Bench Racing From the Volunteer State

NASCAR's 1987 Winston Cup season got off to a blistering start. Awful Bill from Dawsonville, Bill Elliott, captured his second Daytona 500 win in three years. He did so after also capturing the pole at 210 MPH and leading over half the race. The jaw dropping lap was a NASCAR speed record that lasted only until May 1987 when Elliott topped it by another two miles per hour at Talladega.

The rest of the top five at Daytona was comprised of Benny Parsons as a replacement for Tim Richmond in the Hendrick Folgers Chevy, a surprisingly resurgent Richard Petty, another old guy Buddy Baker, and Dale Earnhardt.

Earnhardt then went on a tear. He and the Richard Childress Racing, Wrangler Jeans #3 team won four of the next five races. A failed alternator and battery during a dominating day at Atlanta prevented him from sweeping Rockingham through North Wilkesboro.

The racing gypsies then rolled into East Tennessee for the third short track race of the young season. The Valleydale Meats 500 at Bristol was slated for April 12th. The 1986 winner of the race, Rusty Wallace, was back to defend his title - albeit with Kodiak as his sponsor rather than Alugard as he'd had in 1986.

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The Bandit - Harry Gant - won the pole for the 1987 race, but he had little time to enjoy his view from up front. Wallace leaped on the lead when the green flag waved and led the first 40 laps. Gant completed the full race, but led only one lap on his way to a pedestrian P6 finish.

Elliott was widely known for his superspeedway strength as well as his challenges on many short tracks. At Bristol, however, his Coors Ford came to race. He led three times during the middle stages of the race - two of which were for 50+ laps each. When the checkers fell, Elliott finished a solid P4.

Another lap bully of the day was one of Tennessee's own. Sterling Marlin was a three-time track champion at Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway. He had his sights set on his first Cup victory in the eastern third of the state.

As the race hit the 200 lap mark, Sterling found himself on the point. He found his rhythm and pulled the field around Bristol's asphalt half-mile for over 50 laps. Behind him and closing quickly, however, was the blue and yellow #3.

Earnhardt dropped low on Marlin as the two roared through turns 3 and 4 of lap 253. As they sailed off into turn 1, Marlin held his outside line as Earnhardt tried to squeeze to the inside as both passed Mike Potter on the bottom. Earnhardt twitched his car slightly to the right and hooked Marlin in the left rear. (Wreck begins around 1:39 mark in video near end of post.)

Potter continued along with Earnhardt who checked up a bit. Geoff Bodine jumped on the binders, spun, and Ken Schrader sideswiped the left side of Bodine's Levi Garrett Chevy. Though Marlin was calm and collected when interviewed by Jerry Punch on ESPN, he was anything but pleased with how things unfolded.

Source: Knoxville News Sentinel

ESPN nearly missed the Earnhardt and Marlin incident after an on-screen graphic about an Oldsmobile having never won a Bristol spring race was removed just as Earnhardt made things three wide. As an aside, an Olds never did win the Bristol spring race. The manufacturer's only Bristol win was scored by Cale Yarborough in the summer 1978 Volunteer 500, the track's inaugural night race.

As the track crew cleaned the track from the accident and most of the leaders pitted, Kyle Petty stayed out an extra lap. Rain began to fall, and the race was red flagged at lap 265. Kyle had one Cup win on his résumé at that point - the February 1986 Miller 400 at Richmond - but was coming off a P2 to Earnhardt a week earlier at North Wilkesboro.

Kyle and his Wood Brothers, Citgo team had hoped NASCAR would call the race official at that point, but they also knew their chances of winning an abbreviated race were slim. Sure enough, the race resumed after a 90 minute delay. The #21 Ford was competitive yet not enough to hang with others in the top 5. When the long day was done, Petty landed in 7th place - the final car on the lead lap.

Source: Bristol Herald Courier

Side note: The writer of the article, Kevin Triplett, later went to work for NASCAR and then the Bristol track as its Vice President of Public Affairs. Today, Triplett is the Commissioner of Tourism Development for the state of Tennessee.

After the rain and during the final third of the race, Elliott resumed his strong run and led nearly 40 laps. Morgan Shepherd then took over the top spot for 30+ laps in Kenny Bernstein's Quaker State Buick.

Meanwhile, two cars were rolling towards the front. Earnhardt carved his way through traffic after repairs to his right front resulting from his hook of Marlin. He passed Shepherd with about 120 laps to go and set sail.

The second driver who found new life down the stretch was ol' King Richard. After seeing Kyle out front and in a position to win because of the rain, King may have been motivated to get up there and remind his kid of how the old man had done it for decades. He continued to progress through the top ten and knocked off drivers such as Kyle, Elliott, Ricky Rudd, and Shepherd.

With ten to go, King had Earnhardt in his sights. He white smoked his right rear tire as he hustled his STP Pontiac after the leader. Petty was *this close* to Earnhardt as the white flag flew, but he simply ran out of laps and tires to challenge for win #201.

The race was the final second place finish in The King's career. The race was also the second and final time Earnhardt and King finished in the top two spots - the other being at Atlanta in November 1986. Just about everyone knows Petty won 200 Cup races in his career. Many are not aware, however, of another remarkable stat from his career: 157 P2s.

Source: Bristol Herald Courier

Earnhardt won again the following week at Martinsville to extend his winning streak to four races. Had it not been for his failed alternator and battery at Atlanta, he could have had a seven-race winning streak heading to Talladega the week after Martinsville.

Source: Knoxville News Sentinel

TMC

As the calendar turned to 1969, only three seasons had passed since Nashville's Fairground Speedways re-opened following a devastating fire in September 1965.Yet the new tradition of the Flameless 300 as the track's season opener was by then old hat. The fourth running of the event was scheduled for April 19, 1969.

Several track regulars returned for another season at the fairgrounds. Included in that bunch were Jimmy Griggs from Donelson (TMC's stomping grounds as a yute), long-time veteran driver Bill Morton, future Winston Cup independent Dave Sisco (who would also claim the track's LMS title in 1969), and 1967 late model track champion Walter Wallace.

Source: The Tennessean via Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History Facebook page

One regular who did not return was four-time track champ Coo Coo Marlin. Tom Powell from The Tennessean noted Coo Coo "retired" following the 1968 season. Coo Coo didn't actually retire - he just didn't race at the fairgrounds as often. He focused instead on developing a NASCAR Grand National program and entered seven races in 1969 - including the inaugural Grand National race at Talladega. Though Coo Coo's GN/Cup program wasn't a winning one, it served as a proving ground over the next decade for his son, Sterling.

Source: The Tennessean

The Flameless 300 was scheduled as the track's season opener since 1966. In a bit of irony, rain arrived and postponed the 1969 Flameless. Instead of opening with a 300-lapper on a Saturday night, fans welcomed the new season with a Tuesday night slate of regular races. The 300 was rescheduled for the following Saturday, April 26th.

Source: The Tennessean

The late Joe Carver was track promoter Bill Donoho's right hand man when it came to promoting races. He polished the rainout by suggesting the makeup date would draw more big name drivers including NASCAR legends Junior Johnson, Rex White, and Red Farmer as well as two-time and defending Flameless 300 winner, Freddy Fryar.

As it turns out, none of the drivers teased by Carver showed for the race. Zero. But Carver always looked forward - not behind. After a few more years in Nashville, he moved to Virginia to promote races at Langley Speedway. Carver later became an integral part of Darrell Waltrip's management team - including the launch of his own Cup team, DarWal, Inc. The two met during Waltrip's formative and championship years in Nashville.

Source: The Tennessean

Ben Pruitt won the pole in his first late model sportsman division start. Though a late model noob, Pruitt was a dominant winner throughout 1968 in the track's Tuesday night limited late model division. Aboard one of R. C. Alexander's Harpeth Motor Fords, Pruitt had a so-so night in his debut. As it turns out, his Flameless 300 P1 start ultimately became his biggest accomplishment in the late model sportsman division.

Pruitt continued to race albeit with limited success. In August 1972, he was involved in a vicious wreck with James Ham in turn 2 as the cars entered the backstretch. Flames engulfed Pruitt's car, and his recovery from the burns all but ended his racing career.

Flookie Buford had been a 1960s era racer in the track's figure 8 and Cadet divisions. Like Pruitt, he moved up to the track's late model sportsman division as a rookie beginning with the 1969 Flameless. He joined Pruitt as a teammate in a second Alexander Ford. In the 1970s, Alexander provided late models for his son, Mike Alexander, who eventually had an injury-shortened Winston Cup career.

Pruitt set out to prove being fastest during qualifying wasn't his only skill. When the green flag fell, Pruitt buried his foot, hauled off into turn one, and led the first 107 laps.

While Coo Coo Marlin turned his efforts to NASCAR's Big Time, his brother, Jack Marlin, returned for another season and shot at the Flameless 300 trophy. But as was the case a year earlier, Jack again had a miserable night. He wrecked early and finished 24th out of 27 cars. In 1967, Jack exited under a similar scenario and finished 25th out of 27 cars.

After leading the opening third of the race, Pruitt surrendered the lead to Bob Burcham. A junk dealer (*cough* retailer of used auto parts), Burcham qualified second to Pruitt and held his lead until he made a stop for fuel on lap 194.

Jimmy Griggs assumed the lead when Burcham and Pruitt pitted. Griggs had rallied from three laps down because of an early-race accident and extended time in the pits. But he made up the deficit and found himself in the lead when the top two made their stops. Griggs' lead was short-lived, however, as Burcham went back to the point on lap 202. Griggs later lost a right front wheel spindle but still managed a P3 despite his steering challenges.

Pruitt's #85 Cinderella chariot unfortunately turned into a pumpkin. Despite keeping pace with Burcham and maintaining a clean car, he cut a tire with 60 laps to go, popped the wall, and had to settle for an eighth place finish.

With Pruitt out of the picture and Griggs having issues, Burcham hunkered down and led the remaining third of the race.

Unlike his teammate Pruitt, Flookie Buford had a great night in his LMS debut with a P2 in the Alexander Ford. Buford really took to the division and won Nashville's LMS title in 1971 and 1972. His son, Joe Buford, later won four titles of his own between 1998 and 2002.

With four Flameless 300s in the books, two were won by Freddy Fryar and Burcham nabbed the other two. Burcham had an edge in overall stats with two poles and a P2 finish in 1968.

Source: The Tennessean

The race was the final Flameless on the Fairgrounds' original track layout. Construction equipment rolled in after the 1969 season concluded, and the track was rebuilt to a high speed demon. Gone was the original half-mile. In its place would rise a 5/8-mile oval banked 35 degrees - steeper than any track in the country including Daytona and Talladega.

Finishing Order:

Bob Burcham
Flookie Buford
Jimmy Griggs
Raymond Stiles
Dorman Adams
Tommy Andrews
Bobby Hargrove
Ben Pruitt
Phil Woodall
Donnie Roberts
Ed Kennedy
Charlie Higdon
Ron Blasingim
David Hitt
B.K. Luna
James Veach
Gene Payne
Don Binkley
Bruce Hidenwaite
Chester Albright
Otis Deck Jr.
Roy Brinson
John Nicholson
Jack Marlin
Walter Wallace
Charlie Binkley
David Sisco

TMC

Since 1958, Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway closed its seasons annually for twenty years with the running of the Southern 300 during the 1960s and Southern 400 in the 1970s. Beginning in 1966, the track scheduled the Flameless 300 as its April season opener (1967 - 1968 - 1969).

A month following the 1969 Southern 300, construction crews arrived to tear up the original half-mile track and replace it with a high-banked one. Long-time Nashville racing historian, Russ Thompson, blogged in 2011:

After the fire destroyed the original grandstands in September of 1965, the track went into a holding pattern. Management realized the track needed to be updated but wanted to wait until a decision was made to reconstruct a permanent grandstand. The “temporary” stands served the track for four seasons.

During 1969 the Fair Board approved construction of a new state-of-the-art grandstand. It would be covered like the original stands, but unique in that there would be no posts supporting the roof. A revolutionary design was implemented where a series of cables would support the roof from above. With the construction of the stands, the decision was made to build a new track as well. The track would have the steepest banks in the nation at 36 degrees. And the distance would be slightly longer than the half-mile at five-eighths of a mile.

The new track was supposed to be ready for racing by May 30, 1970 - about six weeks later than the traditional season opening. Instead, multiple delays pushed the completion date until well into the summer.

The track was finally ready - barely - by mid-July. Rather than launch the abbreviated season with the late model sportsman 300-lapper, NASCAR's Grand National teams arrived to christen the new track. The Nashville 420 was slotted for July 25th - about the same of the year as it had been throughout the 1960s. Bobby Isaac won the race, but the larger story was about tires. Speeds were significantly faster on the new, smooth, high-banked track, and the tires simply couldn't cope with them.

A newer tire compound was brought in for the 1970 edition of the Flameless 300 two weeks later on August 8th, the second event of the shortened season. It was expected to be a safer, more predictable tire for the late model racers.

Source: The Tennessean

The defending and two-time winner of the Flameless 300, Bob Burcham, did not return for the 1970 race. He had been expected to race and perhaps would have done so if the race was held on one of the previously expected dates.

Freddy Fryar, also a two-time Flameless 300 winner, returned for the 1970 race after missing it in 1969. Fryar's finish in his first outing on the new track, however, hardly resembled the solid finishes he'd experienced on the old half-mile.

Source: The Tennessean

A driver making his Nashville debut was Jerry Sisco, brother of 1969 track champion and future Winston Cup driver, Dave Sisco.

Source: The Nashville Banner

Jerry Sisco endured a bit of irony in two different rookie seasons.

He began his Nashville racing days in the 1970 Flameless 300.
Six years later as a Cup rookie in Darlington's Rebel 500, he pounded the wall and went up in flames. He was pulled to safety by Dale Inman and Barry Dodson from Petty Enterprises' crew. The race was Jerry's fourth (and perhaps understandably) final career Cup start.

Jimmy Griggs, a long-time Nashville racer, winner and fan favorite, was badly injured in the 1969 season-ending Southern 300. About two-thirds of the race through the race, Griggs and Ron Blasingim were involved in a first-turn, two-car savage wreck with Griggs getting the worst end of it. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and needed months to recover.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History Facebook Group

The accident ended Griggs' racing career. But he returned just shy of a year later to be the Grand Marshal for the 1970 Flameless 300.

Source: The Tennessean

Chattanooga, TN drivers Fryar and Burcham had ruled the night in the four previous Flameless 300 races. The duo split the four races, and Burcham won two poles to boot. Another Chattanooga driver - Friday Hassler - added to the Scenic City narrative by winning the pole position for the 1970 race.

