Dave Despain opens the ABC/ESPN video vault to revisit the "Glory Days" of NASCAR Grand National stock car racing with the Rebel 400 held on May 10th 1968 at Darlington Raceway.
Having raced short track, doing what you can for weight is always done. 100 lbs here, 50 there. Which side is it on, how far back. Don't fool yourself. He's right.
@@MidwestFarmToys There are more than 2 cars out there, but keep pretending only the leaders are racing if that's what makes you happy. Very easy to tell you've never turned a lap in a race in your life. Have fun with that. :-)
Those fastback Torinos sure were good looking race cars. Leaded fuel..bias tires..chrome bumpers..headlights, taillights..dual quads....Armco...men and machines made of steel.Glory days indeed!
@@DaveMcLain Section 20-22 -- Carburetor - "(3) Wedge type engines permitted either single four-barrel, two four-barrels or three two-barrel carburetors with 1 11/16 maximum throttle bore." aerowarriors.com/rules/nosearch/68nrS20-22.html
My Dad owned a 1969 Torino GT fastback. It was Gold in color with Black racing stripes , rear spoiler , 428 , 4 barrel . My Dad's stories of using that car for getting to and from work in the construction trade. I remember him saying how truly fast that car was. My Mom had it out running errands with it, ended up in a 7 vehicle pile up, she ran into a 5 ton truck, and was then rear ended by a 1 ton truck, Mom ended up with whiplash, Dads dream car ended up totalled. . My uncle put the engine from it into his 1969 Mustang couple....that thing flew for sure..cuz I was in it many a time with my Uncle Gee, he put a $5 dollar bill in his heater vent sticking out, said to me if you can grab that money when I hit my throttle...you can have it....well. .he was smiling at me....I was smiling at him...then I lunged for the $5..he hit throttle ...and I was stuck halfway to getting that bill..as I was stuck to that seat...even my laughing smile in my face couldn't leave my face until he let off that throttle....I'm 57 now....I was born in 65' ....I was in school at that time..cuz Gee was giving me a drive to school...so I was like 13 or 14......that little pony car took on a lot of other fast cars in the area. Uncle Gee was an. Auto mechanic....he had that little gray mustang tuned...he took me with him on a few late night ...out in country ...long road strip...yeup....those were the days...my u cle Gee died at 36 yrs of age, just after marriage..heart fIlure. Dad was killed at his work at age of 45....watching them Torinos dominate...brought back teary eyed memories of my Dad and Uncle...my idols that left me st young ages...
Real drivers in real cars. I miss those days of NASCAR. The first 4 wrecks and no caution flags. 2 car slammed the wall and kept on racing and did not pit. Blown engines...no need for a caution flag. Pearson with a lit cigarette in his mouth in the pits. Awesome times. I'd rather watch just one race like this one than 100 of what is sadly referred to as racing today.
He used chewing gum to stick a extreme cigarette on his dash so he could smoke while driving he told me when I met him at hall of fame RIP David Pearson
@@MidwestFarmToys There are more than 2 cars out there racing. It's something you will never understand, but will keep crying about, like the child you are.
But if it wasn't for their badass style of racing, these cars wouldn't be the cult classics that they are. I'd much rather see them get torn up on the track then in a Hollywood movie.
David Pearson, a nice guy and a great driver, along with Petty these were stars of the raceway The cars also were real race cars, something you don't see these days
@@cobracharmer6178 The cars seen in this video are also not factory stock cars, so what is your point? They have been purpose built 'real' race cars longer than they had any stock parts on them at all.
Im in uk so these cars sadly never existed here.... however i have a friend who has a 67 thunderbird as daily with a 4 pack holly!! - (also owns a 90s thunderbird the supercharged version- which feels weirdly japanese but whatever...) - this was/is my first experience of American 'muscle' (i know some dont consider the thunderbird a muscle car but it is a 2 door version etc) - and despite the laughable mpg ...by feck its awesome!
This is the racing I grew up watching- this track seems so small, it's like watching the pros running on your local oval. Real cars, real dudes. Shame it all died.
What makes it any more real than it is now? The cars are still real. They are still purpose built racecars as seen in this video. Drivers are still real people. Granted I can agree if you cant connect to a rich kid, but they are still real people with real feelings and interests.
