June 9, 1966 - Maryville's East Tennessee 200

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.

Source: Knoxville News Sentinel

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June 3, 1973 - Dover's Mason-Dixon 500

As NASCAR's shortest season since 1950 near the halfway point, the Winston Cup circuit headed to Dover, Delaware for the 1973 Mason-Dixon 500.

Source: Motor Racing Progamme Covers

From mid-April through early-June, the Cup drivers raced on a variety of tracks yet with a familiar face up front at many of them:

• egg-shaped Darlington - winner: David Pearson
• Martinsville's half-mile paperclip - winner: David Pearson
• 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. 

Source: Philadelphia Daily News

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June 3, 1966 - New Asheville's Asheville 300

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.

Source: Charlotte News

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June 2, 1968 - Middle Georgia's Macon 300

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.

Embed from Getty Images

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. 

Source: Atlanta Constitution

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May 29, 1966 - Dog Track Speedway

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.

The King, Richard Petty, plunked his Plymouth on the pole. Petty raced the same team Plymouth Marvin Panch raced to the win in the World 600 a week earlier. 

Source: Newport News Daily Press

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.

Source: Newport News Daily Press

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May 19, 1975 - Dover's Mason-Dixon 500

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."

Audio of Universal Racing Network's radio broadcast of the race is available on Appalachian State's library website. 

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

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May 18, 1968 - Langley's Tidewater 250

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. 

Source: Newport News Daily Press

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May 17, 1968 - Beltsville 300

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. 

Source: Baltimore Evening Sun

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May 11, 1968 - Darlington's Rebel 400

As NASCAR's Grand National division neared its one-third mark of the 1968 season, the teams arrived for the Rebel 400 at Darlington Raceway on a Saturday afternoon. Because of South Carolina's blue laws, races weren't held on Sundays for many years. The spring races were instead held on Saturday afternoons with the Southern 500 run on Monday, Labor Day each year.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

To that point of the season, the wins had been pretty evenly distributed among a handful of drivers. David Pearson had won four races, Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty banked three trophies each, and Bobby Isaac had pocketed a couple of skins in his Dodge. 

In qualifying at Darlington, only Pearson was quick enough to start up front. Four Fords dominated the top five starting spots. LeeRoy Yarbrough won the pole in Junior Johnson's Ford followed by Pearson and his Holman Moody entry. Darel Dieringer in Mario Rossi's Plymouth split the two pair of top Ford starters. The Allison brothers, Bobby and Donnie, started fourth and fifth, respectively.

Curtis Turner started his first race in about eight months. He qualified eighth in Tom Friedken's Plymouth - generally a solid car that multiple drivers had raced. 

Despite the rust of being out of a race, Turner's natural talent never left him. He ran a decent pace and was in the top 10 much of the day. Engine failure about 40 laps from the end of the race, however, doomed him to P15 - a finish that could have been lower had it not been for the race's high attrition rate.

Pearson seized the lead at the drop of the green and retained it for 18 laps. Yarbrough then put Junior's Ford in the wind and led the next nine laps. Following Cale's stint, Buddy Baker reminded folks the Mopars had race strength even if it wasn't necessarily on display during qualifying. 

Baker eased by Pearson and Yarbrough and paced the field for 116 of the next 130 laps. His last long venture at the front came at the expense of Charlie Glotzbach, who recently passed away in April 2021. Glotzbach led eight laps in Cotton Owens' Dodge. As Baker closed on Glotzbach, however, Baker carried him high and into the guardrail. 

Baker rolled on to lead another stretch of 42 laps, but Glotzbach faded. He struggled to keep up in the laps to follow and finally fell out of the race with oil pressure problems about 30 laps later. 

As good a first half of the race as Baker had, the second half presented more of a challenge. Battling continual tire issues, he mustered only a fourth place finish despite leading a ton of laps early. 

The King hung tough with the leaders on a track that really challenged him throughout his career. His Hemi-powered Plymouth led 21 laps, but tire issues and pit miscues dropped him to a P3 finish. With about 40 laps to go, Petty hit pit road for his final stop. After returning to the track, his crew realized they had left off the gas cap. Petty hit pit road a second time to replace the cap - and then pitted a third time to change one of the new tires because of an inner liner problem. Though he finished on the lead lap, his opportunity to challenge for the lead went kaput.

With Glotzbach's Dodge out of the race, the tire issues with Baker's Dodge, engine woes for Turner's Plymouth, an underwhelming performance for Bobby Isaac's Harry Hyde-prepared Dodge, and a three-stop fail for Petty's Plymouth, the Mopar faithful were running low on remaining opportunities to capture a win. 

