1968 Flameless 300

Drivers belted in for the third annual Flameless 300 on April 20, 1968 - once again, the season opener for Nashville's Fairground Speedways.

Long-time Nashville racer and future NASCAR official, Walter Wallace, returned for another season but with a different panache. Wallace won the track's late model sportsman title in 1967 and returned for his defense of it - albeit with a different car and owner.

Source: The Tennessean

Chattanooga's Bob Burcham, the defending race winner and two-time pole winner, returned to middle Tennessee yet again with a high level of confidence. He had good reason for his optimism with a handful of other Nashville wins in 1967 in addition to his Flameless pole and victory.

Source: The Tennessean

After three Nashville titles in four years plus a bucket of wins in 1966 and 1967, Coo Coo Marlin began to reduce his time at the fairgrounds and increased his number of NASCAR Grand National starts. Yet, he was ready to go yet again for the big race, the Flameless 300.

Coo Coo's older brother Jack Marlin, however, still had a Nashville itch to scratch. Walter Wallace didn't win a race in 1967 yet won the track title over Jack. That fact alone provided a good bit of motivation for the 39 year-old.

Source: The Tennessean

In addition to the track regulars, season champions, and out-of-town ringers, the race featured another interloper of sorts. Country singer Marty Robbins took his racing as seriously as he did his musical craft. Though he didn't get to race as often as many of the regulars, Robbins made sure to do what he could to be right in the thick of the mix.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Source: The Tennessean

Even with his planned schedule reduction, Coo Coo came to race - not to play. He plunked his #711 car on the pole. Yet for the third year in a row, he simply could not muster a winning race in the Flameless. In the 1966 event, he blew a tire and fell out of the race at lap 78. In 1967, poor fuel mileage and/or pit execution relegated him to a P2 finish, two laps down to winner Bob Burcham.

When the green fell on the 1968 race, Coo Coo hauled off into turn 1 and led the first 10 laps. He surrendered the lead and settled into a good rhythm for the rest of the evening. About ten laps later, however, his accelerator hung and he piled into the first turn wall.

Furthermore, Coo Coo was aching. He needed to be taken to the hospital to have his injured back examined and treated. But as long-time Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson blogged, he didn't want his wife, Eula Faye, to see him loaded into an ambulance so he slipped out the back gate in a wrecker instead. With true grit toughness and as a display of good sportsmanship, Marlin returned to the track before the end of the race and congratulated the winner in victory lane.

Three weeks later, Tom Powell from The Tennessean interviewed Coo Coo about the accident and his planned return to racing:

Coo Coo wrecked in the opening night Flameless 300 race when his accelerator stuck. "It was the worst wreck I was ever involved in," the blond farmer from Columbia confessed yesterday. "It almost knocked me unconscious."

Asked to describe the sensation he experienced when the throttle stuck, Coo Coo said, "It was like driving without brakes in that I kept picking up speed and couldn't do anything about it. There was no time to reach for the switch. Everything happened so fast."

Concerning his car that has been wreaking havoc for the rest of the drivers at the Speedways during the last couple of seasons, Coo Coo smiled and said, "If it’s better when we get it fixed, it'll be a dilly. I just hope it runs as good as the other one."

The car will have a new frame. “We're trying to salvage everything good from the other one, but we're completely rebuilding. The biggest damage was to the frame, but we haven't looked at the engine yet."

Coo Coo said he saw no way to have the car ready for this week's show and stated, "I just hope we can make it by the next week, but we've still got a long way to go."

Marlin admitted, "My wife's been after me to quit during this spell, so we just let the car set for three or four days, but we're going after it now."

Despite not racing last week, Coo Coo was in the pits watching the races. "I wonder what other people find to do on Saturday nights," he laughed. ~ May 3, 1968 The Tennessean 

With delays in getting his car rebuilt and listening to Eula Faye who advised him to back it down, Marlin did not return to racing until June 2. He finished fourth in the 30-lap feature  - six weeks after his Flameless misfortune.

Coo Coo's wreck was hardly the only DNF of the night. Nine cautions chewed up 70 of the race's 300 laps. When the checkered flag fell, only six of 27 starters were still around to see it.

Jack Marlin set the tone early with a second lap wreck involving himself, Charlie Higdon, and Robbins. Jack said later "This is a helluva way to start the season, but I had fair warning. Two black cats crossed my path today." Troubles for other racers after the Marty and Marlins exits including:

• Charley Binkley - engine issues
• P. B. Crowell - led 29 laps but fell out because of overheating
• Charley Stofel - steering 
• Walter Wallace - engine issues. He joked "I even got a haircut to cut down on the car's weight, but we must have broken about a dozen rocker arms."

As the car counted dwindled, two drivers separated themselves from the rest of the remaining field. Burcham and the 1966 Flameless 300 winner, Freddy Fryar, pretty well had the race to themselves.