@@AgtWashingtub what I meant about the cars is this: the first Nascar sanctioned race featured just that: stock cars like anyone could get from the factory, with the only modifications being shortening the exhaust and adding a safety belt if desired. Up through the 60s most cars still were factory vehicles to start with mods done later- hell, many still were running drum brakes on all four corners. Today, a chassis is specially built and a body is a plastic one piece mockup that vaguely resembles the vehicle. Hell, one such chassis ran with both sedan and truck bodies attached during its life. There is NOTHING stock about them anymore. Of course the speeds involved necessitated the change but I personally preferred when I could say, "there's a Mercury, there's a Pontiac," etc. As for the guys, it seems ( but I may be wrong) that most early racers were originally impoverished country guys who loved speed and didn't act like a few of the guys in the sport now ( not naming names) Not saying there's no class acts today, but I don't remember back in the day anyone being like, "oh I hate ol'so and so, he's such an asshole, ir the like. I may be wrong, but in my defense I stopped following Nascar sometime in the 80s for various reasons. Forgive me, I'm just an old dude who cherishes memories of Saturday afternoons watching Petty, Yarborough, the Allison's, and such easily identifiable cars.
@@felipecardoza9967 You cant tell some1 that didnt expeience nascar in our day. And you have to realize just as in nascar as in real life people dont have no respect for others even theirselves.Look at interviews of kirk douglas on john wayne both actors both different political beliefs but both respected each other.I agree with you though I grew up watching these guys race. My favorite was petty.I also grew up during a time when kids could play without constant observation. The world aint what it once was
Loved my 1968 Roadrunner cruising San Diego everywhere in the 90’s and even taking it across country to the Mopar Nationals, I would have loved bumping bumpers with these guys!
Lights up a cigarette...times have changed. I wasn’t around then but I had a friend who says the sound of the big blocks then totally different from the sounds in the 90s and on.
Leroy Yarbrouro, or how ever you spell it, was a real talent, but he lost his mind for some reason. He ended up in a mental hospital, and may have passed away there, I don't recall. Some blamed a head injury he sustained when tire testing and slammed the wall when a tire failed.
I grew up in this racing era. This was real fn racing in real cars that you could see on the street while going to school. I happened to have been a David Pearson fan right up till the day he retired. God I remember the bad ass Woods brothers Mercurys, #21, those where the days. Petty was and is King but only Petty has won more races than Pearson, that includes that dirty cheating Earnhardt. Glad I got to relive all this. Thanks for the post.
@@robtans5042 I wish I could go back as well. I didn't know just how good I had it then. It really is true that those cars racing looked like what was on the car lot. Now they all look the same and I can't even tell the make or brand.
@@randallbates9020 Yep those were the best days nascar ever had.I liked the short tracks after going to the 64 daytona 500. I went to bristol northwilksboro martinsville nashville fairgrounds and one that was close to me the old smky mtn raceway. I dont know I can barely stand watchn the end of a race now. Just cars they aint worth nothing either. I drive trucks now.But you right o pearson was good I cussed him many times when he beat petty but they had respect for each other sorta like kirk douglas john wayne henry fonda jimmy stewart different politics but respect for each other
WOW!.....You can tell what kind of car is being raced!!! Not like today you have to look for a sticker or painted emblem to figure out what make or model :(
Except you cant. They are all rectangles about as aerodynamic as a barn door. And if you cant tell which body is which, then that is your own problem. It is very clear which body is which now. I can tell what an unpainted car is. The COT was the only time there was a common body style across all the cars and that has been gone for what 7 years now?
"Except you can't" is for you. If you want to pretend the Charger, Road Runner, Chevelle and Torino look the same, knock yourself out. You've already posted plenty of delusional stuff, so why stop now, right? Loon! LOL
David Pearson was the best stock car driver - just ask the other great racer Richard Petty, he said this years ago, and RACED against all the others. Like D.Eanhardt, J.Gordon, D. Waltrip, C. Yarborough, etc. Pearson was 2nd. In total wins, and RACED PART TIME!!!!!!
as time marches on things change , at that year computers were only in places NASA, and to day there as common as free air and water was at service stations, Remember when EXXON came out with Uniflow oil, and others things as well, at one times cars were more odd that practical. But those were days of pure racing , were ideals could win, were a common man could put a car on the track if he was good at building, Thanks for posting as i do like to see things change I still love some of the things from the past.
Interesting that ABC-TV's "Wide World of Sports" (WWoS) used film, instead of video, for this event. And, for those younger viewers out there, this race was televised on the following Saturday on WWoS as part of a 90 minute package TV program that would also feature the likes of downhill snow skiing, water surfing, cowboy rodeo, or some other contrasting event to the motorsport event televised for that Saturday.
