For Tim Leeming

In memory of his Uncle Bobby, d. October 29, 2013

The Grand National teams readied for the next to last race of the Petty-blue dominated season of 1967 with their final superspeedway race of the season - the American 500 at Rockingham.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

Two storylines of the race were:

• Could Richard Petty get back to his winning ways? He'd won 27 races in the season - including 10 in a row AND the Carolina 500 at Rockingham in June. But his winning streak ended a week earlier at Charlotte with an engine failure and a victory by Buddy Baker.
• Bobby Allison entered the race with an unexpected pairing with Fred Lorenzen in a Holman Moody prepared Ford.

THE storyline of the race, however, was the announced entry by Formula 1 great and 1965 Indy 500 winner, Jimmy Clark. Source: 10-24-1967 Spartanburg Herald.

The story behind Clark's Rockingham entry is excerpted from this post at Formula1Blog.com :

On October 22, 1967, Jimmy Clark won his twenty-fourth Grand Prix, tying him for the all time lead with Juan Manuel Fangio. While vacationing in the Bahamas immediately afterwards, Clark received a phone call from NASCAR founder, Bill France... Upon showing interest in what France had to say, Jimmy then received a Western Union telegram from John Holman of the ultra successful Holman & Moody team, guaranteeing him a seat in one of their stock cars for the coming weekends race.

Jimmy immediately accepted the offer, though the original idea was for Jimmys fellow vacationer, Jackie Stewart, to share the drive. Stewart declined, but luckily there was yet a third holiday maker amongst the Grand Prix fraternity; Clark would share a Ford Fairlane at Rockingham... with Jochen Rindt! The F1 entries did not stop there, however. Italian Ludovico Scarfiotti, former Ferrari ace and winner of the previous seasons Italian Grand Prix at Monza, would also be on hand attempting to qualify in a Plymouth.

Clark was apparently very humble and respectful about trying his hand in NASCAR. He looked forward to matching his skills against The King, the best in NASCAR, and Super Tex, the overpowering figure of Indy Car.

Source: Spartanburg Herald

Qualifying for the pole was held on Wednesday before Sunday's race. A driver who became very accustomed to grabbing the top spot over the next decade did so at Rockingham - David Pearson in the #17 H&M Ford. Source: Spartanburg Herald

Paul Goldsmith top the speed charts on Thursday's second round of qualifying as Clark continued to find the balance with the set-up of his car.

Source: News And Courier

Things went from bad to worse for Clark during Friday's 3rd round of qualifying. Not only was his set-up way off, but he wrecked the car.

Source: News and Courier

But Clark's team repaired the car, and he was indeed able to qualify for the race.

Source: Spartanburg Herald

When the green dropped, Pearson took advantage of his top starting spot and led the first lap. However, he soon surrendered it. A hodge podge of drivers spot the lead for a varying number of laps from lap 2 through the middle stages of the race. In a race ultimately dominated by Fords, King Richard was still able to lead a chunk of 58 laps in his Plymouth. But about 190 laps into the 500 lap event, Petty oddly doinked the rear of Pearson's Ford during routine pit stops. The accident caved in the radiator of the 43, and the Level Crew gang loaded Ol' Blue to try again the next race.

Red Farmer made a rare Grand National start and spun. Frank Warren had to swerve to miss him. Farmer made a nice recovery and finished 11th.

Cale Yarborough led about 20% of the race in the Wood Brother #21 Ford - but in small batches of laps during the race. He ultimately lost an engine and finished 16th after starting 4th.

Pearson continued on after the incident with Petty and finished 2nd. But he was no match for Allison in Lorenzen's Ford. Bobby lapped the field and won the race by a lap over Pearson and 3rd place Goldsmith. Everyone else was 2 or more laps down. Foyt made a great showing in his Rockingham debut with a 4th place finish. Fellow Indy and USAC stock car driver, Gordon Johncock, also made a great showing as an interloper with a 5th place finish in Bud Moore's Ford.

As for Clark's weekend of qualifying and racing, here is another excerpt from this post at Formula1Blog.com .