Near the midpoint of the race, Burcham made an unscheduled stop under green because of a flat tire and lost two laps. Fryar made his planned stop later but was able to do so during a caution. Burcham made up one of his two laps during Fryar's stop, but he still needed good fortune to have a shot at Fryar.

Burcham was all over Fryar with 25 laps to go. He raced him hard but clean with the aggressive hope of getting back on the lead lap. He made the pass to get back on the lead lap - barely, but Burcham needed to see another yellow flag to close the gap.

With only six cars remaining, however, the race stayed green the rest of the way. For the second time in three years, Fryar again took home the trophy and the loot. Though P.B. Crowell fell out of the race as a driver, he still got to visit victory lane as the winning car owner.

Source: The Tennessean

Finishing Order:

1. Freddy Fryar
2. Bob Burcham
3. Donnie Carter
4. David Hill
5. Chester Albright
6. James Veach
7. Stan Starr
8. Donnie Roberts
9. Ronnie Blasingim
10. Bobby Walker
11. Art Ellis
12. Ronnie Muller
13. P. B. Crowell
14. Otis Deck
15. Tommy New
16. James Ham
17. Jimmy Griggs
18. Bobby Hargrove
19. Bunkie Blackburn
20. Charley Stofel
21. David Sisco
22. Charley Binkley
23. Coo Coo Marlin
24. Walter Wallace
25. Jack Marlin
26. Charlie Higdon
27. Marty Robbins

TMC

October 1, 1978 - Nashville's Marty Robbins 500

Throughout the 1960s, the signature and final late model race of the season at Nashville's fairgrounds speedway was the Southern 300. When the track was reconfigured to its current 5/8th-mile length and 18-degree banking in 1973, 100 laps were added to create the Southern 400. The 400 featured a combination of local late model sportsman racers as well as several big names from NASCAR's national LMS ranks.

Track promoter Bill Donoho made a significant addition to the 1977 schedule. A 500-lap open race was scheduled as the last race of the season, two weeks after the Southern 400. The event was the first 500-lap race at Nashville since the 1962 Nashville 500 NASCAR Grand National race won by Jim Paschal in a Petty Enterprises Plymouth. Donoho secured branding rights from country music singer and racer Marty Robbins for the Marty Robbins World Open 500. Short track legend Mike Eddy won the 1977 event.

The race was renewed and scheduled for October 1, 1978. The timing of the race raised many eyebrows and caused some confusion with fans, drivers, and the media.

The 1977 Marty Robbins 500 was held in mid-October, and most expected the 1978 sequel to be slotted for the same timeframe. Donoho learned the American Speed Association’s (ASA) World Cup 400 at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Missouri, was scheduled for mid-October, however, and opted to move up his race a couple of weeks.

In doing so, Donoho booked the Marty Robbins World Open 500 on the same date as two other big time ASA races at Indiana’s Winchester Speedway and LaCrosse Interstate Speedway in Wisconsin. Another option for Donoho was to move his race to the spring – a move he would not accept.

Nashville’s race was open to all racers from all corners - NASCAR, USAC, ASA, outlaws / non-sanctioned series, etc. As with the 1977 race, many expected a large contingent of ASA drivers to again race in middle Tennessee. The buzz was that fans would see the top late model racers in the country at Nashville. Some drivers were included in ads for multiple races because of delayed decisions, non-binding verbal agreements, driver vs. owner preferences, and shifting commitments. So while fans got to see many of the top drivers, they arguably didn’t see all of them because of the two competing premier ASA races and the Winston Cup race at North Wilkesboro.

In a bit of a throwback to the Southern 400 history, Donoho paired the Open 500 with the preliminary Southern 200 NASCAR late model sportsman race. Interestingly, the track's advertisement for the weekend included the phrase "NASCAR Sanctioned". Though the Southern 200 was a NASCAR-sanctioned race, the Marty Robbins race was not.

Marty Robbins was a part-time Winston Cup racer and a full-time country singer icon. The race bore his name, but he opted not to race in the event. He instead served as the grand marshal and turned the track in the pace car.

TMC Archives

Nashville hosted NASCAR's Grand National and Winston Cup races from 1958 through 1984. Fans supported the races, and the drivers generally put on a good show for them. Behind the scenes, however, drivers often grumbled Nashville's purse wasn't even close to what it needed to be to justify the trips to middle Tennessee once or twice a season.

For the Robbins 500 race, however, the track ponied up. Despite the two competing ASA races, the race drew a huge crowd of 70 ASA, NASCAR LMS, and local cars vying for 40 starting spots. Chrysler Corporation sweetened the pot with a bonus of $5,000 to a driver in the top five - provided they raced a Mopar.

Source: The Tennessean

Coincidentally, STP Corporation planned to offer a similar $5,000 bonus to the highest finishing Dodge driver in the 1975 Nashville 420 Cup race. In that scenario, Donoho worked with STP in an effort to help ensure Richard Petty cleared the $2 million in career earnings at the fairgrounds. But... NASCAR inexplicably rejected the contingent race sponsorship and additional, positive attention it may have brought to the race, driver, track, and series.

