Thomas Warren/Woody Delbridge Video Find - Joe Weatherly's Final Richmond Win - Dirt - 1963 - Bud Moore Pontiac
Stock Car Racing History
RR member, Woody Delbridge from Richmond was alerted by Thomas Warren to an awesome, several years old, little viewed YouTube video (200+ total views) that he unearthed of 1963 8mm film capturing Joe Weatherly's final win at the half-mile Richmond dirt track on April 7, 1963 before 15,000 fans attending the Richmond 250.
Little Joe is driving the red & black #8 Bud Moore Pontiac. Joe would be killed the following January at Riverside. This was the last of Joe's three Richmond wins.
All kinds of interesting stuff in this film. You can see the old white board fence with the black & white striped wheel wall and the wooden supports at the base of the light poles that spelled doom for LeeRoy Yarbrough and Tiny Lund at Richmond in 1965 when they slid into them coming out of the pits in the mud.
The pole position for this race was captured by RR member, Rex White, with David Pearson on the outside pole in the Cotton Owens #6 Dodge. Cotton's second entry, Billy Wade in the #5 Dodge, had the better finish, though - 4th.
For this event, Richard Petty chose to drive the #41 Plymouth with Jim Paschal in the #43. Paschal would lead the race, Petty wouldn't.
Ray Fox had two cars in the race. The #3 you see on the hook near the film's conclusion is the Junior Johnson #3 "Mystery Chevy" with a blown engine. G.C. Spencer drove a second Ray Fox Holly Farms Poultry entry - #03 - a 1962 Chevy.
The white #20 is Richmond's "Golden Greek" - Emanuel Zervakis - making one of just three GN starts in his final year of competition.
The #22 Ford you see on pit road is indeed Fireball Roberts in the Holman-Moody entry. His 427 blew on lap 70. It was a rare half-mile dirt appearance for Fireball at that point in time. Promoter Paul Sawyer must have dangled some really good $$$ in John Holman's face.
You'll also see a good shot of Wendell Scott's #34 1962 Chevy.
That's Herman "The Turtle" Beam puttering down the front straight in the 1962 Ford #19. Although 37 laps down at the finish, Herman parlayed his 23rd starting position into a 13th place finish, still running at the end!
Fearless Fred Lorenzen lasted just 80 laps in the Stewart McKinney Ford, exiting with a blown engine, also, and finished 22nd.
Ned Jarrett would finish second to Weatherly. You can see his white (or extremely light blue) #11 Burton Robinson Concrete Construction Ford fielded by Red Robinson of Fairfax, Virginia. Ned would drive this same car to a win at the 1963 September Richmond Capital City 300 GN.
Pole sitter Rex White finished 3rd.
Junior Johnson appeared to have a win in hand when the Mystery Chevy blew late in the race , handing the lead to Little Joe. Junior still managed a 5th place, just 8 laps down with the blown porcupine.
This is some really historic stuff and dear to my heart as a Richmond native, former employee of the Richmond track and old sponsor of winning car owner, Bud Moore.
Thank you so much Woody Delbridge and Thomas Warren for sharing this awesome find posted on YouTube by poster DanObx64 as Richmond Raceway 1964 - the year was wrong but what wonderful stuff. You'll see lots of interesting names from our NASCAR past in this 8mm film.
Results from Racing Reference
updated by @dave-fulton: 09/11/21 10:33:09AM
The track is located in eastern North Carolina, about 90 miles east of Raleigh, N.C., or 20 miles north of Greenville, N.C. It is owned by Wayne Perry and operated by his son, track president Chris Perry.
