Johnny Beauchamps name seems to be mentioned frequently when talking about the long-lasting legends of NASCAR. Though I dont want to take anything away from Beachamp as a driver or individual, his career wasnt as lengthy as one might think. He only started 23 Grand National races in 5 random seasons: 1953, 1957, and 1959-1961.
He is perhaps mentioned in the same breath as the drivers of the era of Tiger Tom, Curtis Turner, Junior Johnson, Rex White, etc. because of two races with Lee Petty:
- his 2nd place run in the photo-finish of the 1959 Daytona 500 vs. Lee and
- his wreck with Lee in the 1961 Daytona 100-mile qualifying race.
For the most part, the 1961 Daytona accident ended Lee Pettys driving career. He did return to drive a handful of races before finally hanging up his helmet following the 1964 Watkins Glen race. The 1961 accident did end Beauchamps career. He never raced another GN race after it.
But of his 23 starts, Beauchamp nabbed two wins, 7 top 5s and 10 top 10s pretty good stats. One of his wins was at Lakewood Speedway in March 1959 about a month after his narrow loss to Lee Petty. His second win was at Nashvilles Fairgrounds Speedway on August 7, 1960 in the Nashville 400.
Rex White nabbed the pole in his gold #4 Chevy, and he made it known he had the car to beat. Petty Enterprises fielded 3 blue Plymouths: 42 Lee, 43 Richard and 44 Jim Paschal. Joe Lee Johnson the defending Nashville race champion and winner of the 1st World 600 at Charlotte two months earlier was also entered. (Coincidentally, Beauchamp finished second to Joe Lee in that first 600.)
Beauchamp finished 2nd to Cotton Owens in the 1957 Daytona beach and road course race. He finished 2nd to Lee in the 1959 Daytona 500 and again to him at Martinsville in May 1959. He finished 2nd to Joe Lee in the first World 600. So where did he qualify at Nashville for the 1960 race? You guessed it, 2nd to Rex.
Joe Lee, Ned Jarrett and Lee rounded out the top 5 starters. Tiger Tom started 6th in a Forwait a Chevrolet?? Yep.
Darrell Waltrip has often referenced G.C. Spencer as one of his early heroes. Like the Waltrips and Green brothers, G.C. was from Owensboro, KY. He raced occasionally at Nashville and eventually re-located to South Carolina and then to the mountains of East Tennessee.
PAUL LEWIS had a memorable trip to Nashville. He started shotgun on the field, and he could only go forward from there. Around lap 250, Paul looped his Chevrolet. The car swapped ends, smacked the guard rail, and caught fire. Amazingly, Lewis was able to continue after the fire was extinguished. He soldiered on until the end and finished 16th in the 23-car field.
Rex White was the class of the field. But as is often the case in racing, you need luck and breaks to fall your way in addition to being solidly prepared. He led 250 laps of the race including the first 144 from the drop of the green. Joe Lee hounded him for the latter part of that segment and finally got by Rex to take the lead at lap 145. Johnson paced the field for 6 laps until a green flag pit stop was needed.
When Johnson pitted, Beauchamp tasted the lead for the first time. He liked it so well he stayed up front for about the next 100 laps until he too needed a stop. White retook the lead during Beauchamps pit stop and likely could have held onto it for the win. Rather than pit during an extended caution for rain, White and his team waited as long as they could. When Rex finally decided to pit, the race returned to green with the #4 sitting on pit road.
Beauchamp was back out front, but White was going to do what he could to pursue him again to reclaim what he thought to be HIS race. The Tennessee summer showers returned; however, and Rex didn't have the remaining laps needed to pass the 73 of Beauchamp. He was right on his heels when the yellow flag flew again for the rain. The race was called at 333 of the scheduled 400 laps. Johnny was ecstatic - he was first again instead of yet another 2nd place finish. Rex was understandably disappointed with his pit strategy.
None of the Petty cars led, but all three had respectable finishes. Lee finished fourth, and Paschal finished seventh. For Richards day, cue the parody of Kenny Rogers song
You picked a fine time to leave me Loose Wheel
The 43 Plymouth lost its right front tire which bounded down the front stretch. As would be a theme for much of the Kings career, he was in the right place at the right time. He was able to whip his steering wheel to the right and make the hard turn onto the tracks quarter-miler inner track used as pit road. The crew replaced the wheel, and Richard salvaged a 6th place finish for the day.
Beauchamp raced five more times in 1960 and then had his career-ending accident in February 1961. When his career ended, Nashville turned out to be his second career win and his last top 5 finish.
Russ Thompson has some amazing color video footage from the race. The blue of the 3 big-winged Petty Plymouths really pops. And it's interesting to note the arc of the cars into and out of turn 1 as compared to today's cars and track configuration.
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Johnny Beauchamp | '60 Chevrolet |
| 2 | Rex White | '60 Chevrolet |
| 3 | Buck Baker | '60 Chevrolet |
| 4 | Lee Petty | '60 Plymouth |
| 5 | Joe Lee Johnson | '60 Chevrolet |
| 6 | Richard Petty | '60 Plymouth |
| 7 | Jim Paschal | '60 Plymouth |
| 8 | Doug Yates | '59 Plymouth |
| 9 | Roz Howard | '60 Chevrolet |
| 10 | G.C. Spencer | '58 Chevrolet |
| 11 | Tom Pistone | '60 Chevrolet |
| 12 | Herman Beam | '60 Ford |
| 13 | James Norton | '58 Mercury |
| 14 | Bob Reuther | '60 Ford |
| 15 | Curtis Crider | '58 Ford |
| 16 | Paul Lewis | '60 Chevrolet |
| 17 | Chuck Tombs | '59 Chevrolet |
| 18 | Neil Castles | '58 Ford |
| 19 | Wilbur Rakestraw | '60 Ford |
| 20 | Ned Jarrett | '60 Ford |
| 21 | Jimmy Pardue | '60 Dodge |
| 22 | Roy Tyner | '59 Oldsmobile |
| 23 | L.D. Austin | '58 Chevrolet |
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM