April 21, 1968 - Wilkesboro's Gwyn Staley 400

NASCAR's Grand National teams rolled into the mountains of western North Carolina in the spring of '68 for the Gwyn Staley Memorial 400-lap race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The race was the 11th of the season - just shy of being a quarter into the year's 49-race schedule.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

The track hosted an egg hunt a week earlier on Easter Sunday. Strategic or perhaps just fortuitous kids stood to make a pretty good cash haul if they found the higher valued eggs. One has to wonder if some opportunistic, independent NASCAR drivers may have been in the mix as well in an effort to snag some funding for their tire bill. 

Source: Kannapolis Daily Independent

Jerry Grant did some searching of this own that weekend. Though there's no record he hip-checked any five year-olds in order to score an egg, he did go searching for speed. The USAC Indy Car regular laid down laps in two different cars - his GN Plymouth stock car as well as his Indy roadster that he planned to race at the Brickyard in the month of May.

Source: Spartanburg Herald

Fast forwarding a week, David Pearson won the pole in his Holman Moody Ford. LeeRoy Yarbrough qualified alongside him. A pair of Mopars raced by Bobby Isaac and Darel Dieringer lined up in the second row with Bobby Allison rounding out the top five starters. 

Pearson earned the MGM trophy as the top qualifier. The Hollywood studio sponsored the pole winner trophy as part of its promotion for the soon-to-be released movie, Speedway, starring Elvis Presley.

Source: Statesville Record and Landmark

Pearson's chief rival, Richard Petty, was scheduled to present the trophy to the Silver Fox - a photo I'd truly like to see.

Fans saw multiple leaders during the first quarter of the race. Blue Oval and Mopar fans took turns cheering as Pearson and Bobby Allison led about 50 laps and Petty, Paul Goldsmith, and Bobby Isaac split the other 50 laps. Allison may have led more had his engine not failed on lap 97 - as he was leading. Pearson's fortunes were better than Allison as he lost a cylinder after only 15 laps yet went the distance with the remaining seven. 

For the next quarter of the race, Pearson's Ford became the dominant car. Despite being down a cylinder, he led about 80 of the second 100 laps. 

Petty regained the lead on lap 209. Like Allison about a hundred laps earlier, however, Petty's Hemi blew after the King found his way back to the point. 

A few laps later, Petty belted into Darel Dieringer's Mario Rossi-owned Plymouth as a relief driver. Dieringer had been sick and bedridden for two weeks prior to the race after inhaling fumes from transmission grease during Bristol's Southeastern 500 in March. He subsequently contracted the flu and pneumonia - likely as a result of the fumes  Though it may not have been known at the time - or admitted - Dieringer likely suffered carbon monoxide poisoning.

As the race developed well into its second half, Yarbrough seized control in Junior Johnson's Ford. Though the soft-spoken Johnson wanted to win everywhere, he expected his drivers to win at Wilkesboro - his home track. And LeeRoy was well positioned to do just that. Until...

With nine laps to go and a 10 second lead over Pearson, Johnson's engine blew in Yarbrough's car sending him into the fence. Just like that, the Ingle Hollow celebration-to-be evaporated into a That's Racing moment. 

Pearson had to be chuckling a bit as he inherited the lead from waaay back. He and his struggling engine completed the final laps to claim his 33rd career win with no pressure from behind. Buddy Baker and Bobby Isaac finished second and third, respectively, and both were a lap down to Pearson. Petty brought home Dieringer's car in fourth place, and Yarbrough still managed to finish fifth despite his DNF.

Pearson's win was his first of only two Wilkesboro victories. He notched the second a year and a half later over second place Petty in the 1969 Wilkes 400. It was also his third win in the previous seven races after having won at Bristol and Richmond in back-to-back weeks a month earlier.

Source: Spartanburg Herald

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September 22, 1974 - Wilkes 400

The 1974 Winston Cup season neared its end in late September as the teams headed for North WIlkesboro's Wilkes 400, the 26th race of the 30-race season.

Richard Petty was having yet another incredible season. Many drivers don't have careers like the King had as a single season in '74. Through 25 races, Petty had already won 10 of them. He had also won five of the seven races leading into Wilkesboro and five of the previous seven Wilkesboro races dating back to 1971, the first year Winston sponsored NASCAR's top series.

