In 1972, I watched Cale Yarborough win the Southern 500. Watched him again in 1973. It was the beginning of me as a race fan.
I think driving through turn 3-4 six inches or less off the wall for lap after lap has to require a level of focus so far beyond anything I'm capable of, to be absurd.
I just love watching the Darlington races, even if the aero makes passing really tough.
It's my favorite oval track
The Lady in Black
The '62 Southern 500 was the first event I attended not held on a 1/2 mile dirt track. My Dad and I left in the early hours on Labor Day morning and made the drive from our home in Columbia. At seven years old I was already a race fan and this trip pretty well sealed the deal for life. Back stretch concrete grandstands, maybe three rows up. First time by after the start was something like i'd never felt. We stayed almost the entire race and started making our way back to the car as the race was winding down and it looked like Richard Petty was going to win his first 500. It's hard to convince today's NASCAR fan but in 1962 winning the Southern 500 was bigger than winning Daytona.
While walking back to the car, parked in someone's front yard, for a nominal fee, across from the front stretch grandstands, a passerby with a transistor radio let everyone in earshot know Richard had blown a tire and Junior Johnson took the checkered flag. It may have been the next day's newspaper before we found out Larry Frank had won.
Missed the '63 race and did not see Fireball Roberts get his last win on an oval.
We made the trip in '64 to see Buck Baker get the win for Ray Fox. '65 with Ned Jarrett getting his win. Buck Baker was second. Eleven laps down. Cale flew out of the track between turns one and two in spectacular fashion while racing Sam McQuagg. '66 saw Earl Balmer almost take out the press box and Darel Deringer win for Bud Moore. In '67 Richard Petty was rewriting the record book, put on a clinic, and won. And that wound up my visits as other things competed for a 13 year old's attention. Returned once in the mid-90s but honestly I forget who won. Years later I received , as a birthday gift, a day with the Richard Petty Driving Experience. There was no doubt where I would take my laps.
I'm hoping there was a seven year in attendance last night that had as much fun as I did in 1962.
Edit: I've been advised Ned Jarrett's margin of victory in 1965 was 14 laps.
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