Chrysler's $5,000 offer in 1978 didn't need NASCAR's approval since the race was open to all racers. The sponsorship was a bit odd, however, in that no known Mopars entered the show (at least, no competitive one). Did the money simply go unclaimed? Or did Donoho deposit it on Monday morning with an oh well shoulder shrug?

Michigan's Danny Byrd nabbed the pole for the 500 on the first day of qualifying in Stan Yee's #33 yellow Camaro. Wisconsin short track legend Dick Trickle hustled his #99 White Knight car quickly to join Byrd on the front row wire. Another out-of-area hot shoe, Junior Hanley, wrecked during practice, couldn't repair his car, and withdrew from the weekend's race.

The 500 was scheduled for Sunday afternoon with the Southern 200 companion event slotted as a one-day event on Saturday. After qualifying was completed, however, rain arrived resulting in a postponement of the race to Sunday. The Robbins 500 was then pushed back to Sunday evening.

Two-time Nashville track champion Darrell Waltrip had planned to fly home from North Wilkesboro to run in Saturday night's Southern 200. He opted not to make the round-trip because his late model wasn't ready and he had his hands full in North Carolina with the Cup race. The Saturday night rainout made his participation a moot point anyway as he was committed to the Wilkes 400 Cup race on Sunday.

Source: The Tennessean

Harry Gant won the pole for the Southern 200 and proceeded to win the Sunday race as well. The late Butch Lindley finished second. The duo raced closely - particularly in the second half of the race after Gant recovered from a broken shock and tire issue. A late caution resulted in a green-white, one-lap dash, and Gant was able to keep Lindley behind him for the win.

Local drivers Sterling Marlin and Mike Alexander finished third and fourth and were the only other cars on the lead lap at the finish. Lindley's P2 was enough to secure his second consecutive NASCAR national LMS title.

Long-time NASCAR crew chief Mike Beam worked for Gant in 1978 and remembered Gant's win:

I had left Butch Lindley at end of 1977 to move back to Hickory to get married and went to work for Harry. We did not travel much, just Hickory and Asheville. We went to Nashville at the end of the year. It rained the race out the night before so we had to race both of these races in one day. What was cool about this race, we beat Butch that day and he loaned us a right side tire to race with a certain code that only the factory supported Firestone drivers had. We had a flat in practice, but the car was fast. The left front shock mount broke out of the tubing, but Harry still won the race.

Following the Southern 200, a handful of drivers took time during the brief intermission to tweak their cars to race yet again in the open 500. Drivers attempting both races included national drivers Gant, L.D. Ottinger, and Jack Ingram as well as locals Marlin, Alexander, James Ham, Wayne Carden, and Tony Cunningham. The field then pulled onto the track for a few pace laps with Byrd and Trickle on the front row.

Courtesy of Russ Thompson

Although Junior Hanley missed the show because of his practice crash, Danny Byrd asked him to stick around just in case. Late model racers race frequently around the country - then and now - but few of their races were as long as 500 laps.

Byrd lost a lap early in the race, but his yellow Camaro was lightning quick. He soon made up the distance and went to the lead for several laps. His pre-race concern about his stamina, however, was well founded. Byrd hit pit road after 387 laps to turn his car over to Hanley.

Hanley lost a lap during the driver exchange to the car started by Mike Miller but driven by Larry Detjens. As with Byrd, Miller needed his own relief driver, and Detjens provided an assist after his own car fell out of the race after only 114 laps.

But with a fresh body at the wheel, Hanley hunkered down and put the fast 33 back in the wind as Byrd had done in the first half of the race. Hanley was initially content to just maintain a solid pace. But Byrd's crew told him to pick up the race so off he went.

Byrd-Hanley (33), Don Biederman (43), Miller-Detjens (18)

Over the next 60 laps, Hanley took huge chunks out of Detjens' lead. He made up his lost lap, pulled away comfortably, and passed Detjens again to take the lead with about 50 laps to go.

Hanley was flat out flying down the stretch. Remarkably, he gapped Detjens a third time and passed him on the final lap to put the second place car a lap down. Trickle was initially scored third with Gant fourth. After a recheck of scoring records, however, Gant was elevated to third with Jerry Markara fourth and Trickle fifth.

Courtesy of Russ Thompson

Jack Ingram's nickname is the Ironman, but he had a miserable day at Nashville. He completed only one lap in the Southern 200 LMS race, worked on his car for the 500, but completed only 14 laps. A weekend of effort resulted in two dead last finishes.