Fellow NASCAR HOFer Cale Yarborough, however, was nipping at the heels of King's boots. Cale had nine wins headed into North Wilkesboro - four of which were on short tracks at Nashville and Martinsville plus a season sweep of Bristol.

To the surprise of no one, the two racing legends captured the front row during qualifying - Petty's Dodge with the top spot and Cale second. Buddy Baker, Benny Parsons, and Canadian Earl Ross rounded out the top five starters.

Racing certainly has its share of challenges and controversies today. Attendance and ratings erosion, charters, stage racing, retirements of popular drivers, influx of new ones, etc. A continual refrain is they need to get back to like it was back in the day.

If back in the day references 1974, folks may need to rethink their image of a racing renaissance. The distance of the races during the season were cut by 10 percent as a good faith gesture by NASCAR to help the country with the OPEC energy crisis. Were ticket prices cut by 10 percent? Not that I'm aware of.

Also, despite the series sponsorship by Winston cigarettes, many teams struggled to race regularly and competitively. Winston's entitlement funding wasn't sufficient to create wealth throughout the field, and TV funding was non-existent. Teams needed sizable payouts from individual track promoters to make their risk worth the effort.

North Wilkesboro was one of the tracks identified by many drivers as having an inadequate purse. As was the custom for many years, the Wood Brothers and David Pearson skipped Wilkesboro. The race also was without Bobby Allison, but his absence was because of an issue with his car rather than a complaint about the purse.

Source: Greenwood SC Index-Journal

Those that did race had no control over who didn't. With a couple of the big dawgs back on the porch, the season-long dominant duo and front row starters, Petty and Cale, controlled the event. They led a combined 391 of the race's 400 laps. Other than Earl Ross's brief time out front and Dave Marcis' single lap as a leader, it was 43 and 11 all. day. long.

Fans likely shook their heads at the high attrition rate. Only twelve of thirty entrants were still around for the finish. Seven cars headed for their trailers by lap 50.

Petty and Yarborough seemed to be evenly matched during the first half of race. An unscheduled pit stop for a cut tire, however, put the 43 a bit behind Cale's Chevy. The gap between the two widened later during an errant stop by the generally reliable, Dale Inman-led Petty Enterprises crew. During a scheduled four-tire change, the Petty crew apparently jacked both sides of the car at the same time. When the right side was dropped, however, the car slid right and fell off the left side jack. The miscue put Petty nearly two laps down to the leader.

Throughout the second half of the race, Cale led lap after lap after lap. Petty never lost his focus though and kept his acceleration and braking rhythm rockin'. He made up his lost laps and went back to the point with 100 to go. His time was brief though as he led for 25 laps before returning the lead to Yarborough.

Cale once again seized the top spot with 75 laps to go, poured on the steam, and within about 15 laps was in a position to put the STP Dodge a lap down...again. Petty seemed to find a new gear, however, and he again pulled away from the Junior Johnson-prepared #11 Chevy. Just as he nearly lost a lap, he seemed to effortlessly make it back.

Petty's 43 dogged Cale down the stretch. With four laps to go, the King closed in tightly and attempted to pass Yarborough. As he did so, however, Coo Coo Marlin poo-poo'd an engine. The yellow flag was displayed, and Cale got the checkers a few laps later as the race ended under caution. The race was the 16th of 31 times Petty and Yarborough finished in the top two spots.

Source: Colbert Seagraves

Source: High Point Enterprise

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April 4, 1976 - Gwyn Staley 400

Richard Petty ripped through the 1975 Cup season like a Ginsu knife through a mater. He nabbed 13 wins as well as his sixth championship. The Petty Enterprises / STP team had every reason to believe they'd keep the mojo rolling in 1976.

David Pearson notched 18 wins for the Wood Brothers' famed #21 team over the two-year stretch of 1973-1974. He only won three races, however, during 1975 in the Purolator Mercury. The team was ready to prove the single digit number of wins was an anomaly vs. the new norm.

