Nashville's Falls City 200 - part 2

The first three Falls City 200 late model sportsman races at Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway were before my time as an avid race fan. Though I went to my first race sometime in 1974, I have no memories of the night, number of laps, or winner. I just know I liked it enough that I wanted to return - often.

My family and I began going to the Fairgrounds several times beginning in 1975 - though mainly for the nights of regular twin features of mini-stock, limited sportsman, and late model sportsman divisions. Attending the special Big Races with LMS racers didn't happen often - much less any Cup races. For those, I generally listened to them on WENO-AM radio.

The second triad of Falls City 200 races were smack dab in the salad days of my passion for Fairgrounds racing. Unlike Darrell Waltrip's sweep of the races from 1972 through 1974, fans saw three different winners in 1975-76-77.

Falls City 200 - June 1, 1975

The 1975 Falls City was scheduled for Saturday night, May 31. Fans had to wait another day for the results because of rain. The drivers instead took the green on Sunday afternoon, June 1, but fans had to wait another two days to learn the official winner of the race.

A bit of controversy following the race bookended some mild controversy before the race. The field arrived for practice and qualifying on Friday. Darrell Waltrip and his R.C. Alexander-owned Harpeth Motors Ford did not pass inspection, and a few drivers suggested they'd go home if Waltrip's #84 Ford raced "as is". Waltrip, the two-time Fairgrounds LMS champion and recent first-time Cup winner at Nashville less than a month earlier, was livid. He argued Alexander's Ford was being singled out and threatened not to race - in the Falls City 200 or any future events.

On Saturday, however, cooler heads prevailed. Waltrip and his crew returned, and tweaks were made allowing the car to pass inspection. After making the show, Waltrip ran a few laps during post-qualifying practice. His blood pressure likely soared again, however, when he lost control, popped the wall, and failed to start the race on Sunday.

Waltrip wasn't the only racer with pre-race issues. NASCAR national late model sportsman racers Butch Lindley and L.D. Ottinger captured the front row in qualifying. Lindley set a track record, and Ottinger was just a tick behind him. During post-qualifying practice, however, Ottinger blew an engine. Arrangements were made for Ottinger to take over the car of local rookie racer P.B. Crowell III.

Credit: Russ Thompson / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

The loss of Waltrip's car and Ottinger's engine was a sampling of what was to come during the race itself. Only thirteen of the race's 31 starters were still on-track late Sunday afternoon. Drivers making early exits including:

• Reigning NASCAR national late model sportsman champion Jack Ingram
• NASCAR veteran Tiny Lund
• Defending Fairgrounds track champion Jimmy Means
• Pole winner Lindley
• Local racers such as Flookie Buford, James Ham, Phil Stillings, and Little Joe Mangrum.

Of the thirteen cars that lived to see the checkers, local Nashville racer (by way of Birmingham) Alton Jones was the first to see it. Trailing him by a full lap was fellow Alabama driver and third place starter, Neil Bonnett.

Ned Webb finished third, and Ottinger finished where he started: P4. I know nothing about Webb, but apparently he knew something about the Alabama Gang. A few years after the '75 Falls City 200, Webb wrote a book about the driver who finished ahead of him.

Following the race, however, Ottinger filed a protest against Jones. Ottinger claimed Jones' Nova ran oversized wheels. Bonnett got in on the protest action too by suggesting the scoring sheets were off and that he actually won the race.

Bonnett's complaint was soon resolved, but Ottinger's protest lingered with NASCAR for two days without a decision. Ottinger then withdrew his protest, and Jones was confirmed as the official race winner.

Long-time Fairgrounds racing fan and historian, Russ Thompson, captured some video from the race. It includes some fantastic footage; however, don't adjust your speakers as there isn't any audio with it.

1. Alton Jones
2. Neil Bonnett
3. Ned Webb
4. L.D. Ottinger
5. Bob Burcham
6. Walter Wallace
7. Phil Stillings
8. Don Guirnard
9. Jerry Long
10. Ray Skillman
11. Clarence Kessinger
12. Jim Berry
13. Bill King
14. Dave Mader
15. Rod Stillings
16. James Ham
17. Jerry Lawley
18. Flookie Buford
19. Edwin Anthony
20. Tiny Lund
21. George Bennett
22. Butch Lindley
23. Jimmy Means
24. Paul Evans
25. Don Anthony
26. Gary Sircy
27. Jack Ingram
28. Butch Allen
29. Clyde Peoples
30. Joe Mangrum

Falls City 200 - May 29, 1976

The attrition rate for the 1975 was really high, but the number of DNFs for the 1976 Falls City 200 was even worse. Yet three key players from the '75 race were back in the hunt a year later.

