Racing History Minute, June 3, 1965

Selecting a History Minute for today was most interesting once I discovered this 1965 date had a race on the half-mile paved track at Nashville Fairgrounds in Nashville, TN. Oh, I know, we've been to that track before in a History Minute, but reading the story of the 1965 event caught my attention for a certain ruling made by NASCAR to a protest. Something I either didn't know, or just didn't remember from the 1965 season, most of which I boycotted along with the Mopar guys. In any event, let us go back to that race in Nashville.

This was the first race staged at Nashville Fairgrounds "under the lights", so that was exciting in itself. Not too exciting however, as only 5,200 folks showed up to watch 15 cars do battle for the 100 mile distance. 1965 was an "off year" for most races as fans stayed away, as did I, because we didn't feel what NASCAR did to the Hemi cars of Chrysler Corporation was fair. Seems like many around Nashville felt the same way.

On the way to the track, the van towing the Bondy Long factory Ford of points contenter, Ned Jarrett, slid off the highway in a heavy rainstorm between Harriman, TN and Crossville, TN and the van flipped onto the top of the race car crushing the race car. Personally I would think the van took the worst end of that disaster. There is no report of anyone being hurt in the accident but Ned had to borrow a Ford from Jabe Thomas to make the race and continue his battle with Dick Hutcherson for the points lead.

Tiger Tom Pistone started his independent Ford from the pole with Dick Hutcherson to his outside. Ned would start fourth, alongside G.C. Spencer.

When the green flag waved, "Hutch" put his foot down and put the number 29 Ford out front where he would stay for the entire distance. Ned was running second with five laps to go when he slid high and brushed the wall, bringing out the yellow flag. J.T. Putney beat Ned back to the caution and protested the finish saying that he was ahead of Ned at the caution. NASCAR ruled against Putney saying the rules clearly stated there was "no racing back to the caution". That is the little tidbit of info I didn't know, or at least didn't remember. Looks like NASCAR was doing that long before the Dale Jarrett incident that sparked the current "freeze the field at the last scoring loop" deal.

Top five finishers were:

1. Dick Hutcherson, Holman-Moody Ford, winning $ 1,000.00

2. Ned Jarrett, Jabe Thomas Ford, winning $600.00

3. J.T. Putney, Herman Beach Chevrolet, winning $400.00

4. Wendell Scott, Scott Ford, winning $300.00

5. Henley Gray, Gene Cline Ford, winning $275.00

Only 15 cars started the event, with 7 finishing. The seventh place finisher was 30 laps behind the winner. Hutcherson was in a lap by himself with Ned and J.T. both one lap down.

Remaining finishers, sixth through fifteenth were Doug Cooper, Raymond Carter, G.C. Spencer, Cale Yarborough, Junior Spencer, Bob Derrington, Tiger Tom Pistone, Wayne Smith, Neil Castles and Buddy Arrington.

Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.

The "no racing back to the caution" rule has always been one of the most sensible in NASCAR's secretive rulebook. Obviously it was not enforced in a uniform fashion if Putney was not aware of it. I presume that it was enforced so erratically that it eventually fell out of the rules and had to be re-instituted.

If Jarrett brushed the wall but was able to continue, it must have not been a hard hit. What it sounds like is that Jarrett was a lap behind and falling back. NASCAR wanted to spice up "the show", so they called a caution to let him catch up, and made sure that Putney didn't interfere with the plan.

I've always favored the field being set to the order they crossed the start/finish line on the previous lap. There are fewer arguments that way.

Andy, you are "spot on" with your comments. I never knew about the not racing back to the caution flag deal until Dale Jarrett caused NASCAR to come up with the rule. Guys always tried to make up their laps by beating the leader back to the caution. I do remember when I raced (1969 - 1973) we did go back to the last completed lap but I only raced the short tracks in the weekly shows.

