The weekend of November 3-4, 1973 in Wilson, North Carolina - 48 years ago - was absolutely gorgeous. It was a beautiful weekend for a stock car race and a beautiful weekend for a wedding.
While I was tying the knot at a small Baptist church in the Lamm's Crossroads community on the west side of Wilson on Raleigh Road at 4:00 on Saturday afternoon, November 3, 1973, across town adjacent to U.S. Highway 301, the father of one of our esteemed RacersReunion members was broadsliding his white Chevelle with red numerals #96 around the venerable half-mile dirt Wilson County Speedway.
When the dust settled, I was off on a honeymoon and Chubby Thompkins of Hope Mills, North Carolina had claimed the pole position for the rich and prestigious Southern Late Model 200 to be contested the following day on Sunday, November 4th, 1973.
Chubby Thompkins with his #96 Chevelle that scored numerous victories in North and South Carolina and took the pole for the 1973 Southern Late Model 200 at Wilson County Speedway. Photo from the Patsy Thompkins-Keisler Collection
The Wilson County Speedway was a historic venue whose grounds once hosted NASCAR Grand National and Convertible division races promoted by partners Joe Weatherly and Paul Sawyer. The grandstands, running the length of the front stretch, sat atop a fair exhibition building. They had been rebuilt by Sawyer following an Easter Sunday fire at a 1959 NASCAR event. Sawyer was also responsible for installing the track's lights, although he leased the facility from the Wilson American Legion post, as did the 1973 promoter, former racer James Jones of Goldsboro, North Carolina.
Directly across U.S. Highway 301 from Wilson County Speedway was a North Carolina truck weigh station. It was not unusual to have a loose wheel bound over turns 3-4, cross 301 and land at the weigh station. Also, just down and across 301 was the world famous Parker's Barbecue, where racers loaded up on BBQ, fried chicken, gizzards and corn stix to take to the infield.
In 1973, Wilson was tobacco country. It billed itself as the world's largest bright leaf tobacco market. One of the top restaurants in town was the Golden Weed Restaurant. My mother-in-law operated the Bright Leaf Pet Shop. The downtown district was full of tobacco warehouses and the pungent/sweet aroma of cured bright leaf tobacco hung in the air.
The largest radio station in Wilson was owned by the Wilson Tobacco Board of Trade. Its call letters - WGTM - stood for " W orld's G reatest T obacco M arket." The top announcer and dj for WGTM, Jim Rochelle , was also the announcer for Wilson County Speedway. The flagman was "Snapper" Capps and the pit steward owned the popular "Cliff's Drive-In" and also sponsored a car.
The annual Southern Late Model 200 ended the Wilson track's racing season and attracted outstanding dirt drivers from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. I wish I could give an eyewitness account of the weekend, but due to my wedding, the 1973 edition of the race was the only one I missed between 1970-1980.
The field included past and future winners of the event such as Elliott Sadler's uncle, Bud Elliott of Emporia, Virginia: Roger Matthews of nearby Rocky Mount,: Dennis Smith of Goldsboro and future Winston Cup winning engine builder J.E. Beard of Bailey, North Carolina.
A strong field of South Carolinians came north of the border to join the fray, including Sam Ard , Junior Johnson , Mutt Powell, Hop Holmes and Joe Lane .
I can tell you this. My mother had booked hotel rooms at the Holiday Inn and Quality Inn on U.S. 301 six months ahead of the wedding for our wedding party and out of town guests. This didn't make it easy for out of town racers to find lodging. Following my Friday night rehersal dinner at the Holiday Inn, I noted several "strange" racing rigs in the parking lot near the big Holiday Inn marquee that read "Best Wishes Joyce and David."
Thanks to RR member Jack Walker, we have this account of the 1973 edition of the race that he has previously posted here and at his Carolina Race Place site:
The annual season ending Southern 200 was held at the dirt Wilson County Speedway on November 4th, 1973. Chubby Thompkins of Fayetteville, NC won the pole position with the fastest qualifying time for the 29 starting spots.
Thompkins led the first 90 laps of the 200-lap event.
Lap leaders were Joe Lane , Chubby Thompkins , and Sherrill Tyndall . The defending champion of the annual race, Mutt Powell finished 20th. Powell was overcome by exhaust fumes, and crashed his car into the fence on lap 104. Joe Lane of Timmonsville, SC drove his car to a one-lap victory over Junior Johnson. Lane won $2000 for the victory.
Also, thanks to Jack, here is a rundown of known finishing positions, also previously published by Jack both here and at his Carolina Race Place site:
My gut tells me there were more than 29 cars in this race. The field was usually larger than this and anywhere from 45-60 Late Models usually showed up to attempt to qualify. Missing from this lineup are two drivers who just about always ran this event - "Farmer John" Matthews of Raleigh and Al Grinnan of Fredericksburg, Virginia, both constant threats to win any Wilson race they entered.
Below is a photo of Wilson winner, Joe Lane's car #21 in a track newsletter from Summerville Speedway in 1977 as posted by RR member, S. Huggins:
Three years after his big career win in Wilson, Joe Lane was the subject of a 1976 feature story in the Charleston News & Courier chronicling the trials and tribulations of an underfinanced, local journeyman racer:
At the same time the dirt track independents gathered in Wilson for the 1973 Southern Late Model 200, 75 miles to the southwest in Fayetteville, not far from the home of Wilson pole winner, Chubby Thompkins, NASCAR decided to stage a Grand National East event at the still fairly new half-mile asphalt Cumberland County Speedway.
Whereas Timmonsville, SC produced the winner of the Wilson race, the Timmonsville entrant at Fayetteville, Cale Yarborough had to settle for 2nd to Tiny Lund.
Several bits of irony about Wilson and Fayetteville running races at the same time:
* Joe Lane pocketed $2,000 for his dirt win at Wilson, whereas Tiny Lund took home just half that amount for winning at Fayetteville.
* The Wilson dirt track no longer exists, its banks graded down by the American Legion.
* The former Cumberland County Speedway asphalt layout is today's dirt Fayetteville Motor Speedway.
While Joe Lane headed south from Wilson with his loot back to Timmonsville on the evening of Sunday, November 4, 1973, I headed north on I-95 in my still fairly new 1973 Monte Carlo that my buddy, Frank had embalazoned on the rear quarter panel in Close-Up toothpaste and shaving creme the name of my Limited Sportsman car sponsor, Dixie Supply. It permanently etched the paint and I had to have the quarter panels repainted:
You've heard me speak many times on these pages of my buddy, Frank. In the photo of my wedding party, that's Frank on the left side standing in front of the candleabra and beside one of my sisters-in-law in the red dress:
On the far right of the same photo is one of my groomsmen, John Hyson. John moved to Nashville in the early 80s to head production for Wrangler Boots and work uniforms. Last time I saw John, I got him a pit pass to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway to watch Dale Earnhardt beat Darrell Waltrip in the 1983 Busch Nashville 420, one of the best nights of my life.
That's a look back 40 years at November 3-4, 1973.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 05/10/21 11:55:18AM
