Bristol Herald Courier from Bristol, Tennessee • 8

Leader Johnson 27 Makes His Way Around Tommy Irwin In Turn Johnson Leaves Race With Differential Trouble Smoke Trails rom Jack Smith's Pontiac After Engine Blew i' 8 BRISTOL HERALD COURIER Monday October 23 1961 x'? 3s '7 'Sdrf': 'X: BURKS' 1 JS LjMHb i M1 b1'''i" dEMR i Joe Weatherly Wins Southeastern 500' Virginian Takes 4th Win In Last 6 Starts i 'WAh Ait? How They inished Weather ails To Dampen Race 'il trly took the prize driving a caution flags and in this category what had to he done and Carrier i the standout He blew an engine Tommy Irwin Spins After Hitting Pit Guard Rafl Tftta irst Turn yet Three chauffeured the 108th lap he spun out Both 1 4 KO bi Sr no way to win anything think I gave Rex a good Jarrett father of three did give White a run for the money yesterday in his 1081 Chevrolet And in winning the title he auto matically picks up approximately $8000 from the NASCAR point tfund phis another $5000 in fringe benefits waste any time Once the race was over It look only one hour and Ifi minutes Io get the patrons on the road MXWl into the turning act He first spun downward and then spun back up to the top of the track as he is pictured above All the traffic got by without any smasbups and Baker completed the race The other car in the picture is a 1962 Mercury being driven by Curtis Crider Weatherly went on to win the race at an average speed of 7244 mfles per hour 'I' Vtk' BUCK BAKER Joe Weatherly car number 8 barely misses Buck Baker who spun in the third turn late in yester "Southeastern at Bristol International Speedway spin came about when Tiny Lund of Cross driv ing a 1960 Chevrolet blew an engine and leaked oil on the back Baker then hit the oil in his big Chrysler sending him With the Bristol race and next Sunday's 150 miler at Hillsboro closing out the 1961 season Jarrett could have played it cool yesterday by not pushing his car too hard' thus assuring himseM of enough points to sew up die title "I was out there to win like most of the Jarrett said "Sure I could have held back but pK 'A i i times the caution flag came out Tommy Irwin of Inman provided some more unscheduled excitement on the 21st lap when sliced off a section of infield fence It took ten laps to get the race 't started again rom the spectators point of view perhaps the most welcome 5 accomplishment was the surpris ing absence of the usual traffic snarl after the race 5 Last July here it took three to four hours to clear the parking By DICK CROUCH Staff Writer Ned Jarrett the mild mannered racing veteran out of Newton is the new NASCAR Grand National champion Rapidly becoming known as "Mr Consistency" the 29 year old Jarrett yesterday won sixth place in the irst Annual Southeastern son to clinch the 1961 stock car racing crown His victory however didn't come easy To do it Jarrett had to fight off one of the games! driv ers in racing Rex White of Spart anburg the defending cham pion White vent into yesterday's race with only a small mathematical chance of repeating last feat when he won the driving titlewhich is based on points earned in each race Points are a arde ac cording to the position finished in each race The oniy way White could have come close to Jarrett the point race was to have finished at the top of the field in the 250 mile event while Jarrett wound up at the bottom Such was not the case yesterday for Jarett who won the NASCAR sportsman championship in 1957 1 1953 In the 50 Grand National races this season Jarrett has un failingly finished high But he has i won only one a 100 miler at Birmingham in June happy to win the Jarrett said after race "but 'i it had of Spartanburg But in SOO lap grind on the 464th lap spun out and By RON MILLER Luck was with Joe Weatherly all the way as he won the first annual "Southeastern at Bristol International Speed way yesterday The victory was Weatherly's fourth in his last six starts However most of the race was dominated by the Pontiacs owned by Junior Johnson of North Wilkesboro and 5 driven by Johnson and ireball Roberts The two cars were definitely the fastest on the track and together the team led for 334 laps Johnson 283 and Roberts 51 The average speed for the 500 lap 250 mile grind was a fast however it was not a new record for a half mile track The record of 7785 miles per hour was set at Asheville Weaverville Speedway last year Weatherly started in the outside pole position and never dropped lower than sixth throughout the race He did how ever get the breaks that counted late in the competition He made only two pit stops one for tires and gas and one for gas only Bobby Johns of Miami la who started in the inside pole position in one of Jack Smith's 1961 Pontiacs grabbed the lead when the green flag was thrown Johns gave the car all it had because he knew he was quickly being pursued by Weatherly Johnson and Roberts On lap number two Roberto the Daytona Beach ace moved by Weatherly to take over second and on lap number eight Weatherly was passed again by Johnson who started in seventh position Junior started giving hLs Pontiac full throttle and was in second place by the 18th lap Johns kept trying to hold John son off but much to his avail the Wild Man of Wukes County came roaring by on the 31st lap This put Johnson in first Johns in second and Roberts in third Junior set the pace for the rest of the field until lap 212 when he pitted for gas In the meantime a fierce duel for second was being carried on by Roberts and Johns or nearly 100 laps ireball was right on bumper Oe finally passed the Smith owned machine when Johns became involved in a traffic jam on the fourth turn on the 162nd lap Johns