Midwestern late model ace Bob Senneker won the pole in only his second trip to the Fairgrounds. In his Nashville debut six weeks earlier, Senneker had finished sixth in the Winston Salute to America 200.

Though a handful of national drivers made the trek to Music City for the 200-lap event, most of the field was comprised of local racers - including The Kiddie Corps. The 1976 season featured a quartet of highly touted and skilled young'uns:

• P.B. Crowell, III - "Chubby's" father was a Fairgrounds veteran as a winning driver and car owner
• Mike Alexander - son of long-time owner and sponsor, R.C. Alexander
• Sterling Marlin - son of Fairgrounds legend and Cup independent Coo Coo Marlin
• Dennis Wiser - son of local racer and car builder Kenneth Wiser

Three of the four - Crowell, Alexander, and Wiser - joined the field, but all three parked their cars early as part of the heavy DNF count. Sterling skipped the race to serve as crew chief for his father's Cup team at Charlotte's World 600. Coo Coo was recovering from injuries suffered during an ARCA race at Talladega. Charlie Glotzbach raced in relief in the red and gold #14 Chevrolet, and Sterling led the crew with calls and over-the-wall work.

Alexander got the jump on Senneker at the start of the race and led the opening 17 laps. As Alexander's lead ended, so did Wiser's night. Once Wiser parked his #19 Chevelle, it seemed like another car joined him about every dozen laps or so. 

Neil Bonnett returned for his fourth consecutive Falls City 200, and he led for a 30-lap hitch during the middle stages of the race. Crowell also led for ten laps late in the race before losing a transmission. Senneker took the lead from Alexander near lap 20 and pulled the field for about 15 laps. But his night was done just after halfway after being involved in an earlier accident and then losing an engine.

With about 20 laps to go, the standings mirrored the 1975 finish with Alton Jones out front and Bonnett in second a half-lap back. Bonnett had fallen a lap behind Jones but had made it up. Still, he needed help to close the remaining gap - and then he got it. A fortuitous caution allowed Bonnett's #12 Nova to restart behind Jones. 

Over the next 16 laps, Bonnett followed Jones' tire tracks. Then with four to go, he made his move. Bonnett eased past Jones, gapped him a bit, and took the checkers - reversing the prior year's results. Only nine cars out of 25 starters were still around to see the finish.

Source: TMC Archives

1. Neil Bonnett 
2. Alton Jones
3. L. D. Ottinger
4. Art Sommers 
5. Gary Sircy 
6. Kenny Wiser 
7. Dorris Vaughn
8. Jerry Long
9. Jim Berry 
10. Eddie Kissinger
11. P.B. Crowell III 
12. Charlie Chamblee
13. Ray Skillman 
14. Windle Webster
15. Bob Senneker
16. Carl Langford
17. Jerry Sisco
18. Donnie Anthony
19. Wayne Carden
20. Charlie Whitefield
21. Mike Alexander
22. Buzzy Reynolds
23. Ralph Jones
24. Dennis Wiser
25. Jerry Lovell

Source: TMC Archives

Falls City 200 - May 22, 1977

The final Falls City 200 went off more like a fizzled bottle rocket than an exploding shell. The 23 starters were the fewest in the five Falls City races held on the 18-degree banked track and the second fewest overall. And for the third year in a row, fans endured a high DNF count.

The race did, however, draw several of the national LMS drivers. In the field were stars such as Harry Gant, Jack Ingram, Butch Lindley, and L.D. Ottinger. Even Darrell Watrip made a return trip to his home track during an off weekend between Cup races at Mason-Dixon 500 at Dover and Charlotte's World 600.

Three of the track's four Kiddie Corps driver raced.

• Marlin had about as good a night as a local racer might expect with the big dawgs in town. 
• Alexander hit the wall early and was never a factor. 
• Wiser had just a so-so night.
• The fourth, P.B. Crowell III, wasn't in the show, and I have no idea why.

The theme of the night apparently was Tennessee Trash. Many cars suffered cut tires. The fortunate ones hit pit road but lost a few laps. Others hit the wall and were done for the night.

Jack Ingram won the pole and notched a top 5 finish, but he was a handful of laps off the race because of an unscheduled stop for one of the multiple cut tires. Ditto for Newport, Tennessee's L.D. Ottinger.

Waltrip's #88 Gatorade Nova was never a factor. The car began smoking right from the jump. Within the first quarter of the race, Waltrip pitted twice in an effort to resolve the problem. With no success, he finally parked it, finished deep in the field, and headed home to Franklin, TN for a night's rest.