A two-time winner of Nashville's Southern 300 in 1962-1963, Hassler had been a frequent NASCAR GN racer since 1967, and he was the only driver in the Flameless field to also race in Nashville's GN event a month earlier.

James Ham, a local racer since 1968, seemingly loved the high banks. He qualified an unexpected second. With the new configuration, Nashville's track record was destroyed by the top qualifiers by about 30 MPH.

An occasional racer at the Fairgrounds from Owensboro, Kentucky - Darrell Waltrip - qualified third, and Bill Morton lined up fourth. Waltrip committed to run the full season, such that it was, in Nashville for the first time in 1970 in an orange-and-white #48 Chevelle owned by long-time Nashville racer P.B. Crowell.

Though the tire issues experienced in the Grand National race seemed to have been resolved, new challenges faced the late models. The speeds of the new high-banked demon stressed the cars and drivers.

Hassler led eight of the first nine laps before breaking a rocker arm in his engine. Ham interrupted Hassler's lead but for only one lap. After only six laps, he broke a wheel spindle and within moments was joined on the sidelines by Hassler. The top two qualifiers suddenly found themselves as the bottom two finishers.

With Hassler and Ham gone, Charlie Binkley in #125 took over and led the first third of the race. Fryar in #41 and Waltrip followed close behind as all three took the high line around the speedway - not even close to the line that drivers take on today's track configuration.

Continuing the theme of the night, however, Binkley's early domination ended with a parts failure. His distributor gave up the ghost, and he parked it as had fourteen other cars before him - all before the halfway mark of the race!

Fryar broke a crankshaft a couple of laps after Binkley's exit, and he would not become a three-time Flameless 300 winner. Fryar's night was not done just yet though. Nearing lap 200, former NASCAR GN driver and middle Tennessee transplant, Bunkie Blackburn hit pit road. He almost passed out from fumes in the car and needed oxygen when pulled from his car. Fryar immediately belted into Blackburn's #42 in relief.

Before Blackburn could be transported to a local hospital, however, Fryar's night was finally done. Not long after returning to the track, Fryar wrecked Blackburn's car while trying to pass a lapped car.

A full third of the race remained, but few cars remained to challenge for the win. With many of the top starters already parked, Waltrip put 'er on cruise control and piled up lap after lap out front. When the checkered flag fell, the late model rookie was five laps ahead of second place finisher L.D. Ottinger and 25 laps ahead of third place finisher, Ben Pierce. Only eight of 33 cars were still around to see the end of the Flameless.

The victory was Waltrip's first late model win at Nashville. He followed it with 50+ more of them. Waltrip's Nashville resume is also padded with:

two late model sportsman track titles
eight Winston Cup victories - including four in a row
a Busch Series win
a USAC stock car division win, and
an All American 400 win.

Waltrip also won eleven Cup races at Bristol. He has noted he developed his feel for Bristol by racing on Nashville's high banks in the early 1970s.

Source: The Tennessean

Finishing Order:

Darrell Waltrip
L. D. Ottinger
Ben Pierce
Ronnie Blasingim
Jerry Sisco
Bob Brown
James Veach
Harold Carden
Jim Woodall
Junior Caldwell
Gene Payne
Bunky Blackburn
Dorman Adams
Bill Morton
Jimmy Kyle
David Sisco
Freddy Fryar
Phil Woodall
Charley Binkley
Flookie Buford
Charlie Higdon
Bobby Hargrove
Chester Albright
Bobby Walker
Bob Hunley
Jim McDowell
Donnie Roberts
Jimmy Williams
Art Ellis
David Lowe
B. K. Luna
Friday Hassler
James Ham

TMC

Beginning in 1966, Nashville's Fairground Speedways opened each season with the Flameless 300. The banking was raised to a Talladega-esque 35 degrees when the track was rebuilt in 1969-1970, and the toll on the cars, tires, and drivers was felt immediately. During the 1970 Flameless 300, the majority of the field was gone by lap 200. Darrell Waltrip cruised the final third of the race and won by five laps over the second place finisher.

Following the race, track promoter Bill Donoho floated the idea of cutting the race length to minimize the risk of another ho-hum affair. Sure enough, the lap count was cut by 100 laps, and the Flameless 200 was set for April 17, 1971.

Ticket and Nashville Banner photo courtesy of Russ Thompson

The race distance wasn't the only change for 1971. For the first time, the season opening race received a title sponsor, Permatex.

The changes marked a transition for the track.

More than five years had passed since the September 1965 fire that destroyed the track's grandstands.
Gone was the original half-mile track.
A new track now stood along with brand new, covered grandstands.
Increased corporate dollars were beginning to flow into motorsports - both at the national level with NASCAR and R.J. Reynolds and at the local level such the Permatex support and branding at Nashville.

In the weeks leading up the race, however, the local paper (and the tickets) still referred to the upcoming Flameless 200. Why The Tennessean mentioned the Flameless vs. Permatex race name isn't known (at least to me).

Perhaps the paper intentionally avoided referencing a sponsor that hadn't bought advertising in the paper - or the announcement of Permatex as the race sponsor came closer to race day - or old habits were just hard to break. One could consider the race as the final Flameless 300/200 or the first Permatex 200. Either way, it was time to race.

Source: The Tennessean

Source: Nashville Banner / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

After missing the Flameless for the first time in 1970, two-time race winner and two-time pole winner Bob Burcham was back. Unlike his winning ways on the old track, however, Burcham would have a tough night in his first Flameless on the new surface.

Source: The Tennessean

Freddy Fryar, two-time Flameless 300 winner in 1966 and 1968, did not return for the final one in 1971. He instead dominated a 25-lap late model sportsman race at Jackson International Speedway in Mississippi.

Source: The Tennessean

James Ham backed up his fast test session by winning the pole with a track record speed. He broke the record previously held by Red Farmer set just a few months earlier in the 1970 season-ending Southern 300.

Waltrip, Nashville's 1970 late model sportsman division champion, returned for another full season in 1971. Gone were the traditional orange-and-white colors of owner P.B. Crowell. The #48 Chevelle instead sported a red-and-gold scheme tied to Waltrip's new sponsor and lined up alongside Ham on the front row. Coincidentally, the front row matched the two cars side-by-side in the track office's mural.

Farmer arrived in town but hardly ready to race. He suffered a broken leg on April 5th in a multi-car accident during a 100-lap race at Smoky Mountain Raceway in Maryville, TN. Farmer was a two-time, back-to-back NASCAR national late model sportsman champion in 1969 and 1970. Though early in the season, Farmer was already in a tight points battle with Georgia's Sam Sommers.

Two weeks after breaking his leg, Farmer somehow managed to belt into the car, make a pace lap, and then turn his car over to relief driver Tommy Andrews. Reason? Simple. That's what racers of that era did. Andrews did just as he was asked. He took care of Farmer's ride and managed to finish one spot ahead of Sommers. Farmer's commitment and toughness were rewarded when he won his third consecutive LMS title in 1971.

Tiny Lund was a somewhat surprising entrant. The big fella came to town with somewhat of a dual agenda (and the legendary experience of destroying his car and part of the track during the 1963 Nashville 400). He planned to race in the 200 of course. His second plan, however, was to promote the Baughman Hi Speed 100, a NASCAR Grand American division race for "pony cars" scheduled for three weeks after the 200. After qualifying mid-pack, Lund never got to tackle objective #1. He burned a clutch and didn't even start the race.

At the drop of the green, Ham took advantage of his top starting spot and led the first 48 laps. But with a good rhythm rolling, Ham suddenly lost a water pump, had to make an extended stop, and struggled to a 20th place finish. For the second consecutive year, Ham had a fast car but little to show for it.

Waltrip won the 1970 Flameless 300 in dominating fashion, but the same couldn't be said a year later. Though he qualified second and led a few laps, a blown right front tire slowed his roll. When the night was done, he finished 21st - one spot behind pole-winner Ham.

Burcham won the Flameless in 1967 and 1969. He had to like his odds of winning his third one in an odd year, but a blown engine at lap 150 pretty well ended that quest.

Local driver Flookie Buford went to the point as Burcham exited and seemed to be in control for the win. A cut tire with about 20 laps to, however, doomed his chances. He made his stop and returned to action, but he was in third and a lap down to two drivers in front of him.

As Buford limped to pit road, Chattanooga, TN's Friday Hassler took the lead. Hassler, the 1970 Flameless 300 pole winner, had to be pleased with his reversal of fortune. A year earlier, he fell out of the race after only 10 laps. In 1971's race, he found himself sitting pretty with only 20 quick laps standing between him and the trophy. But then Hassler had to have exclaimed you've GOT to be kidding me! With just six laps to go, Hassler's Chevelle broke a driveshaft. Though he had enough laps on the car behind him to not lose a position, the P3 finish was little consolation.

By process of attrition and misfortune of others, journeyman racer Art Ellis found himself out front in a lap of his own. He knocked down the handful of remaining laps and headed to victory lane. Buford finished second after his late pit stop but was still a lap down to the winner.

Source: The Tennessean

Tragically, Ellis was able to savor his big win for only a couple of months. During a 30-lap, LMS feature race at the Fairgrounds on July 3rd, Ellis veered towards the inside of the backstretch while running fourth. He struck a large tire surrounding a utility pole, flipped several times, and was killed.

Source: The Tennessean

The Flameless race era was over - and Ellis was its final winner. The race began following a disastrous fire in 1965, and the final one was tied to tragedy with Ellis' death. Nashville continued hosting 200-lap season openers through 1978. Permatex returned as the race's title sponsor through 1974, and R.J. Reynolds' Winston brand sponsored the races in 1975 through 1978.

Finishing Order:

Art Ellis
Flookie Buford
Friday Hassler
Jerry Echols
David Sisco
Dorman Adams
L. D. Ottinger
Dexter Brady
Red Farmer
Sam Sommers
Bob Burcham
Rod Stillings
Ben Pruitt
Harold Carden
Bill Morton
Charley Binkley
Bob Brown
Robert “Paddlefoot” Wales
Rhea Greenwell
James Ham
Darrell Waltrip
Chester Albright
Clyde Peoples
Junior Caldwell
Don Anthony
Bobby Walker
Paul Lewis
Ronnie Blasingim
Chuck Hunter
Tiny Lund (DNS)

TMC

Dale Earnhardt began making the trek to Nashville Speedway in the mid 1970s. His first race at the Fairgrounds was the June 1976 Union 76 200, and he finished second to fellow North Carolinian Harry Gant.

Source: The Tennessean / TMC Archives

A little over a year later, Earnhardt and his crew towed to middle Tennessee again for the August 1977 World Service Life 200. He finished fourth in the race won by Butch Lindley.

Credit: David Allio / Racing Photo Archives

Earnhardt headed to Winston Cup full-time as a rookie in 1979; however, he still returned to the short tracks as he advanced in Cup. Sure, track promoters had to cough up some show money and frequently provide a car. The trade-off, however, was generally a boon with increased sales of tickets and concessions.

During his Wrangler era with Richard Childress Racing, Earnhardt returned to Nashville in July 1987 and raced a car provided by Tony Formosa Jr. From the 1960s through the 1990s, Formosa and his family raced at the Fairgrounds. Today, Tony Jr. is the leaseholder and promoter of the track now known as Fairgrounds Speedway.

NASCAR pulled its two Winston Cup dates from Nashville following the 1984 season. Earnhardt hadn't raced at the Fairgrounds since until his return for the one-off event in 1987. He started and finished sixth in the 250-lap race.

Source: Tony Formosa Jr. / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

The Nashville track went through all sorts of operational and managerial turnover through the 1980s...and arguably beyond. But two truths remained:

Nashville racing fans remained loyal. They loved their Fairgrounds racing and traveled in large numbers to Cup races in most southern states.
Drivers dug racing Nashville's .596-mile track - and still do.

Earnhardt returned to Nashville yet again - and for the final time as a driver - in May 1990 for the Motorcraft 200. Former Nashville track champions, Sterling Marlin and Bobby Hamilton, were also recruited to participate in the race. Marlin was in his third Cup season with owner Billy Hagan, and Hamilton was in his rookie Busch Series season with FILMAR Racing.

The race was strategically scheduled for Saturday, May 12 - an open weekend for the Cup Series between Talladega's Winston 500 on May 6th and The Winston at Charlotte on May 20th.

A car was arranged for Earnhardt, and Hamilton agreed to shake it down and set it up for him. He apparently did so with the assistance of a pooch named Elwood.

Source: Joe Ryman / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Source: The Tennessean

Hamilton crammed a good bit of racing - and travel - into a single day. After finishing eighth in a Busch race at Pennsylvania's Nazareth Speedway, he hopped a plane and buzzed home to Nashville to race in the 200-lapper at the Fairgrounds.

He also offered somewhat of a prescient quote noting the race was

...a chance for a local driver to attract a little attention. In this sport timing is everything, and a good showing against a big-name driver might give a local driver his big break.

Source: The Tennessean

With Earnhardt and Marlin in town, Hamilton on his way home, and plenty of local racers ready to rub fenders with the big dawgs, all looked set. Lo and behold though, one of the worst things that could befall a race promoter and a fired-up set of fans happened. Rain.

Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson passed along this memory from driver Dan Ford:

They had to postpone the race. They got all the drivers together to tell them. Everyone was disappointed because Dale was here, and they all really wanted to run the race with him here. Dale spoke up and said, "Would y'all want to run the race Wednesday night? I've got commitments Monday and Tuesday, but I can come back and run on Wednesday." It was a unanimous vote. That's how they came to run it on Wednesday.

Weeknight racing was a regular thing in the late 1960s at the Fairgrounds, and track management experimented with a few Tuesday night shows in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Motorcraft 200 was the first Wednesday race, however, since Red Farmer won a modified feature during the Tennessee State Fair in September 1961.

Russ Thompson recalled:

[The Motorcraft 200] was scheduled for Saturday night and got rained out. They ran it on a Wednesday night and to everyone's surprise Earnhardt came back. Earnhardt was driving a black Goodwrench #3 that looked just like his Cup car. Gray Bickley was the owner.

The similarly prepared Olds of Hamilton and Chevy of Earnhardt were parked side by side as crews made final adjustments before qualifying.

Source: Sparky Harrington / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

The black #3 won the pole, and Jeff Green from Owensboro, KY qualified alongside him. When the green flag fell, Green buried his foot and got the jump into the first turn. Earnhardt may have been the star attraction - but he was hardly the only big dawg that night in Nashville.