Cale Yarborough began 1975 as his third season with Junior Johnson's Chevy team. Like Pearson, he bagged a double-digit number of wins in 1974 - but slipped to only three victories in 1975. Cale, Junior, and Herb Nab were ready for another shot at knocking King Richard off his throne in 1976.

The Winston Cup drivers rolled into North Wilkesboro in early April for the Gwyn Staley 400, the seventh race of the 1976 season.

Clearly, the story line of the season to-date was the amazing finish between Richard Petty and David Pearson in the Daytona 500. Pearson backed up his superspeedway Daytona win with two more victories at Riverside's road course and then at Atlanta.

The King rebounded nicely from Daytona. The crew thrashed on the wrecked 43, towed it to Rockingham two weeks later, and celebrated as Petty won the Carolina 500 in the rebuilt Dodge. Dave Marcis nabbed a win at Richmond, and Cale put a whuppin' on the field at Bristol.

Wilkesboro was slotted as the third short-track event in the first seven races of the season. The scarce number of short track races now compared to the abundance of them then has robbed today's fan base of some legendary racing facilities, rivalries, and driver skills.

Dave Marcis' #71 K&K Insurance, Harry Hyde-prepared Dodge Charger was fast in qualifying just as it was at Richmond. Marcis captured the top starting spot - his third pole of the season. Benny Parsons - who was born in Wilkes County, NC - qualified on the outside of the front row. Darrell Waltrip timed third, and Dick Brooks notched a surprising 4th in Junie Donlavey's Ford. Yarborough rounded out the top five starters.

On race day, a thunderstorm kept many folks in their cars and trucks until closer to race time. Once the weather moved to the east, folks headed for the gates. Track employees were stubbing tickets as quickly as they could. Assisting them was NASCAR's president, Bill France Jr. - on his birthday no less!

Prior to the start of the race, track officials recognized Wilkesboro legend, former driver, and car owner Junior Johnson by renaming a new section of backstretch grandstands in his honor.

Source: High Point Enterprise

Credit to & courtesy of Keith Hall

Petty started seventh in his rebuilt Dodge and was still sporting the beard he'd grown to commemorate America's bicentennial.

Credit: Mickey York

Parsons got a good jump at the green and led the first dozen laps. Yarborough then took the lead and dominated the rest of the way. He allowed Parsons to lead another dozen or so laps and spotted the 43 the lead for about a baker's dozen of his own. Otherwise, it was all Cale all day. He punished the field and won by a full lap over second place Petty.

The race was the 21st of 31 times Petty and Yarborough finished in the top two spots.

Source: High Point Enterprise

When Cup racing began its rapid ascent in the 1980s, North Wilkesboro expanded its seating. Fans continued sitting in the Junior Johnson Grandstand, but many more seat options became available. Then...racing was gone. The track has remained silent for 20+ years. It has deteriorated to the point of being an unusable facility - despite the cries from well-meaning and hopeless romantic fans that continue to proclaim "NASCAR ought to return to Wilkesboro!" A few years ago, the remnants of the Junior Johnson Grandstand were finally demolished - about 35 years after being named in his honor.


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October 5, 1969 - Wilkes 400

The Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on October 5, 1969, was the 47th event of a 54-race season schedule!

The race was originally scheduled for September 21st - the Sunday after the inaugural GN race at Alabama International Motor Speedway, known today as Talladega Superspeedway.

When drivers associated with the Professional Drivers Association loaded their cars and opted not to race in the Talladega 500, Bill France Sr. ran the event anyway with a patchwork of largely independent drivers.

Afterwards, however, France wanted to make sure a similar situation would never happen again. NASCAR revised its driver entry forms to include provisions for guaranteed participation. Wilkesboro track owner Enoch Staley cancelled all the submitted entries for the Wilkes 400 and requested new ones. The race date was moved to October 5th to allow time for the new entries to be submitted and processed. (The next race after Talladega was on the following Thursday night at Columbia Speedway. It was held without any driver protests and without the revised entry form.)

Source: Statesville Record and Landmark

NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Isaac won the pole when the drivers arrived at Wilkesboro in October. The race was the sixteenth of nineteen times Isaac nabbed the top starting spot in 1969. David Pearson in his Holman Moody #17 Ford qualified on the front row alongside Isaac. Richard Petty and Buddy Baker made up the second row. Richard Brickhouse (the winner of the Talladega race) rounded out the top five starters.