With the majority of top competitors laps down or loaded on their trailers, Harry Gant set sail. He somehow managed to avoid whatever tire grelim that plagued others. He put his #77 Chevrolet on the point and just clicked off laps. When the checkers fell, he earned a two-lap win over second place Marlin.

For Marlin, it was another close but no cigar finish. During his rookie season in 1976, Sterling watched as Alexander and Crowell took home trophies. His best finish a few times was second. He earned yet another P2 with his runner-up to Gant. His accumulation of seconds without a win mirrored his Cup career in some regards. (Sterling did finally break through for his first career win two weeks later in a 100-lap LMS race.)

In post-race inspection resembling today's Seriously? Not Again Cup tech, officials found a loose lug nut on Gant's car. He was docked a hundred bucks for the infraction.

1. Harry Gant
2. Sterling Marlin
3. L.D. Ottinger
4. Jack Ingram
5. Benny Kerley
6. Buzzy Reynolds
7. Randy Tissot
8. Dennis Wiser
9. Carl Langford
10. Butch Applegate
11. Tony Cunningham
12. Gary Searcy
13. Grant Adcox
14. Jim Berry
15. Butch Lindley
16. Ricky Marlin
17. Walter Wallace
18. Steve Spencer
19. Darrell Waltrip
20. Ronny Hutton
21. Mike Ferguson
22. Mike Alexander
23. Dorris Vaughn

Source: TMC Archives

After a six-year run, the Falls City branded races ended. Over the next several years, availability of the beer faded significantly as well. Recently, however, the Louisville-based brand re-booted and is again available in several markets.

As someone who is now on the far side of young racing (and beer) fans, I appreciate one of Falls City's newer brands that is right in my wheelhouse: Hipster Repellant IPA.

TMC

July 20, 1975 - Nashville 420

From 1975 through its final Cup race in 1984, Nashville's fairgrounds speedway was slotted as the next race following Daytona's Firecracker 400. The drivers went from the 2-1/2 mile superspeedway to the 5/8 mile, 18-degree banked short track in middle Tennessee. Coincidentally, the two tracks opened within about six months of one another - Nashville in August 1958 and Daytona in February 1959.

The 1975 edition of the Nashville 420 was slated for July 19th - about 2 weeks after the Firecracker and a bit of a season's breather for the teams.

Richard Petty was The Man in 1975. He had won 8 of the season's first 16 races - including the race before Nashville, the Firecracker 400. The King hit on one streak where the STP Dodge won five of 7 races, including three in a row.

Cale Yarbough started the season in a bit of a bind. His Junior Johnson-owned team had split sponsors in 1974. The first half of the season had been sponsored by Kar-Kare, and the #11 Chevy carried the colors of Carling Black Label in the second half.

Carling was gone when the calendar turned to 1975, however, and the team had no replacement sponsor. To save costs, the team skipped the season opening race at Riverside.

When Yarborough's team arrived in Daytona, the car's official photo was made with prior year colors and no sponsor name on the side. A last minute, one-race deal with Valvoline provided Johnson's team with a few dollars to pay the tire bill, but the team's financial - and winning - challenges continued.

Johnson finally landed a  sponsor in the spring. The company was in his own back yard and had backed him a few times in his own driving days: Holly Farms Chicken.The Kar-Kare / Carling red was painted over with solid white, and a handful of Holly Farms emblems were affixed to the hood and sides.

Many of today's fans are baffled by many of NASCAR's rules, penalties, and its decision-making process in general - and rightfully so. While many are more aware of the sanctioning body's oddities in today's era because of the size of racing, social media, etc., NASCAR certainly had plenty of quirks back in the day to make one scratch his head. 

NASCAR struggled to draw full fields for its races in 1975. One reason: lack of sufficient team sponsorships. Two: woeful track purses. So what was NASCAR's decision when one sponsor offered to sweeten the purse - even if it may have benefited the sponsor's own driver? Read on in this excerpt from the July 9, 1975 edition of The Tennessean.

NASCAR has turned down an offer by the STP Corporation to donate additional prize money to the first Dodge to finish in next Saturday’s Nashville 420.

The offer was intended to help Richard Petty, an STP-sponsored driver, reach the $2 million plateau in career winnings. Petty, who needs $10,172 to break the $2 million barrier, is one of only five Dodge drivers who generally make the 40-car lineup for Grand National races.

The winner’s share of the Nashville 420 is $6,085. Petty, however, can take no more than $5,485 as $600 of the total purse is posted by STP, and Petty’s earnings from the sponsoring corporation cannot be counted in his official winnings.

Yesterday’s offer of $5,000 in additional prize money to the highest finishing Dodge driver was flatly rejected by NASCAR. Lin Kuchler, Executive Vice President of the governing body, told Nashville Speedway promoter Bill Donoho permission for such an offer would be granting special favors to the Dodge drivers.