Gant was instead the Ironman of the day. He raced in both events in the same car. He won the pole and the 200 lap race and finished third in the 500, four laps down to the winner. He completed 696 of 700 laps in a single day of racing - perhaps more than anyone else ever has at Nashville. More of Mike Beam's memories:

They gave us 30 minutes to turn the car around. Jack Ingram welded the [shock] mount back on for me. I was changing the right rear spring and had to charge the battery and fill fuel. And we still finished in the top 5. We were 2 or 3 laps down to those ASA cars so we felt pretty good about that. I was worn out having worn that head set for so many hours and changing tires. Harry drove 696 laps that day, and after the race he drove the truck all the way to Asheville. 

Source: The Tennessean

The 1978 Marty Robbins World Open 500 was the second and final one. Donoho sold the track's lease rights to Lanny Hester and Gary Baker in December 1978, and all sorts of changes began to unfold - including a cessation of weekly late model racing in 1979.

Remnants of the Southern 400 and the Marty Robbins World Open 500 format returned in November 1981 as the All American 400. Billed as the Civil War on Wheels, the first 400 consisted of drivers from the All Pro Racing Circuit that generally raced in the south and the midwest's ASA (who apparently played the role of the "north"). Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway still hosts the All American 400 today - though the ties to All Pro and ASA are long gone.

TMC

September 6, 1971 - Southern 500

Winston cigarettes became the title sponsor of NASCAR's top series in 1971. Because of the timing of the contract, the 1971 schedule was left largely "as is" with 48 races. Many races - primarily short tracks - were cut from the schedule as the modern era, as most refer to it, began in 1972 with 31 races.

In the first year of the Winston Cup Series, the traditional, Labor Day Southern 500 was held on Monday, September 6. The race was the 40th of the 48-race season.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

A legit but convenient way for many to quickly highlight Richard Petty's career is to recall 1967 when the King won 27 of 48 races. A seldom quoted stat is his 1971 season which statistically was his second best career year. Through 39 races leading into the Southern 500, Petty had banked 17 wins, 30 top five finishes, nine poles, and his third Daytona 500.

Despite those gaudy stats, Darlington was a track often too tough to tame for Petty. He generally raced well at Darlington, and he won three times in 1966-1967. But his overall winning percentage didn't apply at Darlington. Yet he was in as good a position as he'd been in some time to win the '71 edition of the Southern 500.

Petty as a favorite was a storyline of the race; however, another one centered on a popular driver suddenly involved in a bit of Silly Season. Fred Lorenzen was a winning driver from the early through mid 60s and was always a Ford man. He then walked away unexpectedly in 1967. Lorenzen returned for a a handful of races in 1970 before signing a deal with STP to race Ray Nichels' Plymouth in 1971.

The #99 Plymouth car was sharp looking, and Lorenzen earned a top 5 finish in about half of his 13 starts prior to Darlington. But Lorenzen also complained the car wasn't where it needed to be. He quit Nichels' team after the Talladega 500 in late August - though technically he remained under contract with STP.

Interestingly, STP allowed him to step away from their sponsorship for one race - the Southern 500 - to race the Wood Brothers' famed #21 Purolator Mercury. The Woods' regular driver in 1971, Donnie Allison, had to skip the Southern 500 because of a commitment to race in the California 500 Indy car race at Ontario Motor Speedway the day before Darlington.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

Credit: Wood Brothers Racing

STP didn't want to leave Nichels without sponsorship after Lorenzen's departure. Dave Marcis was hired to pilot the #99 Plymouth for Darlington for what was supposed to be a one-time deal.

Lorenzen's second career race attempt with the Wood Brothers went horribly wrong in pre-qualifying practice. He pounded the outside wall of the frontstretch, rode the outside wall, sailed off the wall, and then made a beeline to drill the inside pit wall. In doing so, his #21 Mercury tore a chunk out of the pit wall reminiscent of Richard Petty's hit a year earlier in the Rebel 400.

Lorenzen was knocked cold and had to dragged out of his smoldering car by drivers Joe Frasson and Bill Seifert rather than track emergency personnel. He wasn't critically injured and returned three races later (coincidentally in a reunion with Nichels), but he and the Woods were done for the weekend.

Source: Spartanburg Herald

Source: Spartanburg Herald

The Wood Brothers loaded up their destroyed car and headed home to Stuart, Virginia. As a result of Lorenzen's wreck, Glen, Leonard, and Delano missed their first Southern 500 since 1962. The possibility existed the Woods may not race again. Glen was frustrated with many of NASCAR's quickly shifting rules and was shaken by Lorenzen's wreck.

Racing can often be brutally cold when a bad wreck happens because the show always continues. Qualifying was held after practice, and Bobby Allison won the pole in his Coca-Cola, Holman Moody Mercury. Pete Hamilton lined up outside of Allison in Cotton Owens' Plymouth. Charlie Glotzbach timed third, and Buddy Baker qualified fourth in the #11 Petty Enterprises factory-supported Dodge. Marcis locked in the fifth starting spot in Nichels' Plymouth.

Actor James Brolin was the race's grand marshal and a judge at the annual Miss Southern 500 pageant.