Courtesy of Mark Gregory

Fans witnessed high attrition throughout the 40-car field. Only sixteen of 40 cars remained at the finish. Hamilton was one of the drivers who loaded his car early. He and P.B. Crowell III tangled going into turn 1, and both were done for the night.

Green led frequently and in large chunks as others fell by the wayside. Marlin stayed in the hunt and was able to see clean air in the second half of the race - especially after Green made a pit stop. With fresh shoes, however, Green tracked down Marlin and went back to the point with about 30 laps to go.

Though Green dominated much the race, Earnhardt kept him honest. As he pursued Green for the lead late in the race, however, Earnhardt cut a tire, spun, gathered it back up, but didn't lose a lap. Fans got to see his experience and car control that was frequently on display during Sunday Cup races. During the yellow, Earnhardt changed tires and returned to the top five. He then battled with Dan Ford the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, Green pulled away and captured his fourth win in five starts of the season.

Source: Joey Kincaid / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Local racer Ford wasn't intimidated by The Intimidator and held on for second. Earnhardt sandwiched his P3 at Nashville between his Cup wins at Talladega and in The Winston. Marlin and Jason Kennedy rounded out the top five.

Source: The Tennessean

Green's win was more than just another notch in a dominating season at Nashville. Back to Hamilton's pre-race quote, Earnhardt took note of Green's performance. Five years later, Green was hired to race DEI's #3 Goodwrench Chevy in NASCAR's Busch Series.

Russ Thompson also noted:

Two months later, that same car was green with a #33 and Skoal on it. Harry Gant finished 4th to Jeff, Dan Ford, and Michael Waltrip [in July 14 Ford Dealers 200]. Ten days later, in another rained out race [July 24], Bobby Hamilton drove the same car in the same scheme and won. It was one of very few races that year Jeff didn't win.

Source: Bob Ray / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Hamilton set up the top-shelf late model for Earnhardt to race at Nashville in 1990. I'm sure he was glad to see Earnhardt remembered that arrangement six years later when the two of them battled in the late stages of the Cup race at Rockingham. Oh. Wait. OK, never mind.

TMC

For many years, Falls City was a coming of age and working man's beer. The Nashville-area distributor leveraged the brand as a frequent sponsor at the track most refer to as Fairgrounds Speedway through much of the 1970s.

Drivers such as James Ham, Flookie Buford, Charlie Binkley, Bobby Isaac, Buddy Baker and ... Darrell Waltrip sported the red and gold colors of Falls City at the Fairgrounds.

Falls City also sponsored an annual, late model sportsman race at the Fairgrounds from 1972 through 1977. Except for the first one, the Falls City 200 was scheduled between late May and mid-June. This post will highlight the first three editions - all of which had a common denominator.

Falls City 100 - July 29, 1972

The first Falls City race was 100 vs. 200 laps and the only one on the track's 5/8 mile, high-banked configuration that lasted from 1970 through 1972. Run under Nashville's lights, the race was scheduled the same day Joe Leonard won the second annual Schaefer 500 at Pocono.

Waltrip, Nashville's 1970 late model sportsman champion, won the pole and dominated the race for the win. The victory was his sixth of the season.

On lap 45, James Ham passed Charlie Binkley to move into third place. Jerry Long ran second early in the race, but he blew an engine just past the halfway mark. When Long's night became short, Ham took over the second spot behind a disappearing Waltrip.

Something broke on Ham's car with about 15 laps to go. He sailed head-on into the wall between turns one and two and burst into flames. Ham stopped along the inside hall, and he quickly bailed out. A year later in Nashville's Uniroyal 100, Ham suffered a similar wreck - including another fire - but once again escaped relatively unscathed.

Binkley was following Ham and slid down along the inside wall in an effort to avoid him. He needed an assist to get back in the action, did so, and finished the race in second.

Waltrip was greeted in victory lane by flagman Don Donoho and Ellis Cook, Nashville's Falls City distributor.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Darrell Waltrip
Charlie Binkley
Flookie Buford
Joe Mangrum
Ben Pruitt
James Climer
Windle Webster
Jim Berry
Jerry Sisco
James Ham
James Veach
Jerry Long
Ray Chitwood
Freddy Fryar
Carl Layne
Rod Stillings
Everett Barnes
Bill Morton
Jimmy Benson
Ronnie Dickson
Clyde Peoples

Falls City 200 - June 2, 1973

The third configuration of the Fairgrounds track (and the one still in place today) debuted in 1973. The banks were dropped to 18 degrees, and the official length of the track was reduced to .596-mile. Even though the track's length was no longer .625-mile, that didn't stop track management from boasting about the World's Finest 5/8 Mile Track. The same 5/8-mile reference continued to be used on programs through 1978.

Courtesy of Russ Thompson

Waltrip's crew brought two Chevelles to the track for the 1973 running of the Falls City 200. His plan was to race a newer car and have Walter Wallace pilot the older model.

After qualifying, Waltrip made a relatively last minute decision to swap cars. Wallace had qualified the older car fourth, but he exchanged seats with Waltrip. The decision turned out to be the right one.

Occasional Winston Cup racer Charlie Glotzbach came to town and won the pole in a Dodge. The car, owned by M.B. McMahan of Sevierville, TN, was already a two-time Fairgrounds winner in 1973. Cup regular Dave Marcis was at the wheel of McMahon's Mopar for two 30-lap features in the month of May.

McMahan wanted Marcis to race his car yet again - especially since Nashville had a $500 bonus for any Dodge that could win a national championship race. Practical logistics of shuttling Marcis between the Cup race at Dover and Nashville, however, could not be arranged. McMahan also considered Pete Hamilton and James Ham. Hamilton was already committed to a ride in a 200-lap LMS race at Middle Georgia Raceway near Macon, and Ham already had a ride in Nashville.

Glotzbach got word of McMahan's need for a driver while hanging out in Dover. His Cup owner, Hoss Ellington, opted not to race at Dover following a tough effort a week earlier in the World 600 at Charlotte. Glotzbach contacted McMahan and agreed to fly to Nashville in his own plane.

Waltrip needed only five laps to take the lead, and he set sail once he got it. Eight cautions during the race helped make things closer for Waltrip than he would have liked. With each restart, however, Waltrip again pulled away from the field.

L.D. Ottinger finished second with Freddy Fryar in third - the only other cars on the lead lap. Jimmy Hensley made a rare trip to Nashville and returned to Virginia with a P4.

Jack Ingram somehow managed a fifth place finish despite being involved in a multi-car accident a few laps after the halfway point of the race. Much of his Chevelle's sheet metal was mangled, but he soldiered on to a top 5 finish. His tenacity in the Falls City 200 and throughout the rest of the season helped reward him with NASCAR's 1973 national late model sportsman division championship.

Waltrip got the repeat win, and others scored some valuable points for the national title. Red Farmer, on the other hand, had a trip to Music City that he'd just as soon forget - and perhaps has. The truck hauling his race car broke down on I-65 as he drove from Birmingham. After arriving, practicing, and qualifying third, he developed an overheating problem early in the race. His crew addressed the issue during a pit stop, but their efforts didn't last. More engine woes put Farmer's car back on the sketchy truck after 82 laps.

Darrell Waltrip
L. D. Ottinger
Freddy Fryar
Jimmy Hensley
Jack Ingram
Jimmy Means
Rod Stillings
Jerry Lawley
Robert Wales
Charley Glotzbach
Charley Binkley
Don Smith
Ronnie Blasingim
Neil Bonnett
Walter Wallace
Wayne Carden
Alton Jones
Donnle Anthony
Sammy Ard
Windle Webster
Steve Spencer
Jerry Sisco
Dorris Vaughn
Gary Myers
Red Farmer
Charley Greenwell
Bill Morton
Flookie Buford
James Ham
Dan Lawson
Terry Flynn
Carl Lane
Bobby Baucom

Falls City 200 - June 1, 1974

Waltrip returned in 1974 as the two-time defending race winner. He also returned as a two-time Fairgrounds track champion after having won the LMS title a second time in 1973. On top of his busy late model sportsman schedule, Waltrip had also launched his Winston Cup career.

The Falls City 200 lineup included a solid balance of local regulars and national hot shoes. Drivers such as James Ham, Flookie Buford, and Paddlefoot Wales got to race with Bobby Allison, Butch Lindley, and Jack Ingram.

A true out-of-towner who made the trek was Ray Hendrick. A winning, late model veteran of tracks in the eastern time zone, Hendrick had only raced at the Fairgrounds one time previously. He and Waltrip qualified on the front row for the track's 1974 season opener, the Permatex 200. The two raced hard and generally clean - until. The two came together, Waltrip sailed into the fence, Hendrick slid to the inside, carried on, and then raced Bobby Allison hard down the stretch.

Hendrick was back and ready to tangle with Waltrip, Allison, and others again about two months later. The Falls City 200 was Hendrick's second and final start in Nashville.

To the surprise of few, Waltrip won the pole and barely missed the track record in doing so. Hendrick lined up sixth but picked his way through traffic soon after the start. Within 15 laps or so, Hendrick found his way to second behind Waltrip.

The two stayed nose to tail through the first half of the race. Morgan Shepherd hounded Hendrick from third. He managed to take second but for only a lap before Hendrick roared back with a focused intent on tracking down Waltrip.

Allison, racing during an early June break in his Cup schedule, posted a poor qualifying lap and started 22nd. Once the green fell, however, he found his groove. He worked his way through traffic and tracked down Shepherd by halfway to take third.

As Allison eased into P3, a three-car accident slowed the field. Waltrip and Hendrick hit pit road with Hendrick getting the edge on pit exit. Both, however, were behind Allison who had made the decision to run the full race without pitting.

Waltrip needed only a couple of laps to pass Hendrick once the green returned. Allison did a yeoman's job of holding Waltrip and Hendrick at bay with their fresher tires. With about 50 laps to go, however, Allison's resistance was futile. Waltrip sailed around him - followed by Hendrick. Gremlins soon hit Allison, and the choice not to pit was moot. He cruised back to pit road and was done for the night.

With clean air, Waltrip put his Harpeth Motor Ford into the wind. He may have saved a bit from the early stages of the race, and he most likely remembered his previous Nashville encounter with Hendrick. Waltrip opened a comfortable margin and won his third consecutive Falls City race by about ten car lengths over the Virginian.

Darrell Waltrip
Ray Hendrick
Jerry Lawley
Richard Orton
Bob Burcham
James Ham
Ray Milligan
Donnie Anthony
Wayne Carden
Dave Mader III
Jim Berry
Buck Hinkle
Wayne Gower
Dewayne Chaffin
Jack Ingram
Neil Bonnett
Bobby Allison
Phil Stillings
Robert Wales
Butch Lindley
Clyde Peoples
Bobby Hargrove
James Climer
Larry Catlett
Jimmy Means
Morgan Shepherd
Flookie Buford
Charlie Binkley
Red Farmer
Terry Miller
Chet Williams
Boscoe Lowe
Walter Wallace

Part 2 about 1975, 1976, and 1977 Falls City 200 races will follow next week...

TMC

The first three Falls City 200 late model sportsman races at Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway were before my time as an avid race fan. Though I went to my first race sometime in 1974, I have no memories of the night, number of laps, or winner. I just know I liked it enough that I wanted to return - often.

My family and I began going to the Fairgrounds several times beginning in 1975 - though mainly for the nights of regular twin features of mini-stock, limited sportsman, and late model sportsman divisions. Attending the special Big Races with LMS racers didn't happen often - much less any Cup races. For those, I generally listened to them on WENO-AM radio.

The second triad of Falls City 200 races were smack dab in the salad days of my passion for Fairgrounds racing. Unlike Darrell Waltrip's sweep of the races from 1972 through 1974, fans saw three different winners in 1975-76-77.

Falls City 200 - June 1, 1975

The 1975 Falls City was scheduled for Saturday night, May 31. Fans had to wait another day for the results because of rain. The drivers instead took the green on Sunday afternoon, June 1, but fans had to wait another two days to learn the official winner of the race.

A bit of controversy following the race bookended some mild controversy before the race. The field arrived for practice and qualifying on Friday. Darrell Waltrip and his R.C. Alexander-owned Harpeth Motors Ford did not pass inspection, and a few drivers suggested they'd go home if Waltrip's #84 Ford raced "as is". Waltrip, the two-time Fairgrounds LMS champion and recent first-time Cup winner at Nashville less than a month earlier, was livid. He argued Alexander's Ford was being singled out and threatened not to race - in the Falls City 200 or any future events.

On Saturday, however, cooler heads prevailed. Waltrip and his crew returned, and tweaks were made allowing the car to pass inspection. After making the show, Waltrip ran a few laps during post-qualifying practice. His blood pressure likely soared again, however, when he lost control, popped the wall, and failed to start the race on Sunday.

Waltrip wasn't the only racer with pre-race issues. NASCAR national late model sportsman racers Butch Lindley and L.D. Ottinger captured the front row in qualifying. Lindley set a track record, and Ottinger was just a tick behind him. During post-qualifying practice, however, Ottinger blew an engine. Arrangements were made for Ottinger to take over the car of local rookie racer P.B. Crowell III.

Credit: Russ Thompson / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

The loss of Waltrip's car and Ottinger's engine was a sampling of what was to come during the race itself. Only thirteen of the race's 31 starters were still on-track late Sunday afternoon. Drivers making early exits including:

Reigning NASCAR national late model sportsman champion Jack Ingram
NASCAR veteran Tiny Lund
Defending Fairgrounds track champion Jimmy Means
Pole winner Lindley
Local racers such as Flookie Buford, James Ham, Phil Stillings, and Little Joe Mangrum.

Of the thirteen cars that lived to see the checkers, local Nashville racer (by way of Birmingham) Alton Jones was the first to see it. Trailing him by a full lap was fellow Alabama driver and third place starter, Neil Bonnett.

Ned Webb finished third, and Ottinger finished where he started: P4. I know nothing about Webb, but apparently he knew something about the Alabama Gang. A few years after the '75 Falls City 200, Webb wrote a book about the driver who finished ahead of him.

Following the race, however, Ottinger filed a protest against Jones. Ottinger claimed Jones' Nova ran oversized wheels. Bonnett got in on the protest action too by suggesting the scoring sheets were off and that he actually won the race.

Bonnett's complaint was soon resolved, but Ottinger's protest lingered with NASCAR for two days without a decision. Ottinger then withdrew his protest, and Jones was confirmed as the official race winner.

