Over his driving career, NASCAR Hall of Famer Junior Johnson accumulated 50 victories. Of that total, 13 came in 1965 - his last full time season as a driver. His ability to stockpile trophies in 1965 - as was also the case with Ned Jarrett and Dick Hutcherson - largely resulted from his driving a Ford. FoMoCo feasted in 65 as Chrysler's stalwarts Richard Petty and David Pearson parked for much of the year, and Junior Johnson bellied up to the buffet for plenty of wins.
His 50th and final one came in the Wilkes 400 on October 3, 1965. The race was scheduled for 400 laps - 250 miles. - Motor Racing Programme Covers
Fearless Freddy won yet another pole in his Holman-Moody Ford. Just to keep the blue oval gang a bit honest, Petty grabbed the outside pole in his Plymouth. Hutcherson and Pearson made up the second row, and Cale Yarborough rounded out the top 5 starters. - Spartanburg Herald
Junior won the Gwyn Staley 400 earlier in the year, and he was obviously expected to contend for the win when the GN cars returned. But Petty, Pearson and Lorenzen were expected to be right in the mix as well.
Despite Junior living nearby, Lorenzen declared to the field that he planned to make North Wilkesboro his 'home track' that particular day. When the green dropped, the Golden Boy took off. No one could get by him in the first half of the race as he settled in for what was expected to be a dominating victory.
Only 13 laps into the race as Lorenzen began to pull away, Buddy Arrington lost an engine in his Dodge and dumped oil onto the track. Petty, Hutch and Bobby Isaac were racing THREE WIDE through turn 3 - when all 3 managed to hit Arrington's oil patch. With the snap of one's fingers, the day was over for all 3 of them - just like that.
When the race returned to green, Lorenzen re-established his hot pace. Fred led lap after lap after lap - 190 consecutive ones in all. But then, he lost a valve in his H-M Ford and lost the lead. On lap 218, he pulled his pearl-white #28 behind the wall on lap 218, and his day was done.
Except for a half-dozen laps led by Junior's future driver and 3x champion, Cale Yarborough, Junior led the second half of the race - with about as much dominance as Lorenzen. Junior took the checkered flag with a more-than-comfortable 2-lap lead on Yarborough. - Getty Images
Jarrett and Pearson finished 3rd and 4th. Coming home in 5th place was Curtis Turner. The 5th was a bit of a moral victory for Turner and the Wood Brothers team. The Wilkes 400 was Pops' 5th GN race since Bill France lifted his 'lifetime ban' of Turner - but it was only the 1st race of the five that Turner finished. He DNF the 4 previous ones.
Race report from Sumter Daily Item
And race "notes" from Spartanburg Herald .
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Junior Johnson | '65 Ford |
| 2 | Cale Yarborough | '65 Ford |
| 3 | Ned Jarrett | '65 Ford |
| 4 | David Pearson | '65 Dodge |
| 5 | Curtis Turner | '65 Ford |
| 6 | Marvin Panch | '65 Ford |
| 7 | Junior Spencer | '64 Ford |
| 8 | Tom Pistone | '64 Ford |
| 9 | G.C. Spencer | '64 Ford |
| 10 | Buddy Baker | '64 Dodge |
| 11 | J.T. Putney | '65 Chevrolet |
| 12 | Buck Baker | '65 Chevrolet |
| 13 | Wendell Scott | '63 Ford |
| 14 | Elmo Langley | '64 Ford |
| 15 | Doug Cooper | '65 Chevrolet |
| 16 | Roy Mayne | '65 Chevrolet |
| 17 | Gene Black | '64 Ford |
| 18 | Darel Dieringer | '64 Ford |
| 19 | Fred Lorenzen | '65 Ford |
| 20 | E.J. Trivette | '63 Chevrolet |
| 21 | Wayne Smith | '65 Chevrolet |
| 22 | Paul Lewis | '63 Ford |
| 23 | Jimmy Helms | '63 Ford |
| 24 | Jabe Thomas | '64 Ford |
| 25 | Bobby Johns | '64 Pontiac |
| 26 | Frank Weathers | '63 Dodge |
| 27 | Neil Castles | '65 Oldsmobile |
| 28 | Sam McQuagg | '64 Ford |
| 29 | Henley Gray | '64 Ford |
| 30 | Bob Derrington | '63 Ford |
| 31 | Roy Tyner | '65 Chevrolet |
| 32 | Dick Hutcherson | '65 Ford |
| 33 | Richard Petty | '65 Plymouth |
| 34 | Bobby Isaac | '65 Dodge |
| 35 | Buddy Arrington | '64 Dodge |
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updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