Third place starter Dieringer remained Plymouth's final hope. His owner and crew chief, Mario Rossi, nervously burned through a gaggle of cigarettes as he watched his driver stalk the leader. In the end, however, Dieringer led zero laps en route to a second place finish. Though disappointed with P2, Dieringer was pleased as he seemed to have recovered from his health woes resulting from exhaust inhalation (and likely carbon monoxide poisoning) at Bristol several weeks earlier.

Pearson - the only driver to lead more laps than Baker - calmly waited as other drivers seemed to self destruct one by one. He and crew chief Dick Hutcherson made a pre-race decision to run a smaller engine with less car weight rather than a larger engine and heavier car favored by others in the field. The decision resulted in a solid balance between horsepower and handling.

After Petty had his ill-fated stop, Pearson led the rest of the way and won his 35th career race by a comfortable margin over Dieringer. The victory was his first of what ultimately became ten career GN/Cup wins at Darlington.

And though he'd won the previous week at Asheville-Weaverville and three others earlier in the season, his Darlington victory was his first superspeedway win since the 1961 Dixie 400 at Atlanta. To celebrate the win, he fired up a lung dart before the car even came to a stop for his interview with ABC's Wide World of Sports.

Pearson never lacked for confidence during his driving career; however, he also believed in his fair share of superstitions. Racers always embrace luck in whatever form they can get it. In Pearson's case, his 1968 win total to-date of five races may have been aided by the presence of his middle son Ricky. At Darlington, Asheville-Weaverville, and North Wilkesboro - Pearson's three most recent wins - Ricky was in attendance. 

Pearson's oldest son and future two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion, Larry, became a bit envious of his younger brother getting to see all of the wins. So Daddy Pearson made sure Larry was there with Ricky at Darlington to double the luck, and sure enough the trio got to enjoy victory lane together.

As a side note, Lennie Waldo finished 18th in his first of four career GN starts. The late model racer drove for owner Elmer Buxton who fielded cars in nine races - the last four with Waldo. It's possible NASCAR has not seen a better pairing of two perfect racing names. I now have a sudden urge to go watch Shawshank Redemption for the gazillionth time.

Source: Charlotte Observer

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May 5, 1974 - Talladega's Winston 500

NASCAR's Cup teams were back in Talladega for the 10th race of the 1974 season. Though the race was billed as the Winston 500, it was in reality a 450-mile race. NASCAR agreed to cut its races by 10 percent in response to the country's energy crisis.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

David Pearson, the two-time defending winner of the race, won the pole in his Wood Brothers' Purolator Mercury. Indy Car regular Gary Bettenhausen qualified alongside Pearson in Roger Penske's AMC Matador. Bettenhausen raced in three NASCAR events in 1967 for car owner H.B. Ranier, father of Harry Ranier who had great success with drivers such as Cale Yarborough and Davey Allison. After spending the late 1960s and early 1970s in Indy Car, Bettenhausen returned to NASCAR in 1974 with a limited schedule in Penske's car.

As Cup began a transition from big-block engines with restrictor plates to small-block engines whose design generally remains in today's racing, the starting lineups of several races had several interesting names up front. Several drivers could lay down a fast lap with their small-block vs. the established teams still running an inventory of proven big-blocks.

With that in mind, Bettenhausen was joined near the front by a couple of other head-scratching names to many race fans - George Follmer and Dan Daughtry - who started third and fourth. Follmer was an accomplished racer in his first season with long-time owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Bud Moore. Daughtry qualified for only his third Cup start after finishing 38th in the Daytona 500 and 32nd at Atlanta earlier in the season. 

Other notable drivers in the 50-car field included:

• Red Famer - The 2021 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee made only 36 Cup starts in his career. After the 1974 Winston 500, he started only three more Cup races - Talladega's '74 summer race and both Talladega races in 1975.
• Neil Bonnett - A member of the Alabama Gang along with Farmer and the Allison brothers, Bonnett made his Cup debut that day. It was a less than ideal start, however, as he suffered engine failure and finished 45th.
• Marty Robbins - The country music crooner qualified and finished a respectable 15th in his purple and yellow Dodge.
• Johnny Ray - The race was Ray's Cup debut. He eventually participated in eight Cup races, four of which were at Talladega. For many years, he was better known for hauling the American flag around Talladega attached to his big diesel rig.

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One driver not in in the field was second-year Cup driver, Darrell Waltrip. He blew an engine in qualifying and missed his third consecutive race. The weekend in general was dismal for DW as he dominated a 50-lap LMS race at Nashville the night before - only to helplessly fade as a tire's valve stem came loose eight laps from the finish with a half-lap lead over second place.