Long-time Fairgrounds racing fan and historian, Russ Thompson, captured some video from the race. It includes some fantastic footage; however, don't adjust your speakers as there isn't any audio with it.

Alton Jones
Neil Bonnett
Ned Webb
L.D. Ottinger
Bob Burcham
Walter Wallace
Phil Stillings
Don Guirnard
Jerry Long
Ray Skillman
Clarence Kessinger
Jim Berry
Bill King
Dave Mader
Rod Stillings
James Ham
Jerry Lawley
Flookie Buford
Edwin Anthony
Tiny Lund
George Bennett
Butch Lindley
Jimmy Means
Paul Evans
Don Anthony
Gary Sircy
Jack Ingram
Butch Allen
Clyde Peoples
Joe Mangrum

Falls City 200 - May 29, 1976

The attrition rate for the 1975 was really high, but the number of DNFs for the 1976 Falls City 200 was even worse. Yet three key players from the '75 race were back in the hunt a year later.

Midwestern late model ace Bob Senneker won the pole in only his second trip to the Fairgrounds. In his Nashville debut six weeks earlier, Senneker had finished sixth in the Winston Salute to America 200.

Though a handful of national drivers made the trek to Music City for the 200-lap event, most of the field was comprised of local racers - including The Kiddie Corps. The 1976 season featured a quartet of highly touted and skilled young'uns:

P.B. Crowell, III - "Chubby's" father was a Fairgrounds veteran as a winning driver and car owner
Mike Alexander - son of long-time owner and sponsor, R.C. Alexander
Sterling Marlin - son of Fairgrounds legend and Cup independent Coo Coo Marlin
Dennis Wiser - son of local racer and car builder Kenneth Wiser

Three of the four - Crowell, Alexander, and Wiser - joined the field, but all three parked their cars early as part of the heavy DNF count. Sterling skipped the race to serve as crew chief for his father's Cup team at Charlotte's World 600. Coo Coo was recovering from injuries suffered during an ARCA race at Talladega. Charlie Glotzbach raced in relief in the red and gold #14 Chevrolet, and Sterling led the crew with calls and over-the-wall work.

Alexander got the jump on Senneker at the start of the race and led the opening 17 laps. As Alexander's lead ended, so did Wiser's night. Once Wiser parked his #19 Chevelle, it seemed like another car joined him about every dozen laps or so.

Neil Bonnett returned for his fourth consecutive Falls City 200, and he led for a 30-lap hitch during the middle stages of the race. Crowell also led for ten laps late in the race before losing a transmission. Senneker took the lead from Alexander near lap 20 and pulled the field for about 15 laps. But his night was done just after halfway after being involved in an earlier accident and then losing an engine.

With about 20 laps to go, the standings mirrored the 1975 finish with Alton Jones out front and Bonnett in second a half-lap back. Bonnett had fallen a lap behind Jones but had made it up. Still, he needed help to close the remaining gap - and then he got it. A fortuitous caution allowed Bonnett's #12 Nova to restart behind Jones.

Over the next 16 laps, Bonnett followed Jones' tire tracks. Then with four to go, he made his move. Bonnett eased past Jones, gapped him a bit, and took the checkers - reversing the prior year's results. Only nine cars out of 25 starters were still around to see the finish.

Source: TMC Archives

Neil Bonnett
Alton Jones
L. D. Ottinger
Art Sommers
Gary Sircy
Kenny Wiser
Dorris Vaughn
Jerry Long
Jim Berry
Eddie Kissinger
P.B. Crowell III
Charlie Chamblee
Ray Skillman
Windle Webster
Bob Senneker
Carl Langford
Jerry Sisco
Donnie Anthony
Wayne Carden
Charlie Whitefield
Mike Alexander
Buzzy Reynolds
Ralph Jones
Dennis Wiser
Jerry Lovell

Source: TMC Archives

Falls City 200 - May 22, 1977

The final Falls City 200 went off more like a fizzled bottle rocket than an exploding shell. The 23 starters were the fewest in the five Falls City races held on the 18-degree banked track and the second fewest overall. And for the third year in a row, fans endured a high DNF count.

The race did, however, draw several of the national LMS drivers. In the field were stars such as Harry Gant, Jack Ingram, Butch Lindley, and L.D. Ottinger. Even Darrell Watrip made a return trip to his home track during an off weekend between Cup races at Mason-Dixon 500 at Dover and Charlotte's World 600.

Three of the track's four Kiddie Corps driver raced.

Marlin had about as good a night as a local racer might expect with the big dawgs in town.
Alexander hit the wall early and was never a factor.
Wiser had just a so-so night.
The fourth, P.B. Crowell III, wasn't in the show, and I have no idea why.

The theme of the night apparently was Tennessee Trash. Many cars suffered cut tires. The fortunate ones hit pit road but lost a few laps. Others hit the wall and were done for the night.

Jack Ingram won the pole and notched a top 5 finish, but he was a handful of laps off the race because of an unscheduled stop for one of the multiple cut tires. Ditto for Newport, Tennessee's L.D. Ottinger.

Waltrip's #88 Gatorade Nova was never a factor. The car began smoking right from the jump. Within the first quarter of the race, Waltrip pitted twice in an effort to resolve the problem. With no success, he finally parked it, finished deep in the field, and headed home to Franklin, TN for a night's rest.

With the majority of top competitors laps down or loaded on their trailers, Harry Gant set sail. He somehow managed to avoid whatever tire grelim that plagued others. He put his #77 Chevrolet on the point and just clicked off laps. When the checkers fell, he earned a two-lap win over second place Marlin.

For Marlin, it was another close but no cigar finish. During his rookie season in 1976, Sterling watched as Alexander and Crowell took home trophies. His best finish a few times was second. He earned yet another P2 with his runner-up to Gant. His accumulation of seconds without a win mirrored his Cup career in some regards. (Sterling did finally break through for his first career win two weeks later in a 100-lap LMS race.)

In post-race inspection resembling today's Seriously? Not Again Cup tech, officials found a loose lug nut on Gant's car. He was docked a hundred bucks for the infraction.

Harry Gant
Sterling Martin
L.D. Ottinger
Jack Ingram
Benny Kerley
Buzzy Reynolds
Randy Tissot
Dennis Wiser
Carl Langford
Butch Applegate
Tony Cunningham
Gary Searcy
Grant Adcox
Jim Berry
Butch Lindley
Ricky Marlin
Walter Wallace
Steve Spencer
Darrell Waltrip
Ronny Hutton
Mike Ferguson
Mike Alexander
Dorris Vaughn

Source: TMC Archives

After a six-year run, the Falls City branded races ended. Over the next several years, availability of the beer faded significantly as well. Recently, however, the Louisville-based brand re-booted and is again available in several markets.

As someone who is now on the far side of young racing (and beer) fans, I appreciate one of Falls City's newer brands that is right in my wheelhouse: Hipster Repellant IPA.

TMC

After decades of racing on the one-mile, dirt oval, horse racing facility at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, the Legion Bowl (later renamed Nashville Speedways), and other short-lived, Nashville-area short tracks, a group of local entrepreneurs and racing promoters envisioned something greater for fans.

Bill Donoho, Mark Parrish, and Bennie Goodman collaborated to build a new racing facility at the fairgrounds to replace the one-mile, dirt track. With an (advertised) investment of $200,000 and the cooperation of the Nashville Fair Board, the trio built two asphalt tracks - a half-mile outer track with an inner, flat, quarter-mile track.

Courtesy of Russ Thompson

Fairground Speedways was ready for its debut on July 19, 1958, with a slate of events for the modified racers. The half-mile didn't host its first race until about three weeks later - and it was a big-time event. NASCAR's Grand National drivers raced for the first time in Music City on August 10, 1958 in the Nashville 200.

The new track drew several drivers who would become local legends - and a few who even tasted a bit of glory in NASCAR's GN/Cup ranks. The list included Bullet Bob Reuther, Malcolm Brady, Jack Marlin and his brother Coo Coo, Jimmy Griggs, and Joe Lee Johnson (winner of the first World 600 two years later).

Rather than re-create what has already been written, Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson blogged a great recap of the opening of the track and its first round of races back in 2011. Highly recommended reading.

Charley Griffith (or Griffin as he frequently seemed to be known back then) captured the full slate of races. He won his 12-lap heat race, a three-driver match race, and the 30-lap feature.

Though Griffith dominated the win tally in the races in which he ran (with remaining heats and consolation races won by others), the night's events didn't lack excitement for the fans. During the second of three heat races, Brady got out of sorts in turn two and flipped multiple times down the backstretch.

After being extricated and heaving several gulps of fresh oxygen, Brady was transported to the hospital. He suffered a broken rib, was otherwise OK, and returned to racing and winning several times over the next few years.

Nearly ten thousand fans attended the opening night's slate of racing - all on the quarter-mile track. Donoho, Goodman, and Parrish were delighted at the prospects of what-might-be when the NASCAR big dawgs started rolling in three weeks later.

Griffith was not one of the local racers. He traveled from Chattanooga in southeast Tennessee. More specifically, he was from Red Bank - just outside of the city limits. For the first couple of years of my post-college life, I lived along the base of Signal Mountain - just five minutes or so from Red Bank.

Earlier this summer, a restored version of Griffith's race-winning modified was displayed for fans at the Fairgrounds. The car was restored by Al Jones who also owned a 1960s era late model raced by Marty Robbins. Jones later enlisted the help of Ray Evernham to restore the Robbins 777 racer.

Six months or so after wining the debut race of the newly opened Fairground Speedways, Griffith headed south to race in the inaugural Daytona 500. Balancing skill and good fortune - and racing a Pontiac raced a year earlier by Cotton Owens on the beach - Griffith combined his win on Nashville's new quarter-mile track with a third place finish on the 2.5 mile superspeedway in what became labeled as The Great American Race.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

Nashville's Fairground Speedways opened July 19, 1958, with a slate of races on the inner, quarter-mile track.

Three weeks later, the Fairgrounds debuted its half-mile track in grand fashion with a 200-lap NASCAR sweepstakes race. Joe Weatherly won the race, a combination event for convertible division drivers and the Grand National hardtop sedans.

The new facility then settled into its groove with regular, weekly features on both tracks. The abbreviated first season concluded with a 200-lap modified race in mid-October. Though the event didn't have a formal name, it became known retroactively as the Southern 200 because of its link to the future.

The race was extended by 100 laps in 1959 and formally named the Southern 300. With the exception of only a couple of years, the modified - and later late model sportsman - race was the final one of each season.

The race's popularity and stature grew each passing year with fans and participants. It soon began to attract many regional and national racers and rewarded points for those drivers chasing NASCAR's national modified and sportsman titles.

Following the track's second reconfiguration in 1973, the race was extended by another 100 laps. The Southern 400 was held from 1973 through the final one in 1977.

Over the coming weeks, I plan to highlight each of the 20 editions of the race with old ads, articles, photos, trivia, etc.

Before taking the checkers, however, one must first take the green. So back to 1958 we go for the inaugural Southern 200, scheduled for Sunday afternoon, October 19, 1958.

The storyline going into the 1958 season-ending race mirrored the storyline of NASCAR's 2018 Cup season 60 years later: The Big Three. Although the track had a limited number of races with the mid-July opening, three drivers won all of the modified features heading into the final one of the year. Bob Reuther, Charlie Griffith, and Jimmy Griggs split all the hardware between themselves.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Track management rolled out a high tech scoring system for the race. The system still involved manual intervention for scorers to push a button to record a time stamp as their assigned car crossed the scoring line, but the process was a more accurate way to track cars than other means. Other tracks used a similar system, but Nashville racers hadn't seen it before - at the Fairgrounds or other area tracks.

The race truly was a big event. The length was four times longer than any other half-mile feature during the first year of the track, and the winner was to take home a sizable, hefty trophy. Because of the extended distance, the race was to be flagged for a 15-minute break after 100 laps to allow for pit stops and driver maintenance.

The race also attracted a couple of out-of-towners who later raced in NASCAR's Grand National division. Chattanooga's Joe Lee Johnson made the trek to Nashville for the race. Two years later, he won the inaugural World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. G.C. Spencer from South Carolina (and with roots in Owensboro, KY and Johnson City, TN) returned to Nashville to race the new track. Spencer won a couple of features in 1957 at the old, dirt, one-mile, fairgrounds track.

Chattanooga's Charlie Griffith won the first race at the Fairgrounds on the quarter-mile track in July. He also captured the pole for the Southern 200. Bullet Bob Reuther qualified second with Griggs and Malcolm Brady laying down matching times for third and fourth.

Reuther got the jump on Griffith at the green and led the first dozen laps. Griggs then roared past Reuther and proceeded to dominate the rest of the first half of the race.

Following the stage break (where caution laps didn't count by the way), Chattanooga's Friday Hassler grabbed the lead from Griggs. Hassler was only able to hold the lead for a lap, however, and Griggs rallied back to the top spot yet again.

The Nashville promoters learned a valuable lesson as the race continued. They needed better calculations in balancing the race distance, anticipated average speed, and available daylight in the fall. Though the race was scheduled for 200 laps, the event had to be cut short by about 40 laps because of darkness. Lights were not added to the Fairgrounds until 1965, and drivers simply couldn't continue to race in the darkened conditions.

When the checkered flag was displayed after 163 laps, Griggs had a half-lap lead on Hassler with Reuther a lap down in third.

Controversy soon arose following the race. Friday Hassler protested Griggs' car. Hassler alleged Griggs' engine had a modified stroke and didn't have a starter - both rules violations. The second complaint was dismissed immediately, and inspectors didn't find issues with Griggs' engine. Hassler's protest was dismissed, and Griggs' win was upheld - over Friday's vociferous objections of course.

In some respects, the race was a promoter's dream - controversy, a protest, fans buzzing positively and negatively about the race and the darkness, etc. The only downside was track promoters Bennie Goodman, Mark Parrish, and Bill Donoho could not provide more racing to the fans right away. All had to wait until the spring of 1959 for the roar of the engines to return.

The second season-ender (and the first formally named Southern 300) was held Sunday, October 11, 1959. Track management learned from the year before and backed up the start of the 1959 race by an hour to 2:00 PM. Yet they arguably still pushed the enveloped by adding 100 laps to the race.

Earl Abts from Birmingham, AL won the pole by setting a track record. The previous record had been held by L.J. Hampton, and it lasted all of a just a few minutes! Griffith and Brady made up the second row.

Though Abts had success at other tracks - particularly in Alabama - his Nashville highlight was the 1959 Southern 300 pole. He returned to race several more times over the next couple of years, but he never won a feature at the Fairgrounds.

