Racing History Minute - June 17, 1961

NASCAR ran its only sanctioned Grand National race in the state of Massachusets on June 17, 1961 at Norwood Arena. The Yankee 500 was 500 laps - FIVE HUNDRED - on the quarter-mile paved oval. Race ad from NorwoodArena.com

Several GN regulars made the trek to Massachusetts. But several did not including Richard Petty and Junior Johnson. The field included several drivers who made only a handful of career GN starts including:

• Eddie Flemke- 1 career start
• Harold Wilcox- 1 career start
• Budd Olsen- 2 career starts
• Hoss Kagle- 2 career starts
• Bob Devine- 3 career starts
• Sammy Packard- 4 career starts
• Dominic Persicketti- 5 career starts
• Jimmy Mairs - 5 career starts
• Buzz Woodward- 13 career starts

Pace car photo from NorwoodArena.com

Rex White won the pole. Jim Paschal timed second in a #14 Pontiac supposedly fielded by Julian Petty. Emanuel Zervakis lined up third, and multi-time NASCAR short track division champion Jim Reed posted the 4th quickest time. Buck Baker in #86 rounded out the top 5 starters.(Photo from NorwoodArena.com)

Starting seventh in #55 was Ernie Gahan. Less than two years later, Gahan along with Tiny Lund and three others performed a selfless act by rescuing Marvin Panch from his wrecked and burning Maserati at Daytona. (Photo from NorwoodArena.com)

Rex led the first quarter of the race exactly - 125 laps. Zervakis then passed White and he proceeded to lead the second quarter of the race to get the race to the halfway mark. Ned Jarrett led a handful of laps before Zervakis went back out front. Once there, the Golden Greek was credited with leading the remaining 238 laps to take the checkers.

White, however, wasn't convinced. He believed Zervakis made an illegal pit stop during a caution. (Where could you even safely pit on a quarter-mile track for a 500 lap event? Yeesh.) Rex formally protested Zervakis' win, and both waited a week for a decision from NASCAR.

The next day race reports distributed over the wire went ahead and noted Zervakis as the winner though White's protest was noted.

A week later as the circuit prepared to race in Hartsville SC [ see Tim Leeming's RHM ], NASCAR rejected White's protest and affirmed Zervakis as the winner. When made official, Zervakis had his second GN win of season. As it turned out, the Yankee 500 was also his second and final career GN victory.

Michael Clements writes about the other side of the story in his book The Crew Chief's Son . He writes about the 1961 Southern 500 - and backs up later to the Yankee 500.

So right before the [1961 Southern 500], NASCAR inspector Norris Friel came down to the #4 Chevy and told Rex and Louie that the car had been protested and it was not going to compete in todays race. They asked, Who protested? and received no answer. Then they asked, What is wrong with the car? Mr. Friel told them that he had been tipped off the engine was slid back in the car from its original location. Well, yes, it had been.

Clements goes on to describe Rex's and Louie's efforts to adjust the car to clear inspection for the race and picks up again with an edict from Friel.

Then Norris Friel said to them, You dont understand. These orders just came down from Daytona. This car is not going to race today! That was end of that. So, with 20 to 30 minutes before the race began, Rex and Louie ran over to the backstretch pits and borrowed Jack Smiths backup car for Rex to drive in the race...

Now, lets talk about who had protested Rexs 61 Chevy so as to prevent it from being raced this day. After the race, Rex and Louie and the team kind of figured that Emanuel Zervakis had to be the culprit. First, because White and Clements, Inc. had built a car for him to race the year before and while changing engines, he surely noticed this and kept it in his back pocket. But he was not actually in competition to win the points championship, so why would he do such as thing? Just two weeks before this 61 Southern 500 (TMC: more like 3 months), NASCAR was up north in Massachusetts at the Norwood Arena for the Yankee 500. Rex took the pole but at the end of the 500 lapsZervakis took the win with Rex finishing second. Rex felt Zervakis had made an illegal pit stop and protested him after the race. NASCAR checked the score cards and the win remained with Zervakis... So nowadays, we sort of think that the Darlington protest was just payback for the protest Rex made against Emanuel two weeks earlier.

A season after the 1961 Yankee 500 in 1962, a fella from just a few miles up the road began racing in the street division at Norwood Arena. Later in the decade, the driver would find himself racing in NASCAR's Grand National division. After earning rookie of the year, Pete Hamilton was placed in the 1970 Petty Enterprises Plymouth Superbird where he performed exceptionally well in his single season with the team.

great report Chase, Good job...

