From 1958 to 1972, the season-ending premier race at Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway was the Southern 300. Over those years, racers and fans saw a transition from modified to late model cars as well as a re-design of the track from a low-banked, half-mile to a high-banked, 5/8-mile oval.
Two drivers were killed during the speedway's three years as a track banked steeper than Bristol and Talladega, and many others endured hard hits from blown tires and other accidents.
Following the 1972 season, the track was re-designed yet again. The banks were lowered to 18 degrees which is where they remain today. In addition to the lowered banking, the Southern was extended by 100 laps. Thus fans got to enjoy the 15th annual Southern 400 for the first time on September 30, 1973.
Red Farmer returned for his shot at a third win in his 12th Southern. Farmer has long been known as a founding member of The Alabama Gang. His roots, however, are in Nashville and, more specifically, within spittin' distance of the Fairgrounds track.
To capture his third Southern victory, Farmer would have to go through Darrell Waltrip. Racing a red and gold, Falls City Beer sponsored #48 Chevelle, DW won eleven of the twenty late model sportsman features prior to the Southern 400. He also captured his second track championship and first with car owner and local beer distributor, Ellis Cook.
As expected, Waltrip laid down the lap to beat during qualifying. He had a nose for Nashville when it was steeply banked, and his skills and confidence remained high after the lowering of the turns in 1973.
Waltrip and the rest of the field, however, got a bit of a surprise. Unheralded Randy Bethea of Newport, TN was a hair quicker than Waltrip and scored the pole.
In doing so, Bethea became the first black driver to earn a pole for a NASCAR national championship race. Though I'm not 100 percent certain, I believe Bethea held that distinction until Bill Lester won the pole for a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Charlotte in May 2003.
Lining up third was Georgia's Jody Ridley in a one-off deal in R.C. Alexander's reputable #84 Ford. Harry Gant and Jerry Lawley rounded out the top five starters on the first day of qualifying.
Though Bethea's accomplishment earned himself a spot as a trivia answer, he did not want to dwell on it - then or now. He wanted to be viewed a racer and not simply as a black driver. About 31 minutes into the feature, Just Another Racer, Bethea, Brad Teague and others revisit that important accomplishment and the resulting race result.
As had become the case over the years, the Southern field included many top shelf name drivers. The list included included Harry Gant, Jack Ingram, 1970 Southern 300 winner L.D. Ottinger, Sam Ard, Neil Bonnett, Morgan Shepherd, and Jimmy Hensley.
The increased popularity of the race also meant many did not make the show. In 1973, twenty-six drivers loaded early without seeing the green flag. The list included two former NASCAR Cup racers - Bobby Isaac and Sam McQuagg.
Isaac, NASCAR's 1970 Grand National champion as well as winner of the first race on Nashville's high-banked track, was recruited to race when Ellis Cook believed Waltrip would not. Isaac began the year as driver of Bud Moore's #15 Ford. During the Talladega 500, however, Isaac asked for a relief driver, brought the car to pit road, exited, claimed he heard voices to get out, and promptly retired from Cup racing.
Moore hired Waltrip as Isaac's replacement, and Waltrip planned to balance the remaining Cup schedule with his LMS title pursuit at Nashville. With the title secured, he planned to race at Martinsville which occurred the same day as the Southern 400. Isaac was to sub in Waltrip's late model.
Moore then opted not to enter the Martinsville allowing Waltrip to race in the Southern 400 after all. He returned to his regular #48 Chevelle, and Ellis Cook provided a #43 backup car for Isaac. With the switcheroos, Isaac simply wasn't quick enough to make the field.
At the start, Bethea wanted to show his pole win wasn't a one-lap wonder. Instead, Waltrip let it be known it was his track and pulled the field as they barreled into turn one. Within a couple of laps, Bethea's Ford drifted into the clutches of the bottom half of the top 10. His race went from bad to worse as he lost oil pressure from a known leak. He was done before the race was even one-quarter complete.
Early in the race, fans witnessed some quality racing up front with many of the established late model stars. Farmer, however, was not one of them. He qualified mid pack, had trouble early, and loaded with a DNF on lap 64.