Practice and qualifying for the Sunday race began on Wednesday, October 25th, though drivers could make an attempt to get into the field right up until Saturday. Jimmy spent the first couple of days learning the car before making his first qualifying run on Friday. As he entered the first turn on the first of four flying qualifying laps, the right front wheel came completely off of the car, sending the Scot hard into the outside wall. Though Jimmy was uninjured, the Ford was badly damaged.

The Holman-Moody team spent all night repairing the car and, on Saturday, Clark was able to put the car 25th on a grid of 44 starters. Scarfiotti had qualified a very respectable 29th in his lone NASCAR outing, but the Plymouth would fail scrutineering due to insufficient ground clearance and he would not be allowed to take the start. Just a week following his season-ending win in the Mexican Grand Prix, however, the two time World Champion and 1965 Indianapolis 500 winner, Jimmy Clark and his co-driver and future World Champion, Jochen Rindt were now going to be stock car drivers.

The plan was for Clark to hand the Fairlane over to Rindt halfway through the American 500, but the Austrian would never get to see a race lap. Clark had steadily worked his way up to 12th position by lap 144 when the Fords 427 engine blew, leaving the pair in 30th position. Curiously enough, NASCAR regular Bobby Allison would win the event in another Holman-Moody Team Ford; the same car that Andretti had won that years Daytona 500 with.

Jimmy Clark

And at speed racing Wendell Scott.

G.C. Spencer made this third and final start in a #42 Petty Enterprises Plymouth - all in 1967. He was successful in his 1st start - qualifying 4th in the Southern 500 and finishing 3rd. His 2nd start was pretty good too - a 5th place finish in the National 500 at Charlotte. Sadly, the streak ended at Rockingham. He qualified a decent 17th but a wreck relegated him to 37th in the 44-car field.

Race report from 10-30-67 Spartanburg Herald

The happy winner

Bobby in victory lane - from Dennis Andrews collection

Allison and Lorenzen were obviously elated about their collective win.

Source: 10-30-67 Spartanburg Herald

As for Clark, he left disappointed yet proud of his accomplishment and respectful of the racing done by NASCAR's elite. Had he not been killed less than a year later, its not unreasonable to think he would have been invited to participate in the inaugural IROC series of 1973-74.

Source: News And Courier

Cool stuff. Much here I did not know about. I remember Gene Grainger fondly, he always treated me nicely.

Thanks for posting.

I count myself lucky to have been at Rockingham with buddy, Frank to see Clark race that day in his only NASCAR event. Prior to Richmond's September 1965 Capital City 400, the Richmond "Ford" Motor Co. dealership had on display side-by-side in their Broad Street showroom the 1965 Ned Jarrett/Bondy Long Ford they sponsored and the 1965 Indy 500 winning Colin Chapman Lotus driven by Jim Clark and pitted by the Wood Brothers. You could push that little Lotus with two fingers.

I used to have wonderful 8mm movie film of Clark at Rockingham in 1967, but as I have often told, it disappeared in 1997 while on loan for a NASCAR 50th Anniversary film production.

Wow, Chase! Great History Minute with so much information and so many great pictures. Thanks for taking over and making sure we had a "Minute" for the 29th. Thank you for mentioning my Uncle Bobby as well. Great job!

Looks like the race was featured in the March 1968 issue of Stock Car Racing magazine. Anyone still have that issue? Might be neat to see some additional photos or the article from it.

Bobby takes the checkers. Photo from 1968 race promotional brochure.

James Sears - brother of John Sears - made his GN debut in this race. He had a limited career of 6 starts - 5 of which were at Rockingham and the 6th one at Columbia. He died in a racing accident in a late model race at Starlite Speedway in Monroe NC on August 3, 1973. Source: Spartanburg Herald

When I attended IRA races on Friday nights at Sanford, NC in the late 60s, James Sears and David Munnerlyn of Bennetsville, SC were usually the two front runners in the track's Modified Division. J.D. McDuffie's brother, Glenn headlined the Late Model races.

Dave,

1967 was the record breaking year for James Sears.