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To keep the 188-lap count consistent with other Talladega 500-mile races, the first 18 laps (50 miles) were neither run nor scored. As the field took the green for the first time to begin lap 19. Bettenhausen seized the lead followed the next lap by Daughtry.  

That two lap exchange set the tone for the rest of the afternoon, and it was the type of racing Talladega fans have grown to expect. The race featured 53 lead changes among 14 drivers. Many name drivers as well as many independents or so-called backmarkers got an opportunity to pace the field for a lap or two at a time.

Of the race's 170 laps, 60 were run under caution primarily because of a couple of rain showers - plus a blown engine that nearly had tragic consequences. 

Tennessee's Dave Sisco blew an engine on lap 105 resulting in a caution. As he made his way around the track and into the garage, Sisco left a trail of oil - including on the rain-slickened pit road. Bettenhausen, still in the hunt after leading 35 laps, pitted during the caution. As his Penske team serviced the Matador, rookie Grant Adcox slipped in an oily puddle and crashed into the back of Bettenhausen's car.

The collision crushed volunteer crewman Don Miller between the cars and injured two other crew members. One of Buddy Baker's crewmen and future NASCAR crew chief, Buddy Parrott, ran to Miller's aid and immediately used his belt as a tourniquet high on Miller's shattered leg. Upon realizing the severity of the accident, Adcox withdrew from the remainder of the race. 

Though Miller survived, he lost his right leg in the accident. Miller became an integral part of Penske's NASCAR operations in the decades to follow, and he was instrumental in pairing Penske with driver Rusty Wallace.

Even after the near-tragic pit road accident and two extended delays for rain, the drivers still mixed it up in the second half of the race. Follmer showed folks he was no slouch by leading off-and-on for 26 laps. Benny Parsons, the defending Winston Cup champion from 1973, also jumped in the fray and led nine laps. 

As Follmer, Parsons, and a couple of others cycled to the lead one or two laps at a time, the driver who generally took the lead back was Pearson. Shortly after taking the lead back from Parsons, Pearson made his final stop with 20 laps to go. 

Pearson was leading as he made his final pit stop with just a handful of laps remaining. Though he seemed slow exiting the pits, he quickly amp'd his speed down the backstretch. In seemingly no time at all, he sailed by Parsons and led the remaining 17 laps. Parsons finished a close second followed by Petty. After having a solid day, Follmer's engine blew with about 20 to go dooming him to P28.

With his 79th career win, Pearson three-peated in the Winston 500 after also winning in 1972 and 1973. The victory was the fourth consecutive Winston 500 for the Wood Brothers as Donnie Allison won the race for them in 1971.

Source: Montgomery Advertiser

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May 6, 1973 - Talladega's Winston 500

On Sunday, May 6th, NASCAR's Winston Cup Series rolled into Talladega for the Winston 500 as the 10th race of the 1973 season. How Cinco de Mayo may have been celebrated on Saturday - if at all - in the Talladega infield is unknown. What is known, however, is the infield crowd would not have needed a made-up holiday to party as they've always done there. 

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

David Pearson and the Wood Brothers team arrived riding a remarkable streak. Pearson and his Purolator Mercury had won the four previous events in which the team raced: Rockingham, Atlanta, Darlington, and Martinsville. The team didn't enter the car at Bristol or North Wilkesboro, but it's entirely possible they could've swept them too if they had!

Harry Hyde's well-tuned, red Dodge Charger won the pole for the second consecutive year. Bobby Isaac laid down the hot lap in 1972, and Buddy Baker captured the top spot in 1973. Pearson, the defending race winner, qualified on the front row alongside Baker. Richard Petty timed third in his Hemi-powered STP Dodge, and Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison rounded out the top five starters.

 

When Sunday's start rolled around, 60 cars took the green - SIXTY! Though the race didn't represent the largest starting field for a NASCAR race (see Darlington in the early 1950s and Daytona in the early 1960s), it certainly was the largest for the fastest track ever to occupy a slot on the Cup tour.

Baker seized the lead and pulled Yarborough and Allison with him. Pearson lagged back just a tick as the early pace developed. 

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With the 60-car field, Baker needed only a few laps to catch the rear of the field and begin lapping cars. The caution waved as the leaders crossed the start-finish line to complete the 10th lap. Ramo Stott had blown an engine coming off turn two. Though he coasted to the grass off the backstretch to get out of the way, he left a long trail of oil. NASCAR's policy in that era was to not only race back to the caution but to also continue doing so until they caught up to the pace car. Before drivers could react and crack the throttle, about 20 cars spun in Stott's oil and wrecked badly enough to send up a curtain of impenetrable dust and smoke. 