“They said they would not permit STP to boost the prize money, so it looks like Petty won’t have a chance to win his $2 million on this track,” said Donoho. Petty will likely reach the $2 million mark in the Aug. 3 Pocono 500, next stop on the Grand National circuit after Nashville.

Ironically, Petty narrowly missed another milestone on the local track as the first driver to win $1 million in 1971. Petty won the Nashville 420 that year but left town still $2,357 short of the $1 million mark. And now again it appears Petty is going to just miss making racing history on the local track. 

When the teams arrived in Nashville, Junior Johnson had added a bit of burnt orange to the hood, trunk deck, and hood of the 11. Cale also had a Monte Carlo at his disposal vs the Chevy S3 he raced on the superspeedways. The Monte became his go-to car for him as well as many others through 1980.

With his new colors, Cale and Junior were ready to get back the mojo they had for much 1974. Among their wins during the previous season was a controversial one in the Nashville 420. So the duo looked forward to repeating in 1975.

Another driver who planned to keep both Petty and Yarborough at bay was Darrell Waltrip. With a career still teetering between potential and a busted bank account, Waltrip still had his confidence. He was a two-time late model sportsman champion at Nashville and had 50+ victories at the fairgrounds. He also captured his first career Cup victory earlier in 1975 in Nashville's Music City 420.

Benny Parsons won the pole on Friday night, July 18th. Waltrip lined up alongside him. Yarborough, Petty, and Dave Marcis rounded out the top five starters.

Starting shotgun on the field in a car fielded by Bobby Allison was Neil Bonnett in only his third Cup start and his first one on a short track. Bonnett was no stranger to Nashville though. He had raced several time previously at the fairgrounds - including a win in a 100-lap late model race about a month before the Nashville 420.

Allison wasn't entered in the 420. He was in Michigan for the USAC Norton Twin 200, a twin bill of stock car and Indy car races. He raced his famed AMC Matador in the stock car race a Roger Penske McLaren in the Indy car headliner.

Though night races are now a common part of the Cup schedule, that wasn't the case in the 1970s. Even Bristol didn't host its first night race until 1978. Throughout the 1970s, the only track to host two scheduled night races was Nashville.

But Mother Nature screwed with Nashville's scheduling in 1975. Rather than race on a dark, hot, muggy, summer evening, the teams returned to race on a Sunday afternoon. They then got to race on a bright, hot, muggy, summer day.

Source: The Tennessean

When the green fell on Sunday, Waltrip got an early jump on pole-winner Parsons. Ol' DW - then a young pup - led the first 18 laps before losing a transmission and heading to the garage.

With Waltrip's exit, Yarborough took over the lead and picked up where he'd left off at Nashville the previous summer. Cale put his #11 in the wind and for the most part didn't look back.

The only wreck in the race happened at lap 30 when two Tennesseans tangled, Coo Coo Marlin of Columbia and Grant Adcox of Chattanooga.

Another caution fell just past lap 300 that must have caused Cale's stomach to lurch into his throat. Nashville's 1969 Late Model Sportsman track champ and Cup independent David Sisco, lost his car off turn four and looped it down the front straightaway. To avoid clobbering Sisco, Yarborough looped his car right at the starter's stand.

With a lap lead over second place Petty, however, Cale never lost his top spot. He righted his car, got a fresh set of tires, re-entered the fray, and continued on another 100+ laps to capture his second consecutive Nashville 420.

The race was the 19th of 31 times Petty and Yarborough finished in the top two spots. Bonnett had a solid day. He rallied from his 30th and dead-last starting spot to finish 14th.

By finishing second, Petty still wouldn't have cleared the $2 million career earnings mark even if the STP incentive money had been allowed. It seems to me NASCAR was more in-the-way than necessary for a local track promoter's effort to draw attention to a race. But it wasn't the first time such a decision was made - and it certainly wasn't the last.

Yarborough celebrated in victory lane with multiple Miss Winstons - along with 18 year-old Sterling Marlin who photobombed the photo shoot while clinging to a fence post.

Credit: Marchman Family Collection

Source: The Tennessean

TMC

November 20, 1977 - LA Times 500

From 1974 through 1980, NASCAR ended its Winston Cup Series schedule at the 2-1/2 mile Ontario Motor Speedway. The southern California speedway was built as a twin of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Indy had been - and it remains - a racing institution. Ontario was a west coast track ahead of its time. The track faced steep challenges with relatively low attendance and troubled finances, and it was perched on real estate that became much more valuable as re-developed commercial property than as a race track.

