Visual Relief-1965 Stock Car Racing [Archive]

eliminator

June 29th, 2010, 05:41 AM

This is during the time when NASCAR outlawed the Hemi's and Richard Petty and the rest of the Mopar Gang boycotted the races.:(
Ole Bill France nearly went bankrupt early on in NASCAR History:

"The 1964 season also just wasn't as lopsided as it may appear. Richard Petty was locked in a heated three way battle for the Championship. The Ford cars were not "lay downs" by any means. They were competent, powerful, and fast in their own right. Ned Jarrett in his Ford and David Pearson in a Dodge gave the Petty organization fits all year long.
The final tally rested on one critical area. So close were Ned Jarrett and Richard Petty that the Championship came down to number of events entered. Richard had competed in all 61 events. Ned Jarrett had been in 59, two less than Richard. That was the main difference that clinched the Grand National Title that year!
However, Bill France was not happy. Before the final race in 1964, he made an announcement that chilled the Chrysler camp. In one sweep, he eliminated the Hemi engine from competition, along with the newly introduced Ford 427 "hi- riser." Ford was pleased. Chrysler was not.
Ten days later, Ronnie Householder issued a statement that no Chrysler supported teams were going to participate in any NASCAR event under the current dictated rules. He blasted NASCAR, at times appearing furious with the decision handed down by France. It had started when Ford officials had been making it known that if NASCAR did not declare the Hemi engine illegal as a non production item, they would boycott the 1965 season. Their suspicions about the Hemi were confirmed in their mind with aerodynamics having nothing at all to do with the winning ways for Chrysler.
When France made his decision to ban the Hemi, Householder called Ford and NASCAR to task. Without a doubt, the threat of a boycott from Ford prompted Bill France to write the Hemi out. Yet, he did not specifically refer to the Chevrolet 427 "porcupine" engine, encouraging the GM teams that it would be welcomed on NASCAR tracks. Certainly, he had looked the other way in 1963 when the mystery Chevrolet engine appeared. So the lines were drawn. Chrysler turned to other events, USAC and drag racing.
It is unfortunate that the United States Auto Club didn't tried harder. They were a great racing sanctioning body whose rules were applied fairly across the board while encouraging racing development. They were also better than NASCAR because they were not a dictatorship style of management.
The decision by Chrysler not to race in the 1965 NASCAR season was a setback for the Pettys. Richard had been eager to defend his title. The new Plymouth Satellite was essentially the same car as the 1964 Belvedere. Along the way, the techniques for utilizing all that the Hemi engine had to give were ready for application to the new 1965 cars. Richard accepted the decision by Chrysler. After all, at that point, he was on Chrysler's payroll. How he or any of the Petty clan felt about the loss of their independence has never been talked about. However, I am certain that they did not easily accept being ruled by outside forces. Steps were taken to insure that they would never have to follow the lead of any influence other than their own in the future.
Richard, Maurice and Lee went drag racing in 1965! Supplied with a new Plymouth Barracuda fastback, Maurice set out to make it a drag racer to be the one to beat. He succeeded. The highly modified Plymouth, called 43 Jr., had a 426 Hemi that was warmed over by Maurice and Dale Inman. Richard made appearances in events all over the Southeastern United States. In every place that he ran, it was standing room only. Not quite satisfied with the first Barracuda, Maurice built another one. This one had an altered wheelbase, and different suspension modifications. It too, had a 426 Hemi, that was modified even more than the first. The torqueflite was replaced with a 4 speed manual transmission. This Petty Blue Plymouth was named "Outlawed." The first run out of the box was at 140 miles an hour in the 1/4 mile. Over the course of the spring and summer of 1965, Richard lost only 6 events between the two Barracuda cars.
NASCAR did not fare well with the Chrysler teams sitting out. Even though Bill France had set rules that clearly favored Chevrolet and the 427 Mark IV engine, GM sat tight on its racing ban observance. Ford and Mercury were the only cars out on the circuit. The public stayed home in droves. Financially, it drove NASCAR into dire straits.
Bill France faced one of his worst crisis ever. It was an awful position. Race track owners were unhappy and angry. Car companies were unhappy and angry. Promoters were howling angry. Race car companies were unhappy and angry. Race car drivers were unhappy. The paying public was disgusted, unhappy and angry. Something had to give. France tried everything that he know how to get the public back into race track grandstands. Not one thing worked! Specters of bankruptcy loomed right ahead.
Finally, late in July, France relented. On Sunday July 25, 1965, the entire Chrysler factory sponsored teams returned to NASCAR. There were some rule revisions that allowed the Hemi engine back, however in a clear indication of how he felt, France favored the Ford cars.
The '65 Satellite used by the Petty team equated itself well. In 14 NASCAR races that he got to compete in, Richard won 4. He placed in the top ten in the rest. With the short season, he was 38th in points. Petty Enterprises had made more than enough money for all it's racing efforts so that 1966 promised to be a very good year"