Back in the day, as I like to say, NASCAR would run its "Northern Tour" to give fans up north exposure to the sport and to give the drivers a little relief from the heat and humidity of the South during July. In 1964, that tour include a half mile paved track in Old Bridge, New Jersey which held the "Fireball Roberts 200" eight days after the famed superstar had succumbed to his injuries in the World 600. Second race of the tour was July 12th on a 2.85 mile road course in Bridgehampton, New York. The third race of the tour was in Islip, NY, on a .20 mile paved track where the boys would race 60 miles on this date in 1964.
Billy Wade, in Bud Moore's Mercury had won the first two "Tour" events and would capture the pole for this race in Islip. Ned Jarrett would start second, Richard Petty third, David Pearson fourth, and Jimmy Pardue fifth.
Wade would take the lead at the drop of the green with Jarrett on his bumper. Somewhere along the line in the 1964 season, Billy and Ned had developed what the press like to call a "feud" and the two drivers kept the crowd on its feet with the fender tapping and flat-out slamming into one another during the early laps. On lap 98, Ned muscled his way around Wade and took the lead he would hold until lap 193 when Billy would once more put the Mercury out front, not to be passed again. He would win the event by one lap over second place finisher Ned Jarrett
Top five finishers were:
1. Billy Wade, Bud Moore Mercury, winning $1,000.00
2. Ned Jarrett, Bondy Long Ford, winning $600.00
3. Richard Petty, Petty Engineering Plymouth, winning $400.00
4. Jimmy Pardue, Burton-Robinson Plymouth, winning $300.00
5. Bob Welborn, Holman-Moody Ford, winning $275.00
Sixth through tenth were Neil Castles, Doug Cooper, Roy Tyner, Doug Moore, and Al White. Wendell Scott would finish 11th, Earl Brooks 12th, Curtis Crider 13th, David Pearson 14th, with LeeRoy Yarbrough 15th.
The remainder of the 22 car field finished as follows:
16. Rene Charland
17. Darel Dieringer
18. Bob Derrington
19. Bobby Schuyler
20. Buddy Baker
21. Frank Tanner
22. Pete Boland
The final race of the "Tour" of 1964 was five days later on another road course. The venue was Watkins Glen International where the Cup teams still race today, although the track is a different configuration. That race, on July 19, 1964., was also won by Billy Wade. The Northern Tour of 1964 belonged to Billy Wade and Bud Moore. Billy would be killed in a tire test less than six months after this win.
I would like toshare a personal memory of Billy.
The Grand National race a Columbia Speedway, in April of 1964, was just another one of those events where I was at the race track very early after spending most of the day with Richard Petty at the local Chrysler-Plymouth dealership. Although I was totally a fan of The King, I would never miss a chance to talk with any driver, no matter the level in which he drove or what car he drove. I was walking down the pit lane before any of the crowd would arrive and even before most of the drivers would get there. Sitting on the lowered tailgate of a pickup truck was Billy Wade, sitting alone. The concession stand wasn't open yet and he stopped me to ask about getting something to drink. I had an ice chest in the trunk of my car that traveled with me to all the races and was full of Cokes and Dr. Peppers, my two favorite beverages of the time.
Billy walked with me to the car and got a drink and we returned to the tailgate of the pickup truck. We sat there talking for maybe 25 to 30 minutes while the few crews who were there were getting the cars ready for practice. We talked about driving Darlington, my favorite track of the superspeedways and the "Rebel 300" which would be running there three weeks later. Billy filled me with excitement as he talked about running there and told me to look him up at the track. Billy went on to finish fourth that night at Columbia.
When we got to Darlington and set up camp in turn three against the infield fence, I walked over to the pits to look through the fence to see what was there to see. As I was walking over, talking to a friend of mine, I heard a voice yell out "hey Tim". I looked to the right and there was Billy Wade walking my way. He stopped to talk for a few minutes before he disappeared into the crowd. I would encounter Billy several more times during the 1964 season and was always able to share a minute or two, minimum, conversation with him. He was truly a great driver and a fine man. He is another driver we lost far too soon. Although it was January, 1965, when Billy died, the 1964 racing season had been devastating in it's losses of drivers both in NASCAR and Indy. But we won't address that today. I would rather remember that Billy Wade smile the night he was sitting on the tailgate of that pickup truck in the Columbia Speedway pit area.
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