At the time, Brolin was known for his role on the TV show Marcus Welby MD. He had a few other minor roles over his acting career. Brolin is perhaps best known, however, for his scintillating role as Pee Wee Herman in the movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

When the green dropped, the race developed into one of high attrition and few lap leaders. Bobby Allison led 65 of the first 90 laps with Bobby Isaac leading a stretch of 24 laps to break Allison's lead time out front into two segments. Petty took the lead for a few laps before Allison again went to the point for nearly 200 of the race's next 210 laps.

Pete Hamilton, who started second, fell out of the race after completing 157 laps after his Plymouth's engine developed an overheating issue. He immediately went to Petty's pit to see if his employer from 1970 might need a relief driver. Petty waved him off at the next stop and went the distance. Isaac, however, was gassed and did need the help.

Dick Brooks was truly the yeoman of the race by driving three different ride and three different brands of cars. His own Pontiac was done after only eight laps because of overheating. A bit later, he was asked to relieve Bill Dennis in Junie Donlavey's #90 Mercury. That ride made it to around lap 265 before it lost power because of a failed battery.

Brooks then took over for country singer and part-time racer Marty Robbins. He helped Robbins' Dodge finish 7th - a career best at the time for Robbins and topped later only by a 5th place finish in 1974. Marty was pleased as punch at the finish. He was also voted rookie of the race - which is interesting considering he only raced about three-quarters of the race before turning the car over to Brooks.

Petty hounded Allison as the Coke Machine led lap after lap. After turning down Hamilton's offer to spell him, Petty's exhaustion began to set in a bit. With 50+ laps to go, Petty simply had to have a drink of water to continue. He hit pit road with the expectation of having a cup quickly shoved to him. Instead, the Petty crew had a mix-up on what was to happen. A crewman spun off the fuel cap in anticipation of adding gas. Petty took off with his cup of water - but also with his fuel cap dangling from its tether.

The King had to make a second unscheduled stop to replace the cap, and the race was then effectively over. Petty admitted he likely would not have been able to catch Allison - even without the botched stop for water.

Embed from Getty Images

Baker - winner of the 1970 Southern 500 for Cotton Owens and the spring 1971 Rebel 400 for the Pettys - finished third. Isaac's #71 Dodge finished fourth with Hamilton at the wheel, and Marcis wheeled Nichels' STP Plymouth to fifth.

The race was the 25th of 51 times rivals Petty and Allison finished in the top two spots. Allison won his first of an eventual four career Southern 500 races. Petty also finished second in 1975 when Allison captured his third Southern 500.

Source: Spartanburg Herald

After going home, cooling off, and rethinking things following their awful Darlington trip, the Wood Brothers agreed to continue doing what the Wood Brothers do: race. When the teams arrived in Martinsville later in September, the famed 21 Mercury was there with Donnie Allison at the wheel.

Two races after Darlington in the National 500 at Charlotte, Marcis was back in Nichels' STP Pontiac. But after a heated argument with the crew over handling and tires, Marcis parked the car and quit the team.

Three races after Darlington at Dover, Lorenzen was back at the wheel of the STP Plymouth. Once again, however, Lorenzen's day ended early, and he again parted ways with the team.

TMC

October 6, 1974 - National 500

As the 1974 Winston Cup season neared its conclusion, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted its annual National 500 on October 6th as the third-to-last race of the year.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

Credit: Bryant McMurray via University of North Carolina Charlotte

Though racing was in a much different place economically in 1974 than it is today, Cup still had a number of fixture teams and drivers including:

• Petty Enterprises and Richard Petty
• Wood Brothers and David Pearson
• Junior Johnson and Cale Yarborough
• L.G. DeWitt and Benny Parsons
• Bud Moore and Buddy Baker
• Nord Krauskopf and Dave Marcis

One driver who did not have the financial security to guarantee future races was second-year Cup driver Darrell Waltrip. After losing to 1973 Rookie of the Year award to Lennie Pond, Waltrip raced in about half the events in 1974. He won one pole and averaged a 14th place finish coming into the Charlotte race. But a second place finish in Darlington's Southern 500 was sandwiched between two rotten finishes - 44th in the Talladega 500 and 35th in the Delaware 500 at Dover. Anemic purse payouts and the absence of a backing sponsor led Waltrip to believe 1974 would be his second and final season in Cup.

Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal via Google News Archive

Another driver facing tough times was California's Dick Brooks. After two years of driving for himself in the late 1960s, Brooks drove for couple of other owners in the early 1970s - including Jimmy Crawford with whom he won at Talladega in 1973. Brooks went back to driving his own cars in 1974 with limited support from Simoniz.

With less than a couple of weeks to go before Charlotte, a fire consumed much of Brooks' shop in Spartanburg, South Carolina. With the tireless efforts of several friends and crewmen, Brooks salvaged a car, had it painted, and readied it for the race.

