Late Model Sportsman results from the 1/3 mile New Asheville Speedway on June 18th, 1965. The new Asheville Speedway opened in 1962, and closed in 1999.
The race was originally scheduled as a 50 lap LMS race on Friday, June 11. It was rained out but was rescheduled for the following Friday as a 125 lap, double points race. I was able to extract a few articles from the Asheville Citizen Times archives.
(For the record, I've formatted the following as best I can. It looks like as I prep it, but none of the formatting works when I post it. I'm tired of wasted time trying to edit feedback on this site.)
June 10, 1965
N.A.S. Posts Bonuses For Qualifiers
Emphasis will be placed on qualifying speeds Friday night at the New Asheville Speedway. Promoter Bob Greenwood announced Thursday that $150 in bonus money will be posted for the four fastest qualifiers in the late-model sportsman division. The last "Ladies Night" crowd of the season will see the sportsmen run for a $50 bonus for the fastest qualifier, an additional $50 if he beats Ned Setzer's record of 16.64 seconds (on Grand National type tires), $25 for the second fastest qualifier, $15 for the third fastest, and $10 for the fourth fastest.
June 12, 1965
Races Postponed For A Week
The races were rained out at the New Asheville Speedway Friday night and were postponed to next Friday night. Fans will profit from postponement, however. Promoter Bob Greenwood announced that rain checks will be honored next week and the late-model sportsman feature will be a 125-lap race instead of the 50-lapper scheduled last night. It will also be "Ladies Night" next Friday, the same as last night, and the sportsman race will be a double point championship event.
June 20, 1965
Pressley Is Winner Of NAS Race
By BOB TERRELL Citizen-Times Sports Editor
Bob Pressley took the pole position from Dick Plemmons by two-hundredths of a second, then drove a steady 125 laps to score a disputed late-model sportsman racing victory at the New Asheville Speedway Friday night.
Running under Grand National rules, the race was stopped once and slowed three other times by wrecks and spin-outs. Pressley, involved twice, still survived the flags to win.
Ken Rush of High Point, who ran second in Frank Wilson's 1956 Chevrolet, contended he won the race because of a technicality that occurred on the seventh lap when the race's only red flag flew. Three cars piled up in the fourth turn, blocking the track, and all other cars in the race nosed into the pile-up and stopped with no place to go.
When someone found a path to get through, it was Rush who was first by the flag stand, and he and Wilson contended that he should have been in the lead at that point.
Pressley, who led the first seven laps, came through the pits when the red flag came out and had to fall in on the rear of the field. Plemmons moved into the lead and held it until the 13th lap when Bosco Lowe spun in front of him and hit the wall to avoid hitting Bosco.
Tom Ingram took over the lead there and stayed out front until the 68th lap when he quit the race with crankshaft problems. Plemmons was running second at the time but spun again in some fourth turn confusion as Ingram pitted, and Pressley regained the lead there. Although Plemmons passed Pressley again on the 111th lap, it did not put him back in the lead because he'd been penalized a lap for passing under the caution flag after he spun on the 68th.
Rush and Setzer drove the steadiest races, and Rush handled his car well even though he had never been on the track before. But Pressley and Plemmons drove more spectacularly. They passed cars with an abandon that brought them charging back to the front each time they were forced to the rear by spinning.
Pressley pocketed $400 first prize money. It was his third victory this summer at N.A.S. Only Tom Ingram has also won that many. Pressley also picked up 100 points for his victory.