Before its demise in 1981, however, OMS hosted some solid races. One of those events was the 1977 Los Angeles Times 500, the season-ender for the Cup series.

The King - Richard Petty - nabbed the pole in his famed #43 STP Dodge Charger. Though no one could have predicted it at the time, Petty's top starting spot was the next-to-last of his career. His earned his final career top qualifying spot in August 1979 at Bristol's second ever night race.

Other than his Petty Blue Plymouths of 1966-67, the 1974 body style Charger was perhaps Petty's best race car. When Petty drove onto Ontario's surface, it would be the next to last time the Charger raced. The Level Cross bunch prep'd the car just one more time for a Cup ride in the 1978 season-opener at Riverside International Raceway road course.

Neil Bonnett plunked a second Dodge Charger alongside Petty on the front row. He was racing the #5 Jim Stacy Charger. For many years, the team was owned by insurance businessman Nord Krauskopf; was sponsored by K&K Insurance; won races with drivers such as Bobby Isaac, Buddy Baker and Dave Marcis; and sported #71.

Stacy bought the team in the off season between the end of 1976 and beginning of 1977. Marcis was not re-signed, and Bonnett was given the opportunity to race the car. Stacy continued to use #71 in the early part of the season. At mid-season, he changed to number 5. Bonnett notched a few poles and got his first Cup win at Richmond, but the team was otherwise inconsistent on a week-to-week basis.

Source: Ocala Star Banner via Google News Archive

Two racing legends - A.J. Foyt and David Pearson - made up the second row, and NASCAR Hall of Famer and 3-time Cup champion Cale Yarborough rounded out the top 5 starters.

Courtesy: BakerRacingPix.com

Scott Baker of BakerRacingPix.com captured the start of the race as the field barreled down the half-mile long front straightaway.

Courtesy: BakerRacingPix.com

Interestingly, neither Petty nor Bonnett led lap 1. Pearson in the Wood Brothers #21 Purolator Mercury got by both of them and Foyt to lead lap 1. Bonnett hammered down to pass Pearson and led the next five laps. The back and forth in those first few laps set the tone for the rest of the day in terms of lap leaders.

Eleven different drivers had their time out front. Many of them led on multiple occasions, and many led for only single-digit segments. Lap leaders included the expected such as: Petty, Pearson, Bonnett, and Cale Yarborough. Others had their day in the shade as well including James Hylton, rookie Ricky Rudd, James Hylton and even Janet Guthrie.

It's amazing to reflect back to the day when two (eventual) seven-time champions - The King in Cup and Super Tex in USAC - were in the same race.

Courtesy: BakerRacingPix.com

Today's Hendrick Motorsports can trace it's lineage to the days of Stacy and Bonnett's Dodge. The legendary crew chief Harry Hyde turned the wrenches, a young Randy Dorton built the engines, and the Charger sported #5. When Rick Hendrick started his fledgling Cup program with Geoff Bodine as the driver, Hyde led the team, Dorton built the engines, and the All Star Racing Chevy had #5 on it's sides.

Courtesy: BakerRacingPix.com

As the race entered its final 25 laps, Bonnett found himself in front with Petty's 43 in hot pursuit. With six laps to go, Petty made his move. The 43 Dodge eased in front of the 5 Dodge. As the twosome rounded the monstrous track, however, Bonnett found more horses in Dorton's engine and motored back around Petty as they got the signal of five to go.

Neil would not be passed again. He led the remaining five laps and claimed his first career superspeedway win. Petty who had last won at Daytona on July 4, 1977, extended his wait to another day to win his next one. What the King obviously couldn't have anticipated was that he'd have to wait a full season and then some before notching win number 193 in the legendary 1979 Daytona 500.

Source: Richard Guido

View image | gettyimages.com

Though the win was a huge boost to Bonnett's career and a near-miss for Petty, the larger story perhaps was Cale Yarborough's claim to his second consecutive Winston Cup title. His nine wins and 25 top 5's in 30 races remains among the top seasons of all time. Though Cale had accumulated enough points to clinch the title over Petty as the runner-up, Yarborough's title became official when he crossed the line in third place at Ontario.

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

Source: Reading Eagle via Google News Archive

Thanks to Scott Baker of BakerRacingPix.com who attended this race and provided several of the great photos for this post.

TMC

June 21, 1975: Neil and Woody in Nashville

With a subject line of Neil, Woody and Nashville, one might infer this post would be about folk protest music. Instead, it's one about racing as is always the case here ... well, that and Schaefer beer.