Early action with Waltrip, Ingram, Gant & Lawley
Despite the contenders' pursuit, Waltrip held all of them at bay for the first 60 laps. His day then began to unravel. First, he lost a lap during a pit stop tire change. Shortly after, his #48 Chevelle then began overheating. Though he made it to the end, he ended his championship-winning season with an eighth place finish several laps down to the race winner.
Two national championship points races - Charlotte and Martinsville - remained after Nashville. Sam Ard was in a tight points race with Jack Ingram, and both needed to keep each other in sight. Instead, Ard had a day that wasn't needed. A broken spindle sent him to the pits for repairs. Though he lost 50+ laps, Ard returned to action to salvage a few points. His sixteenth place finish presented an even greater challenge as the duo readied for the World Service Life 300 and Cardinal 500.
L.D. Ottinger had one of the fastest Chevelles. His pit work, however, ended up being his biggest challenge of the day. Ottinger could seemingly pass cars with ease, but more than once he relinquished all he'd gained with slow stops. After a roller coaster day through the running order, Ottinger eventually returned to Newport, TN with a P3.
During the middle stages of the race, Ottinger and Ard had their brief time out front. Also getting some time to shine were Brad Teague, Morgan Shepherd, and Harry Gant. When Gant pitted with about 125 laps to go, Ingram's #11 Chevelle went to the top of the leaderboard ... and stayed there.
As many of the expected contenders developed issues, Ingram simply grew stronger - and had exceptional pit stops. Over the final 100 laps, he built a one-lap lead over second running Gant. He cruised the remaining laps and notched his only Southern 400 win. The win may have provided a bit of redemption after having narrowly and controversially lost the 1972 Southern 300.
Most of the photos included in this post were snapped and shared by Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson. Many more from the '73 Southern are included on his website.
The 13th running of the Southern 300 at Nashville's Fairground Speedways concluded the 1971 season of points-paying races. Flookie Buford captured the first of his two track late model sportsman titles, and national NASCAR points were on the line for the Southern 300 competitors.
The thirteenth edition of the race also somewhat reflected the unlucky tone of the season. Driver Art Ellis began the year on a true high note with an unexpected yet popular win in the season-opening Flameless 200. Two months later, however, Ellis lost his life in an accident during a regular ol' 30-lap Saturday night feature.
An iconic (?) movie in the theaters at the time of the 1971 Southern was Evel Knievel with actor George Hamilton playing the role of the daredevil. The now-departed, single-screen Donelson Theatre near my parents' house screened the movie.
I wish I could make the claim of seeing the movie ... at that time ... and in that theater. But I cannot. I was a bit too young and not yet aware of this larger-than-life character. Within a couple of years, however, Evel was definitely on my radar through Wide World of Sports and the hyped promotion for his Snake River Canyon jump. For what it's worth though, my mother took me to see Disney's Jungle Book at the Donelson Theatre.
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One of the promotional photos in The Tennesseean featured three racing giants: Red Farmer, Lee Roy Yarbrough, and Harry Gant - though each for different reasons and at different times.
By 1971, Farmer's reputation as a modified and sportsman winner was already well established. He raced seemingly anywhere and everywhere - dirt and asphalt, superspeedways and short tracks, NASCAR and outlaw, in sickness and in health, etc.
After a period of banging around short tracks, Yarbrough joined NASCAR's Grand National ranks in the mid 1960s. He never ran a full season, but his performances caught the eye of owner Junior Johnson. The duo joined forces in 1967, and Yarbrough enjoyed a career year in 1969 including grand slam wins in the Daytona 500, World 600, and Southern 500. Oddly, the combo could not sustain their success in the years to follow. Yarbrough returned to racing a patchwork of events including NASCAR Cup, Indy Car, USAC stock cars, and late model shows such as the Southern 300.
Gant's fame came much later than the other two - especially when he became synonymous with the Skoal Bandit Cup car in the 1980s. In the early 1970s, however, Gant had already begun to experience success in local and regional LMS races. His finished second in his first Nashville race, the 1970 Southern 300. He returned to Music City a few more times in 1971 before qualifying for his second Southern.