Contemporary fans have come to expect The Big One during races at Daytona and Talladega. To that point in only Talladega's fifth season, however, no one had seen the hot mess that unfolded on the backstretch. The wreck wiped out pole-winner Baker, Yarborough, and Allison from the top five starters. It also ensnared 1973 rookie of the year candidate (and eventual winner) Lennie Pond, Ron Keselowski (Brad's uncle), and several independents. 

Wendell Scott got the worst of it with a broken leg, pelvis, and ribs. He was hospitalized for over a month, and the wreck effectively ended his racing career. He returned just once more to race in the National 500 at Charlotte that fall. 

Petty avoided the wreck, but he ran over some debris and damaged the underside of his car. Though he returned to make a few more laps, the King parked it for good around lap 50. 

Pearson took over the lead when the thinned field returned to racing. He had wriggled through the wreck but knew many of his fellow competitors had been involved in the wreck. His Wood Brothers crew didn't volunteer any information - and Pearson didn't ask. He raced the rest of the day not knowing who may have been injured or worse.

After Pearson surrendered the lead after 15 laps to pit, Charles Barrett took over the lead in only his second career Cup start. Barrett raced a Ford fielded by George Elliott, father of Bill Elliott and grandfather of Chase Elliott. Barrett's short-lived lead was followed by nice showings from drivers unaccustomed to time at the front including J.D. McDuffie, Coo Coo Marlin, and Cecil Gordon. 

Rookie Darrell Waltrip then found his way to the lead and paced the field for an impressive 26 laps before his Mercury's engine failed well shy of the race's halfway mark. Though he led a sizable chunk of laps in 1973, DW's frustration grew as his streak of engine failures and poor Talladega finishes grew to three. (As an aside, Waltrip finished P7 in that summer's Talladega 500.)

 

With most of the big dogs wrecked or otherwise on their trailers early, Pearson took over to dominate the relatively-quiet second half of the race. Perhaps fittingly though, the race finished under caution when Vic Parsons wrecked with three laps to go. 

Pearson led 96 of the race's final 102 laps - including the final three under caution. He notched his 71st career win, won his second consecutive Winston 500, and extended his 1973 winning streak to five.

Source: Winston Cup Museum

Source: Anniston Star

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May 5, 1968 - Weaverville's Fireball 300

The 14th race of NASCAR's 1968 Grand National season was the Fireball 300 at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway. NASCAR began racing at the North Carolina half-mile in 1951, and the spring race generally didn't have a race title. 

Following Fireball Roberts' death in July 1964 after being badly burned in the World 600, Weaverville named its spring race in Roberts' memory. The first one under the new name was the Fireball 200 in 1965. The race was lengthened to 300 laps in 1966; hence, the 1968 Fireball 300 was considered the third annual running of it.

A week after finishing a close second to Cale Yarborough in the Virginia 500 at Martinsville, David Person captured the pole at Weaverville. Richard Petty qualified second as he tried to break a bad luck streak. The King lost an engine at North Wilkesboro, had rear end failure after leading nearly 300 laps at Martinsville, and broke an axle in Augusta, Georgia two days before the Weaverville race. After three consecutive DNFs, the King needed to right the ship. Tiger Tom Pistone, Bobby Isaac, and Big John Sears rounded out the top fiver starters.

Credit: ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images

Pearson got the hole shot at the green and set an early pace. Petty's recent race woes continued as he cut a right front tire on lap 42. Though he finished the race for the first time in a few weeks, he never regained the time he lost during the unscheduled pit stop.

As regular, scheduled stops began during a caution around lap 85, Pearson surrendered the lead on lap 87 to Buddy Baker for a lap. After Pearson's #17 Ford returned to the track and Baker made his stop, Pearson went right back to the point. 

About 20 laps after leading a lap and making his stop, Baker's day took an unfortunate turn...err, slide? He and Isaac raced hard for position. Isaac dove inside of Baker, and they clanged off each other. Buddy hammered the wall, slid through turn three, and came to rest on the apron. Isaac continued, but Baker was done for the day. 

Pearson was pretty much on cruise control the rest of the way. He led 299 of the race's 300 laps to capture his 34th career win. The victory was his first of two career wins at Asheville-Weaverville, the other coming later in 1968 in the Western North Carolina 500.

Isaac finished second, two laps down to Pearson. Though he couldn't make up the lap from the early stop - nor additional laps lost during another green-flag stop, Petty still managed to finish third, three laps down to the winner.

The final caution flew with about 30 laps to go. An ambulance needed to cross the track to transport a fan who had suffered a heart attack to a local hospital. Coincidentally, Pearson benefited from a similar caution to win at Martinsville about five years later. 

Source: Asheville Citizen

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