A couple of times in the mid to late 70s, my family went to Nashville's fairgrounds speedway for a dual ARCA / NASCAR Late Model Sportsman night. Both races were 200 laps...I think. While I don't remember the specifics of any of them including the winners, I do remember a few general themes:

• My dad wanted to see the a handful of drivers race: L.D. Ottinger, Harry Gant, and Butch Lindley.
• The ARCA race always seemed to have a lot of wrecks which extended its duration and delayed the start of the LMS race.
• My dad groused about how late it was getting without the LMS race being completed. (He is now 79 and still whines about that situation.)
• I just wanted to see cars race lap after lap regardless of the time.

On June 21, 1975, the track hosted such a double header though the LMS race was only 100 laps and didn't draw as many of the national touring drivers. I don't think we attended this race as our regular visits began in 1976.

The late model sportsman race was sponsored by Uniroyal Tires. As a promotion, track promoter Bill Donoho brought in the stunt driving team of Uni, Roy, and Al. Yes, seriously.

Except that particular evening the trio simply made an appearance and distributed photos vs. thrilling the crowd with their driving skills. I'm guessing in retrospect the appearance fee probably wasn't quite large enough to cover the stunts.

The Tennessean - June 20, 1975

Darrell Waltrip, the all-time wins leader at the the time at the fairgrounds and a two-time track champion in 1970 and 1973, had moved on to the Winston Cup series. As matter of fact, he'd won his first Cup race a month or so earlier in the Music City USA 420. In June, he returned to the fairgrounds with the plan to run in both races.

The Tennessean - June 21, 1975

The late Neil Bonnett raced a Bobby Allison-prepared 1972 Chevy Nova to the win in the 100-lap LMS race. The car was similar to this one (perhaps the same one) that Bonnett raced in the 1975 Falls City 200 at the fairgrounds earlier in the month.

Credit: Russ Thompson

Ohio driver and beer distributor, Woody Fisher, won the opening 100-lap ARCA feature. Coo Coo Marlin, a four-time Nashville late model champion, stepped away as did Waltrip from his regular gig as a Cup driver to race in the ARCA event. He laid down the quickest lap in qualifying in his Cunningham-Kelly Chevrolet - almost as if he might know how to get around the place!

Waltrip's night for the fans didn't go very well. He lost an engine in his borrowed car during qualifying for the ARCA race and missed the race. In the LMS race, he did what he could to pursue the bumper of Bonnett's car. But he experienced engine issues in that car as well, and he dropped out of the main feature.

Fisher has been featured in this blog previously - based on his piloting of a Petty Enterprises built Dodge Charger to a win in the 1977 ARCA 200 at Daytona.

Source: Chris Hussey

The Tennessean - June 22, 1975

TMC

May 12, 1984: Nuttiness At Nashville

My introduction to stock car racing was at Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway in 1974. While I won't swear to it, I think the evening's feature was a 200-lap NASCAR late model sportsman race featuring drivers such as Jack Ingram, L.D. Ottinger, Harry Gant, Morgan Shepherd and Butch Lindley. The date, the race, who won, etc. have all been forgotten, but I do remember my eyes being wide open and my heart pumping.

The first time I got to see Cup cars live was during qualifying for the 1976 Nashville 420. My first Cup race to attend was naturally at Nashville - the 1978 Music City 420. During the second half of the 1970s, I was a bigger fan of the local favorites such as Steve Spencer, Alton Jones, Sterling Marlin, Mike Alexander, Tony Cunningham, P.B. Crowell III, etc. than I was of the Cup series. After leaving for college, however, I found it harder to keep up with the local guys and really went all-in as a Cup fan.

The original ownership group sold to another in the late 70s, and the track was renamed Nashville International Raceway. California real estate developer and racing outsider Warner Hodgon bought into the ownership group (as well as stakes in Bristol and North Wilkesboro), and 'International' was dropped from the track's name. Yet then (and now) I always just referred to the track as 'the fairgrounds'.

After being known as the Music City USA 420 through the 1970s, the spring race took a title sponsor coinciding with the ownership change. In 1984, the race was branded as the Coors 420 - though a car with Po' Folks restaurant was featured on the program. Go figure. (One of the local guys was sponsored by Po' Folks ... I think.)

Coors sponsored the race as well as a car in the race - the #9 Harry Melling Ford. The team's driver, Bill Elliott, was still a season away from exploding in the NASCAR consciousness with his dominating 1985 season. A different beer brand, however, sponsored the two cars that became the story of the race - Budweiser.

In 1982, Junior Johnson announced two sport-shaking deals. One, he announced Hodgdon was investing in his team. Also, he planned to expand his operation to a two-car team in 1984. Outside investors and multi-car teams in NASCAR were both rarities up to that point. Generally speaking, the second car was way off the primary car.

