Curtis Turner christens the ‘new’ Rockingham Speedway

In the world of NASCAR, 206 drivers faced mortal fears and overcame a field of hungry racers to claim victory at the sport’s highest level, the Cup Series.

Today, our focus turns to one of those winners, the man who won the inaugural race at Rockingham Speedway, Curtis Turner.

It was Halloween, 1965, when the then-named North Carolina Motor Speedway opened its gates to the public for its first foray into major stock-car racing, hosting NASCAR for the American 500. Just over a mile in length (0.94-mile oval today), the best and brightest drivers of the time all descended upon the freshly constructed circuit to make a bid at being the first in the sport to conquer the speedway.

Names like Richard Petty, Darel Dieringer, Buddy Arrington, Wendell Scott, Fred Lorenzen, Bobby Isaac, David Pearson, Dick Hutcherson, Marvin Panch, Buck Baker, Buddy Baker, Ned Jarrett and Cale Yarborough stood out to most as favorites to take the event.

Petty, the Grand National circuit’s defending champion, took a sabbatical at the start of the 1965 season after NASCAR officials outlawed Chrysler-branded vehicles whose Plymouth nameplate carried Petty to his first Cup title in 1964.

He sat on the pole for the American 500 with Junior Johnson by his side. Johnson picked up where Petty left off, winning 13 of his 36 starts in 1965, but his inability to enter more races effectively eliminated him from title contention.

The 1964 series runner-up, David Pearson, found himself in a familiar spot, just behind Petty on the second row in his Cotton Owens-prepared Dodge. Like Petty Enterprises, Owens’ team faced turmoil due to the Chrysler ban, notching just two wins while entering the same number of races (14) as Petty.

Beside Pearson stood an elusive trailblazer in the sport, almost a relic of the sport’s infancy. Turner, the 41-year-old racer piloting the No. 41 Ford for the Wood Brothers, reconciled with NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. in August 1965, finally able to bury the hatchet to get back in a stock car.

Though it was not his first race back in action, Turner wanted to remind the NASCAR world that he was still one of the best drivers ever to wheel a car. There would be no better way to cement his status as an all-time great than picking up his next victory in a track’s first race.

Even still, a broken rib suffered at Charlotte a few weeks before threatened to hinder his pursuit to become the first winner to conquer the new facility.

Before the green flag flies, let’s pull the curtain back a bit and find out exactly what got us to this moment.

Turner grew up in the rural town of Floyd, Virginia, where his father provided for the family with his successful (and highly illegal) moonshine operation. Because of this, Turner’s father showed his son the ropes early to help with the family business, putting young Turner behind the wheel when his age was still in the single digits.

This increased seat time allowed Turner to harness his driving skills while facing legitimate “competition” — local and state authorities as well as federal agents trying to discontinue his family’s thriving liquor enterprise. His run-ins with the law made Turner a local legend as folks in rural Virginia marveled at his car control, able to shift the car on a dime at a moment’s notice with little room for error.

With years of driving experience under his belt, Turner took his talents to the United States Navy when the country entered World War II before coming back home and starting his racing career.

Turner claimed victory in just his second-ever race and made a name for himself on the local circuit that he found himself in a meeting at the historic Streamline Hotel to discuss the formation of a racing series — the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing or NASCAR.

NASCAR embarked on its initial eight-date campaign, starting in 1949 with Turner driving his Hubert Westmoreland-owned Oldsmobile to his maiden victory in what is now known as the Cup Series at Langhorne Speedway, the fourth race of the season.

Over his racing career, Turner became renowned and reviled for his aggressive driving style, earning the nickname “Pops” due to the popping sound a car’s bumper would make when Turner got behind them and moved them out of his way.

Turner spent the next decade of his life showing up to race tracks across the country and soundly defeating titans of auto racing like Lee Petty, Buck Baker and the Flock family.

He powered a Ford owned by Schwam Motors to a dominating victory in the 1956 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, where he led 224 of 364 laps and beat second-place finisher Speedy Thompson by two laps.

While “Pops” tore up the NASCAR Convertible Division in the mid-to-late 1950s, the living legend spent much of his leisure (and his timber fortune) on the construction of the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a one-and-a-half-mile, high-banked temple of speed.

The track’s construction went over budget, putting Turner in the red and in need of funds to cover the costs. Turner and his associate, Bruton Smith, asked the Teamsters Union for financial assistance with the understanding that Turner would spearhead a movement in the NASCAR garage to organize a union that covered the drivers and the mechanics.

Aligning with other key drivers at the time like Fireball Roberts, Buck Baker and Tim Flock, Turner received signatures from practically everybody in the garage, something that irked the NASCAR founder. France’s ire toward the idea of a union reached a boiling point before an August 1961 race at Bowman Gray Stadium, where an enraged France made sure to lock Turner and Flock out of a drivers-only meeting.

The alleged deal with the Teamsters included pensions for retired drivers, a split of broadcast revenue and bigger purses with better purse distribution.

