Wondering if track opted to put their $ towards the purse for all vs. show money to a few. Interesting some of the big names didn't make the trip. With NASCAR not returning, I wonder if some of the big dawgs wanted a bigger guarantee - which resulted in GN not returning.
Here is a link to my RHM re: Zervakis' "almost" win at Wilson in 1960.
http://racersreunion.com/community/forum/stock-car-racing-history/31852/april-17-1960-easter-sunday-controversy-at-wilson-speedway
NASCAR ran its only sanctioned Grand National race in the state of Massachusets on June 17, 1961 at Norwood Arena. The Yankee 500 was 500 laps - FIVE HUNDRED - on the quarter-mile paved oval. Race ad from NorwoodArena.com
Several GN regulars made the trek to Massachusetts. But several did not including Richard Petty and Junior Johnson. The field included several drivers who made only a handful of career GN starts including:
Pace car photo from NorwoodArena.com
Rex White won the pole. Jim Paschal timed second in a #14 Pontiac supposedly fielded by Julian Petty. Emanuel Zervakis lined up third, and multi-time NASCAR short track division champion Jim Reed posted the 4th quickest time. Buck Baker in #86 rounded out the top 5 starters.(Photo from NorwoodArena.com)
Starting seventh in #55 was Ernie Gahan. Less than two years later, Gahan along with Tiny Lund and three others performed a selfless act by rescuing Marvin Panch from his wrecked and burning Maserati at Daytona. (Photo from NorwoodArena.com)
Rex led the first quarter of the race exactly - 125 laps. Zervakis then passed White and he proceeded to lead the second quarter of the race to get the race to the halfway mark. Ned Jarrett led a handful of laps before Zervakis went back out front. Once there, the Golden Greek was credited with leading the remaining 238 laps to take the checkers.
White, however, wasn't convinced. He believed Zervakis made an illegal pit stop during a caution. (Where could you even safely pit on a quarter-mile track for a 500 lap event? Yeesh.) Rex formally protested Zervakis' win, and both waited a week for a decision from NASCAR.
The next day race reports distributed over the wire went ahead and noted Zervakis as the winner though White's protest was noted.
A week later as the circuit prepared to race in Hartsville SC [ see Tim Leeming's RHM ], NASCAR rejected White's protest and affirmed Zervakis as the winner. When made official, Zervakis had his second GN win of season. As it turned out, the Yankee 500 was also his second and final career GN victory.
Michael Clements writes about the other side of the story in his book The Crew Chief's Son . He writes about the 1961 Southern 500 - and backs up later to the Yankee 500.
So right before the [1961 Southern 500], NASCAR inspector Norris Friel came down to the #4 Chevy and told Rex and Louie that the car had been protested and it was not going to compete in todays race. They asked, Who protested? and received no answer. Then they asked, What is wrong with the car? Mr. Friel told them that he had been tipped off the engine was slid back in the car from its original location. Well, yes, it had been.
Clements goes on to describe Rex's and Louie's efforts to adjust the car to clear inspection for the race and picks up again with an edict from Friel.
Then Norris Friel said to them, You dont understand. These orders just came down from Daytona. This car is not going to race today! That was end of that. So, with 20 to 30 minutes before the race began, Rex and Louie ran over to the backstretch pits and borrowed Jack Smiths backup car for Rex to drive in the race...
Now, lets talk about who had protested Rexs 61 Chevy so as to prevent it from being raced this day. After the race, Rex and Louie and the team kind of figured that Emanuel Zervakis had to be the culprit. First, because White and Clements, Inc. had built a car for him to race the year before and while changing engines, he surely noticed this and kept it in his back pocket. But he was not actually in competition to win the points championship, so why would he do such as thing? Just two weeks before this 61 Southern 500 (TMC: more like 3 months), NASCAR was up north in Massachusetts at the Norwood Arena for the Yankee 500. Rex took the pole but at the end of the 500 lapsZervakis took the win with Rex finishing second. Rex felt Zervakis had made an illegal pit stop and protested him after the race. NASCAR checked the score cards and the win remained with Zervakis... So nowadays, we sort of think that the Darlington protest was just payback for the protest Rex made against Emanuel two weeks earlier.
A season after the 1961 Yankee 500 in 1962, a fella from just a few miles up the road began racing in the street division at Norwood Arena. Later in the decade, the driver would find himself racing in NASCAR's Grand National division. After earning rookie of the year, Pete Hamilton was placed in the 1970 Petty Enterprises Plymouth Superbird where he performed exceptionally well in his single season with the team.