Fotki: Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers

Indirectly, Abts had a hand in the success of Bobby Allison's career. Earlier in 1959, Abts' car owner approached Allison after Abts won a race in Montgomery. Harry Mewbourne offered Allison some needed parts for next to nothing. Allison repaired his ailing engine and then won his first ever feature race.

From Miracle: Bobby Allison and the Saga of the Alabama Gang by Peter Golenbock

Similar to the 1958 200-lap race, the 1959 Southern 500 was divided into thirds. The field was slowed after the 100-lap and 200-lap marks for crews to service the cars and ensure the drivers were still OK.

Abts parlayed his pole start to an early lead. He was competitive for much of the first third of the race. His steering then went away; however, and he popped the wall on lap 102 to end his day. Griffith too was competitive but exited with transmission failure.

An unfortunate and somewhat frightening accident involved Jack Marlin (brother of Coo Coo), fourth-place starter Brady, and a couple of others caught up in the collateral damage. Marlin had issues and stalled out on the track. Brady's windshield was heavily coated with grime, and he could barely see through it with the glare of the fading sun. Brady was still in full throttle when he drilled Marlin.

Reuther showed the way for much of the race - particularly the final 100 laps. With 17 laps to go, however, Reuther had nothing more to give. Exhausted with blistered hands from manhandling his car, he simply could not keep his foot in it to make it the end. Griggs eased by Reuther, and led the remaining laps to win the race for the second consecutive year.

Source: Nashville Banner

Griggs won about 20 more races over the next decade ranging in length from a 30-lap modified feature to a 400-lap open competition event. But the driver who went back-to-back in the track's first two season-closers saw his racing career come to a close in the same event in 1969. That story, however, will have to wait for another post.

Source for articles: The Tennessean and Nashville Banner

TMC

As was the case in 1958 and 1959, the Southern 300 modified race closed out the third season of Nashville's Fairground Speedways. The third edition of the race was scheduled for Sunday, October 2, 1960.

Fans saw multiple winners during the 1960 season. Heading into the Southern 300, the track's 21 modified features were won by twelve different drivers. Ten of the twelve won no more than a pair of features. Malcolm Brady topped all drivers with four wins - including two of the three races before the season-closer.

For the third year in a row, the race included a scheduled break for pit service. Unlike 1959 when breaks were scheduled at laps 100 and 200, a single break was scheduled after 150 laps to allow for pit stops and safety checks.

Malcolm's late season mojo continued into the Southern 300 weekend. He laid down the quickest lap on the half-mile track to capture the top starting spot. Bobby Celsor, an eventual eight-time Fairgrounds winner, qualified second.

Alabama's Dave Mader and perennial Nashville competitor Charlie Griffith made up the second row. And the Marlin boys from Columbia - brothers Jack and Coo Coo - lined up in the third row.

Some races are instant classics - some mature with time and revisionist romanticism - and others are simply duds. Except for a handful of a few folks, most would slot the 1960 Southern 300 in that third bucket.

A promising field of 36 cars took the green, but few remained at the end to see the checkered flag. The racers gave the fans quite a show during the first half of the race. Pole-winner Brady, two-time Southern winner Jimmy Griggs, Mader, and Griffith took turns up front during the first 150 laps.

Following the scheduled break, however, the second half had an entirely different story line. By then, the garage began to accumulate more parked cars than the number still racing on the track. Gone were Griffith, Joe Lee Johnson, Bobby Allison, and the Marlin brothers.

Brady put his modified in the wind and began to pull away from Griggs. When the checkers fell, Brady won with a half-lap margin over Griggs. The eight other remaining drivers were multiple laps down to the top two.

Brady continued to race and win at the Fairgrounds. Though he did not win the 1960 title, he carried his late season flurry including his Southern win into the following year. He won only one feature in 1961, but his consistency earned him the track's 1961 modified title. Brady was also recognized as a track legend in 1968-1969 with two 100-lap late model sportsman features named in his honor.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

The fourth annual Southern 300 was held at Nashville's Fairground Speedways, Sunday, October 1, 1961.

A storyline going into the race was the discussion among some about the racing future of Bullet Bob Reuther, the track's first modified champion in 1958.

A 10-time feature winner from 1958 through 1960 and the track's first modified champion in 1958, Reuther had only one win in the ledger in 1961.

Reuther's cars were prepared by Charles 'Preacher' Hamilton, grandfather of future late model and Cup racer Bobby Hamilton. He also had sponsorship from country music singer (and future part-time racer) Marty Robbins.

Some began to refer to Reuther in the past tense. Rather than discuss whether he remained competitive at Nashville, they instead recalled his remarkable 150 MPH down Daytona Beach's Measured Mile in 1957.

Source: Daytona Beach Morning Journal

Source: Getty Images

A few days before the race, Coo Coo Marlin just happened to be in the neighborhood and wanted to run a few test laps. He took an afternoon break from farming and made the trek up Highway 31 from Columbia, TN - about an hour or so south of Nashville - to make some practice laps.

Unbeknownst to Marlin, the track had applied new asphalt in turn 3 to smooth out some rough areas. Coo Coo managed to get on the track despite the repave. He wasn't looking for speed runs. Instead, he was looking to estimate fuel mileage.

Unlike the previous Southerns, no scheduled stage breaks were planned. Coo Coo's plan was to go the entire distance on a single tank of fuel. If he could make it work, he could gap the field significantly and almost certainly put himself in a position to win.

Speaking of practice, Charlie Binkley pulled a fast one on co-worker and fellow racer Jack Hildebrand a few days before race weekend. Both raced in the hobby division on Nashville's quarter-mile track. A 100-lap race for the hobby class preceded the Southern 300.

Miami's Red Farmer captured the Southern 300 pole with a track record. (Farmer later relocated to Alabama but was originally a Nashville native.) Chattanooga's Friday Hassler, who finished second in the first Southern, qualified second. Locals Eddie Mitchell and Crash Bond made up the second row.

Front row starters Farmer & Friday

Farmer's pole run was no fluke. At the drop of the green, he buried his foot and towed the field for nearly all of the first 60 laps before mechanical gremlins parked his car.

As Farmer slowed while leading, Reuther pulled a somewhat unexpected move. He slowed himself, pulled in behind Red, and pushed him to the pits - costing himself track position.

Jimmy Griggs, the 1958-1959 Southern winner, took over from Farmer. Griggs' lead was short-lived, however, as engine woes sent him to the trailer at lap 77. Crash Bond then took the lead and paced the field for the better part of the next 50 laps, but he too was bitten by mechanical issues and loaded up early.

The discounted-by-some Reuther rallied back from his goodwill gesture towards Farmer; found himself out front following the losses of Red, Griggs, and Bond; liked it there; and stayed there until the two-thirds mark of the race when he had to pit.

Following his stop, Reuther returned to the track nearly a lap down to leader L.J. Hampton. Reuther, however, wasn't known as Bullet Bob for nothin'. He quickly found his rhythm and set sail in an attempt to catch Hampton who had already made his stop as well. Lap by lap, Reuther cut into the lead.

Reuther needed only 25 laps to catch and then sail by Hampton to retake the lead. He led the next 40 laps before rain arrived to end the race. For the second time in four years, the race was shortened - the other being the 1958 Southern 200 because of darkness.

Reuther continued to race at the Fairgrounds and elsewhere through 1963. After winning the Southern 300 in 1961, he won only once more in Nashville - a 30-lap modified feature in 1963.

In his heyday, Reuther was frequently booed by Nashville fans. Once he stopped racing, however, a fondness set in for him. The track recognized Reuther by naming two 100-lap late model features in his honor in 1968 and 1969.

Many years later after attaining his pilot's license, Reuther became the personal pilot for his godson, Bobby Hamilton. Reuther passed away in 2008 at the age of 80 - a year after Hamilton's death.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

The Southern 300 reached a bit of a milestone with its fifth edition in 1962. The season ending race for Nashville's Fairground Speedways was held on Sunday, September 30th.

About a month before the Southern 300, Jimmy Griggs of nearby Donelson wrapped up his first and only Fairgrounds modified title with his fourth win of the season. The final race of the year was now simply about the best of the locals vs. the out-of-town ringers.

Bobby Allison won the first two features of Nashville's 1962 season. It was his brother Donnie, however, who captured the pole for the final race of the season. Fellow Alabama Gang members Red Farmer and Bobby Allison qualified second and third. Local racers L.J. Hampton and Charlie Parrish rounded out the top five starters.

As the race grew in stature over its first five years, it also meant some racers loaded up before the race even began. Forty drivers arrived to claim 33 spots. Speaking of stature, the race winner's trophy continued to be a sizable one coveted by all.

Donnie showed early his pole run wasn't a one-lap flash. At the drop of the green, he held the lead for the first 100+ laps. A cut right-rear tire, however, sent him to the pits and ended his lead. He remained in the race but had to settle for a fourth place finish.

About the time of Donnie's issue, things went even worse for track champ Griggs. He broke something in his steering, popped the wall, and collected several others - most spectacularly Bud Fox. No one was injured, but five of six cars involved were done for the day - including Griggs.

Following Donnie's tire issue and the Griggs-initiated, multi-car wreck, Farmer inherited the lead. Red held it until a scheduled stop near lap 150. As Farmer made his stop, Chattanooga's Friday Hassler ascended to the top for a few laps before his own stop.

Malcolm Brady, the 1960 Southern 300 winner, took over from Hassler and seemingly had the race in hand. Somehow, however, he and his crew misjudged his fuel mileage or didn't add enough fuel to his modified.

While leading at lap 265, Malcolm unexpectedly ran dry. He coasted to pit road, got a few gallons to last the remaining 35 laps, and returned to action. Though he salvaged a good finish, Brady lost his shot at a second Southern win.

By that point of the race, the Alabama Gang was no longer a factor. Donnie couldn't regain his early race mojo, Farmer had fallen out with engine issues, and Bobby Allison lost several laps after an accident with Coo Coo Marlin and subsequent tire issue.

Hassler re-assumed the lead following Brady's misfortune. Friday continued the remaining few laps and won by about a half-lap over second place Brady.

Carol Steele (Miss Fairground Speedways), Hassler,
Nashville Mayor Beverly Briley, and Margaret Petty (Miss Tennessee)

Though Donnie Allison could not convert his pole start into a pole win, he did ultimately win five races at Nashville between 1965 and 1978 - including the 1976 Winston 200 that coincided with Sterling Marlin's first professional racing start.

The racers returned a year later for the sixth Southern 300 slated for Sunday, September 29, 1963.

When racers and fans arrived on Saturday, September 28th for practice and qualifying, soaking rains unfortunately greeted them. The full schedule was moved back one week with the race rescheduled for Sunday, October 6. The 1963 race was the first of only two Southerns postponed by rain with the second soggy one happening in 1975.

After things reset a week later, some fans may have experienced a bit of deja vu from the 1962 Southern 300. As he did a year earlier, Donnie Allison again won the pole. He also did so by setting a track record - just as he'd done in '62.

Unlike qualifying in 1962, a couple of Chattanooga-area drivers nabbed the next two spots instead of Alabama Gang racers. Freddy Fryar qualified second followed by Bob Burcham. Both drivers would have plenty of success at the Fairgrounds throughout the remainder of the 1960s on the track's original half-mile configuration.

The top three qualifiers posed for a promotional photo for the local paper along with young fan Opie Taylor. - Wait, check that. - The young fan was actually Russ Thompson, known today by many across the web as Calhoun98 and a walking encyclopedia of racing knowledge from Nashville, NASCAR, Indy Car, and karting.

A lap-80 wreck eliminated several contenders including Fryar and Burcham. Mechanical woes doomed Red Farmer and NASCAR's Joe Lee Johnson.

Consequently, the top two finishers from 1962 - Friday Hassler and Malcolm Brady - once again found themselves at the head of the field again in 1963 for the better part of the final 200 laps. The duo separated themselves from the remainder of the field and were soon the only two cars remaining on the lead lap.

Hassler and Brady had differing race strategies. Hassler needed only one pit stop whereas Brady required three. Adding to deja vu feelings for Brady perhaps was his third and final stop. In 1962, he had to make an unscheduled stop for fuel. A third stop was needed in 1963 with 70 laps to go, but miscues extended the stop and put Malcolm well behind Hassler.

With 50 laps to go, however, Brady was down but not out. He closed the gap on Hassler and maintained pressure in an effort to force Friday into a mistake. Hassler didn't crack though, kept his rhythm, and crossed the finish line to secure back-to-back Southern 300 wins.

Not only was the race meaningful for Hassler individually, but it also marked a point of significant demarcation for the Fairgrounds. After six years of the modifieds as the featured division, big changes were ahead.

The track moved to full-bodied late model modified sedans beginning in 1964. The change was in line with other regional short tracks, but the news didn't come without come controversy and grumbling from the area racers. In 2011, Russ Thompson blogged about Nashville's new division that followed Hassler's win in Nashville's final modified race.

Source: Eddie Shaub / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Friday took home the trophy for the 1963 season-ending race, and Coo Coo Marlin secured his second of four track championships. Marlin's first two titles came in Nashville's modifieds, and he earned his other two in the successor late model division. Interestingly, Coo Coo didn't win a single feature during his 1963 title run.

Throughout the rest of the 1960s, Hassler continued to make the trek between Chattanooga and Nashville to race regularly at the Fairgrounds. Though he only returned home with four trophies, at least two of them were from the increasingly prestigious Southern 300.

He balanced his late model racing career with an increasing number of starts in NASCAR Grand National competition. Sadly, Friday died in a wreck during his 125-mile qualifying race for the 1973 Daytona 500 while driving his familiar red, See Rock City-sponsored, #39 Chevelle.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

The 1964 racing season at Nashville's Fairground Speedways brought significant change for drivers, owners, and fans. Gone were the modified coupes of the past six years. Replacing them were late model modifieds - full sedans.

Similar to NASCAR's top series, track promoters opted to have cars on the track that more closely resembled those in the parking lot. Also, several other Southeastern regional tracks made the switch to late models. Many drivers raced multiple tracks over varying weekday and weekend nights. So the alignment with other tracks helped Nashville continue to draw top racers who could continue to race the same equipment in different locales.

The decision to switch divisions went over with many about as well as a fart in church. Many owners, particularly owner-drivers, were less than thrilled with the idea of ditching perfectly good cars and spending hard-to-come-by dollars to buy or build entirely new cars. A couple of drivers retired rather than begin anew with the replacement division. In 2011, Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson blogged about the new era of racing at the Fairgrounds.

