October 3, 1965
“Wilkes 400”
Top 5 finishers.....
Pole sitter Fred Lorenzen (new record—22.15 seconds/101.58mph) led 190 laps, but lost an engine after lap 219. It’s hard to speculate if he would have won though because Junior Johnson’s car was running at the finish and when that happened, he often was a serious threat. Johnson was the first car to take the checkered flag. Johnson led 204 laps. He started from the 5th position. It was the last win of his career as a driver. It is only fitting that it took place at the track he grew up near and on which his racing career began. Although his first official NASCAR race is listed as the Southern 500 in Darlington, S.C., in 1953, he was driving long before that. In the late '40s, his brother L.P. approached him while was plowing his garden, following along behind a mule, and asked him if he would like to drive L.P.'s car in a Modified race at nearby North Wilkesboro Speedway. The race wasn't much, a fill-in between the heats, but Johnson figured it would be more fun than plowing, so he agreed. He finished second. His brother’s proposition would change his life. Johnson would return one more time to race at North Wilkesboro the following year.
Running in his 4th career NWS race and posting his first top 5 at the track was Cale Yarborough. Cale started 6th and led 6 laps in the race. He finished two laps behind Johnson. Driving for Banjo Matthews in the race, Yarborough gave Matthews his highest finish at the speedway. In future years, Yarborough drove for Junior Johnson and the two would make history in more ways than one.
Finishing 3rd in his last Grand National race at NWS was Ned Jarrett, also two laps off the pace. Jarrett retired the following year at the young age of 33 after running a partial schedule. It has been said that Fireball Roberts’ fiery crash which resulted in his death in 1964 took its toll on Jarrett and may have led to his early retirement. One of NASCAR’s top 50 Drivers of All-time, Jarrett started 352 Grand National races, had 50 wins and 239 top tens. Jarrett was most effective on short tracks.
“The Silver Fox” recorded his third top ten with his 4th place finish in the race. It was David Pearson’s eighth Grand National race at NWS, his first top five. He completed 397 of the 400 laps. Pearson would go on to be a 3-time NASCAR’s highest ranking series. Considered by many to be the best there ever was, Pearson was at his best on dirt tracks, superspeedways, road courses, big tracks and little tracks. It didn't make any difference; you had to beat him every week.
Finishing 4 laps behind Johnson was Curtis Turner. It was his first race at the track in 4 ½ years due to his banishment from the sport. It had been a tough several years for Turner. At first, his dream of opening Charlotte Motor Speedway was troubled by financial issues, and then he was stabbed in the back by Bruton Smith and ousted from his position as the track’s president. His banishment from the sport was because he attempted to organize the drivers as a local of the Teamsters Union. He felt the drivers were getting a raw financial deal from NASCAR. NASCAR lifted the banishment in 1965 and Turner ran a very limited schedule from ’65 to ’68, recording a victory at Rockingham in 1965. “The Rock” is now owned by Bruton—I wonder if he’s trying to get Turner’s win taken away also. 
A large crowd of 15,000 was on hand. The race lasted 2 hours, 48 minutes, 55 seconds. Three drivers exchanged the lead three different times. An early crash took out three big names after just 14 laps—Richard Petty, Dick Hutcherson and Bobby Isaac. There were five cautions for a total of 36 laps. Only 16 of the 35 cars entered in the race were running at the finish. Gene Black improved the most positions, 16—starting 33rd and finishing 17th. Sam McQuagg, the 1965 Rookie of the Year made his first start at NWS. He started 13th, but was sidelined after just 93 laps with car issues. He was credited with a 28th place finish.
Sam McQuagg