James Sears driving the Harold Carmac owned and prepared 36 Chevy Modified #29 had a record setting year on the way to the Independent Racing Association 1967 Modified points Championship. James began his first streak at Sanford Motor Speedway on April 14 ^th that continued thru June 23 ^rd at Sanford. The run was stopped at 20 wins in a row at Rockingham on June 24 ^th by a broken resistor wire. The next streak began on June 30 ^th at Sanford and would be 8 races long ending on July 15 ^th at Rockingham with a 2 ^nd place finish. James would have another 2 ^nd place finish on July 21 ^st at Sanford. A streak of 10 in a row began at Rockingham on July 22 ^nd that lasted thru the first part of a 50 lapper at Sanford on Sept. 1 ^st . After an inverted start James came from the rear to finish 2 ^nd in the last 25 laps as the engine in the coach began to falter. On Sept. 2 ^nd James drove the #49 Ford coach of Joe Wright to a 5 ^th place finish at Rockingham while a new engine was being prepared by Carmac for the #29. Sept. 8 ^th at Sanford brought victory #39 for the year and started a run of 3 in a row thru Sept. 16 ^th at Rockingham. A flat tire at Sanford on Sept. 22 ^nd lead to a 4 ^th place finish in the first half and a win in the second half of twin 20 lappers at Rockingham on Sept. 23 ^rd . James capped the 1967 season with a win in a 40 lap feature at Sanford on Sept. 30 ^th to give him a record of 43 wins in 50 races.

James and Harold finished the year at the newly opened Caraway Speedway in Asheboro by winning the first and second modified races there on Oct. 1 ^st and 8 ^th . They finished out the year with a 4 ^th place finish on the 15 ^th to earn them a record of 45 wins in 53 races.

James and the '36 Chevy.

The car James drove for Joe Wright when the Carmac coach was getting a new engine.

Thanks, Dennis. It was a new experience for me when I attended races at Sanford in the Springs of 1968-1970 because I wasn't familiar with any of the drivers. Although I missed the record setting 1967 season for Sears and although the fields wre a little thin at Sanford, I saw some good racing. A friend who lived in Aberdeen, NC introduced me to the Sanford track.

Dennis, seeing the photo you posted of James Sears' car owner, Harold Carmac of Ramseur, NC reminded me that back in the 70s when I'd drive from Wilson to hook up with my buddy, Frank in Siler City to go to Charlotte races, we'd always look for the Ramseur sign on U.S. 64. That indicated we'd soon be stopping for a snack at the Blue Mist Barbecue. I haven't been thta way in quite a while and I was saddened to just find the following story: July 23, July 23, 2013

Blue Mist, landmark restaurant, closes

THE MISTS OF TIME — Blue Mist, the place where you could get a barbecue sandwich, a blue plate special and homemade cobbler, the place known as a landmark by millions traveling along U.S. 64, an iconic location since the 1940s, has closed its doors. (Greta Lint/The Courier-Tribune)

By Greta Lint

ASHEBORO Gary Thompson had stopped by Blue Mist for supper. It was going to be a take-out. He did that pretty often. But on Saturday afternoon, he had to go somewhere else. The restaurant closed its doors on Sunday, July 7.

Blue Mist, the place where you could get a barbecue sandwich, a blue plate special and homemade cobbler, the place known as a landmark by millions traveling along U.S. 64, is no more. It was always a convenient meeting place, as everyone knew where it was located. It was a favorite place for truck drivers to grab a bite to eat.

Bob Garner, a restaurant reviewer on UNC TVs North Carolina Weekend and author of three barbecue books, the latest being Bob Garners Book of Barbecue , said Its always sad to see a famous North Carolina restaurant close. It was one of the few barbecue places in the state where you got fresh ham, in addition to pork shoulders, cooked over wood. That was their specialty.

He added that in the 1940s and 50s, the Blue Mist was the meeting place for people traveling between Raleigh and Charlotte. Long before the (I-40/I-85) interstate came through, the Blue Mist was a popular type of roadhouse. Everyone knew the name Blue Mist and associated it with Asheboro.