When the green flag dropped, Isaac let it me known he could go fast for more than just one lap. He pulled the field around the track for the first quarter of the race and then some. Petty then put his Petty Blue Ford (yes, a Blue Oval) into the wind. He took the lead from Isaac and began his domination of the race.

After leading a stretch of 260 laps, the King was seemingly on his way to third consecutive Wilkes 400 victory...until. With only 13 laps to go, Petty's comfortable half-lap lead over second place Pearson was negated by a jerk who lobbed a bottle onto the track from the grandstands.

Petty's lead was erased because of the caution. As the race returned to green, Pearson made his way past Petty's 43, led the final four laps, and stole the win. Coincidentally, Petty won the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville over Pearson a week earlier in an almost identical situation.

The race was the 39th of 63 times Petty and Pearson finished in the top two spots. Interestingly, the two drivers finished 1-2 in the 1969 championship standings as well - the only year for them to do so. Pearson's Wilkesboro win secured him his third GN title which tied him at the time with Lee Petty.

Source: High Point Enterprise

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April 16, 1978 - Gwyn Staley 400

NASCAR's Winston Cup drivers arrived in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina for the eighth race of the 1978 season - the Gwyn Staley 400.

A number of story lines existed as the teams prepared to race for 400 laps on the 5/8 mile track.

• Two-time defending Cup champion, Cale Yarborough, let it be known he was back for a crack at a third consecutive title. He won the season-opener in Riverside, California and banked five Top 5 finishes in the season's first seven races.
• Bobby Allison won two of the season's first seven races - including the Daytona 500 - in his new gig as the driver of Bud Moore's #15 Ford.
• Dodge finally retired its venerable 1974 Charger body style. The King, Richard Petty, was now at the wheel of a Dodge Magnum. Rather than compete for wins as he'd done for several years with the Charger, Petty had opened the season with only a couple of top 5s along with some really dismal finishes.
• Benny Parsons, the 1973 Cup champion and 1975 Daytona 500 winner, won two early season races at Richmond and Darlington.

A unique qualifying format was used for the race. The line-up was set by the average of two qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday. Parsons - who was from North Wilkesboro - had the quickest average over the two sessions. Darrell Waltrip timed second to join BP on the front row. Allison and Yarborough were side by side on the second row. Lennie Pond rounded out the top 5 starters in his #54 Harry Ranier Monte Carlo.

Twenty-nine drivers took the green flag. Not 43 - not 40 - not even 36. Just 29. Everyone was OK, and no one panicked about the state of the sport. Of course, Twitter, Facebook and FOX Sports RaceHub didn't exist back then either.

Credit: SaveTheSpeedway (Twitter)

Despite the strong start to 1978, Cale had a rough go of it at his car owner's home track. Junior Johnson took great pride in having his drivers compete for wins at Wilkesboro. He could not have been happy with engine issues in Cale's #11 Olds - especially with a DNF for the second race in a row.

Courtesy of David Staten

As with Richard Petty, Neil Bonnett's Harry Hyde-led Dodge team had changed to the Magnum. Following Yarborough's early exit, he returned to the pit area in street clothes to watch more of the race (in dark shirt and cowboy hat in following pic). Cale may have toted a black cloud around his head that day because Bonnett soon fell out of the race with engine issues of his own.

Courtesy of David Staten

Though Petty's Magnum piled up several bad finishes and DNFs, the 43 was surprisingly strong at Wilkesboro. The fact the driver's performance was strong, however, was no surprise. With 15 wins at the track, King Richard knew how to hustle a car around it.

Petty, Parsons and Darrell Waltrip split time at the front of the field almost evenly. The bulk of Waltrip's lead laps, however, came in the final hundred laps of the race. He passed Petty and pulled the field around for almost 70 consecutive laps.

Credit: SaveTheSpeedway (Twitter)

Waltrip gained a one-lap lead with about 70 laps to go when Petty made a pit stop. The King and his crew battled, however, to back get on the lead lap. He made up much of the ground, but a last lap caution caused by D.K. Ulrich allowed Waltrip to cruise to the the checkers and the win. Pole-winning Parsons hung tough, but he could only muster a third place finish - one lap down to Waltrip and Petty.