20:50 "Doctor Don Tarr, a surgeon from Miami, who races for the fun of it." Wow. Probably spelled his name wrong but wow. Just a guy who's got some money, and wants to race alongside the pros.
Thanx yes i like the az desert , sometimes i look the old nascar races its nice to see how it was back in the old glorydays i hope you happy there in the east thanx again 👍..
Damn I miss Dave Despain & Wind Tunnel ☹️ Every Sunday night you could tune in to Speed Channel ( something else I really miss ) and in 60 fast paced minutes get your entire Race info fix on everything from midgets at Terre haute, to the Cup cars crossing the Daytona line + F1, Indycar & even get your NHRA fix to boot! I guess it's another example of you don't know what you got till it's gone 😭
The good ol' days of real cars and real drivers. The official Nascar channel just upladed the same video, in fancy 4k, and it's so blatantly evident they edited it to not show the confederate flag, that you miss the Silver Fox entering victory lane... What a spineless bunch. Thanks for sharing the unedited version.
Yeah... if they would use the right flag today it would go largely unnoticed bc the sheep are too lazy to research history. They just believe the lies the media programs them with. I am surprised that no social justice warriors have been here denouncing it from then. Bet its has flown under their libtardradar. By the way you are flying the one im refering to.
Yep, several years ago they refused to let a General Lee appear at a nascar track. Anyone notice that filth producing rappers are accepted by mainstream America?
The opening commentary talked about this being prior to restrictor plate racing, but that didn't apply to Darlington but only Talladega and Daytona. I checked the timeline (via web searches). Talledega wasn't opened until the following year. Dale Earnhardt didn't start this NASCAR career until seven years later.
Restrictor plates were used on big blocks at all tracks from August 16, 1970 race at Michigan until the big blocks were phased out in 1974. In 1988, NASCAR put them on the small blocks at Daytona and Talladega.
Smokes his way to victory lane, after breathing all those fumes all day, wow, what was the deal with the smaller engine, 396, so guessing a 390 crank in a 427 block,
You got to love NASCAR back then; anyone with a race car could go out and race, like the good Miami Dr. and country and western singer Marty Robbins ( who had a 5th position finish at Michigan one year).
This just puts a huge smile on my face. Yes cars you could relate to. Not cars that are front wheel drive from the factory with totally made over sheet metal that really aren't like the cars they are emulating. Makes me want to buy one even today. That's what it was all about before big business got in and ruined everything. Win on Sunday sell of Monday.
Uh, oh, another pathetic, delusional old washed up fucker. I love the old cars. I also love the fact that I don’t have to drive cars like that anymore. Come back again when you can write something intelligent.
That rebel flag was a Confederate navy flag and was never flown in land battles. It also does not symbolize rebels but pro-slavery sentiments and was outdated even in 1860, for all but rich plantation owners who were so bad business men / farmers, they could not deal with the competition if they did not have free labor. The rest of the South were not pro-slavery because they had no slaves; But their voices were never heard as you had to own slaves to vote in several Southern states, prior to 1865. So the war was because the plantation owners wanted it, NOT the common Southern man who were decimated after the war.
@@barath4545 ; That's odd. Buying blacks in the slave trade was considered, "free labor"? And as far as voting, most Americans don't vote today. A lot of the young men, both black and white in the south, received conscripts to serve in place of the plantation owners. The north did the same. If you made or had such and such amount of money, you could pay someone to serve for you. The "Confederate Battle" flag you see in this video seems to have made a come back at the turn of the 20th century.
THESE old cars were closer to stock than the ones today and were also bigger in size and less areodynamic than todays stock cars were the bodys are very altered . also todays 700 hp engines have some kind of power adder such as a turbo or supercharger were those engines were making 600 plus hp wiht out power adders.
During the race Pearson burned 20 tires and 8 cigarettes. My mom had a gold Torino like Pearson's. It was a little slower and didn't have a number on it. I attended the 1969 Rebel 400. I can't remember who won, but I think Cale led the most. Maybe Leroy won. I really can't recall. I've seen well over a thousand races since then.
le mec , il arrive , la clope au bec , il a pas de clim , mais il a un allume cigares monter sur sa chiotte de course , c était vraiment une autre époque
I realize that today a person may buy a car that is capable of doing 150 mph, in the past we were able to get a new car and with a few adjustments we made a high performance street car!!!! It was very easy when you started with about 400HP ,with any make of car!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@Brady Dog . . . something else about using the smaller engines, as mentioned at the end of the race, those were smaller block, and consequently, lighter engines, which improved handling and lessened tire wear.
