Racing History Minute - June 5, 1969

Today we are heading for a half-mile paved track located in Maryville, TN. Practically in the backyard of our leader here, Jeff Gilder, when he lived in Tennessee, I'm sure he can add some color to the history of this particular track when his time permits.

Twenty-three cars arrived to compete for 300 laps/150 miles. When qualifying was over, it was David Pearson and his Holman-Moody Ford on the pole with Richard Petty in another Ford in starting position two. Bobby Isaac, Dodge, Dave Marcis, Dodge, and Friday Hassler in a Chevrolet rounded out the top five qualifiers.

Pearson took the lead on the green, but on lap four, Bobby Isaac litterly flew around Pearson to put the Dodge out front. Isaac would lead all but one of the remaining laps to gain his 8th victory in 23 races of the 1969 season. Bobby had been so dominate on short tracks during 1969, that he had led a total of 2,158 laps in the total 23 races. This was Isaac's 12th overall career win in the Grand National (now Cup) division and with 8 of those wins coming in the 1969 season, his talent in the K&K Dodge was finally recognized as the excellent driver he was.

There was one caution flag for 6 laps when Richard Petty blew a right front tire while running third on lap 60. His Ford hit the wall hard and it is noted that Petty was "slow" exiting the car but appeared to be ok. Dave Marcis was a consistent top five runner when the ignition failed on this Dodge on lap 72 and he had to park his mount behind the wall.

From all accounts concerning previous races at The Smoky Mountain Raceway as it was known, it is no surprise that a capacity crowd of 9,200 fans were in attendance for this event. Although Isaac won the race by six laps over second place, the magic of Maryville seemed to please the fans.

Top five finishers were:

1. Bobby Isaac, K&K Insurance Dodge, winning $1,400.00

2. David Pearson, Holman-Moody Ford, winning $1,250.00

3. James Hylton, Hylton Dodge, winning $825.00

4. Neil Castles, Castles Plymouth, winning $650.00

5. Elmo Langley, Langley Ford, winning $500.00

Sixth through tenth were Friday Hassler, Jabe Thomas, J.D. McDuffie, E. J. Trivette, and Bill Seifert.

Eleventh through Twenty-third, in order, were Ben Arnold, Earl Brooks, G.C. Spencer,Henley Gray, Dub Simpson, Bobby Allison, Paul Dean Holt, Cecil Gordon, Dave Marcis, Richard Petty, Dick Johnson, Wendell Scott, and John Sears although Sears is credited with ZERO laps in the race. I'm not sure I've ever heard of being credited with a finish with zero laps but I suspect NASCAR was giving John credit for showing up as his starting position is also listed as 23rd.

Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.

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What a change! It's been awhile since I've checked in and I'm quite surprised. It may take me awhile to figure it our but first look it's really great.


updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM

Race report from The Tuscaloosa News

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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 06/04/17 11:49:15PM

And on the same day the GN cars were racing in Maryville, the folks at Charlotte Motor Speedway were fussin' and feudin' with local politicians about taxes. WHAT?? No way you say. Couldn't happen. Yep - seems that crowd has been squabbling since the track was originally envisioned.

Source: Spartanburg Herald Journal (p. 8)

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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.

One of the best men I ever met in auto racing came from Smoky Mountain Raceway - the late Don Naman. He was so successful at Maryville that Big Bill France talked him into moving to Talladega and becoming its General Mnager. They don't make them like Don anymore. He was a terrific guy whose word was his bond.

He bested Billy Graham, President Nixon, Johnny Cash, closed highways and a capacity crowd at University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium to sell out Smoky Mountain Raceway that night!!

The Knoxville, Tennessee newspaper ran this article when Don passed in 2011:

Don Naman made name at Smoky Mountain

By Michael Moats sports@knoxnews.com
Posted July 30, 2011

Though it has been over 40 years since Don Naman promoted a racetrack in East Tennessee, his legacy continues. And that legacy has been remembered many times this week as news of Naman's death spread through the racing community.

Naman died on Monday after a bout with cancer. The 76 year old had been battling the disease for a couple of years. He was laid to rest in Alabama where he made his home.

Naman went from stock-car novice to the general manager of Talladega Superspeedway and eventually head of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Naman became the promoter of Smoky Mountain Raceway in Maryville in 1965 and was there through 1969 where the then half-mile speedway saw phenomenal success. The success caught the attention of Bill France Sr. who offered him a position at Talladega as general manager.

It was Naman's time at SMR that has older race fans still talking about his success today. It is the era that fans point to as a model for the track today. Naman was flattered that people still remembered his work and time in East Tennessee.

"It means a lot to me that people up there still remember me and my time there," Naman said in a 2007 interview. "Even though I wasn't there that long, it's good to know we did enough good things there that people still remember us."

It was Naman's handling of a Grand National (now Sprint Cup) event in 1969 that landed him the job at Talladega.

"In 1969, Billy Graham was having a nine-day crusade at Neyland Stadium," Naman recalled. "One of those nights was the same night we had a Grand National race scheduled. NASCAR insisted I cancel the race, but I refused to cancel."

After finding out Johnny Cash and President Richard Nixon would be at the Crusade the same night as the Grand National race, NASCAR continued to make calls to Naman asking if he was canceling. Each time, Naman said the race was still on.

Knowing Alcoa Highway would be congested with traffic because of President Nixon's arrival, Naman, his wife, Joanne, and others sought out alternate routes to the track two days prior to the race. After finding suitable routes from Knoxville to Maryville, Naman began informing fans the race would still be held and advising of alternate routes to the track.

"We had a sellout for that race," Naman said. "We had cars lined up Highway 411 for miles trying to get into the track. It was an amazing experience."

The family has requested that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Victory Junction Gang Camp.

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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"