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Emanuel Zervakis | '60 Chevrolet |
| 2 | Rex White | '60 Chevrolet |
| 3 | Ned Jarrett | '61 Chevrolet |
| 4 | Buck Baker | '61 Chrysler |
| 5 | Jim Reed | '61 Chevrolet |
| 6 | Jim Paschal | '61 Pontiac |
| 7 | Buzz Woodward | '59 Ford |
| 8 | Dominic Persicketti | '59 Ford |
| 9 | Sammy Packard | '61 Ford |
| 10 | Wendell Scott | '60 Chevrolet |
| 11 | Ernie Gahan | '59 Chevrolet |
| 12 | Eddie Flemke | '61 Dodge |
| 13 | Budd Olsen | '60 Chevrolet |
| 14 | Harold Wilcox | '59 Oldsmobile |
| 15 | Bob Devine | '61 Chevrolet |
| 16 | Jimmy Pardue | '61 Chevrolet |
| 17 | Hoss Kagle | '60 Ford |
| 18 | Jimmy Mairs | '61 Chevrolet |
Billy and Bobby Myers both passed away in the late 1950s - both on the track but under much different circumstances. Beginning in 1961, Bowman Gray Stadium honored the memory of the two brothers by naming the Grand National race the Myers Brothers Memorial. The second annual Myers Brothers Memorial 200 was held on Saturday night, June 16, 1962.
Race preview from The Dispatch
Before the race, 1960 Indy 500 winner Jim Rathman and astronaut Gus Grissom met the sons of Billy and Bobby.
Rex White - who had a sustained streak of success at Bowman Gray from 59-62 - won the pole to no one's surprise. Johnny Allen qualified 2nd. Jimmy Pardue, Richard Petty and Jack Smith rounded out the top 5 starters.
White beat Allen to the first corner on lap 1 and led the first 22 laps. From there, Allen took over. Though Allen recalls an epic battle with multiple lead changes between he and Rex for the remainder of the 200-lap race, Allen apparently was the official lap leader the rest of the way.
Perry Allen Wood wrote about the race in the chapter about Johnny Allen in his book Declarations of Stock Car Independents :
The Myers Brothers 200 on June 16, 1962, at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem counted the same as Daytona...Johnny raced Fred Lovette's 58.
"That was a '61 Pontiac Junior had been runnin' the year before. Rex was on the pole, and I was outside. Rex won the last three or four at the track. We ran side by side. Rex led a while, then I led. I was in the lead at the end, and Rex was right on me. Two abreast is really crowded at Bowman Gray. Rex was right on my bumper tryin' to get by. Comin' through three and four we come up on a lapped car. I dropped down. I knew Rex couldn't run the outside with that car there. 'I got him! No way he can beat me to the finish line.' Out of the corner of my eye, he's comin' on the inside. He had two wheels on the grass and was comin'! The finish line is almost down to the first turn. You back off about two car lengths before you get there. He was up to my door and gainin'. If I'da backed off to make the corner, he could have won. Inside, he could beat on me. Well, I've wrecked a lot faster. I didn't lift until I got across the line, and Rex was right beside me. Morris Metcalf saw how close we were and down to the line. Otherwise, they'd have probably called it a dead heat."
The win had to have been a much celebrated one for Allen, his crew and family and friends - especially since his other notable events were indeed exciting but for the wrong reasons such as:
1960 Darlington
1962 Charlotte
1962 Darlington - Getty
1963 Atlanta
Allen still kept his form a bit even after taking the win. From Winston-Salem Journal :
White remembers a race he didnt win, the Myers Brothers 200 in 1962.
I lost that race to Johnny Allen, White said. The only race he ever won was there.
Allen crashed and flew over the guardrail just seconds after beating White to the checkered flag.
After they crossed the line, White said: I backed off where I normally would and Johnny just stayed on it. He went clear over the guardrail. But he won the race.
And again from Perry's book:
"Ended up winning, hittin' the fence, tearing the right side off. Had to walk to victory lane. I wasn't going to lose. He leaned on me, and I don't know what he did but he didn't wreck. Rex was a tough drive, a great guy. I had good car too."