Source: Spartanburg Herald

Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal

When the cars hit the track for qualifying, Pearson laid down the quickest lap to nab the pole. His top spot came as a surprise to no one. Pearson's winning the pole at Charlotte in the 1970s was about as much of a given as the sun rising in the east. Beginning with the 1973 National 500, Pearson reeled off 11 consecutive poles in the Wood Brothers' Mercury.

Source: Sumter Daily Item

Petty qualified on the front row alongside his career rival and good friend. Baker, Donnie Allison in the #88 DiGard Chevy, and Yarborough rounded out the top five starters.

Source: The Monroe News Star

The race was only two laps old when a serious wreck unfolded. Jerry Schild in his fourth of what turned out to be only a five-race Cup career lost his car coming out of the number four corner. He fishtailed, slid through the infield grass, kicked up a dust storm for the cars following behind him, but continued without wrecking.

The problems unfolded, however, behind the crop-dusting Schild. Baker, Jim Vandiver, Joe Frasson, Soapy Castles and independent driver Richard Childress all barreled through the dust and wrecked as they headed for turn one. Brooks misfortune continued as well. After the shop fire and two-week thrash job, the multi-car wreck also snared Brooks' rebuilt Dodge.

Immediately behind that group was Marty Robbins, country music singer and part-time Cup racer. Robbins had a split second to make a decision between two unpleasant choices:

• hammer Childress in the driver's side door or 
• hook right and drill himself into the wall. 

Marty unselfishly chose the latter. He turned his purple-and-yellow #42 Dodge right and pummeled the concrete wall at about 160 MPH - without a five-point harness, full-face helmet or HANS device. Though Childress was spared, Robbins was pretty badly hurt with several broken bones and facial lacerations.

The race continued with additional wrecks and several engine failures. Yet, the event was competitive up front. Fans saw 47 lead changes throughout the day with each new leader spending only a handful of laps out front. Though the lead changed hands dozens of times, the laps were largely dominated by Pearson, Petty, Yarborough, Donnie Allison, and Waltrip.

Pearson led about 30 laps during a couple of segments in the early stages of the race before cutting a tire. Other drivers then took their turn dicing for the lead in the middle stages. With about 50 laps to go, however, Pearson decided it was once again go-time.

The #21 Mercury went to the point and brought the King with him. Petty, seeking his first 500-mile win at Charlotte, kept Pearson honest in the last few laps. He got within about three car lengths, but Pearson took the checkered flag for the win and the season sweep at the track. The Silver Fox also won the World 600 in May - coincidentally also over Petty. The race was the 53rd of 63 times Petty and Pearson finished in the top two spots.

Waltrip led 39 laps, finished a solid third, and was able to continue racing. A little over six months later, he found himself in victory lane for the first time at his home track (drink!), Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway. Less than a year after Charlotte, he parked his own Cup team and began a six-year stint with DiGard replacing the fired Donnie Allison.

With his second place finish, Petty wrapped up his fifth Cup title. At the time, no driver had won more than three titles. Only two drivers have matched the feat since - Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson.

Source: The Robesonian via Google News Archive

Marty Robbins accident ended his 1974 racing season - though not his racing ventures. He returned in February 1975 to race in the Daytona 500. He did, however, end one part of his career in 1974. Marty was the last performer of the final Saturday night Grand Ole Opry at the famed Ryman Auditorium seven months earlier on March 9, 1974.

Source: Spartanburg Herald-Journal

TMC

July 4, 1973 - Firecracker 400 - That's 2

The 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup season consisted of only 28 races. The total tied with 1985 as the fewest number of races in the modern era (1972 to present) and third overall behind the first two seasons in 1949-1950.

Daytona's Firecracker 400 was often the mid-point of the season. In 1973, however, the race represented the 17th of the year's 28-race schedule.

The year opened with the late Mark Donohue winning on Riverside's road course for Roger Penske, Donohue's first and only Cup victory. The King, Richard Petty, won his then-unmatched fourth Daytona 500 and tallied three more wins between the two Daytona races.

The story of the season, however, was David Pearson and his #21 Wood Brothers team. Running a limited schedule, the Purolator Mercury team raced in only 10 of the season's first 16 races. Yet Pearson won seven of his ten starts. Even more impressively, those seven wins came in the previous eight starts - with Pearson nabbing a second at the only race he didn't win during that streak.

Bobby Allison won the pole for the Firecracker - his first for a Daytona race. He'd win one other pole at the speedway in his career, the 1981 Daytona 500. Allison dominated the race but lost it to Petty's 43 on an epic pit call by Dale Inman. *snicker*

Cale Yarborough, a two-time, back-to-back winner of the Firecracker in 1967-68, qualified second alongside Allison followed by Bobby Isaac in Bud Moore's Ford. Petty, who celebrated his 36th birthday two days before the race and had finished second in the 400 the past two years, qualified fourth. Independent driver from Columbia, TN, Coo Coo Marlin, laid down a fantastic lap to earn the fifth starting spot. Pearson, the defending winner of the race, lined up beside Marlin in sixth.