immediately pitted after he dropped to third This then put Weatherly in that position Little Joe moved up to second when Roberts made a pit stop on lap 200 After Johnson went in Johns again took the lead and held on until he started having rear end trouble and was forced to pit! He relinquished it to Roberts Bohby came back after having a new differential installed but by that time he had lost 40 laps and was out of contention Roberts set the pace until he was again passed by team mate Johnson on the 283rd lap ireball went out to stay on lap 292 Johnson led for 102 more laps and set a faster pace than he had before building up a five lap lead over Jim Paschal the second place driver who had been moving up steadily Junior however was forced out of the competition on lap 385 with differential trouble Paschal then guided his Pontiac through the first turn hoping to make up the five laps while Junior was in the pits But just as he came out of the second turn he spun slightly and was hit by Tiny Lund in a 1960 Chevrolet He pulled into the pits and Rex White who had been driving consistently throughout the race moved into contention Johnson remained in the pits for several laps and White made up the difference to take first place Junior came back onto the track but only a few laps later pulled his car behind the pit wall as car had been earlier White had made only one pit stop until that time and went 1 In for gas on the 419th lap when Weatherly moved into the lead and stayed there for keeps The caution flag fell only three times unlike the "Volun teer vvhen it was out seven times The fans saw plenty of excitement for several turns around the oval beginning on lap 355 when White attempted to pass Weatherly who held out the defending champ and bumped him at the same time White Retaliated by throwing the front of his car against the side of almost spinning Norfolk driver in front of the grandstand The race was attended by 17000 people Hl iJ to be anybody else I would have wanted it tobe Rex" Rex who is "Mr Nice Guy" around the tracks these days said Jarrett "will be a good champion he handles his car well on all the tracks and his pit crew be better unless he had mine" ijr "wk O' a If hi i Iftl By DICK CROUCH Staff Writer The weather which heaped gen erous amounts of rain sleet and snow on the Bristol area riday and Saturday failed to dampen the spirits of 15000 spectators at irst Annual South eastern 500 at Bristol Internation al Speedway Joe Weatherly winner the 250 mile test Pit the world's fast est half mile track summed it up this way: "No two races are alike This week it's a half mile paved track and next week a mile on dirt Vhat the fans want is a good race vith some excitement They usually get what they come race run under sunny rides with th temperature ft was a more cpme4fflgling fin hit the rail on the thlrf tarn On an iaeai degrees was no ex Ji jr by Weatherly White and South ern 500 winner Nelson Stacy of Hamilton fought it out for the $4000 first place money in the final 70 laps Little win his eighth of the present season brought his earnings to $40000 placing him fourth in that department behind Dave Pearson of Spartanburg White ($45300) and ireball Roberto of Daytona ($41 400) By comparison the Southeast lots But BIS President Larry ern 500 was rather tame when farrier has solved that situation stacked against last Vol jHe had the problem analyzed bv Ned Jarrett Wins 1961 Driving Championship rom Rex White MfwI rp I 4 iff 'J 3 Bobby Johns Watches Mechanics Install Rear End ception Like two of the three pre vious races Weatherly has won the victor was in doubt right down to the final lap At Martinsville Va four weeks ago in the "Dominion it was Weatherly a Norfolk bachelor and Grand National Champion Rex White of Spartanburg SC dueling bumper to bumper the final 30 laps Weatherly won by two car lengxhs In a 400 mi'er at Charlotte last Sunday Weatherly and Richard Petty of Randleman NC bat tled to the wire for first place UUU4JLVU MJ money Again tne Moot 7 weatn unteer 500 There were only three traffic experts They told him MH 4 Al Mna vauHUH a6o ghxa mi uut wnav IldU 10 DC 0006 300 tamer 1961 Pontiac owned by Bud Moore red Harb of Spartanburg was racing's newest promoter didn't l1! I 001 Aw''' 4 a if 1 WWW vwWq nmffl riT 1 I 1 LS)' wiA cJlsri I Sr 4 1 a ti 1 'J HWiZ I "7 A '4 4': Mr 3 i 1 Wi 7i 1 3 ic' ir try Joe Weatherly Norfolk Va Pnnt 500 Rex White Spartanburg Chev 560 Nelson Stacy Cincinnati Ohio 61 ord 500 Jim Paschal High Point Pont 498 Emanuel Zervakis Richmond Va Chev 495 Ned Jarrett Concover Cher 491 Jimmy Pardue Wilkesboro Pont 482 Ken Rush High Point Pont 481 Bill Morton Church Hill Tenn Chev 481 Boh Morton Greensboro Pont 480 Ruddy Baker Charlotte Chry 480 Spencer Inman Chev 478 Austin Greeneville Chev 474 Herman Beam Johnson City Tenn ord 471 Curtis Crider Charleston Mere 460 Wendell Scott Danville Va Chev 459 Bobby Johns Miami la "61 Pont 457 Brownie King Johnson City Tenn Bird 442 Bill Latham Birmingham Ala Chev 440 red Harb High Point ord 439 Jack Smith Spartanburg Pont 42! riday Hassler Chattanooga Tenn Chev 414 Richard Petty Randleman Plym 394 Junior Johnson Wilkesboro 61 Pont 3M Joe Lee Johnson Chattanooga Tenn ord 379 7 ireball Roberts Daytona Beach la Pont 323 Bill Morgan Annandale Va ord 237 George Green Johnson City Tenn Chev 197 Tiny Lund Cross Chev 169 Bunkie Blackburn Southern Pines ord 164 i Paul Lewis Johnson City Tenn Chev 149 7' Larry Thomas Trinity Dodge 117 Laymon Utsman Bluff City Tenn Pont 115 Mark Hurley Johnson City Tenn Pont 115 Joe Jones Winston Salem ord 111 Doug Yates Chapel Hill Plym 85 Tommy Irwin Inman Chev 19 7 Alan ranklin Saduskis Va Nash 7 A.