Despite the complaints by some, the switch was made. Though the late models replaced the modifieds, many of the same players returned for the traditional Southern 300. The seventh annual Southern was slated for Sunday, October 4, 1964.

Beginning with the first Southern race in 1958, the track wanted to build significance to the race by awarding a large trophy. Though the trophies were large in stature, they varied in design over the years.

The double-handed, fat jug design awarded to Friday Hassler for his 1963 Southern 300 win returned for the winner of the 1964 race. The size of it was compelling to the young...

...as well as to the restless!

The track offered fans a full weekend of track activity to enjoy: Sunday's 400 lapper, Saturday's qualifying, and Friday's Figure 8 races.

Figure 8 races have long since disappeared from the Fairgrounds, and much of the 1/4-mile track's infield has been paved. Some vestiges of the "X marks the spot" track, however, are still identifiable.

Bob Burcham from Chattanooga arrived in Nashville with a bit of momentum. About a month earlier on Labor Day, Burcham won a 100-lap feature at the Fairgrounds in somewhat of a tune-up for the Southern 300. He picked up where he left off and captured the Southern 300 pole.

Fellow Noogan Freddy Fryar qualified on the front row with Burcham. A year earlier, Fryar and Burcham started second and third, respectively, to pole winner Bobby Allison. The brothers Marlin - Coo Coo and Jack - took the second row. Local racer Charlie Binkley qualified fifth followed Friday Hassler, the 1962-63 Southern 300 winner and a third Chattanoogan in the field.

The race had fans watching action on the track - and possible action in the skies. Hurricane Hilda battered the Gulf Coast in the days leading up to the race. Its remnants of heavy rain began making their way up through the south, and the hope was to have the race completed before storms arrived.

The field included many top flight racers including several out-of-towners. But local favorite, Charlie Binkley, gave his guests quite the challenge. Binkley seemingly passed cars with ease throughout the race - including the leaders. After making his second stop of the race, Binkley found himself two laps down but kept digging. With about 50 laps to go, however, Binkley's engine had no more to give. The solid effort quickly devolved into a 13th place DNF.

Another local racer, Walter Wallace, triggered the day's most frightening caution soon after the 100-lap mark. Wallace spun in the third turn, and soon Bill Gregg and Fryar also found themselves sideways after both clobbered the guardrail.

Fryar took the worst lick of the three. Track crews pulled him from his car and loaded him onto a stretcher as he complained of some whiplash. The rest of the field filed by as other workers began to sweep the debris.

When Allison rolled by, a spark from his car ignited a pool of fuel spilled from Wallace's Ford. A huge, orange fireball suddenly erupted behind the yellow #62. Fortunately, Wallace, Gregg, Fryar, nor any of the track crew were injured.

Photo sequence courtesy of Russ Thompson

Over the next 200 laps, action at the front included Red Farmer, Coo Coo Marlin, pole winner Burcham, former NASCAR Grand National racer Joe Lee Johnson, and Binkley.

As the race headed into its final 50 laps or so, things began to sort out themselves.

Farmer made an emergency stop to change a cut tire.
Binkley fell out with his blown engine.
Coo Coo had to manage his fuel mileage to make it until the end.
Burcham, Allison, and Johnson built a one lap-lead on the rest of the field because of the misfortune of others.

Burcham found his groove in the remaining laps and gapped Allison and Johnson a bit. With five to go, it was Burcham's race to lose. Then with two to go, that just happened. The Plymouth's engine delivered a crushing gut punch to its driver, and Burcham unwillingly traded a win for a third-place finish.

Allison lucked himself into the lead via Burcham's failed engine and completed the final two laps to win over Johnson. Joe Lee immediately cried foul believing Allison lost an additional lap during his pit stop than was scored. After a re-check, however, Johnson's protest was denied as Allison celebrated his unexpected W.

Burcham returned to the Fairgrounds over the next several years and won Flameless 300 races in 1967 and 1969 as well as three additional 100-lap features. Following the Fairgrounds' rebuilding of the track to its high-banked design in 1970 and subsequently the 18-degree configuration that remains today, however, Burcham could no longer find victory lane.

Source: Nashville Banner

Allison had a couple of Grand National / Cup starts in his pocket from 1961. After winning the 1964 Southern 300, he raced another eight Cup starts in 1965. He essentially became a full-time Grand National driver in 1966. He continued, however, to race modified and sportsman races whenever and wherever he could - not just in 1966 but for pretty much the next 20 years.

For the first time since the track's opening in 1958, the Southern 300 wasn't the final race of the year. Two weeks after the Southern, the Fairgrounds hosted a 300-lap Open Competition race. The field was again comprised of local and out-of-town racers but with a different twist. Late model sedans, modifieds, and winged sprints all raced together in somewhat of a run what ya brung format.

Source for articles: The Tennessean and Nashville Banner

TMC

The eighth running of Nashville's Southern 300 at Fairground Speedways was scheduled for Sunday, October 3, 1965. Two weeks before race weekend, however, the Fairgrounds property suffered a disastrous blow.

The annual Tennessee State Fair opened Monday, September 20th. Attendees had a great time throughout the day on the midway with the rides, exhibits, and caloric consumption.

Source: The Tennessean

That evening, however, sparks from faulty wiring ignited within the exhibit halls behind the speedway's grandstands. Within moments, fire consumed the top side of the fairgrounds property and heavily damaged the track's grandstands.

Source: Nashville Public Library

As expansive as the fire was, fortunately no one perished. The exhibit buildings were destroyed, and much of the speedway office space and large portion of the grandstands were lost. Fire crews and safety inspectors surveyed the damage, and local officials decided to re-open the midway on Tuesday and for the remainder of the fair.

Source: The Tennessean

Though a portion of the wooden grandstands was burned, track promoters Bill Donoho and Bennie Goodman rallied temporary, replacement boards. Remarkably, two days of IMCA sprint car races ran as scheduled on September 25-26.

With the track having lost its PA and scoring systems and suffering extensive damage to restrooms and concession stands, however, Donoho and Goodman were left with little choice but to cancel the 1965 Southern 300 as well as the season-ending 400-lap Open Competition race.

Right after the IMCA races and conclusion of the state fair, track personnel began the project to rebuild the grandstands so racing could return in 1966. As a nod to the recovery from the devastating fire, the Flameless 300 opened the 1966 season. When October rolled around, the Southern 300 was back again after a one-year absence.

As a ticket sales promotion and B2B sponsorship program, Donoho and Goodman collaborated with the Nashville Dixie Flyers minor league hockey club. Fans buying a ticket to the Southern 300 also received a ticket to a Dixie Flyers game. Though many believe fans of racing and hockey are mutually exclusive, I have long believed NASCAR and the NHL should make efforts to create new fans from each other's base.

As race weekend approached, Donnie Allison predicted fellow Alabama Gang member Red Farmer would be the driver to beat. Though Farmer didn't race at the Fairgrounds week to week, he was always competitive in the big races he entered.

Local racer Charlie Binkley had a different perspective. He not only predicted fellow local driver Coo Coo Marlin would win - but also that Farmer wouldn't last the full race.

Choosing Marlin as the favorite wasn't much of a stretch for Binkley or anyone else. Coo Coo already had a dozen trophies on his shelf from 1966 wins as well as the top spot in the points standings.

With the track experiencing a new beginning of sorts, the Fairgrounds unveiled a newly designed trophy for the race winner. As was the case in the first few years of the Southern 300, the trophy was again a tall, sleek version. The two favorites posed with the new hardware along with Jim Donoho, son of track promoter Bill Donoho.

Farmer and Marlin began the weekend by being as fast as predicted. Red captured the top starting spot with a track record followed by Coo Coo.

Bob Burcham of Chattanooga qualified third followed by an impressive lap by country music star and part-time racer Marty Robbins. Burcham returned in 1966 after brutally losing the 1964 Southern with engine failure as the leader and only two laps to go. Coo Coo's brother, Jack Marlin, rounded out the top five starters.

The remainder of the top 20 starting spots were set by qualifying speeds. Drivers claimed the last 10 spots by their finish in a 20-lap consolation race.

The race itself unfolded as expected - largely a battle between Red Farmer and the farmer Marlin. At the drop of the green, Farmer seized the lead and paced the first quarter of the race. Marlin then slipped past Red to take the lead, and he retained it until making his first of two stops just past lap 140.

As the two favorites swapped the lead every so often, others behind them had a multitude of issues. Ten cautions chewed up 102 laps - a third of the race distance. Despite the frequent yellows and restarts, Farmer and Marlin continued as the big dawgs of the afternoon.

Farmer went back to the point when Marlin made his first stop and held it until making his one and only stop at lap 175. A few others briefly cycled through the lead as Farmer and Marlin bubbled back to the top.

With 65 laps to go, Marlin found a bit more speed and went after Red. As the two sailed through turn 4, Marlin's car twitched. He gathered it back, found his rhythm again, and made the pass cleanly two laps later.

Coo Coo's lead was short-lived though. He needed a second stop because of heavier than expected fuel usage. Farmer re-assumed the lead at lap 140 and soon built a one-lap cushion over Coo Coo during Marlin's stop. Coo Coo kept digging, and he unlapped himself in 12 laps.

Just as Marlin passed Farmer to get back on the lead lap, Binkley's prediction came true. Red blew a right front tire which in turn bent his tie rod. He limped to the pits on lap 252, and he watched the remainder of the laps from the sideline.

Marlin put his Chevrolet on cruise control, and he led the remaining 48 laps to notch his 13th win of the year. He also won the track's LMS championship for the second consecutive year and fourth time overall. His brother Jack inherited P2 followed by Gary Myers, H.D. Edwards, and Asheville NC's Jack Ingram.

Marlin returned for a final run at a fifth title in 1967. He banked another nine victories but came up short in points against Walter Wallace. Coo Coo then began devoting most of his time to his Grand National efforts where he struggled as an independent over the next dozen years or so.

Finally, footage from the 1966 Southern 300 race was incorporated into Marty Robbins' movie Hell on Wheels. In addition to the excellent, color footage, a cameo is made by Robbins' real-life mechanic, Charles "Preacher" Hamilton. Hamilton was the grandfather of future NASCAR driver, Bobby Hamilton.

The movie also captured Robbins' spin and wreck during the race. Unlike his actual DNF results, however, the movie rightfully opted to script the protagonist as having a successful day.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

The ninth running of the Southern 300 at Nashville's Fairground Speedways - the final late model race of season - was slated for Sunday, October 1, 1967. The International 300, an event for modifieds and super modifieds, closed out the season two weeks later.

A few days before the race, track promoters Bill Donoho and Bennie Goodman had received 72 entries for the race. Only the top 33 cars would start meaning more than half the entrants would be loaded before the green flag fell.

The 72 entrants did not include Coo Coo Marlin, Nashville's defending track and race champion.

After scoring 13 wins and his fourth track title in 1966, Marlin returned for another full season at the Fairgrounds along with three NASCAR Grand National races. Coo Coo picked up where he'd left off the previous year. With only a couple of races to go in the 1967 season, Marlin had collected nine victories and was in the hunt for his fifth title.

Things then went a bit awry for Marlin - on the track and in his relationship with the promoters. In a 100-lap race on September 4th, Marlin cut a tire and wrecked with 20 laps to go. With the DNF, his chances at the title were gone as winless Walter Wallace captured the title with one race to go. For some reason, Coo Coo became angry at Donoho and Goodman and swore he would not return to race.

Rain canceled the final race of the season scheduled for September 9th. With only the Southern 300 left to go as a national late model race, Donoho and Goodman had no idea if Marlin would race or not. He played hard to get in interviews about the readiness of his car and the efforts of his crew.

But sure nuff, when race weekend rolled around, Coo Coo was back. He willingly forfeited a $50 bonus payable to the defending track champion because his entry wasn't received by the due date. Marlin laughed it off and considered it money well spent just to prove some sort of point to Dohono & Goodman.

Goodman made it a point, however, to pay Coo Coo his bonus anyway because he'd verbally committed to running the race earlier in the month. When asked for a response to Marlin's comment that it was worth $50 to bug the promoters, Goodman snarked "With 75 entries, we were really worried about him."

Red Farmer returned for another shot at the Southern 300 trophy. Though Red won a handful of Nashville races over the years and was often a factor in the Southern, he'd never been able to close the big race with a victory. A year earlier, he cut a tire and bent a tie rod - ending his day with 50 laps to go and a one-lap lead on the field.

Farmer once again was fast off the trailer, and he captured the pole for the second consecutive year. After his wishy-washy opinion about racing in the Southern, Marlin qualified second - and frankly to no one's surprise.

The third-place qualifier did turn a few heads, however, as Marty Robbins hustled his #777 Plymouth around the half-mile. Local racer and two-time Southern winner, Jimmy Griggs, timed fourth quickest in R.C. Alexander's #84 Ford. All four posed with the coveted trophy.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

The top 25 starters were set during regular qualifying. The balance of the 33-car field was filled with the top eight finishers in a 20-lap consolation race.

The consi race turned out to be more of a hooligan show. Thirty-one cars took the green in the quick, get-to-the-front event. Four laps into the race, however, sixteen cars wrecked - half the field! Eight more tangled a couple of laps after the restart. When Bob Hunley mercifully took the checkers to advance, only thirteen of the 33 cars remained on the track.

Excitement builds as the start nears.
Charlie Higdon (4), Walter Wallace (43), Donnie Allison (47), George Bonee (14)

Farmer began the race just as he'd done a year earlier. At the drop of the green, he set sail and dared others to keep up with him. Lap by lap, bit by bit, many proved they weren't up to the challenge.

Newly crowned track champ Walter Wallace had more time to celebrate his title that Sunday because he didn't race very long. He broke a crankshaft on lap one, and his day was done before even having time to break a sweat.

Marlin, Robbins, and Griggs were quick in qualifying, but none were reliable on race day. Rear-end issues ended Griggs' day after only 100 laps, and Coo Coo accompanied him at the trailers 30 laps later with a failed engine. A broken left front wheel spindle led to a disappointing DNF day for the Twentieth Century Drifter.

Eight cautions chewed up about a quarter of the race's laps. With each restart, however, Farmer retained the lead. At the two-thirds mark of the race, Red had a two-lap lead on the field. But then, the ghosts of past races returned to haunt him again.

On lap 209, Donnie Allison lost a rear-end and spilled grease on the backstretch. Local racers Bobby Walker and Charlie Higdon collected each other as they slid through it. Farmer hit the patch of grease and sailed into the turn 3 wall - painfully ending his quest for the Southern trophy once more.