When Allen's career was completed, it turned out that the Bowman Gray victory would be his only career GN win. Allen in victory lane (after walking there apparently) - from Randy Gilbert
| Fin | Driver | Sponsor / Owner | Car |
| 1 | Johnny Allen | Fred Lovette | '61 Pontiac |
| 2 | Rex White | Louis Clements | '62 Chevrolet |
| 3 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | '62 Plymouth |
| 4 | Larry Thomas | Wade Younts | '62 Dodge |
| 5 | Joe Weatherly | Bud Moore | '61 Pontiac |
| 6 | Wendell Scott | Wendell Scott | '61 Chevrolet |
| 7 | Fred Harb | Fred Harb | '61 Ford |
| 8 | Jimmy Pardue | Jimmy Pardue | '62 Pontiac |
| 9 | Harry Leake | Lewis Osborne | '60 Chevrolet |
| 10 | Jack Smith | Jack Smith | '61 Pontiac |
| 11 | Ned Jarrett | B.G. Holloway | '62 Chevrolet |
| 12 | Curtis Crider | Curtis Crider | '60 Ford |
| 13 | Herman Beam | Herman Beam | '60 Ford |
| 14 | G.C. Spencer | G.C. Spencer | '60 Chevrolet |
| 15 | Jim Paschal | Cliff Stewart | '62 Pontiac |
| 16 | George Green | Jess Potter | '60 Chevrolet |
| 17 | Stick Elliott | Toy Bolton | '60 Ford |
| 18 | Buck Baker | Buck Baker | '61 Chrysler |
| 19 | Tom Cox | Ray Herlocker | '60 Plymouth |
Race preview and race report from Spartanburg Herald
As Tim Leeming posted a couple of years ago, the GN regulars raced at Occoneechee on June 8, 1952:
http://racersreunion.com/community/forum/stock-car-racing-history/24365/racing-history-minute-june-8-1952
This post likely doesn't fit the letter of the law when it comes to STOCK CAR RacersReunion. But it IS about a race that is part of NASCAR's record- even if NASCAR itself has discarded this part of its history.
Bill France Sr. bought an open wheel series to go head-to-head with AAA's Indianapolis style cars. The series was re-branded as the NASCAR Speedway Division. Overall, I know little to nothing about it. I'd really dig reading comments and posts from more folks that DO know something about it.
From what I understand, the short-lived series ran in 1952 and briefly in 1953. The season was almost literally that. Rather than run over the course of many months, the 7-race 1952 season was in May and June 1952: spring.
On June 8, 1952, the Speedway Division cars raced for the 5th time of the 7-race season on the famed Lakewood Speedway near Atlanta.
Wally Campbell won the pole, and Al Fleming timed 2nd in a car powered by a Hudson engine. Frankie Schneider qualified third, and Bill Miller lined up fourth in a car owned by a fella recognized by many: Raymond Parks.
The field barrels through the first turn of the 100-lap race. - Getty Images
Miller led the first 60 laps but broke an axle to end his day. South Florida's Al Keller took over from there. Keller led the final 40 laps and claimed the win. - Getty Images
Georgian Jack Smith who became a Grand National regular in the late 1950s finished 2nd. This pic is obviously not from the Lakewood race - but you get the idea. - Getty Images
Another driver who became a GN regular - Speedy Thompson - finished 6th in a car fielded by NASCAR regular Buddy Shuman. - Getty Images
Another Thompson - Georgia driver Roscoe Thompson - made a "home town" appearance but finished 16th in the 17 car field. - Getty Images
Race report from the Palm Beach Post
I found this video clip summarizing a bit more about the Speedway Division.
| Fin | St | Driver | Car |
| 1 | 15 | Al Keller | Cadillac |
| 2 | 8 | Jack Smith | Chrysler |
| 3 | 1 | Wally Campbell | Ford |
| 4 | 7 | Buck Baker | Cadillac |
| 5 | 4 | Bill Miller | Oldsmobile |
| 6 | 5 | Speedy Thompson | GMC |
| 7 | 11 | Gene Darragh | Ford |
| 8 | 6 | Mickey Fenn | Ford |
| 9 | 10 | Lyle Scott | DeSoto |
| 10 | 16 | Sam Waldrop | Hudson |
| 11 | 3 | Frankie Schneider | Ford |
| 12 | 13 | Jim Reed | Ford |
| 13 | 2 | Al Fleming | Hudson |
| 14 | 17 | Bob Halston | Nash |
| 15 | 12 | Bob Johnson | Kaiser |
| 16 | 14 | Roscoe Thompson | Ford |
| 17 | 9 | Tex Keene | Mercury |
But then and now, facts don't sell newspapers. Racy lingerie sells papers. Ha.
Preview.
Editor: How do you plan to open your preview?
Writer: entry of racer Wayne Andrews, manager at an underwear plant
Editor: Ehh, what else ya got?
Writer: entry of Waye Andrews, plant manager of racy lingerie
Editor: The underwear is racy? Or Andrews?
Writer: entry of Wayne Andrews, the racing lingerie plant manager
Editor: I like it. Nice subterfuge. Print it.
Good catch Robert. I was blowing & going with my articles. Thought the "o" in Tom was the typo.