Gant's photo with Farmer and Yarbrough wasn't the only time in his career he was recruited for a cheesy tug-of-war promo pose. He also hammed it up with other Cup drivers in a similar manner for Martinsville's 1985 race program.
For years, the Southern 300 trophy was presented by Pepsi. In 1971, local CBS affiliate WLAC-TV sponsored the award. Sports anchor Hope Hines was on hand to present the winner's trophy. A few years later, WLAC-TV changed its call letters to WTVF. The station remains on the air today though it is now branded as NewsChannel 5.
Country singer Nat Stuckey served as the grand marshal. Um... yeah... ahem, that Nat Stuckey. I guess.
I'll concede I was not aware of Mr. Stuckey's discography, but I did find one of his winning songs, Sweet Thang. Enjoy ... and then return.
Though Flookie Buford captured the LMS championship along with five feature wins, 1970 track champ Darrell Waltrip racked the most wins in 1971. Driving the #48 Sterling Beer, P.B. Crowell-owned Chevelle, Waltrip notched eight wins in 22 features.
Many considered Waltrip as the favorite for the Southern - especially among the local racers. With several out-of-town racers expected for the race, others pointed to Donnie Allison as the driver to beat. Allison submitted his entry, and he expected to compete during an off-weekend from his Cup schedule with the Wood Brothers.
In the week leading up to the race, however, Allison received an offer from Roger Penske to drive in a sports car race in Riverside, California. Allison planned to sub for Mark Donohue in Penske's Javelin so Donohue could travel to Trenton, NJ to race Penske's car in the USAC Indy Car event.
Joe Carver, Nashville's publicity director, was less than pleased over Allison's decision to withdraw from the Southern - especially since Carver and track promoter Bill Donoho spent good money including Allison's name in pre-race promotional radio and print ads.
Though Carver likely never would have admitted it, one has to wonder if he smirked a bit on October 2nd. Allison spun off course during a practice lap at Riverside, and his front wheels hooked a rut in the desert dirt lining the track. The steering wheel snapped in Allison's hands, a bone in his wrist snapped, and he was unable to race on Sunday.
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L.D. Ottinger won the 1970 Southern almost by process of elimination. One by one, the favored drivers fell by the wayside, and Ottinger found himself with a comfortable lead over Gant. A year later, Ottinger arrived loaded for bear and made a statement about his desire to repeat. He topped the speed chart in qualifying to earn the top starting spot.
Local racer James Ham - who routinely laid down lightning-quick laps on Nashville's high banks - timed second. Waltrip, Farmer, and local racer Bill Morton rounded out the top five starters.
Ottinger seized the lead from his top starting spot when the green flag waved. He pulled the field around the 5/8-mile track for five laps before surrendering the lead to Waltrip.
Once Waltrip got by L.D., he gone. Lap after lap, DW deftly navigated the big turns and short straights. Even through pit cycles, the #48 car could not be passed.
Waltrip's rhythm was interrupted a couple of times for accidents involving others. One was for second place starter Ham when he pulled a bone-headed move. After dealing with lapped traffic during the first third of the race, Ham ran upon Buford. Thinking Flookie was a lap down, Ham rapped his bumper as a signal to get out of his way. Buford, however, was in the same lap as Ham and wasn't about to surrender the spot as a charitable gesture. Ham took another shot, dove to the inside, but couldn't make it work. Ham wiped out Buford as well as his own car, and both finished well down in the finishing order.
Despite cautions and restarts, Waltrip continued his domination with a lap lead on second place Farmer. With 15 laps to go, however, it happened.
Drivers often say they hear things inside the car while leading a race late - particularly a signature event. More often that not, the paranoia is replaced by euphoria as the checkered flag falls. That wasn't the case, however, in the 1971 Southern.
With a commanding lead and another Nashville win in sight, Waltrip's transmission fell apart. He coasted helplessly to the pit area where he was greeted with empathy by car owner Crowell.