Freddy Fryar, Nashville's 1964 late model track champion, raced out of Chattanooga for several years but had relocated to Baton Rouge. He also relocated his track position at just the right time. He eased through Allison's oily mess and was sitting pretty when the green returned.

With the top four qualifiers sidelined as well as about half of the remaining starters, Fryar cruised the remaining 90 or so laps to claim his 34th regional late model win of the season.

Fryar had hoped to parlay his remarkable 1967 late model season capped by the Southern 300 win into a NASCAR Grand National ride. His plans, however, didn't pan out that way. Not only did Freddy miss out on a full-time ride, he didn't even get a part-time one.

Though he already had three NASCAR GN starts dating back to 1956, Fryar raced only three more times at the top level over the 1970-71 seasons including the 1970 Alabama 500 at Talladega driving a winged Plymouth Superbird.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

The tenth edition of the Southern 300 at Nashville's Fairground Speedways marked the final race of the track's 1968 season.

Modifieds were featured as the top division at the Fairgrounds from 1958 through 1963. Late model modifieds replaced the traditional modifieds in 1964. Scheduled for September 29, the 1968 Southern was the first one featuring late model sportsman cars.

The track introduced the LMS division in August 1968 after beginning the year with the continuation of the Late Model Modifieds.

The adoption of the Late Model Sportsman branding and racing rules created better alignment with other regional tracks and points systems as well as with NASCAR's touring LMS division.

After two years of an extremely tall winner's award, the Southern 300 trophy was re-designed once more. Though still thin like the 1966-67 edition, the new trophy was a bit shorter and perhaps easier to hoist in victory lane.

Rex White won the 1959 Music City 200 NASCAR Grand National race at the Fairgrounds and won five consecutive GN poles in Nashville from 1958 through 1961. A year later, he claimed the NASCAR GN title.

White stopped racing full-time Grand National racing following the 1964 season, but he continued to race frequently in various late model races. Rex entered the 1968 Southern 300, and it was to be his first race at the Fairgrounds since the 1963 Nashville 400 GN race.

Coo Coo Marlin was king of the hill in 1966-67 with 22 wins over the two seasons. Franklin, TN's P. B. Crowell ascended to the top in 1968 with ten wins spread evenly throughout the year.

Even with ten trophies and the 1968 track LMS title secured, Crowell wanted more. He nabbed the pole for the Southern 300 with a track record as he sought his first win in the increasingly prestigious race.

For the third year in a row, native Nashvillian turned Alabama Gang leader Red Farmer qualified on the front row. Farmer won the pole for the 1966 and 1967 Southerns.

Farmer had the 1967 Southern 300 well in hand with a two-lap lead on the field. A damaging trip to the fence following an accident by others, however, gift-wrapped the race for 1964 track champ Freddy Fryar.

A year after winning the Southern, Fryar had plenty of challenges simply making the race. During qualifying, Fryar blew the engine in his #48 Crowell-Reed Chevy. The crew made a hasty exit for Crowell's shop, swapped out engines, and returned to the Fairgrounds just in time for Freddy to participate in the 20-lap consolation race. Starting dead last in 41st, Fryar quickly worked his way through the field, avoided a lap one wreck involving four cars, and won the race to advance to the 300.

Fryar's consi win came at the expense of Rex White. Everything that could go wrong for the former NASCAR racer did. Rex failed to make the field on time, and he was relegated to the hooligan show. While leading, he was in position to win and advance. A flat tire, however, sent him to the pits and subsequently to his trailer for an early trip home to South Carolina.

A kid from Owensboro, Kentucky made his first Fairgrounds start in September 1965. He returned home having completed just a single lap. He returned over the next couple of years to try his hand again a few more times on Nashville's half-mile. In 1968, the kid and future NASCAR champion, Darrell Waltrip, saddled up for his first Southern 300 start.

Sunday's race never really developed much of a rhythm. Many likely experienced the race as if it was run in slow-motion, and it was in some respects. Caution laps chewed up nearly half the race's distance because of twenty-one yellows for wrecks, spins, cats and dogs living together, etc.

P.B. Crowell's individual race matched the overall race tone. He sputtered from the jump, wasn't able to leverage his top starting spot, pitted frequently during the afternoon, and finished well below his norm for the rest of the season.

With so many cautions, drivers had little time to sort out things and find their rhythm. For fans, however, the limited segments of green flag racing meant several cars raced side by side and in multiple lanes.

Waltrip fared better in the 1968 Southern 300 than he did in his Nashville debut in '65 - but not by much. After turning only one lap in his first Nashville start, he lasted 87 laps in the 1968 Southern. Issues forced DW out of the race dooming him to a 28th place finish with $70 as take-home pay.

Racing action including Darrell Waltrip in #100

Marlin and Bob Burcham stayed close to the front most of the day as did Charlie Binkley. With about 80 laps left to go, Binkley took the lead but then pitted immediately. Suffering from the flu in the days leading up to the race, Binkley nearly passed out from exhaustion on the track. Walter Wallace, Nashville's 1967 late model track champ, took over in relief and rallied Charlie's car to a fourth place finish.

Many cars wrecked, spun, or broke. Marlin, Burcham, Binkley, and Jimmy Griggs battled for positions within the top five. None, however, had much for the race winner: Red Farmer.

After multiple poles in the Southern 300 and back-to-back years of having the dominant car but nothing to show for it, Red finally closed the deal.

R.C. Alexander, Farmer's car owner and sponsor, earned double-chicken money. His second car finished fifth with Griggs at the wheel.

Winning driver Red Farmer and car owner / sponsor R.C. Alexander

Two years later, Crowell reduced his role as a driver and expanded his car ownership. He turned his traditional, orange-and-white, Creamsicle-painted #48 Chevelle over to that upstart kid from Owensboro named Waltrip.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

The eleventh running of Nashville's Southern 300 at Fairground Speedways was on Sunday, September 28, 1969. The race concluded the track's season and was also the final race on the original half-mile surface.

Jim Donoho, son of track promoter Bill Donoho, worked in the family business from childhood and served in varied positions. Bill elevated Jim to track president in July 1968, and dear ol' dad further honored his son by attaching his name to the 1969 Southern 300.

Jim, still a University of Tennessee student at the time of his presidential promotion, ran point on the track's largest project since its original construction in 1958. After plenty of planning, the half-mile track was to be converted into a high-banked, 5/8-mile oval following the 1969 Southern 300.

David Sisco of Hohenwald, TN captured the track's 1969 late model sportsman title with three feature wins and consistently solid finishes. The perks of being the champ included sharing time with a couple of pretties as they promoted the season-ending event. (For the record, neither of the two women below won the Miss Southern 300 contest.)

A couple of years after his LMS title, Sisco embarked on a career as an independent NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He competed pretty much full time from 1973 through 1976. Sadly, however, he retired from racing in 1977 a few weeks after the death of his mother in a Talladega infield traffic accident.

Freddy Fryar - Nashville's 1964 track champion and 1967 Southern 300 winner - captured the pole during Friday's qualifying. Red Farmer qualified second as he prepared to defend his 1968 Southern 300 title. Farmer started on the Southern front row for the fourth consecutive year.

Charlie Binkley lined up third with P.B. Crowell timing fourth in his familiar orange-and-white #48 Chevelle. Qualifying set the remainder of the top 23 cars. The finishing order of a 30-lap consolation race determined the final ten starters similar to what had been done the previous two years.

The field included several regional drivers who'd eventually become well known at NASCAR's Late Model Sportsman, Busch Series, and Cup levels including Sisco, Darrell Waltrip, L.D. Ottinger, Gene Glover, and Benny Kerley. Waltrip needed an assist to make the show. He was not among the quickest qualifiers, but he did win the consolation race to start the 300 in 24th spot.

The drivers had some financial incentive to chase the lead in the 300. In addition to $3,000 payable to the race winner, the track paid a $5 per lap bonus to the leading driver.

Fryar roared to the lead at the drop of the green and established himself as the lap bully. He pocketed one fiver after another as he led the first half of the race.

Farmer had the car to beat in the 1966 and 1967 Southerns, but misfortune busted him both years. He finally put a full 300 laps together in 1968 and won the race. Hoping to go back-to-back in '69, it just wasn't meant to be. He made an early exit and was never a factor.

When Fryar pitted on lap 165, Binkley assumed the lead and began to assert himself as the big dawg of the race's second half. With Binkley in the lead, fans witnessed an awful wreck on lap 214 involving Ronnie Blasingim and popular Jimmy Griggs, winner of the 1958 and 1959 Southerns and Nashville's 1962 modified division championship.

Though some believed Griggs blew a tire as he headed for turn one, Griggs' crew believed he passed out in the car. Either way, Griggs spun and was center-punched by Blasingim.

Both drivers were rushed to the hospital. All things considered, Blasingim escaped with minimal damage though he did need surgery and treatment for eye, cheekbone and other head injuries. Griggs, on the other hand, was critically injured and struggled for several weeks during his recovery.

When racing resumed, Binkley retained his top spot. He continued pacing the field though he had to pit for fuel with 20 laps to go. Unfortunately for Binkley, however, his crew added only a smidgen to his tank. He ran dry a second time with victory in sight.

After losing a cylinder, Fryar struggled a bit with horsepower during the second half of the race. His gear shift also broke, and he had to coax his car to get-up-and-go on restarts while in high gear. He had conceded the win to Binkley - until Charley's crew didn't add enough gas to get him to the win.

With new life, Fryar swept across the finish time and captured his second Southern 300 win in three years. Binkley faded to a seventh place finish as his crew fumed and feuded in the pits over their fueling miscue.

Fryar's win in the final race on the half-mile track also created a bit of Nashville racing trivia. He also won the Nashville 100 on October 5, 1957 - the final race at the dirt, quarter-mile Nashville Speedways on Cowan Street. The predecessor to the Fairgrounds facility is more commonly remembered by its original name: the Legion Bowl.

After some touch-and-go days, Jimmy Griggs' health began improving steadily as the calendar moved into November. Though the accident ended his racing days, Griggs remained an important part of Nashville's racing past and present. When the Fairgrounds resumed LMS racing on its new 5/8-mile track in August 1970, Griggs served as the Grand Marshal for the Flameless 300.

Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson shared some video footage from the weekend including qualifying and/or practice by cars including Fryar (301), Sisco (15), and Alton Jones (50); driver introductions; the start of the race; the aftermath of the Griggs-Blasingim wreck; and Fryar's victory lane celebration.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

Following the 1969 Southern 300, a multi-month project began to transform Nashville's Fairground Speedways. The low-banked, half-mile track was converted to a high-banked, 5/8-mile, speed demon. In 2011, Nashville racing historian Russ Thompson blogged about the construction project and an overview of the Nashville's first season on the new track.

Through 1965, fans sat in the grandstands under an ornate, wooden roof. The September 1965 fairgrounds fire burned the structure, and the stands remained uncovered through 1969.

The project to re-design the track also included a new roof over a portion of the grandstands. Instead of installing a roof with a similar design as the original one, the track operators installed a more modern looking, metal, tethered overhang. The 1970 roof remains in place in 2018.

Because of construction delays, the season's start was delayed until July. Bobby Isaac won the first event on new track - the Nashville 420 Grand National race. The late model racers returned for their first race on the new track in the Flameless 300 in August.

Though the timing of the Grand National and Flameless races was off because of construction delays, the Southern 300 returned in its traditional autumn spot. The 12th edition of the Southern was scheduled for Sunday, October 4.

Unlike most years, the Southern 300 wasn't the final racing event of the year at the Fairgrounds. Because of the late-starting and abbreviated schedule in 1970, the track hosted two more weekends of racing - a pair of LMS features and a 200-lap ARCA race.

Several drivers from the Grand National and Late Model Sportsman ranks had been leery of the new track design. Most had raced high-banked tracks before - most notably Daytona and Talladega. Nashville was a different beast, however, because of the shorter straightaways.

Local racer James Ham, however, took to the place like a duck to water. In the LMS features leading up to the Southern 300, Ham was routinely quick during time trials. He planned to extend his early comfort with the track to the Southern despite the arrival of several heavy-hitting out-of-towners.

Darrell Waltrip raced at the Fairgrounds several times from the mid to late 1960s with little success. Once he connected with car owner P.B. Crowell and hit the high banks in 1970, the results and his future were quite different. Waltrip won five of the season's eight LMS races leading into the Southern and had a firm grasp on the track's 1970 track title.

DW's success made him a logical target for exotic dancer Morganna Roberts. Though she later became legendary nationally in the 1970s as Morganna The Kissing Bandit, she was in Nashville for nightly shows. Today, Printer's Alley is a popular tourist destination. Back in the day, the establishments were legendary but a bit more sketchy.

Ham was the first driver to qualify during Saturday's time trials. In an effort to prove his promotional photo had substance, he laid down a hot lap and dared others to knock him off the perch. One by one, all failed to rise to the challenge.

Flookie Buford and Alton Jones, both driving R.C. Alexander's Fords, qualified third and fourth. Freddy Fryar, a two-time Southern 300 winner and Nashville's 1964 track champion, timed only fifth best. Waltrip could muster no better than ninth fastest.

Yet one driver remained to take his shot. Red Farmer set a track record, nipped Ham's lap time, captured the pole, and started on the Southern front row for the fifth consecutive year.

The line-up also included several others who race fans grew to know a bit better throughout the 70s-80s including Jack Ingram, Bosco Lowe, L.D. Ottinger, Paddlefoot Wales, Sam Sommers, and Richard Brickhouse.

A year earlier, Brickhouse was pretty much an unknown driver. A single race, however, provided him an Oh yeah, THAT guy! trivia label to racing fans with his victory in the inaugural Talladega 500.

As the green dropped, Farmer seized the lead from his top starting spot. He pulled the field around the lightning quick surface for the first five laps. On the sixth lap, however, second place starter Ham smoked Farmer. Liking the view from out front, Ham stayed there for a good portion of the race.

Though Ham ruled much of the first half of the race, a couple of the name drivers got their time on the point as well. Fryar and Waltrip both led, but bad racing luck nabbed them both.

Waltrip lost a left-front brake shoe near the middle of the race, had his wheel lock-up, and spun. DW's crew repaired the car, and he returned to action albeit several laps down. When the day was done, Waltrip settled for a P4 finish.

After leading a few laps early, Fryar spun to avoid the spinning Waltrip. He gathered his car and continued. A blown engine at lap 167, however, fried Fryar's chance at a decent day.