He said that the only other famous barbecue restaurants in the state which have closed were A&M Grill in Mebane and Bob Meltons Barbecue in Wilson. Meltons was the first sit-down barbecue restaurant in the state.

They closed because because their number of customers decreased and owners could no longer keep the doors open.

Blue Mist owners, Jeff and Robin Clifton, were unavailable for comment. But passersby had noticed the parking lot wasnt as full as it had been in years past. New restaurants had opened in Asheboro. Drivers were opting to use Interstate 40 and I-85 to get to their destinations.

In October 2012, the N.C. Department of Transportation held a public meeting and announced that the proposed U.S. 64 loop corridor would be taking the land occupied by Blue Mist. The loop will start in the area of the restaurant, take drivers south of the N.C. Zoo and then reconnect them onto the current U.S. 64 near Stutts Road on the west side of town.

Jeff Loflin, district engineer for NCDOT, said he didnt know anything about the Blue Mist closing. It had nothing to do with construction plans. He said the contracts would be let in August 2014 with the actual acquisition of property beginning in spring 2015.

Peering through the restaurant windows, you see the signs of supplies being packed up. Kitchen utensils, commercial-sized rolls of toilet paper, boxes of condiments and sauces, Styrofoam beverage cups and take-out boxes are all methodically lined up.

Decades of memories are piled up on tables and leaning up against chairs. Old framed photographs and newspaper clippings, such as one from the  The Courier-Tribune ,  dated June 17, 1999, with a heading, Happy Birthday - 30 years old. A photo shows employees standing under a sign which reads, Blue Mist Drive-In Menu.

Dave, When you traveled from Siler City to Ramseur along Hwy 64 you went from Chatham county into Randolph county. The Randolph county line is 5 miles west of Siler City. One mile before the county line on the left you pasted a cender block building that had been my grandfathers gas station for years but was by then my dad's shop. First a muffler shop and then Wayne's Alignment. The old shop was taken when they 4 laned 64 and dad had to build another shop that still stands just a 1/4 mile from the county line.

Not from SCR but from "Auto Racing" magazine. They had a race story and a side story on Clark. Being a big Clark fan I scanned these a few years ago.

Saddened to read the race report in this issue of SCR only had two sentences total about the foreign invasion of Clark, Rindt, and Scarfiotti.

I decided to scan some of the photos from the SCR race coverage.

David took exception to the speed at which Richard entered pit road and showed his displeasure by turning the43. Maurice went to the Pearson pit and had to be removed by Richard.

Jim Clark managed to avoid this mess. James Hylton suffered his first injury as a driver in this crash.

Looks like Leonard on the right front has put a whoopin on who ever was changing the right rear.

Jochen Rindt checks out Jim Clark in the seat of the number 66 Ford.

Maybe Clark is explaining to Rindt what to do with your eyes as you enter turn one at the Rock.

Dick Hutcherson makes a pit stop in his final career start in the Bondy Long #29 Ford.

Russ, that was excellent advice Clark was giving about the closed eyes entering turn 1.Back in Rockingham's early days, before there were any stands in turn 1, the late afternoon autumn sun going into turn 1 was absolutely blinding.

From firstsuperspeedway.com:

Bumpingham

[quote="Dave Fulton"]

Lots of memories from this race. For the 3rd time (spring '66 & spring '67 rainout)  I took the Seaboard "race train" to Rockingham with buddy Frank Buhrman. He caught the train in Richmond and I got on in Raleigh as I was now in school in North Carolina at Campbell College. All went well until Sunday night when my ride back to school failed to appear at the Raleigh train station. Somehow I managed to hitch 3 different rides back to rural Buies Creek, being let out in the dark on several backwater "highways." It was not a pleasant experience and the final time I ever hitch hiked, as well as the final time we ever took the Seaboard race train to Rockingham. There was also a race train to Darlington from Richmond back then. If I worked at Darlington, I'd run a promo with Amtrack to reestablish the race train from DC to Darlington. Back in the day those race trains were organized by Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway dirt track co-promoter Kenneth Campbell.

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