Darrell Waltrip was already on board with Junior's championship winning #11 team. Neil Bonnett joined him in 1984 in a matching Chevrolet after spending a transition year in 1983 with Rahmoc Racing and 'sponsorship' by Hodgdon. Both cars were sponsored by Budweiser and Kentucky Fried Chicken, and the team was quickly dubbed Double Thunder.

The team should perhaps have been nicknamed Double Trouble. Though the two teams had common ownership, sponsors, and car makes, the 11 and 12 bunch did not function as a team as is the model for contemporary NASCAR racing. Led by crew chiefs Jeff Hammond (for Waltrip) and Doug Richert (for Bonnett), the two cars were perhaps more competitive with one another than with other cars on the track.

Yet - they were quick. On short tracks where Junior's cars historically had run well, they raced even better with DW and Neil behind the wheel.

As the Winston Cup series rolled into Music City for the 10th race of the 1984 season, Waltrip was ready to race with a high level of confidence.

• He was a two-time late model champion at the track in 1970 and 1973.
• Waltrip earned his first Cup win at the track in 1975.
• The 11 team was the defending champion of the race having won the Marty Robbins 420 a year earlier.
• DW had two wins and eight Top 10s in the first 9 races of the year. 

Sure enough, the 11 team laid down the quickest qualifying lap on Friday night to nab the pole. Ricky Rudd qualified alongside Waltrip in his Wrangler Jeans Bud Moore Ford. A couple of unsponsored drivers made up the second row: Geoff Bodine in Rick Hendrick's Chevy and Ron Bouchard in Jack Beebe's Buick. Dale Earnhardt rounded out the starting five in a second Wrangler ride, Richard Childress' Chevy.

Bonnett qualified 15th, about mid-pack, but a quick, single-lap wasn't his measurement of greatness for the weekend. Two weeks earlier, he wheel-hopped the curb at Martinsville. Doing so caused his steering wheel to spin quickly to the right - so quickly that he didn't have a chance to loosen his grip. The spin snapped Bonnett's wrist and dislocated his thumb. He incredibly popped his thumb back into place while at speed, and finished the race in fifth place. Only after returning home to Alabama was he able to have the bones set and a cast applied. The awkwardness of the cast and persistent pain when racing were challenges he had to face, yet Neil did not miss a start.

When the green flag flew on Saturday May 12, Neil spent the first 20 percent of the race working himself methodically towards the front. He finally went to the point on lap 87 and led sizable chunks of laps throughout the race. When the night was done, he'd led 320 of the 420 laps - with a broken, throbbing right wrist.

With about 10 laps to go, Neil was being hounded by the #5 Chevy of Geoff Bodine. Two weeks earlier at Martinsville, Bodine won the first Cup race for himself and Hendrick Motorsports - the race in which Bonnett had broken his wrist. Bodine got past Bonnett, but Neil fought back in an effort to reclaim the lead. Instead, he spun himself out with seven to go.

Remarkably, Bonnett was able to gather his car and pit without losing too much track position. Bodine ducked in the pits as well knowing he'd have to race Neil hard again. The race resumed with three to go with Waltrip out front (who chose not to pit). Then all sorts of a mess broke out. Cup upstart Rusty Wallace trashed his Gatorade Pontiac coming out of turn two. Bobby Allison, the reigning Cup champion, got collected, caught fire, and drove in reverse down the backstretch through three and four and then down pit road.

Bonnett was humping it on the high side as he tried to catch Waltrip. Then the King inexplicably spun his STP Pontiac and Kyle Petty looped his car into the inner wall to avoid t-boning his father's 43.

Waltrip flashed under the starter's stand taking the white and yellow flags. He checked up some to make it through the debris from the wrecks yet maintained good speed. Bonnett still went full bore, caught DW in turn four, and nipped the 11 at the line. Waltrip, his crew, and the TV announcers initially believed DW was the winner because the caution had flown a lap earlier. Bonnett believed the track was essentially still 'green' because the yellow flew as the last lap started vs. at the end of the next to last lap. In that era, cars raced back to the line when a caution happened vs. the 'frozen field' model used today.

NASCAR's officials then went into Keystone Kops mode. They directed Bonnett to victory lane. Within a minute or so, they had Waltrip drive to victory lane and had Bonnett leave. But again within a few minutes they switched back to Bonnett as the winner. The collective set of officials seemed unable to determine when the yellow flag flew and what was permissible in terms of racing back to the finish line.

As the crowd left the stands and TV left the air, Bonnett was indeed in victory lane as Waltrip's team was left fuming.

Source: Gainesville Sun via Google News Archive

Interestingly, Warner Hodgon (in slacks and buttondown shirt and getting Waltrip's glare) was part of the winning and losing end of it all. He was a partial owner of both Bud teams as well as an investor in the track whose reputation was getting dinged because of NASCAR's ineptness. But the disputed finish would soon be the least of his concerns.