Credit: David Allio of Racing Photo Archives

The victory was Waltrip's second consecutive win at Wilkesboro and second of the season (first one coming at Bristol). When his career was done, he had piled up twenty-two wins just at those two tracks. Waltrip was met in victory lane by crew chief Buddy Parrott. Coincidentally, Parrott went to victory lane six years later with Petty at Daytona following his 200th career win.

Credit: SaveTheSpeedway (Twitter)

Petty's P2 matched the best finish of 1978 for the ill-fated, much maligned Magnum. He got another second place a couple of months later in the second road course race of the season at Riverside. By the summer, however, he'd had enough. The Dodge was dumped in favor of Chevrolet.

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November 21, 1971 - Wilkes 400

The next-to-last race of the 1971 season for NASCAR's Grand National drivers was the Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on November 21. The race was originally scheduled for September 19th.

As the end of 1971 season drew near, the drivers were competing in the first season under the branding of the Winston Cup Grand National Series.

To help fill the field at Wilkesboro, NASCAR allowed cars from its Grand American division to participate in the Cup race. This decision meant the full-size Cup cars would race alongside Camaros, Firebirds and Mustangs from the GA series.

The Grand American cars were lighter and smaller, and many believed they had an advantage on the short tracks. As an offset, the GA teams were required to use narrower tires and only allowed three crew members over the wall on a pit stop.

Source: Danville Register

Chargin' Charlie Glotzbach won the pole in qualifying driving a full-size, Richard Howard-owned Chevrolet. Rain arrived on race day, however, forcing a postponement until Halloween, October 31.

As NASCAR and track officials scrambled to find a replacement date, questions remained about what do about the qualifying order that was already set.

Once the new date was set and communicated, the decision was made to scrap the September qualifying and hold a "do over" session. When the cars returned in late October, Glotzbach picked up where he'd left off in September. He again snagged the pole in the Howard-owned, Junior Johnson-prepared Chevy.

Remarkably after Glotzbach's second top qualifying run at the track in six weeks, rains arrived yet again. The star-crossed race was postponed a second time until November 21.

Finally, the weather cooperated on the third attempt. Fortunately the rains stayed away, and qualifying and the race were completed in their entirety.

The qualifying times were tossed after the first attempt at the race in September. After the October postponement, drivers and teams were given an option in November: stand on the October time or qualify a third time.

Initially, Glotzbach and Junior Johnson weren't on the same page. Eventually they agreed to qualify a third time rather than risk losing the pole to a quicker lap. And once again, the #3 Chevy (a white one - not a black one) won the pole meaning he ran the quickest lap in three different sessions in three different months to finally start the race P1.

The second place starter was Richard Petty in his full-size Plymouth with third going to Bobby Allison in a full-size Ford. Richard Brown and Dave Marcis rounded out the top five starters - both in GN cars. The highest qualifying Grand American entrant was Tiny Lund who started sixth in his a Ronnie Hopkins-owned Camaro.

Source: Sumter Daily Item via Google News Archive

Though the rains did not return, early winter temps did. It would be a cold, windy, fall day when the drivers finally took the green. Glotzbach led the first 41 laps before yielding to Bobby Allison for six laps. Then Petty went to the point where he remained until lap 74.

The next few laps saw a tussle between Allison and Tiny Lund with each taking a brief turn out front. On lap 79, however, Ol' Blue returned to the front. Petty put his Plymouth out front again and began to pull away as he frequently did at Wilkesboro.

Credit to Don Hunter, courtesy of SmyleMedia.com

With only 50 laps to go, however, Petty's Hemi inexplicably broke a valve spring while holding a two-lap lead. He was able to continue, but his lap times slowed dramatically. And the field was in hot pursuit.


On lap 360, Glotzbach caught Petty's ailing Plymouth to take over the top spot after having unlapped himself. But while looking out his windshield, he also had to keep an eye on his mirror. Tiny Lund, who at one point had fallen back by four laps to the leader, had made up his laps and was pushing his Camaro towards the front.

