28th and final start in the Convertible Series over a three-year period. (NASCAR ended the series after 1959 though it sanctioned a few convertible or blended races of sedans and ragtops through 1962.)

Greg Fielden succintly recapped the race in his book, Rumblin' Ragtops: The History of NASCAR's Fabulous Convertible Division:

The 45 year-old veteran, a part-time competitor on the popular ragtop circuit, finished over a lap ahead of runner-up Joe Lee Johnson. Roy Tyner came in third with the father-son team of Buck and Buddy Baker in fourth and fifth.

[Lee] Petty started fourth and moved into contention when pole sitter Joe Weatherly went out early with steering failure. ~ pp. 123-124

Less than a year later, Joe Lee Johnson of Cleveland, Tennessee won the inaugural World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway - easily the biggest win of his driving career. After a career that included two Grand National wins and two Convertible Series victories, Joe Lee took over ownership and promotion at Cleveland Speedway in Tennessee. Before his passing, he turned the track into a premier dirt track of the southeast.

In the rear view mirror of today's perspective, the race was chocked full of future NASCAR Hall of Famers - though many of them didn't have a HOF-caliber finish in that particular event.

• Lee Petty - winner
• Buck Baker - 4th
• Bud Moore (car owner of Jack Smith) - 12th
• Glen Wood - 13th
• Ned Jarrett - 18th
• Richard Petty - 19th
• Joe Weatherly (NHOF nominee) - 20th

Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal via Google News Archive (p.4)

Greenville-Pickens Speedway (web, Twitter) continues to operate today with a full slate of late model hot shoes.

Also, despite conventional wisdom that CBS' airing of the 1979 Daytona 500 was the first "flag to flag" coverage of a NASCAR Cup race, it was actually ABC's 1971 Greenville 200 that has the distinction - 12 years after Lee Petty's ragtop win.


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Edited July 31, 2014

July 30 - This day in Petty history - part 1

1963 - Richard Petty notches his 24th career victory by winning the Pickens 200 on the half-mile, dirt track at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina.

GPS was a fixture on the NASCAR Grand National circuit from the mid-1950s through 1971. The track's races, like many others, were trimmed from the series in 1972 as part of the newly-branded Winston Cup Series.

The track itself, however, continues operating to this day. The dirt was replaced with asphalt in 1970, and local drivers still hone and prove their skills on the half-mile bull-ring.

Petty won the Greenville-Pickens race in car number 41 - one of his half-dozen or so wins in a car numbered other than 43. Richard finished second two days earlier at Bristol in number 43, and teammate Jim Paschal finished third in number 42. Perhaps the turnaround time was too short to adequately prepared the 43, and the 41 may have been raced in its place. (Paschal did not enter the Pickens 200.)

Long-time, independent driver Frank Warren finished tenth in car number X. He ran the number just one more time - a week or so later at Columbia Speedway in a race coincidentally also won by Petty.

As a kid, my uncle introduced me to racing in the early 1970s and strongly suggested I become a fan of the King. I didn't have the opportunity to see him race or know much about his beginnings in the late 1950s or his rise to greatness in the 1960s. But I learned quickly about his appreciation for his fans by signing autographs.

I think its interesting the writer of this article makes note of that point - in 1963! (As an aside, the writer's name was Rocky Stone? Really?)

"I wasn't worried about my gasoline because I had a pit stop after 65 laps. What I was worried about was my tires," Petty said while signing a host of autographs.

Credit: The Times-News of Hendersonville, NC via Google News Archive

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July 14 - This day in Petty history - part 1

1962 - Starting fourth in a field of 21 cars, Richard Petty wins the Pickens 200 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina.

After a duel with Jack Smith, Petty prevailed in the 100-mile race to notch his eighth career NASCAR Grand National victory.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

Floyd Powell, a local hot shoe and fan favorite from nearby Spartanburg, made his first Grand National start. Following his GN debut at Greenville-Pickens, he made five additional starts - including the 1963 Daytona 500.

#147370210 / gettyimages.com

About a year after his GN debut, however, Powell sadly was shot dead by his brother-in-law.

Source: The Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

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June 26 - This day in Petty history - part 3

1971 - Starting second alongside pole-winner Bobby Allison, Richard Petty leads 89 of 200 laps and wins the Pickens 200 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina to capture his 129th career victory. According to Greg Fielden in his book Forty Years of Stock Car Racing - Volume 3:

Allison was unveiling a new 1971 Holman-Moody Ford at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. He led all but one of the first 107 laps when his engine blew, sending him into the guard rail... Petty took over and held off Tiny Lund's surprising effort to win the 200-lapper ..."The only thing that bothered me was when Bobby's engine blew," said Petty. "I was lucky to miss him. I was just a matter of inches behind him. I still don't know how I got by."

The following article shared with me by Jerry Bushmire - as he has done throughout this 200 Wins series - is a neat read. Its a rare column that included good detail for readers in the day - but also provides great historical context some 40 years later.

Photo courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

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June 24 - This day in Petty history

1967 - Richard Petty wins the pole and dominates the Pickens 200 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway (web | Twitter) in South Carolina.

The King led 195 laps of the race, and he picked up his 60th career NASCAR Grand National victory by winning on the half-mile, dirt track. Petty set sail at the the drop of the green and won handily over the field including second place finisher Dick Hutcherson. The win also marked the beginning of a three-race winning streak at Greenville-Pickens for Petty.

In his book Forty Years of Stock Car Racing - Volume 3, Greg Fielden recaps:

Top threats Jim Paschal, John Sears and Doug Cooper were all victims of a first lap fiasco. The three drivers, starting on the outside of the first three rows, charged into the first turn.  Before the race, the area had been saturated by a water truck, which had lost power and leaked several gallons of water. All three cars shot straight over the banks and flipped outside the track. ~ p. 138

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

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Edited June 24, 2014

June 22 - This day in Petty history

1968 - Starting second alongside career rival David Pearson, Richard Petty passes Pearson with 30 laps to go and gets his 82nd career NASCAR Grand National victory in a 200-lap, 100-mile race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

The start with pole winner Pearson getting the early jump on Petty, third place starter Buddy Baker in #3, and fourth place starter Bobby Issac in #71.

Courtesy of Harvey Tollison

Petty's win was his second consecutive win at Greenville-Pickens - the middle win of what turned out to be a three-win streak at the track. The speedway still operates today running late model features and can be found on the web and Twitter. NASCAR sanctioned 29 Grand National races at the track from 1951 through 1971, and The King won four of the final eight GN races at the speedway.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

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April 13 - This day in Petty history

1968 - Starting from the inside of the second row, Richard Petty banks his 78th career victory in the Greenville 200 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

Because Petty Enterprises didn't submit a written entry blank for the race, Petty didn't earn any championship points for his win on the half-mile dirt track.

The King led about a quarter of the race - including the final 40 laps. The remaining three-quarters of the laps were split evenly between Bobby Isaac and David Pearson. Isaac lost his brakes near the half-way point of the race, but still managed to finish second and three laps down to Petty. Pearson blew a tire, crashed, and ended up 14th in the 23-car field.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

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