Upon hearing the terms of the deal Turner and the Teamsters were pitching, France quipped, “Hell, if it’s as good as Curtis pretends it is and has all the benefits that Curtis says it has, I’d join it myself.”

Not to be outdone, Turner — eavesdropping on the meeting with Flock near a window — handed France a card through the window and said, “Here’s your application.”

Incensed, France laid down the gauntlet to his drivers, claiming that any driver found to be part of a drivers’ union would not race in NASCAR.

As time passed, only Turner and Flock remained as the lone participants in the Federation of Professional Athletes. As such, they were indefinitely banned from participating in all NASCAR-sanctioned events.

A couple of NASCAR’s most storied drivers, Flock and Turner, took France and the sport to court on the grounds that their right-to-work was revoked, though a judge sided with NASCAR as the drivers were seen as individual contractors.

The move was no skin off of Flock’s bones as he headed for retirement, putting a bright light on the debt-ridden Turner.

Out of money and in a hole of debt, “Pops” was forced to hand over the speedway he helped create. The move crushed him but inspired him to make something happen in his idle time.

Turner made the move to other racing series, running races in USAC and some smaller racing series in the Midwest. The experience in USAC led to an attempt at the 1963 Indianapolis 500.

In a field consisting of Parnelli Jones, Jim Clark, AJ Foyt, Dan Gurney, Lloyd Ruby, Bobby Unser, Troy Ruttman, Jim Rathmann and Johnny Rutherford, Turner missed the field alongside NASCAR star Junior Johnson and reigning Formula 1 World Champion Graham Hill.

Piloting a car furnished by Holman-Moody, Turner broke the 15-minute barrier in the famed Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, where his 1962 Ford laid down a time of 14 minutes and 37 seconds.

While Turner found success elsewhere, France Sr. could not catch a break. Just as the 1964 season got underway, France saw two of his prized pilots die in harrowing collisions on the race track.

First was defending series champion Joe Weatherly at Riverside. Then, 1962 Daytona 500 winner Fireball Roberts perished in a crash at Charlotte during the World 600.

Fatalities were nothing new to auto racing, but narrowing engine requirements led to Chrysler and their biggest star, Petty, leaving the sport for a time in 1965, further complicating the future of big-time stock-car racing.

After fielding endless calls from track owners to forgive Turner, France kowtowed to their demands and got his disgraced driver on the horn to settle their differences.

On Aug. 14, 1965, Turner made his long-awaited return to the Grand National Series at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in a surprising entry — a No. 43 Plymouth owned by Petty Enterprises. The collaboration would be short-lived and unsuccessful as Turner and the team failed to make the race, but Turner was not about to take this second chance for granted.

A one-race deal with Sam Fletcher for the 1965 Southern 500 went up in smoke after 51 laps when a wheel bearing on Turner’s Plymouth faltered, putting him out of the race.

Short stints with Junior Johnson’s team and the Wood Brothers’ No. 47 entry helped get Turner back up to speed just in time for the series to take on a brand-new circuit in Rockingham, North Carolina.

Turner took the green flag from the outside of the second row. That green flag soon found itself replaced by the yellow as Dieringer and John Sears tangled in the midfield on Lap 1.

A lengthy cleanup meant a restart some time later before the race resumed, with Johnson continuing to lead. The field settled in for a bit as some cars fell out due to mechanical issues.

Gene Black’s CL Crawford machine set off Rockingham’s next accident before another dust-up on the ensuing restart between two legends of the sport. Diving into Turn 3, Pearson overcooked the entry while battling with Petty on Lap 59, sliding his No. 6 Dodge into the side of the No. 43 Plymouth.

Pearson managed to continue while Petty’s car slinked to the apron before being walloped by Black’s Ford, putting both cars out of the race.

With all that said, the man who became known as the “Silver Fox” failed to make it to the halfway point as his Cotton Owens-powered Dodge lost its hemi engine on Lap 235, relegating him to 25th place.

Shortly after the Petty incident, another car out of the Chrysler stable made its march toward the front as Ray Nichels’ No. 35 Dodge piloted by Isaac scooted by Turner to take the runner-up spot, setting his sights on Johnson in the lead.

Isaac and Johnson raced within inches of each other for several laps, allowing Turner to rejoin the battle. On Lap 90, the complexion of the race would change entirely as Turner made it three-wide on the bottom with Johnson on the top and Isaac sandwiched between them.

This risky maneuver ended with Turner and Johnson sliding while Isaac crept away into the distance. The contact put Johnson into the outside wall briefly while Turner corrected his Ford and kept motoring onward.

Johnson’s car faded fast after that as he brought his banana-colored Ford to the garage after 154 laps due to a sputtering engine, joining 11 other drivers already out of the event.

New pavement on the track, later known simply as “The Rock,” meant tire wear would prove to be a thorn in the side of the drivers. To take it easier on his tires, Isaac lagged back, ceding the advantage to Turner on Lap 100.

Turner pulled down pit road for service on Lap 146, relinquishing the lead to his teammate Panch in the famed No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford.