Red Farmer, who himself experienced multiple Southern losses when a win seemed certain, inherited the top spot as Waltrip sat dejectedly in his car. Once Farmer made up his lap deficit, the lead belonged to him - followed by his second Southern 300 win in three years.
The 1971 season was a bit different than most of the previous years at the Fairgrounds. The Southern 300 was traditionally the final race of the season. In 1971, however, the track hosted an additional night of racing - but with a couple of different twists.
A 200-lap feature on the quarter-mile track for the Cadet racers was the main event - by far the longest race for that division.
The LMS race was the undercard, and Waltrip scored the win in the 50-lap event. Drivers competed for prize money only - no points.
Following the 1969 Southern 300, a multi-month project began to transform Nashville's Fairground Speedways. The low-banked, half-mile track was converted to a high-banked, 5/8-mile, speed demon. In 2011, Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson blogged about the construction project and an overview of the Nashville's first season on the new track.
Through 1965, fans sat in the grandstands under an ornate, wooden roof. The September 1965 fairgrounds fire burned the structure, and the stands remained uncovered through 1969.
The project to re-design the track also included a new roof over a portion of the grandstands. Instead of installing a roof with a similar design as the original one, the track operators installed a more modern looking, metal, tethered overhang. The 1970 roof remains in place in 2018.
Because of construction delays, the season's start was delayed until July. Bobby Isaac won the first event on new track - the Nashville 420 Grand National race. The late model racers returned for their first race on the new track in the Flameless 300 in August.
Though the timing of the Grand National and Flameless races was off because of construction delays, the Southern 300 returned in its traditional autumn spot. The 12th edition of the Southern was scheduled for Sunday, October 4.
Unlike most years, the Southern 300 wasn't the final racing event of the year at the Fairgrounds. Because of the late-starting and abbreviated schedule in 1970, the track hosted two more weekends of racing - a pair of LMS features and a 200-lap ARCA race.
Several drivers from the Grand National and Late Model Sportsman ranks had been leery of the new track design. Most had raced high-banked tracks before - most notably Daytona and Talladega. Nashville was a different beast, however, because of the shorter straightaways.
Local racer James Ham, however, took to the place like a duck to water. In the LMS features leading up to the Southern 300, Ham was routinely quick during time trials. He planned to extend his early comfort with the track to the Southern despite the arrival of several heavy-hitting out-of-towners.
Darrell Waltrip raced at the Fairgrounds several times from the mid to late 1960s with little success. Once he connected with car owner P.B. Crowell and hit the high banks in 1970, the results and his future were quite different. Waltrip won five of the season's eight LMS races leading into the Southern and had a firm grasp on the track's 1970 track title.
DW's success made him a logical target for exotic dancer Morganna Roberts. Though she later became legendary nationally in the 1970s as Morganna The Kissing Bandit, she was in Nashville for nightly shows. Today, Printer's Alley is a popular tourist destination. Back in the day, the establishments were legendary but a bit more sketchy.
Ham was the first driver to qualify during Saturday's time trials. In an effort to prove his promotional photo had substance, he laid down a hot lap and dared others to knock him off the perch. One by one, all failed to rise to the challenge.
Flookie Buford and Alton Jones, both driving R.C. Alexander's Fords, qualified third and fourth. Freddy Fryar, a two-time Southern 300 winner and Nashville's 1964 track champion, timed only fifth best. Waltrip could muster no better than ninth fastest.
Yet one driver remained to take his shot. Red Farmer set a track record, nipped Ham's lap time, captured the pole, and started on the Southern front row for the fifth consecutive year.
The line-up also included several others who race fans grew to know a bit better throughout the 70s-80s including Jack Ingram, Bosco Lowe, L.D. Ottinger, Paddlefoot Wales, Sam Sommers, and Richard Brickhouse.
A year earlier, Brickhouse was pretty much an unknown driver. A single race, however, provided him an Oh yeah, THAT guy! trivia label to racing fans with his victory in the inaugural Talladega 500.
As the green dropped, Farmer seized the lead from his top starting spot. He pulled the field around the lightning quick surface for the first five laps. On the sixth lap, however, second place starter Ham smoked Farmer. Liking the view from out front, Ham stayed there for a good portion of the race.