Yes, I must agree that it appears it was an attempt by NASCAR to spice up the action since they had only SEVEN cars running at the time of Jarrett's brush with the wall. That, and the fact that Hutcherson was leading points at the time of that race and you can almost see the NASCAR wheels turning with what an advantage it would be to have popular Gentleman Ned win the title. Ned did win it anyway, with his usual overall great performance throughout the season and is/was certainly a deserving champion. Ned remains one of the nicest guys around but since becoming involved with RacersReunion and hanging out with Ned, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Rex White, Bill Blair, Peanut Turman, Gene Hobby and so many more of those guys, not to mention Paul Lewis to who we actually owe this site, the pioneers of this sport are far and above the guys in any sport including today's crop of drivers.

Thanks for adding your comment Andy.

We most certainly DID race back to the caution and it was especially important in trying to get back on the tail end of the lead lap. Have to side with my old hero, JT. Remember Richard beating Cale back to the line on the yellow at Daytona to secure his 200th win??!! At least JT wasn't racing through a Nashville graveyard.

It's a wonder more accidents weren't encountered with tow vehicles over the years. Wasn't it coming back from a Nashville Late Model race that Jack Ingram's son was killed?

This was a Thursday night race at Nashville. In years prior, Nashville ran Sunday afternoon races. And in the years to follow, Nashville ran Saturday night races. But for this inaugural night race, the lights were illuminated on a Thursday evening.

As for news clippings about the race, they're hard to find on-line. Guess I'm due for another trip to the Nashville library during a lunch break for a microfilm study.

Tim referenced the apathy of the fans in 1965 as Chrysler boycotted the early part of the NASCAR GN season. But it wasn't as if the Mopar guys were sidelined completely. While the GN crowd raced on without the Plymouth or Dodge teams, Petty Enterprises soldiered on with a drag racing program. On the same day Dick Hutcherson snagged the Nashville trophy, Richard Petty set a new drag racing ET just a few hours to the east in Bristol.

Dave, I'm glad you chimed in with your comment. I thought I was really losing memory when I read that account of "not racing back to the caution". I remember too many races where the outcome was directly influenced by racing back to the caution, if not at the end of the race, at certainly some point during the race.

Chase, even when you're on the road you contribute greatly to this series. I would never have thought to find out where The King was racing that 'Cuda on that same night. Thank you.

Doing what I can. But yep, that's me...

For the 1984 Firecracker 400 (our family's first summer living in Dallas) we loaded the 1977 Chevy station wagon ( it had the two little fold up rear seats by the tailgate) with two bicycles, a rooftop luggage carrier just purchased at Sears (with a picture of a snail on it ) and everything else but the kitchen sink and headed from Dallas to Daytona.

Back then it was an all day Saturday drive on a two lane road to traverse diagonally across Louisana with an overnight stop north of New Orleans.

It was then an all day Sunday drive across a deserted Florida panhandle with narry a gas station in sight.

We nearly ran out of gas before coming to a little intersection somewhere late Sunday afternoon, before arriving at the Fernandina Beach home north of Jacksonville owned by Maggie Hardesty, ticket manager at the Richmond track. That's where we spent Sunday night. Maggie later sold that home to the late Al Grinnan - Nascar Virginia State Late Model Sportsman champion, NASCAR Most Popular driver and former suitor of Patsy Cline.

Sometime Monday we finally drove down I-95 from Fernandina Beach to Daytona. I had only been gone from the Wrangler Jeans Special Events program for 5 months at that point. We had been sponsoring Willie's tour and my old friend and former Cup assistant program manager, Mel Parkhurst rode the bus with Willie. Mel had sent me a nice cassette of Willie hits. Guess which song played most often on our cross country journey to Daytona? To this day both of my daughters will leave the room if they hear "On the Road Again!"

Oh, as a result of that little trip, we got to see the King's 200th win and meet President Reagan at a private Daytona after race garage picnic!