Meanwhile, James Ham continued cycling his way in and out of the lead. He piled up 136 laps out front during the first two-thirds of the race. Misfortune, however, cooked Ham's bacon on lap 184.

Charlie Binkley blew an engine, and Red Farmer's remarkable streak of being in the wrong place at the wrong time continued. Farmer spun in Binkley's oil and then returned across the track just as Ham tried to sneak through the accident. With nowhere to go, Ham clobbered Farmer ending his fantastic run.

As the favorites fell, Brickhouse decided he'd take the lead since no one else seemed able to hold it. Taking over the top spot following Ham's wreck, he led a stretch of nearly 50 laps and built a five-lap lead over second place.

Then remarkably, racing's fickle finger of fate pointed at Brickhouse. His tire blew on the frontstretch headed for turn 1, and Brickhouse greeted the concrete wall. Though Brickhouse left the race, he remained posted as the leader for the next few laps as the second place car unlapped himself.

Newport, TN's L.D. Ottinger raced at the Fairgrounds from time to time in the late 1960s, but he never scored a win on the original half-mile track. Once he unlapped himself in the 1970 Southern 300, however, he had a clear path to his first Nashville win.

Fighting an intense headache and exhaustion, Ottinger did what others in the race couldn't do: survive. He led the remaining laps and claimed a signature, career victory.

In his first Nashville start, Harry Gant finished second two laps down to Ottinger. (Though Gant qualified for the 1969 Southern 300, he apparently did not start the race.) Gary Cook, Waltrip, and Gene Glover rounded out the top five finishers.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

The 13th running of the Southern 300 at Nashville's Fairground Speedways concluded the 1971 season of points-paying races. Flookie Buford captured the first of his two track late model sportsman titles, and national NASCAR points were on the line for the Southern 300 competitors.

The thirteenth edition of the race also somewhat reflected the unlucky tone of the season. Driver Art Ellis began the year on a true high note with an unexpected yet popular win in the season-opening Flameless 200. Two months later, however, Ellis lost his life in an accident during a regular ol' 30-lap Saturday night feature.

An iconic (?) movie in the theaters at the time of the 1971 Southern was Evel Knievel with actor George Hamilton playing the role of the daredevil. The now-departed, single-screen Donelson Theatre near my parents' house screened the movie.

I wish I could make the claim of seeing the movie ... at that time ... and in that theater. But I cannot. I was a bit too young and not yet aware of this larger-than-life character. Within a couple of years, however, Evel was definitely on my radar through Wide World of Sports and the hyped promotion for his Snake River Canyon jump. For what it's worth though, my mother took me to see Disney's Jungle Book at the Donelson Theatre.

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One of the promotional photos in The Tennesseean featured three racing giants: Red Farmer, Lee Roy Yarbrough, and Harry Gant - though each for different reasons and at different times.

By 1971, Farmer's reputation as a modified and sportsman winner was already well established. He raced seemingly anywhere and everywhere - dirt and asphalt, superspeedways and short tracks, NASCAR and outlaw, in sickness and in health, etc.

After a period of banging around short tracks, Yarbrough joined NASCAR's Grand National ranks in the mid 1960s. He never ran a full season, but his performances caught the eye of owner Junior Johnson. The duo joined forces in 1967, and Yarbrough enjoyed a career year in 1969 including grand slam wins in the Daytona 500, World 600, and Southern 500. Oddly, the combo could not sustain their success in the years to follow. Yarbrough returned to racing a patchwork of events including NASCAR Cup, Indy Car, USAC stock cars, and late model shows such as the Southern 300.

Gant's fame came much later than the other two - especially when he became synonymous with the Skoal Bandit Cup car in the 1980s. In the early 1970s, however, Gant had already begun to experience success in local and regional LMS races. His finished second in his first Nashville race, the 1970 Southern 300. He returned to Music City a few more times in 1971 before qualifying for his second Southern.

Gant's photo with Farmer and Yarbrough wasn't the only time in his career he was recruited for a cheesy tug-of-war promo pose. He also hammed it up with other Cup drivers in a similar manner for Martinsville's 1985 race program.

For years, the Southern 300 trophy was presented by Pepsi. In 1971, local CBS affiliate WLAC-TV sponsored the award. Sports anchor Hope Hines was on hand to present the winner's trophy. A few years later, WLAC-TV changed its call letters to WTVF. The station remains on the air today though it is now branded as NewsChannel 5.

Country singer Nat Stuckey served as the grand marshal. Um... yeah... ahem, that Nat Stuckey. I guess.

I'll concede I was not aware of Mr. Stuckey's discography, but I did find one of his winning songs, Sweet Thang. Enjoy ... and then return.

Though Flookie Buford captured the LMS championship along with five feature wins, 1970 track champ Darrell Waltrip racked the most wins in 1971. Driving the #48 Sterling Beer, P.B. Crowell-owned Chevelle, Waltrip notched eight wins in 22 features.

Many considered Waltrip as the favorite for the Southern - especially among the local racers. With several out-of-town racers expected for the race, others pointed to Donnie Allison as the driver to beat. Allison submitted his entry, and he expected to compete during an off-weekend from his Cup schedule with the Wood Brothers.

In the week leading up to the race, however, Allison received an offer from Roger Penske to drive in a sports car race in Riverside, California. Allison planned to sub for Mark Donohue in Penske's Javelin so Donohue could travel to Trenton, NJ to race Penske's car in the USAC Indy Car event.

Joe Carver, Nashville's publicity director, was less than pleased over Allison's decision to withdraw from the Southern - especially since Carver and track promoter Bill Donoho spent good money including Allison's name in pre-race promotional radio and print ads.

Though Carver likely never would have admitted it, one has to wonder if he smirked a bit on October 2nd. Allison spun off course during a practice lap at Riverside, and his front wheels hooked a rut in the desert dirt lining the track. The steering wheel snapped in Allison's hands, a bone in his wrist snapped, and he was unable to race on Sunday.

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L.D. Ottinger won the 1970 Southern almost by process of elimination. One by one, the favored drivers fell by the wayside, and Ottinger found himself with a comfortable lead over Gant. A year later, Ottinger arrived loaded for bear and made a statement about his desire to repeat. He topped the speed chart in qualifying to earn the top starting spot.

Local racer James Ham - who routinely laid down lightning-quick laps on Nashville's high banks - timed second. Waltrip, Farmer, and local racer Bill Morton rounded out the top five starters.

Ottinger seized the lead from his top starting spot when the green flag waved. He pulled the field around the 5/8-mile track for five laps before surrendering the lead to Waltrip.

Once Waltrip got by L.D., he gone. Lap after lap, DW deftly navigated the big turns and short straights. Even through pit cycles, the #48 car could not be passed.

Waltrip's rhythm was interrupted a couple of times for accidents involving others. One was for second place starter Ham when he pulled a bone-headed move. After dealing with lapped traffic during the first third of the race, Ham ran upon Buford. Thinking Flookie was a lap down, Ham rapped his bumper as a signal to get out of his way. Buford, however, was in the same lap as Ham and wasn't about to surrender the spot as a charitable gesture. Ham took another shot, dove to the inside, but couldn't make it work. Ham wiped out Buford as well as his own car, and both finished well down in the finishing order.

Despite cautions and restarts, Waltrip continued his domination with a lap lead on second place Farmer. With 15 laps to go, however, it happened.

Drivers often say they hear things inside the car while leading a race late - particularly a signature event. More often that not, the paranoia is replaced by euphoria as the checkered flag falls. That wasn't the case, however, in the 1971 Southern.

With a commanding lead and another Nashville win in sight, Waltrip's transmission fell apart. He coasted helplessly to the pit area where he was greeted with empathy by car owner Crowell.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Red Farmer, who himself experienced multiple Southern losses when a win seemed certain, inherited the top spot as Waltrip sat dejectedly in his car. Once Farmer made up his lap deficit, the lead belonged to him - followed by his second Southern 300 win in three years.

Source: Steve Cavanah

The 1971 season was a bit different than most of the previous years at the Fairgrounds. The Southern 300 was traditionally the final race of the season. In 1971, however, the track hosted an additional night of racing - but with a couple of different twists.

A 200-lap feature on the quarter-mile track for the Cadet racers was the main event - by far the longest race for that division.
The LMS race was the undercard, and Waltrip scored the win in the 50-lap event. Drivers competed for prize money only - no points.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

Drivers belted in for the 14th running of the Southern 300 on October 1, 1972. The race was the third of the 20 editions to fall on October 1st. The race was also the first one to add a sponsor. Permatex signed as the title sponsor - though thankfully the Southern name was retained.

Permatex's first arrived as a Nashville sponsor in the 1971 season opener previously known as the Flameless 300. The company also supported other significant late model races around the country - most notably at Daytona where the race names were simply the Permatex 300. So it was a significant, agreed-upon point that the tradition of Nashville's Southern 300 was retained in the 1972 race name.

As in prior years, the Southern 300 continued to draw big-name, out-of-town drivers to race against the locals. Red Farmer was a Nashville native but was better known as a member of The Alabama Gang. So though he had been racing at the Fairgrounds almost since it opened, he was still generally regarded as an out-of-towner.

Jack Ingram also made the trek to middle Tennessee. Throughout the 1970s, Ingram pocketed several nice wins in Music City. He arrived for the 1972 Southern having already won a pair of 200-lap races in July and August. Ingram was also seeking his first NASCAR national late model sportsman title after Farmer won three straight from 1969-1971.

The big dawg locally was Darrell Waltrip. DW won the track's 1970 LMS title and continued to test the weight limits of his crowded trophy shelves. He won the 1970 Flameless 300 (the first late model race on Nashville's high-banked track), and his 1972 victories included three 100-lap LMS features plus a 200-lap national USAC stock car race.

Farmer, the defending and two-time Southern 300 champion, wanted to become the race's first three-time winner. He inherited his second win in 1971 when a dominating Waltrip broke late in the race. Waltrip returned in his P.B. Crowell-owned, red and white American Homes #48 Chevelle to finish what he started a year earlier.

Local racer Charlie Binkley won the pole in his #25 Pabst Blue Ribbon Chevelle. Alabama's Alton Jones joined him on the front row. Ingram, Waltrip, and Farmer spent time together promoting the race, and they started together in fourth, fifth, and sixth.

Source: Russ Thompson / Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Despite starting fourth, Waltrip had a nose for the lead. Similar to his performance a year earlier, Waltrip went to the point early and stayed there for the first 200 laps. Things then began to get interesting in the final third of the race.

With about 70 laps to go, Waltrip lapped second place running Ingram. In doing so, he found himself in a lap to himself. While knocking off lap after lap, DW likely had time to wonder about race gremlins - particularly the variety that denied him the win a year earlier.

Sure enough, one of the gremlins announced its presence about ten laps later. As Waltrip roared through the third turn, he broke a left front wheel. Remarkably, he maintained control of his car and limped to pit road.

Waltrip returned to action, but his time out front had ended. He lost the lap-lead on the field and fell to third behind Ingram and pole-winner Binkley.

With about 20 laps to go, a debris caution bunched the field for what was expected to be the final restart. It wasn't.

As the field took the green a couple of laps later, hell broke loose. Red Farmer (driving L.D. Ottinger's car in relief) suddenly had his windshield coated with fluid from Jerry Sisco's car. Farmer slowed, but he also knew the pack was rolling. Binkley, running second to Ingram, clipped Farmer and set sail for the wall.

Binkley exploded into the first turn wall just past the grandstands, rolled over it, and destroyed his car. Remarkably, he exited the car unharmed.

Source: Steve Cavanah

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

The caution - while awful for Binkley - provided a break for Waltrip. Prior to the debris caution and the ensuing Binkley accident, Ingram had gapped Waltrip in just a couple of laps. On the restart, however, Waltrip was now on Ingram's bumper. He made the pass for the lead soon after the restart and clung to it as the scoreboard logged the final few laps.

As the two raced to begin the final lap, one more caution was displayed - or at least that's officially what happened. Waltrip saw the yellow flag (and presumably flashing lights), but Ingram claimed the yellow was not waived. Ingram charged past Waltrip at the line as he believed he saw the white flag. Waltrip, however, cracked the throttle because of the caution and expected a gentlemen's agreement to not race back to the line.

Race officials agreed with Waltrip. He received the checkered flag and the win, and Ingram's protest over a yellow vs. white flag was declined. Despite having a hand in the race-deciding caution and Binkley's crash, Farmer brought home Ottinger's Chevelle in third place.

Source: Nashville Fairgrounds Racing History

Waltrip's Southern 300 trophies reside today in one of his Franklin, TN car dealerships. The one held by Waltrip in the above photo was awarded by Permatex.

The second one held by Judy Frensley to the left of Waltrip's wife, Stevie, was presented by the track.

A number of questions remained after the finish:

Was it fair game for Ingram to race back to the line to take the white flag and ultimately the win?
Was Waltrip's presumed drivers' code the safer and approved way to settle the race?
Did track officials provide a little home cookin' for the local guy over the national fella?

As controversial as the ending of the '72 Southern 300 may have been, the finish paled in comparison to what went down between Richard Petty and Bobby Allison during North Wilkesboro's Cup race the same day.

The 1972 Southern 300 was the final race on Nashville's high-banked track. After a three-year run accompanied by two driver deaths and a chorus of safety complaints, Fairground Speedways was reconfigured a second time. The banking was dropped to 18 degrees where it remains to this day. In doing so, the track's third configuration shortened it from a 5/8-mile oval (.625) to .596 mile. Yet perhaps because "five-eighths" rolls off the tongue a bit easier than "point five nine six", the former, longer distance continued to be referenced in the years to follow.

Source for articles: The Tennessean

TMC

April 12, 1987 - Valleydale Meats 500

1969 Flameless 300

1970 Flameless 300

1971 Flameless ... err, Permatex 200

Earnhardt's final race in Music City

Nashville's Falls City 200 - part 1

Nashville's Falls City 200 - part 2

July 19, 1958 - The debut of Fairgrounds Speedway

Nashville's 1958 and 1959 Southern 300

Nashville's 1960 Southern 300

Nashville's 1961 Southern 300

Nashville's 1962-1963 Southern 300s

Nashville's 1964 Southern 300

Nashville's 1966 Southern 300

Nashville's 1967 Southern 300

Nashville's 1968 Southern 300

Nashville's 1969 Southern 300

Nashville's 1970 Southern 300

Nashville's 1971 Southern 300

Nashville's 1972 Permatex Southern 300