Racing History Minute - April 23, 1960

Back in South Carolina for today's History Minute, returning to Greenville-Pickens Speedway which, in 1960, was a half mile dirt track with what was then already a rich history in racing. On this date in 1960, the Grand National (now Cup) series pulled into town for a 100 mile race.

Twenty-two cars started the event, led by Curtis Turner, who won the pole in only his third start in this now 14 race old season. Curtis took the lead at the drop of the green flag and the first 85 circuits were all his. Curtis was leading by a big margin when his Holman-Moody Ford overheated badly and he dropped out of the race.

Lee Petty, in a 1960 Plymouth, took over the lead and for several laps that lead was contested between Lee and that "up-start" son of his, Richard, in another Plymouth. Lee finally shook the persistent youngster but then had to contend with a hard-charging Ned Jarrett going for his second win of the season. On lap 140, Jarrett shoved the nose of his 1960 Ford under Petty and took the lead he would hold until the end winning the event with a .5 second lead over the elder Petty. This was Ned's fourth overall win in the Grand National Division.

There were 8,000 fans in attendance to witness the caution-free 200 laps. Even with no cautions, only 8 cars of the original 22 starters were running at the end. One of those cars still running at the finish was in 17th, 125 laps behind winner Jarrett.

Top Five finishers were:

1. Ned Jarrett, Ford, winning $800.00

2. Lee Petty, Plymouth, winning $625.00

3. Richard Petty, Plymouth, winning $375.00

4. Tommy Irwin, Ford T-Bird, winning $275.00

5. Bob Welborn, Chevrolet, winning $250.00

Sixth through tenth were Gerald Duke, Neil Castles, David Pearson, Rex White and Bill Parnell. Other finishers of note were Junior Johnson 12th, Fred Harb 13th, Bunkie Blackburn 14th, Joe Weatherly 15th, Curtis Turner 16, Buck Baker 17th, Jimmy Pardue 19th, PAUL LEWIS 20th, G.C. Spencer 21st, and Roy Tyner 21st.

I'm sure those must of been exciting times at the Petty household when dad and son ran together!

Thanks, Tim.

The  pre-race pub promoted the Pettys participation at Pickens.

And the  Spartanburg paper gave a pretty good write-up in the Sunday paper about Ned's win.

But the headline story of the day was the  discovery and destruction of the largest still ever found in Spartanburg County

A big thank you to Dave Fulton for catching the error in my heading. You guys are awesome.

So, Chase, a big still, huh? What a day that must have been.

At least the local paper realized the younger Petty was making his name known as RICHARD Petty. Was often the case from his start in 1958 through much of the early 60s.

I remember the very first time my dad and I ever went to Charlotte Motor Speedway - in 1971. He drove from Richmond to Wilson, NC, picked me up and then we spent Friday & Saturday nights at a motel in Albemarle, NC. On the drive in to the track Saturday morning we passed a pay-per-view "roadside attraction" beside the highway somewhere in Concord, NC billed as the "World's Largest Still."

A couple of other nuggets.

A good article about the history of G-P:

http://destination.greenvilleonline.com/greenville-pickens-speedway/

Also, Pearson's 8th place finish was his 1st career Top 10. He went on to have a bit of success in the remaining years of his career.

Found this reference in a 2010 article in the Cabarrus News / Charlotte Observer about a Mr. Eury who was doing a coffe table-type photo essay book about the Concord area:

He also hopes that people will share photos of some local oddities, including something he remembers from his childhood: the world's largest moonshine still.

After a 1968 bust, a moonshine still rumored to be the largest in the world became a roadside attraction on U.S. 29.

"When I was a kid, I begged my mom to visit the moonshine still," said Eury. "She thought that wasn't such a good idea for her son."

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/07/14/1553140/concord-historian-needs-old-photos.html#storylink=cpy

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