When the race is being broadcast over network TV from Daytona; when King is going for his 200th win; when the President is in attendance...then you can race back to the caution. I'm fairly sure that, like Danica's pole-winning Daytona ride, that moment was planned out as well as possible and they did their best to make sure the script played out as planned. I love The King but I think he had some help getting those last few wins. Somebody in the tech line was looking the other way. Once he hit a nice round number they stopped completely.

If Jeff Gordon had slightly better numbers, I think they'd like to do him the same favor as a star of the "modern era". Unfortunately, they can't push him past Jimmy Johnson's five championships (especially since JJ will probably nab one more). Gordon also needs 18 wins to push him past Pearson to #2 on the all-time wins-list. That's a lot of wins, even if the tech guys aren't paying attention. I'm still betting on 2015 being Jeff's farewell tour.

Andy, not to start an argument, but for many, many years racing back to the line on a yellow was part of the deal. Some drivers talked of a gentleman's agreement to be careful racing back to the line, but it was legal and the way it was done at that time.

As recapped by JAYSKI in September 2003:

OFFICIAL - no racing back to the yellow flag [and THE RULES]:
Rule procedure revisions that eliminate racing back to the yellow (caution) flag and modify pit road entry for the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will go into effect beginning this weekend, NASCAR officials announced Thursday.
The revisions will be in place for the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series races at Dover International Speedway and for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at California Speedway, all of which are being held this weekend.
The new rule will not permit any passing once the caution flag is displayed. Other aspects of this procedure revision as well as the pit road entry modifications will be outlined to the NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Busch Series competitors at a combined meeting scheduled for 10:30am/et Saturday in the garage area at Dover International Speedway.
The Craftsman Truck Series will have the revisions outlined in their scheduled driver/crew chief meeting scheduled for 1:45am/et Saturday.
NASCAR officials' decisions regarding these new procedures will not be subject to review or appeal.(NASCAR.com)(9-18-2003)
UPDATE: As part of NASCAR's new procedures that prohibit racing back to the yellow flag, the sanctioning body announced Saturday at Dover International Speedway that one car will get a lap back during each caution period. NASCAR officials held a closed-door meeting with Cup and Busch Series teams Saturday to outline the new procedures. Media was not permitted, but NASCAR issued a statement. One of the main rule changes was to allow the first car not on the lead lap to regain a lap. Previously, the leader of the race would sometimes slow to allow one or two cars back on the lead lap. Under the new procedure, the first car not on the lead lap would automatically regain a lap, regardless of where the car was in relation to the leader. NASCAR announced Thursday that racing back to the caution flag would no longer be permitted. Other parts of the rules change are:

----Once the yellow flag is waved, all drivers must immediately reduce speed to a "cautious pace" and get in a single-file line behind the leader.
----Drivers who pass while reducing speed will be given the chance to return to their original position immediately. If they do not, "NASCAR will intervene."
----Drivers who do not "maintain a reasonable speed" during the yellow will lose their track position.
----Any driver involved in the incident that caused the caution will restart in the position they are able to return to the race without advancing their position.

And the Pit Rule: NASCAR also made a small alteration to its pit road rules. All cars will be required to come on to pit road single-file, and any passing must be made to the right. Passing to the left would result in a penalty of restarting at the end of the longest line for a caution penalty or a pass-through on pit road for a green penalty.(NASCAR.com)

conspiracy.... LOL

perhaps you should carefully review with a stop watch, Danica's Very Impressive Lap at Daytona...

Sorry, But I don't buy into "conspiracy theories"........

Back in town after many days on the road. Used lunch today to visit the Nashville library again. While 10 days or so late, here is some info from the local Nashville papers about the race.

A promo story for the race from the June 3, 1965 Tennessean.

And from the June 3, 1965 Nashville Banner - great pub for Wendell Scott, especially considering the times.

And race report from the June 4 evening Banner. I couldn't find a report in the June 4 morning Tennessean. My guess is the race ended too late to make the deadline for the early edition of the paper, which is probably what was archived to microfilm.

Dull? DULL?? WHAT? You can't criticize the product per Brian France. Didn't Bill Parker know that way back in '65?