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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