Though Ham ruled much of the first half of the race, a couple of the name drivers got their time on the point as well. Fryar and Waltrip both led, but bad racing luck nabbed them both.
Waltrip lost a left-front brake shoe near the middle of the race, had his wheel lock-up, and spun. DW's crew repaired the car, and he returned to action albeit several laps down. When the day was done, Waltrip settled for a P4 finish.
After leading a few laps early, Fryar spun to avoid the spinning Waltrip. He gathered his car and continued. A blown engine at lap 167, however, fried Fryar's chance at a decent day.
Meanwhile, James Ham continued cycling his way in and out of the lead. He piled up 136 laps out front during the first two-thirds of the race. Misfortune, however, cooked Ham's bacon on lap 184.
Charlie Binkley blew an engine, and Red Farmer's remarkable streak of being in the wrong place at the wrong time continued. Farmer spun in Binkley's oil and then returned across the track just as Ham tried to sneak through the accident. With nowhere to go, Ham clobbered Farmer ending his fantastic run.
As the favorites fell, Brickhouse decided he'd take the lead since no one else seemed able to hold it. Taking over the top spot following Ham's wreck, he led a stretch of nearly 50 laps and built a five-lap lead over second place.
Then remarkably, racing's fickle finger of fate pointed at Brickhouse. His tire blew on the frontstretch headed for turn 1, and Brickhouse greeted the concrete wall. Though Brickhouse left the race, he remained posted as the leader for the next few laps as the second place car unlapped himself.
Newport, TN's L.D. Ottinger raced at the Fairgrounds from time to time in the late 1960s, but he never scored a win on the original half-mile track. Once he unlapped himself in the 1970 Southern 300, however, he had a clear path to his first Nashville win.
Fighting an intense headache and exhaustion, Ottinger did what others in the race couldn't do: survive. He led the remaining laps and claimed a signature, career victory.
In his first Nashville start, Harry Gant finished second two laps down to Ottinger. (Though Gant qualified for the 1969 Southern 300, he apparently did not start the race.) Gary Cook, Waltrip, and Gene Glover rounded out the top five finishers.
The eleventh running of Nashville's Southern 300 at Fairground Speedways was on Sunday, September 28, 1969. The race concluded the track's season and was also the final race on the original half-mile surface.
Jim Donoho, son of track promoter Bill Donoho, worked in the family business from childhood and served in varied positions. Bill elevated Jim to track president in July 1968, and dear ol' dad further honored his son by attaching his name to the 1969 Southern 300.
Jim, still a University of Tennessee student at the time of his presidential promotion, ran point on the track's largest project since its original construction in 1958. After plenty of planning, the half-mile track was to be converted into a high-banked, 5/8-mile oval following the 1969 Southern 300.
David Sisco of Hohenwald, TN captured the track's 1969 late model sportsman title with three feature wins and consistently solid finishes. The perks of being the champ included sharing time with a couple of pretties as they promoted the season-ending event. (For the record, neither of the two women below won the Miss Southern 300 contest.)
A couple of years after his LMS title, Sisco embarked on a career as an independent NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He competed pretty much full time from 1973 through 1976. Sadly, however, he retired from racing in 1977 a few weeks after the death of his mother in a Talladega infield traffic accident.
Freddy Fryar - Nashville's 1964 track champion and 1967 Southern 300 winner - captured the pole during Friday's qualifying. Red Farmer qualified second as he prepared to defend his 1968 Southern 300 title. Farmer started on the Southern front row for the fourth consecutive year.
Charlie Binkley lined up third with P.B. Crowell timing fourth in his familiar orange-and-white #48 Chevelle. Qualifying set the remainder of the top 23 cars. The finishing order of a 30-lap consolation race determined the final ten starters similar to what had been done the previous two years.
The field included several regional drivers who'd eventually become well known at NASCAR's Late Model Sportsman, Busch Series, and Cup levels including Sisco, Darrell Waltrip, L.D. Ottinger, Gene Glover, and Benny Kerley. Waltrip needed an assist to make the show. He was not among the quickest qualifiers, but he did win the consolation race to start the 300 in 24th spot.