The grizzled veteran sat idle in his stall while his crew — the same crew that serviced F1 World Champion Jim Clark on his way to his maiden Indy 500 win earlier that year — serviced his No. 41 Ford.

In a true glimpse into this era of auto racing, Petty hopped aboard Jim Paschal’s No. 42 car around the 100-lap mark and piloted it for much of the day, even able to get it back on the lead lap with Turner and Panch by Lap 170.

When EJ Trivette’s Chevy spun and hit the Turn 3 wall on Lap 183, Petty got to restart right behind the two Wood Brothers Fords.

Anticipating the fight ahead, “Pops” got into the Turn 1 wall before relinquishing the lead to Petty on Lap 276, not long before Buddy Baker’s No. 86 Plymouth bounced off the fence in Turn 2 to bring out yet another yellow.

The defending champion of the premier series powered ahead in his bright blue Plymouth while radio communications revealed that Turner was being coached to conserve his tires and brakes.

For a driver like Turner, it made his head spin having to watch the leader scamper off into the distance as he was made to mind his pace.

Right before the race reached the 350-lap mark, Petty put a full lap on Turner and the entire field, leaving little doubt the second-generation racer would be a rightful victor on this day.

Just as Petty seemed to leave all thoughts of defeat in the rearview mirror, the No. 42 pulled onto pit road abruptly, with mechanical gremlins plaguing his Chrysler-crafted entry. A diagnosis was soon made — a faulty distributor cap finally gave out.

The repairs took 14 laps to complete, not only erasing Petty’s one-lap advantage over Turner and the field but putting the No. 42 car 12 laps off the pace. Petty eventually brought Paschal’s machine home in a respectable fifth place, 14 laps down.

Petty’s misfortune placed Turner back at the front of the field, though not for long, as Yarborough stole the lead away from Turner on Lap 365, hoping to rekindle the magic he and Kenny Myler had made to score Yarborough’s first victory at Valdosta earlier in the year.

While Yarborough’s Banjo Matthews-engineered Ford surged ahead, the wily Virginian knew it would only be a matter of time before he would reel Yarborough back in to make the pass. Just 14 laps later, Turner scooted by to claim the lead with the race entering the final stages.

Rockingham’s high banks proved treacherous to many, but an experienced driver like Turner, who made a living outrunning the authorities through the Appalachian foothills, knew how to make the most of uncomfortable situations.

Some of those uncomfortable situations were self-created as Turner endured another big scrape with the Turn 1 wall in the final 100 miles that threatened to give Yarborough a better look at the inaugural American 500 trophy.

As the race raged on, Yarborough popped back into Turner’s rear-view mirror as the race inched closer to 60 laps to go. This marathon showed no signs of slowing down with a cagey journeyman eager to re-establish himself and a tough up-and-comer eager to make a name for himself duking it out.

Over four hours passed from the drop of the green flag, and the only drivers left on the lead lap were Yarborough and Turner.

Turner’s final pit stop came on Lap 438 to refuel and put on fresh tires. Though they were not sure if Yarborough needed another stop, the No. 41 team knew this was their best shot at victory.

The stop gave Yarborough a lap of space between himself and Turner, and it looked like it might completely determine the outcome of the event as Yarborough skittered away into the setting Sun.

It was not until Lap 474 that Yarborough refueled his Ford, returning to the race track 15 seconds behind Turner with just 25 laps remaining. The gap to Turner proved to be too much for the South Carolina hotshot, settling for second place while his rival of the day charged toward immortality.

Turner went six years, seven months and 24 days without reaching NASCAR’s winner’s circle.

Some of those days were spent trying and failing to get that next trophy. Others were spent in a courtroom, fighting for ownership of the track he built and his right to organize his fellow racers.

All those previous years of work to get back to this moment melted away as he crossed the finish line in front of a crowd of 35,000 spectators to claim the inaugural American 500 victory. Turner’s 17th career Grand National Series victory was his last.

Ford Motor Company pulled out of NASCAR competition after certain rule changes compromised the direction the automaker was taking at the time, putting Turner in several seats throughout 1966.

The 1967 season came and went with the 43-year-old falling out of each of his four starts, and he put a period on his career in 1968 with a 13th-place result at Occoneechee Speedway, driving a Plymouth for Tom Friedkin.

That same year, Turner became the first NASCAR driver to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated.

On the week of what would have been Turner’s final Grand National start at the track he built in Charlotte, the 46-year-old crashed his airplane in Pennsylvania on Oct. 4, 1970, losing his life as well as the life of golfer Clarence King.

Today, Turner’s legacy in the sport’s modern day seems to be a bit blurry as his breed of successful journeyman has been largely made extinct with the advent of corporate sponsorship, exhaustive contract negotiations and the charter agreement.

That said, Turner’s name remains the first to plant itself into the history books of Rockingham, which is making its grand return to NASCAR national series competition this weekend with the Truck Series and Xfinity Series.

While his idea to unionize his fellow racers failed to stick 64 years ago, the possibility still exists for something similar to the Federation of Professional Athletes to emerge today.