The Grand National drivers arrived in Hickory on April 3rd for the first of two races in 1966.
Through the early part of the schedule, David Pearson led the points despite not having won in first eight races of the schedule. The big storyline for Hickory, however, was the debut of the Ford Fairlane. The driver to feature it - Curtis Turner - was with the one of the two teams most likely to field it: the Wood Brothers.
Allen Rankin won the preliminary sportsman race. The late Don Tilley who later operated a Harley dealership and rode regularly on Kyle Petty's Charity Ride finished P3.
Elmo Langley won the pole for the GN race - the only one of his career. Pop plopped his #41 on the front row alongside him. Ned Jarrett and Pearson made up the second row.
Ned was the lap bully. He led 138 of the race's 250 laps. Unfortunately for him, he led them in the mid stages of the race and had to settle for a third place finish.
Paul Goldsmith started 8th and finished 5th in his year-old Plymouth. - Ray Lamm pic
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Turner and Clyde Lynn diggin' through the corners. Curtis led the first three laps and another 28 late in the race on his way to a P2 finish. - Paul Woody pic |
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Tiger Tom sliding high in an effort to get around Jimmy Helms. Tiger started sixth but finished 22nd after an overheating issue. Helms fell out with a failed differential after only 96 laps. - Paul Woody pic
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I don't know where the heck Toy Bolton was headed - and likely neither did he. The pole winner Langley, King Richard and Turner all get by him. - Paul Woody pic
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Buddy Baker had a rough go of it too. He was around at the checkers but was FORTY-EIGHT laps down to the winner. He started and finished in the same spot: 17th. Petty again had a bird's eye view of another driver with a bad day. - Paul Woody pic |
When the dust settled, it was Spartanburg's David Pearson who got the win. He seized control of the race with about 50 laps to go and pretty easily held off Curtis to get the win in his Cotton Owens Dodge. After not having won in the first few races, Pearson's victory started a streak of 4 wins in a row. He followed Hickory with consecutive wins at Columbia, Greenville-Pickens and Bowman Gray.
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | David Pearson | '64 Dodge |
| 2 | Curtis Turner | '66 Ford |
| 3 | Bobby Isaac | '66 Ford |
| 4 | Ned Jarrett | '66 Ford |
| 5 | Paul Goldsmith | '65 Plymouth |
| 6 | Elmo Langley | '64 Ford |
| 7 | J.D. McDuffie | '64 Ford |
| 8 | Toy Bolton | '66 Chevrolet |
| 9 | Roy Tyner | '65 Chevrolet |
| 10 | Richard Petty | '65 Plymouth |
| 11 | Wayne Woodward | '66 Chevrolet |
| 12 | J.T. Putney | '65 Chevrolet |
| 13 | Henley Gray | '66 Ford |
| 14 | Wendell Scott | '65 Ford |
| 15 | Clyde Lynn | '64 Ford |
| 16 | Stick Elliott | '66 Chevrolet |
| 17 | Buddy Baker | '65 Chevrolet |
| 18 | Tiny Lund | '64 Ford |
| 19 | Cale Yarborough | '64 Ford |
| 20 | Jimmy Helms | '64 Ford |
| 21 | Gene Cline | '64 Ford |
| 22 | Tom Pistone | '64 Ford |
| 23 | Gene Black | '64 Ford |
| 24 | Joel Davis | '65 Plymouth |
| 25 | John Sears | '64 Ford |
| 26 | Buck Baker | 66 Oldsmobile |
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 04/03/17 11:40:15AM