The drivers had some financial incentive to chase the lead in the 300. In addition to $3,000 payable to the race winner, the track paid a $5 per lap bonus to the leading driver.
Fryar roared to the lead at the drop of the green and established himself as the lap bully. He pocketed one fiver after another as he led the first half of the race.
Farmer had the car to beat in the 1966 and 1967 Southerns, but misfortune busted him both years. He finally put a full 300 laps together in 1968 and won the race. Hoping to go back-to-back in '69, it just wasn't meant to be. He made an early exit and was never a factor.
When Fryar pitted on lap 165, Binkley assumed the lead and began to assert himself as the big dawg of the race's second half. With Binkley in the lead, fans witnessed an awful wreck on lap 214 involving Ronnie Blasingim and popular Jimmy Griggs, winner of the 1958 and 1959 Southerns and Nashville's 1962 modified division championship.
Though some believed Griggs blew a tire as he headed for turn one, Griggs' crew believed he passed out in the car. Either way, Griggs spun and was center-punched by Blasingim.
Both drivers were rushed to the hospital. All things considered, Blasingim escaped with minimal damage though he did need surgery and treatment for eye, cheekbone and other head injuries. Griggs, on the other hand, was critically injured and struggled for several weeks during his recovery.
When racing resumed, Binkley retained his top spot. He continued pacing the field though he had to pit for fuel with 20 laps to go. Unfortunately for Binkley, however, his crew added only a smidgen to his tank. He ran dry a second time with victory in sight.
After losing a cylinder, Fryar struggled a bit with horsepower during the second half of the race. His gear shift also broke, and he had to coax his car to get-up-and-go on restarts while in high gear. He had conceded the win to Binkley - until Charley's crew didn't add enough gas to get him to the win.
With new life, Fryar swept across the finish time and captured his second Southern 300 win in three years. Binkley faded to a seventh place finish as his crew fumed and feuded in the pits over their fueling miscue.
Fryar's win in the final race on the half-mile track also created a bit of Nashville racing trivia. He also won the Nashville 100 on October 5, 1957 - the final race at the dirt, quarter-mile Nashville Speedways on Cowan Street. The predecessor to the Fairgrounds facility is more commonly remembered by its original name: the Legion Bowl.
After some touch-and-go days, Jimmy Griggs' health began improving steadily as the calendar moved into November. Though the accident ended his racing days, Griggs remained an important part of Nashville's racing past and present. When the Fairgrounds resumed LMS racing on its new 5/8-mile track in August 1970, Griggs served as the Grand Marshal for the Flameless 300.
Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson shared some video footage from the weekend including qualifying and/or practice by cars including Fryar (301), Sisco (15), and Alton Jones (50); driver introductions; the start of the race; the aftermath of the Griggs-Blasingim wreck; and Fryar's victory lane celebration.
The tenth edition of the Southern 300 at Nashville's Fairground Speedways marked the final race of the track's 1968 season.
Modifieds were featured as the top division at the Fairgrounds from 1958 through 1963. Late model modifieds replaced the traditional modifieds in 1964. Scheduled for September 29, the 1968 Southern was the first one featuring late model sportsman cars.
The track introduced the LMS division in August 1968 after beginning the year with the continuation of the Late Model Modifieds.
The adoption of the Late Model Sportsman branding and racing rules created better alignment with other regional tracks and points systems as well as with NASCAR's touring LMS division.
After two years of an extremely tall winner's award, the Southern 300 trophy was re-designed once more. Though still thin like the 1966-67 edition, the new trophy was a bit shorter and perhaps easier to hoist in victory lane.
Rex White won the 1959 Music City 200 NASCAR Grand National race at the Fairgrounds and won five consecutive GN poles in Nashville from 1958 through 1961. A year later, he claimed the NASCAR GN title.
White stopped racing full-time Grand National racing following the 1964 season, but he continued to race frequently in various late model races. Rex entered the 1968 Southern 300, and it was to be his first race at the Fairgrounds since the 1963 Nashville 400 GN race.