Two USAC Indy car regulars, Gordon Johncock and A.J. Foyt, started 16th and 18th respectively. Both had quick cars but were ineligible for a top starting spot because they missed the first day of qualifying on Sunday, July 1. Both were in Pennsylvania for the running of the Schaefer 500 at Pocono, a race won by Foyt.

Allison got the jump as the race went green and led the first lap. Isaac battled back, took the lead, and then led laps two and three.

Source: The Pantagraph

From there, four drivers led the remaining 157 laps: Allison, Pearson, Petty, and Yarborough. But fans witnessed twenty-five lead changes throughout the morning on the 4th of July.

Despite leading 33 laps early in the race, Yarborough's day was done after 65 laps. He blew a tire coming through the tri-oval, pounded the fence head first, and was done for the day.

Next to fall by the wayside was the pole winner Allison. After losing an engine in his self-owned, Coca-Cola sponsored Chevrolet, he was done after 125 laps.

With two of their biggest competitors in the garage with DNFs, Petty and Pearson took the rest of the field to the woodshed. The two drafted each other and swapped the lead every few laps the remaining 150 miles.

As per usual, the Petty Enterprises and Wood Brothers crews nailed their jobs. This ensured the two legends would settle the race on the track rather than have one prevail because of a miscue on pit road. If whoever captioned the following photo for Getty Images is correct, the race was the first time the second generation Wood, Eddie, went over the wall as a crew member.

The career rivals separated themselves from the field. They hammered down and eventually lapped the field - including the third place car by four laps. As the white flag fell, Pearson was comfortably in front of Petty - but still may have been wondering about the possibility of the King's pulling a slingshot by him. With a restrictor plate on his big block hemi, however, Petty's STP Charger didn't have the needed punch. Pearson continued his lead all the way to the checkers, and he won the Firecracker by about six car lengths.

Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal

Buddy Baker in the #71 K&K Insurance Dodge prepared by legendary crew chief Harry Hyde finished third. Johncock, the winner of the star-crossed and solemn Indianapolis 500 two months earlier, finished fourth in Hoss Ellington's Chevy. Finishing a very impressive 8th was country music singer and part-time Cup racer, Marty Robbins. Unfortunately, Coo Coo Marlin was not able to capitalize on his prime starting spot. He lost an engine only 35 laps into the race and finished 38th in the 40-car field.

Pearson headed to victory lane for the eighth time in eleven starts in '73. The King had to have scratched his head wondering "what the...?" after finishing second for the third consecutive year.

Source: Warren Times Mirror and Observer

A week after Pearson's win at Daytona, his hometown of Spartanburg, SC saluted him on David Pearson Appreciation Day.

Following a parade through town, approximately 1,200 folks stuffed Spartanburg's Memorial Auditorium for a meal and entertainment. As a sign of "that's racing, no hard feelings", the King was one of many racers who attended the event.

Source: Spartanburg Herald

Another racer attending the shin-dig also provided the featured entertainment. Marty Robbins who finished eighth at Daytona sang several songs and quipped "This is as close as I'll ever get to David Pearson going across the finish line." Spartanburg songwriter Joe Bennett also performed his song Little David. Come on internet, cough up an MP3 of this single!

TMC

May 7, 1972: Pearson Begins His Talladega Triad

After parting ways with Holman-Moody after several successful seasons including two championships, David Pearson ran a pretty spotty schedule in 1971.

In spring 1972, Pearson joined the Wood Brothers' Purolator Mercury team. The Woods already had a great start to the season with A.J. Foyt's winning the pole at Riverside and wins in the Daytona 500 and Miller High Life 500 at Ontario. With Foyt's commitment to Indy cars, he clearly wasn't in a position to run a limited yet regular NASCAR schedule. When Pearson was hired, so began a remarkable team whose success was also immediate and lasted through 1978.

In 1972, the team won the pole and the race in their first outing together - the Rebel 400 at Darlington. Two races later, the NASCAR circuit rolled into Talladega for the Winston 500.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

Bobby Issac won the pole in his Harry Hyde-prepared K&K Dodge Charger.

  Pearson plunked his Mercury right alongside him on the front row. Three legends rounded out the top 5 - King Richard, Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker. Though Petty Enterprises fielded Dodges for Baker in 1971 and 1972, the King was making his first start in a Dodge after switching from Plymouths as was announced before the spring Martinsville race. The 43 team ran a mixture of the two for the rest of the year before turning to Dodges full time in 1973.

Buddy absorbing some race strategy with Maurice Petty and long-time Petty crewman Richie Barz.

A notable racer making his first Talladega start was country music superstar and frequent racer Marty Robbins. He qualified his purple and canary yellow Dodge Charger 9th in the 50-car field.