12th place finisher "Steady Eddie" Flemke, arguably the most revered NASCAR Modified driver to ever come out of the northeast, was the leader of a group called the "Eastern Bandits" - including Rene Charland, Denny Zimmerman and Red Foote - who came south with their modifieds to Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas in the 60s and took the Southern $$$ back to the northeast.

Flemke was the mentor of Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Denny Zimmerman and NASCAR Daytona/Talladega winner Pete Hamilton, who started his first race ever, a Hobby event, at the fabled Norwood Arena. When Pete won the Daytona 500, in his press box interview he gave all the credit to his mentor, Eddie Flemke. Hamilton also had this to say:

Eddie Flemke took me to my first Daytona race and it was a lot easier back then to get to the drivers. Fans today dont get to have that pleasure mainly due to all the sponsorship promotions that they must do for their sponsors. But it was the fans who put us on that track and it is the fans who miss out today. Hopefully the racers someday will be more accessible to the fans but it is definitely not like it use to be for us drivers.

Interestingly, Flemke beat Richmond's Zervakis on numerous occasions at his hometown Southside Speedway in Richmond in the mods during his forays south.

Zervakis had a penchant for protests, losing the winner's trophy at a Wilson, NC Grand National race over a gas tank capacity protest.

Here's a 1961 season photo when he captured his 2 Grand National wins of Richmond's "Golden Greek" - Emanuel Zervakis - in his Monroe Shook Grand National Chevy:

Zervakis suffered life threatening injuries in a terrible modified crash and fire at Southside Speedway that ended his driving career.

He later promoted Richmond's Southside Speedway and built winning NASCAR Late Model Sportsman cars at his Southside Glass Shop in Richmond for Sonny Hutchins, Geoff Bodine and Butch Lindley.

During Harry Gant's memorable winning Winston Cup run as "Mr. September" - Zervakis was hired as chassis consultant for the Skoal team.

Prior to his death, Zervakis and son, Butch (a member here at RR) purchased and operated the famed Stock Car Products - SCP.

Here is a link to my RHM re: Zervakis' "almost" win at Wilson in 1960.

http://racersreunion.com/community/forum/stock-car-racing-history/31852/april-17-1960-easter-sunday-controversy-at-wilson-speedway

Very good report! $10,000 was quite a purse for a short track race in 1961. Zervakis got $2,250 for the win, too bad it was the only Yankee 500.

Thanks

Wondering if track opted to put their $ towards the purse for all vs. show money to a few. Interesting some of the big names didn't make the trip. With NASCAR not returning, I wonder if some of the big dawgs wanted a bigger guarantee - which resulted in GN not returning.

BACK IN MAY 23,2007 AT 3PM, THERE WAS AN EMANUEL ZERVAKIS ESTATE AUCTION.

SOME LUCKY RACE FAN BID AND WON THE FOLLOWING ITEM #222 TROPHY:

ENGRAVED "THE COMMONWEATH TROPHY, FIRST PLACE, 1961 YANKEE 500, NORWOOD ARENA, NORWOOD,MASSACHUSETTS", AS WON BY EMANUEL ZERVAKIS, 31" TALL

I DIDN'T GET TO GO TO THIS AUCTION, BUT I THINK I KNOW WHO HAS THIS TROPHY.

Thanks for any information or photos posted.
Dennis Garrett
Richmond,Va.USA

Thanks for that pic Dennis. NorwoodArena.com mentioned the auction and had a pic of it - but a very small one. This is a much better photo.

Appropriate that "The Commonwealth Trophy" left the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the Commonwealth of Virginia, two of the 4 states recognized as Commonwealths, the other two being Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

CHASE AND DAVE,

HERE'S THE VICTORY LANE PHOTO OF EMANUEL ZERVAKIS HOLDING THE 2ND ANNUAL, EASTER SPECIAL, GRAND NATIONAL "200", 1ST PLACE WINNER, GREENVILLE-PICKENS SPEEDWAY, APRIL 1, 1961 TROPHY.
IT'S NOT LISTED IN THE MAY 23,2007, EMANUEL ZERVAKIS ESTATE AUCTION.
I DON'T KNOW WHO HAS THIS TROPHY.

I DIDN'T CUT THE BOTTOM OF THE TROPHY PHOTO OFF.
SOMEBODY ELSE DID THAT.

Thanks for any information or photos posted.
Dennis Garrett
Richmond,Va.USA