Coo Coo Marlin was king of the hill in 1966-67 with 22 wins over the two seasons. Franklin, TN's P. B. Crowell ascended to the top in 1968 with ten wins spread evenly throughout the year.
Even with ten trophies and the 1968 track LMS title secured, Crowell wanted more. He nabbed the pole for the Southern 300 with a track record as he sought his first win in the increasingly prestigious race.
For the third year in a row, native Nashvillian turned Alabama Gang leader Red Farmer qualified on the front row. Farmer won the pole for the 1966 and 1967 Southerns.
Farmer had the 1967 Southern 300 well in hand with a two-lap lead on the field. A damaging trip to the fence following an accident by others, however, gift-wrapped the race for 1964 track champ Freddy Fryar.
A year after winning the Southern, Fryar had plenty of challenges simply making the race. During qualifying, Fryar blew the engine in his #48 Crowell-Reed Chevy. The crew made a hasty exit for Crowell's shop, swapped out engines, and returned to the Fairgrounds just in time for Freddy to participate in the 20-lap consolation race. Starting dead last in 41st, Fryar quickly worked his way through the field, avoided a lap one wreck involving four cars, and won the race to advance to the 300.
Fryar's consi win came at the expense of Rex White. Everything that could go wrong for the former NASCAR racer did. Rex failed to make the field on time, and he was relegated to the hooligan show. While leading, he was in position to win and advance. A flat tire, however, sent him to the pits and subsequently to his trailer for an early trip home to South Carolina.
A kid from Owensboro, Kentucky made his first Fairgrounds start in September 1965. He returned home having completed just a single lap. He returned over the next couple of years to try his hand again a few more times on Nashville's half-mile. In 1968, the kid and future NASCAR champion, Darrell Waltrip, saddled up for his first Southern 300 start.
Sunday's race never really developed much of a rhythm. Many likely experienced the race as if it was run in slow-motion, and it was in some respects. Caution laps chewed up nearly half the race's distance because of twenty-one yellows for wrecks, spins, cats and dogs living together, etc.
P.B. Crowell's individual race matched the overall race tone. He sputtered from the jump, wasn't able to leverage his top starting spot, pitted frequently during the afternoon, and finished well below his norm for the rest of the season.
With so many cautions, drivers had little time to sort out things and find their rhythm. For fans, however, the limited segments of green flag racing meant several cars raced side by side and in multiple lanes.
Waltrip fared better in the 1968 Southern 300 than he did in his Nashville debut in '65 - but not by much. After turning only one lap in his first Nashville start, he lasted 87 laps in the 1968 Southern. Issues forced DW out of the race dooming him to a 28th place finish with $70 as take-home pay.
Racing action including Darrell Waltrip in #100
Marlin and Bob Burcham stayed close to the front most of the day as did Charlie Binkley. With about 80 laps left to go, Binkley took the lead but then pitted immediately. Suffering from the flu in the days leading up to the race, Binkley nearly passed out from exhaustion on the track. Walter Wallace, Nashville's 1967 late model track champ, took over in relief and rallied Charlie's car to a fourth place finish.
Many cars wrecked, spun, or broke. Marlin, Burcham, Binkley, and Jimmy Griggs battled for positions within the top five. None, however, had much for the race winner: Red Farmer.
After multiple poles in the Southern 300 and back-to-back years of having the dominant car but nothing to show for it, Red finally closed the deal.
R.C. Alexander, Farmer's car owner and sponsor, earned double-chicken money. His second car finished fifth with Griggs at the wheel.
Winning driver Red Farmer and car owner / sponsor R.C. Alexander
Two years later, Crowell reduced his role as a driver and expanded his car ownership. He turned his traditional, orange-and-white, Creamsicle-painted #48 Chevelle over to that upstart kid from Owensboro named Waltrip.
From 1958 to 1972, the season-ending premier race at Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway was the Southern 300. Over those years, racers and fans saw a transition from modified to late model cars as well as a re-design of the track from a low-banked, half-mile to a high-banked, 5/8-mile oval.