With five laps to go, Tiny shoved his #55 Pepsi Camaro by Glotzbach and took the checkered flag after building a six second advantage.

Credit to Don Hunter, courtesy of SmyleMedia.com

Tiny reveled in the victory and quickly brushed off the criticism by some who claimed the smaller Camaro had a distinct advantage. Junior Johnson noted after the race a piece of Glotzbach's rear-end suspension broke with 10 to go. If another few laps had been needed, Charlie would probably have lost the right rear wheel. Instead, he was fortunate to end up with his second place finish. The King salvaged a third place finish even after the disappointment of losing what seemed to be a book-it win.

The victory was Tiny's last of five career Grand National wins. NASCAR's record books reflect Lund's Wilkesboro win in his Grand American Camaro as a GN / Cup victory. Interestingly, however, Bobby Allison's win at Bowman Gray in a Grand American Mustang in July 1971 is not credited as a GN / Cup win.

Article courtesy of Jerry Bushmire

Three weeks later, the 1971 season concluded at the short-lived Texas World Speedway. With the first ever Winston Cup title secured at Richmond the week before Wilkesboro, the 43 Plymouth did at Texas what it often did so well most everywhere else: win.

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September 23, 1973 - A close one at Wilkesboro

The King, Richard Petty, won an astounding 15 races at the famed North Wilkesboro Speedway. His record included eight victories in twelve races in the six season stretch of 1970 through 1975. The King also had three in row - both 1972 races and the spring 1973 Gwyn Staley 400 - as the Winston Cup series returned to the hills of Wilkes County.

Petty's career rival, Bobby Allison, was all business on pole day. He arrived to the track later than expected, took a quick couple of hot laps to shake down his Coke Machine, won the pole in qualifying, and then left immediately for a late model race in Missouri. Petty qualified alongside him on the front row. Eventual 1973 Cup champion Benny Parsons started third, and three-time Cup champion from 1976-1978 Cale Yarborough timed fourth.

Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal via Google News Archive

The field took the green on a Sunday afternoon. Allison got the hole shot at the green, charged into turn one, and led the first 57 laps.

Source: SaveTheSpeedway.net

Petty stayed close and led the next 34 laps. And so it went - back and forth - the rest of the day. Yarborough and Buddy Baker had opportunities to lead also, but each only led for a single-digit number of laps.

With the race well past half-way, Petty found his well-known groove. He took the lead from Baker at lap 256 and led the next 79 laps. With about 65 laps to go, Dale Inman made the call to bring the 43 to pit road for his final stop. The track was greasy, right side tires were wearing, and the Petty Enterprises felt it was time to get the STP Dodge Charger its last pair of shoes for the remaining stretch.

Source: SaveTheSpeedway.net

Allison, who had been running second to Petty, stayed on the track to take the lead rather than follow the 43 to pit road. He led an 18-lap stint before pitting for his final service. Allison's team noted the 43 only took right sides, and they made the call to change all four. Doing so meant an extended stop, but the team believed the call would pay dividends over the remaining eighth of the race.

The #12 Coke Chevelle returned to the track a full lap down to Petty. With four fresh tires and eighteen fewer laps on them, Allison was able to pull away from the 43. Yet, Petty was easily in control with 48 laps to go.

Allison's four stickers, however, continued to pay dividends. With each passing lap, Allison was passing more cars and making up time on the 43. Along the way, the Maurice Petty built Hemi lost a cylinder. King was running on seven cylinders and worn out left side tires, but he still had a sizable lead on Bobby.

After only a handful of laps after his stop, Allison was able to unlap himself. He then had to repeat the cycle to catch Petty again and compete for the win. As Petty took the white flag, Allison was right on his bumper - shades of how the 1972 Wilkes 400 last lap began between the two.

As the pair rumbled down the back straightaway, Allison was finally able to pass Petty for the lead. With worn out tires and an inability to lay the pedal to his Mopar, Petty had no choice but to see Bobby pull away. At the stripe, Allison was almost 2 seconds ahead of Petty.

Source: SaveTheSpeedway.net

I've accepted over the years that you can't win 'em all. Petty had a remarkable career - especially at North Wilkesboro. To lose a close one to Bobby Allison though, grrrr that burns deep.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

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