Over the weekend of Marty's first Talladega first start, some footage was shot for a movie titled Country Music featuring Robbins. Adversaries on the track, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison, became co-stars in the footage. Allison plays the foil to Marty much as he did to the King by saying to Marty "Faron Young's one of my favorite singers."

Another driver making his first overall Cup start was newcomer Darrell Waltrip in a self-fielded #95 brown Mercury. Having relocated from Owensboro, KY to Franklin, TN, the two-time Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway late model champion Waltrip qualified mid-pack in 25th position.

#123194562 / gettyimages.com

The Alabama Gang was well represented in the race with Bobby and Donnie Allison, Red Farmer and Robert "Paddlefoot" Wales. Though I never met Paddlefoot, he frequently drove the #10 blue and gold Benward late model Chevelle at Nashville for a friend of my father's, Roy Counce.

Courtesy of Russ Thompson

Long time NASCAR independent driver J.D. McDuffie's car was 'sponsored' by Bro. Bill Frazier's ministry. Frazier's race day faith service was also broadcast over the track's PA system for what was believed to have been for the first time. As noted in the caption to the above photo of Marty Robbins, Marty agreed to sing a gospel number during Frazier's service.

Before the race, Pearson learned of the track's 'physical therapist'. Suddenly he developed a bad back and needed a massage. Who amongst us wouldn't find a similar catch in our back with such an available therapist?

Isaac and Pearson were pretty evenly matched most of the day. Pearson led 59 laps, and Isaac led 57. STP and Petty Enterprises teammates Baker and Petty led 32 and 14 laps, respectively.

Around lap 170, Isaac made his final pit stop & returned to the lead. However, the crew apparently didn't get the gas cap back on the car and it dangled in the wind for the next several laps. For reasons of who knows why, it took NASCAR officials about 10 laps to realize the 71's gas cap was indeed flopping and a couple of more to decide what to do about it.

They finally decided to black flag Isaac to force a return back to pit road. But Isaac and Harry Hyde hadn't come that far to give away a race on a technicality. So they continued onward and ignored the black flag. But with just a few laps remaining, Isaac inexplicably tangled briefly with Jimmy Crawford's Plymouth. Crawford went for a slide, and Isaac raced on. But the encounter was enough to let Pearson close the gap and motor on around Isaac to take the win.

#141927302 / gettyimages.com

NASCAR did not quit scoring the 71. I was under the impression even in the early 70s a driver got 3 laps to observe the black flag or risk having their scoring card pulled. If so, an EIRI interpretation was made that day. Isaac was able to retain his 2nd place finishing position - and apparently the driver and owner points that came with it. He was simply fined $1,500 for ignoring the black flag.

Source: Gadsden Times via Googles News Archive

I realize based on the purse sizes of that era that a $1,500 fine was more significant then vs. now. The amount was about 10% of Isaac's earnings for the day. Perhaps NASCAR felt the penalty was more significant than the points or purse he may have lost had his scoring card been pulled with only a couple of laps to go.

Pearson apparently liked Talladega's victory lane as he and the Woods returned there again in May 1973 and a third consecutive time in 1974. Surprisingly, he did NOT ever win the summer Talladega 500 race - even during that 12 year stretch when the race didn't have a repeat winner.

#104486056 / gettyimages.com

Finishing a strong fourth was The Golden (but Aging) Boy Fred Lorenzen in Hoss Ellington's Ford. Lorenzen who didn't have near the level of success in his comeback from the late 60s through early 70s raced in only six more Cup events. He retired as a driver at the end of 1972.

#141709505 / gettyimages.com

#141709585 / gettyimages.com

Fortunately, there was no "Big One" wreck to wipe out a bunch of cars. By most Talladega standards, the race was a relatively uneventful one which allowed for some levity.

The funniest story from the race involved Marty Robbins. Marty knew his limitations as a driver. He was as passionate about racing as he was his music. He knew he could race with the drivers - but didn't want to do anything stupid to screw up things for the drivers who raced full time for a living.

During a mid-race pit stop, Robbins had his crew finagle his restrictor plate to essentially negate its intended purpose. As a result, he was able to hold 'er wide open. Just because he could, he mashed the gas and passed cars like crazy - if for no other reason than to see the expression on other drivers' faces as he passed them.

After the race ended, he was to be presented an award for rookie of the race. It was then he copped to Bill Gazaway what he'd done and why he'd done it. Gazaway at first didn't want to believe him, but Marty insisted he couldn't accept the award. NASCAR was then forced to disqualify Marty and bury him in 50th and last place. The finishing position really meant nothing to Marty - all he knew was how much fun he had dicing it up with the big dogs. Listen to him tell the story beginning about the 3:45 mark of the following video.

Pearson and the Woods kept the Big Mo' rolling. In 13 more starts together in 1972, the team notched another 5 wins and 10 more top 5's.

TMC