Race program
A general admission ticket stub
Curtis Turner
Cale Yarborough
Skip Hudson - in his 4th of a brief 4-race GN career. All 4 starts were at Riverside from 1963-1966.
Gurney not only finished first in the race - but he also was the first to submit an entry blank for the race. The submission by Gurney and the Wood Brothers was an indication Ford Motor Company may indeed field factory-backed car in NASCAR in 1966. As it turns out of course, that wasn't quite the way things played out.
More in this RR post from December 28, 2013:
http://racersreunion.com/community/forum/stock-car-racing-history/29681/december-28-racing-notes
A fantastic shot of Gurney in the Wood Brothers' 121 Mercury. Neither could do anything wrong it seemed at Riverside in that era.
And the Henry Ford Arte House again has a great on-line collection of photos - almost 400! - from this race. A few are included below.
Jim Hurtubise
King Richard
A neat shot of Gurney
Jerry Grant
1966 rookie James Hylton
David Pearson enjoying the spoils of his top qualifying effort in Cotton Owens' Dodge
Canadian Billy Foster in his one and only NASCAR GN start
A.J. Foyt
Curtis Turner
Race report from Charleston's News And Courier .
Gurney's four-peat was also the lead headline in National Speed Sport News. (HT to Russ Thompson for the issue cover.)
Five minutes of race highlights. Lots of rooster tailing through the California dust!
Riverside had a pre-race celebration parade featuring some B or even C list celebs. Several were from the sitcom The Munsters.
Included in the parade was the "Dragula" car raced by Grandpa and pushed by Herman Munster.
Interesting the timing of that issue of SMR. I wonder if the article was prep'd before Christmas and then held until the January 1967 issue. On December 15, 1966 the Spartanburg Herald reported PE had re-signed with Chrysler for 1967.
http://stockcar.racersreunion.com/forum/topics/december-15th-racing-related-history
On January 4, 1967, the Inman SC Jaycees recognized James Hylton - 1966 NASCAR Grand National Rookie of the Year and runner-up in the championship to David Pearson - as its man of the year. From Spartanburg Herald .
Hylton and Pearson in 1966. From Ray Lamm collection.
Hylton and Jarrett in 1966. From Paul Woody collection.
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On the same day Hylton was celebrated in his home town, Donald Campbell was killed in England as he attempted to set yet another speed record on water in the famed Bluebird. Campell was the son of iconic Daytona Beach speedster Sir Malcolm Campbell. His death came only two years and 5 days after he'd set a speed record on water on an Australian lake. From Spartanburg Herald .