Waltrip wasn't finished. He defiantly protested the finish. Junior Johnson had the unenviable position of protesting the victory by his own car. (Such a protest by a car owner against another of his own cars wasn't unprecedented. Lee Petty protested his own son's win in 1959 at Lakewood Speedway.)

Three days later, NASCAR sided with Waltrip's protest and declared him the winner and moved Bonnett back to second.

Source: Hendersonville NC Times-News via Google News Archive

 

A young Dave Despain - with hair on his head but not on his face - featured highlights of the controversial race on his weekly racing magazine show, Motorweek Illustrated.

I remember the confusing finish, but I don't remember if I saw the race on TV or listened to it on MRN. I'm thinking it was likely the latter. I was away at college, and we didn't have a TV in our dorm room. We had a TV in the rec room, but I know no one would have allowed it to be dominated by a race on a Saturday night. The guys had more important things to watch ... such as music videos on MTV.

The Coors 420 is available as part of MRN's Classic Races Podcast series. The original broadcast can be heard below, at MRN's site, or streamed through MRN's iTunes channel.


Nashville Speedway put its hooks deep into me 40 years ago, and it's amazing to think 30 years have passed since this particular race was run. Back then, I toted fewer pounds and bigger dreams. I had visions of spending many future years watching Cup racing there. No way it could ever end ... or would it?

Hodgdon's non-racing financial situation took a quick tumble in the mid 80s. His fall was so precipitous that his racing interests were drawn into the abyss. Suddenly, Junior Johnson was faced with losing his two teams and life's work as a car owner. He was able to craft a deal to buy back Hodgdon's equity and get him out of the picture.

The fairgrounds track wasn't as fortunate. The track hosted its annual summer race in July. Bodine won the Pepsi 420, but his win turned out to be the final Cup race in Nashville. With many questions surrounding Hodgdon's finances, the long-term viability of the track, and other legal complications between the track and its landlord, the city of Nashville, NASCAR chose to withdraw its sanction after the 1984 races.

Racing continues to this day at my home track - and it's truly hard to believe three decades have passed since the final year of Cup racing. But at least The Fairgrounds' Cup days went out with a bang as two teammates had to scrap like foes to settle the score.

Big thanks to Russ Thompson for many of the photos and video clip! 

TMC

November 29, 1981: Petty 3 of 4 at Phoenix

Having completed the Winston Cup season's final race at Riverside International Raceway's road course, most teams returned south. Bobby Allison celebrated his race victory, and Darrell Waltrip's Junior Johnson team likely had serious morning headaches for a few days after the Mountain Dew team won the 1981 championship.

A few teams, however, made a side trip on the way home. Richard and Kyle Petty and representatives from the Alabama Gang - Bobby Allison and Neil Bonnett - stayed over a few days out west to participate in the Warner Hodgdon 250 Winston West race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Bonnett won the pole for the race - his second in seven Winston West races at the track from 1977 through 1982. Not surprisingly, Bonnett along with Richard Petty and Allison had the most success in the string of annual races during that period. Petty had three wins in the six Phoenix races he ran. Bonnett and Allison each had a win in the seven races they ran, and both finished in the top 5 all seven times.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

When the green dropped, Neil took advantage of his top starting spot by leading the first 33 laps. He surrendered the lead for a handful of laps - presumably during a cycle of pit stops. But soon after, Bonnett's #21 Ford - coincidentally also sponsored by Warner Hodgdon - went back to the point for another 34-lap segment.

After Kyle Petty led for 2 laps - again likely because of a Bonnett pit stop - Neil took the lead for a third time to lead for 17 laps. On lap 94, however, King Richard who had been running with Bonnett all day took the lead and never gave it back. The 43 STP Buick led the final 63 laps to take the win in the 156-lap, 250-kilometer race.

The victory was the King's third in four races at Phoenix having won previously the 1978 Arizona NAPA 250 and 1980 Arizona Winston 250. He led the most laps but finished third to Bonnett in the 1979 race - otherwise, he could have possibly "four-peated".

Although Richard won the race and Cup regulars claimed the top four spots - Richard, Neil, Kyle and Bobby - there was still the "race within the race". Canadian Roy Smith finished sixth in the race and secured the 1981 Winston West series title.

The win capped a pretty nice year for Petty as victories for him became more scarce as he chased #200. He started the year by capturing his seventh Daytona 500, won his final career short-track race at North Wilkesboro, pocketed another win at Michigan, and picked up some walking-around money by free-lancing at Phoenix.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

TMC