1965 Southern 500
Coordinates: 34°17′50.5″N 79°54′18.4″W / 34.297361°N 79.905111°W
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 45 of 55 in the 1965 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 Layout of Darlington Raceway | |||
| Date | September 6, 1965 | ||
| Official name | Southern 500 | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.375 mi (2.212 km) | ||
| Distance | 364 laps, 500.5 mi (805.4 km) | ||
| Weather | Warm with temperatures reaching up to 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 115.878 miles per hour (186.488 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Junior Johnson & Associates | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Darel Dieringer | Bud Moore Engineering | |
| Laps | 199 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 86 | Ned Jarrett | Bondy Long | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC (tape-delay basis) | ||
| Announcers | Jim McKay | ||
The 1965 Southern 500, the 16th running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 6, 1965, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.
The race took four hours and nineteen minutes to complete with Ned Jarrett beating Buck Baker by a distance of fourteen laps and 19 laps over third and fourth-place finishers: Darel Dieringer and Roy Mayne; which would remain a NASCAR record to this very day.
Background
Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.
The track is a four-turn 1.366 miles (2.198 km) oval.[2] The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees.[2] The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees.[2] Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people.[2]
Summary
In mileage, the gap between Jarrett and Baker is the equivalent of 19.25 miles or 30.98 kilometres. Drivers who failed to qualify for this race were: Pee Wee Ellwanger (Dodge), Wendell Scott (Ford), Worth McMillion (Pontiac) and Bernard Alvarez (Ford).[3] By modern-day standards, this race was considered to be a blowout. Every competitive car had problems with the exception of Jarrett's vehicle; even Buddy Baker's vehicle overheated on lap 123 and he was the odds-on favorite to win the race that day.
Jarrett would go on to claim his second NASCAR championship title after the November 7 race at the Dog Track Speedway in Moyock, North Carolina. While 44 cars would originally start the race, only 15 of them would survive until the end. Buren Skeen was fatally injured when Reb Wickersham's Ford plowed into Skeen's driver door on the third lap of the race. Skeen remained unconscious for nine days before passing away. Cale Yarborough would sail off the wall in an unrelated accident; he crashed with Sam McQuagg. Fortunately, seat belts managed to save both of their lives. Curtis Turner would be permitted to race after Bill France dropped his lifetime ban for promoting a trade union with NASCAR. Richard Petty did not race even though he stopped boycotting Chrysler and the Grand National Series.
Other notable names who participated included: Junior Johnson, LeeRoy Yarbrough, Elmo Langley, Wendell Scott, and Darel Dieringer. The winner would walk away with $21,060 while the last place winner would receive $750 in total winnings.[4] The transition to purposely-built racers began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s; most of the cars were trailered to events or hauled in by trucks.
Finishing order
- Ned Jarrett
- Buck Baker†
- Darel Dieringer*†
- Roy Mayne
- Buddy Arrington
- H. B. Bailey†
- Stick Elliott
- Frank Warren
- J. T. Putney
- Wendell Scott†
- Fred Lorenzen*
- Jimmy Helms
- Bob Derrington†
- Paul Lewis
- Wayne Smith
- E. J. Trivette
- Bobby Johns*†
- Don Hume
- Dick Hutcherson*†
- G. C. Spencer*†
- Larry Hess*
- Jim Paschal*†
- Bud Harless*†
- Gene Black*†
- Neil Castles*
- Elmo Langley*†
- LeeRoy Yarbrough*†
- Buddy Baker*†
- Sam McQuagg*†
- Cale Yarborough*
- Bunkie Blackburn*†
- Earl Balmer*
- Doug Cooper*†
- Junior Spencer*
- Curtis Turner*†
- Bobby Wawak*†
- Marvin Panch*†
- Henley Gray*
- Tiny Lund*†
- Bud Moore*
- Bert Robbins*
- Buren Skeen*†
- Red Wickersham*
- Junior Johnson*
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race
Timeline
- Start of race: Fred Lorenzen was the pole position as the drivers are given the green flag
- Lap 1: Junior Johnson's ignition fails to work
- Lap 2: Reb Wickersham had a terminal crash along with Buren Skeen
- Lap 3: Bert Robbins had a terminal crash
- Lap 9: Bud Moore had to leave the race because his vehicle had terrible oil pressure
- Lap 25: A frame came loose enough off of Tiny Lund's vehicle that he couldn't race anymore
- Lap 29: Problems with the vehicle's clutch sent Henley Gray into the garage
- Lap 33: Darel Dieringer took over the lead from Fred Lorenzen
- Lap 42: Marvin Panch managed to ruin his engine
- Lap 46: Earl Balmer took over the lead from Darl Dieringer, Bobby Wawak managed to ruin his engine
- Lap 47: Bobby Johns took over the lead from Earl Balmer
- Lap 49: Jim Paschal took over the lead from Bobby Johns
- Lap 51: A wheel bearing came off Curtis Turner's vehicle, rendering him a noncompetitor for the remainder of the event
- Lap 54: Darel Dieringer took over the lead from Cale Yarbrough
- Lap 79: Junior Spencer managed to blow his vehicle's engine
- Lap 85: The differential of Doug Cooper's vehicle was acting strangely, knocking him out of the race
- Lap 87: Earl Balmer took over the lead from Darel Deringer
- Lap 88: Sam McQuagg took over the lead from Earl Balmer
- Lap 94: Earl Balmer had a terminal crash
- Lap 109: Bunkie Blackburn had a terminal crash
- Lap 118: Sam McQuagg and Cale Yarborough both suffered from terminal crashes
- Lap 119: Darel Dieringer took over the lead from Sam McQuagg
- Lap 122: Fred Lorenzen took over the lead from Darel Dieringer
- Lap 123: Jim Paschal took over the lead from Fred Lorenzen
- Lap 129: Ned Jarrett took over the lead from Jim Paschal
- Lap 145: Fred Lorenzen took over the lead from Ned Jarrett
- Lap 148: Darel Dieringer took over the lead from Fred Lorenzen
- Lap 167: Fred Lorenzen took over the lead from Darel Dieringer
- Lap 168: Darel Dieringer took over the lead from Fred Lorenzen
- Lap 228: Fred Lorenzen took over the lead from Darel Dieringer
- Lap 233: Ned Jarrett took over the lead from Fred Lorenzen
- Lap 240: Darel Dieringer took over the lead from Ned Jarrett
- Lap 288: Fred Lorenzen took over the lead from Darel Dieringer
- Lap 303: Darel Dieringer took over the lead from Fred Lorenzen
- Lap 326: Ned Jarrett took over the lead from Darel Dieringer
- Finish: Ned Jarrett was officially declared the winner of the event
References
- ↑ "1965 Southern 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
- 1 2 3 4 "Darlington Raceway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
- ↑ "1965 Southern 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
- ↑ "1965 Southern 500 information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
| Preceded by 1965 Myers Brothers 250 |
NASCAR Grand National Series season 1965 |
Succeeded by 1965 Buddy Shuman 250 |
| Preceded by 1964 |
Southern 500 races 1965 |
Succeeded by 1966 |