@@JRC99 361ci truck crank in the 427 ,it was forged and lighter And if petty was using dual quads than David was as well and that made up for lost cubes
Great to see this race. I appreciate drivers racing to win and not acting a fool bumping and spinning out faster and better cars. Too bad nascar, in the day fought against northern and minority drivers. NASCAR sold out your rebel flag long ago, racism and exclusion doesn’t pay in 2019.
So glad I was able to see these cars live...dirty beat up cars..the Confederate flag waving...nobody offended....soiled drivers overalls...the "Darlington" stripe no corporate blather by the winner, just a smoke in hand with nobody "worrying" about a fire or cancer. Man those were the days. Thanks for the posting this classic race
When the corporate sponsored cars were built I heard that the assembly line was stopped for the day (13-14) cars could be produced. Then the line would build the cars out. This was where those types of things were eliminated. I found a video here that explained how the Wood Bros and Holoman Moody teams would send a person up there to give the line workers their order of delete items. Now the Mopar teams may of done it differently. I have been watching as much stuff from this era as i can find. I owned the lowest surviving 1969 Cyclone Spoiler Dan Gurney Special on the planet. It was also a documented car in the Taledaga Spoiler Registry by Mark Moses. But it was a 100kmile unrestored car. It took me from '99-03 to do the resto.. I became quite impressed w what i had lucked into. After I restored it and showed it I thought I would put it in the Dean Kruse auction in Hou. I really wanted the exposure since there was a Daytona hemi car and a couple Doozy one of which was a speedster I felt i would get seen. Plus i put a 35k reserve on it that was 10k more than the record sales price. Well. I set a new record. It sold and has been on the auction circut every yr or so since then . It just sold at Barrett Jackson in Vegas. The current owner was Ray Evernham. That Ray Evernham! But he wasnt the only guy that famous to want it. John Force saw it at the Houston Autorama when I had it in the show and gave me his contact info . Anyway. The Cyclone that Yarborough drove was running laps around the field in every video i have been able to find. And the 69 W nose Mercury Cyclone was winning races in 69, 70 and 71. AJ Foyt got the pole in 71 driving the #21. He blew up leading w like 50 laps to go. Then Allison took the Southern 500 in the #12 Coke-Cola 1969 Merk a few monthes later. The thing that I did in shows was show a blown up pic of the Ford/Mercury teams. I had a poster made that said Richard Petty drove a Ford. Most people dont know he switched to Ford for only the 69 season. Most people think the Birds or Daytonas were the dominant cars too. But they are wrong. The mopars were actually way behind them on the super speedways. Ford/Mercury won many many more times on them. The only reason i think the mopars got so much more publicity was bc they Looked so different and Buddy Baker hit 200mph in 1970 but the Mercury was doing 200 soon after. There is a special event held every 5yrs at Taledega Motor Speedway. They allow the Spoilers and Spoiler2's the Taledagas, Daytonas, Charger500 and SuperBirds to all drive around the track in a parade lap before the start. Infact they just had the Winged Warriors Reunion this year. It is on here. Back in 99 there was a Daytona that some how got T-Boned bad. I have only seen pics but the drivers door is caved in and the car was a race decked out car too. I think it was #99.
@@jamesmeadow9206 If I'm not mistaken, by the late 60's the cars were supplied to the race teams as bare body shells with all the assemble work being done in shop by the teams.
@@amc401nash6 did u notice my comment about how factory teams got their car built by showing up at the factory and deleting items that they felt were unneeded?
1968 - Section 20-33 -- Safety Belts a. A quick release belt no less than three inches wide is compulsory. Shoulder harness and additional V-type seat belt compulsory. b. Both ends must be fastened to frame of car with aircraft quality bolts, not less than 3/8 inch in diameter. c. A steel plate may be welded to frame on right side of driver so the belt can be brought down in such a manner that it will keep driver from sliding from side to side under the belt. d. The belt must come from behind driver.
What I think is cool look at all the different cars makes and models and different years I know darn well I seen a 65 Chevrolet and a 66 galaxie. The good old days when you had to be tough to drive NASCAR not a crybaby like nowadays
GW, you’re a moron. That’s a fact. There is a huge difference between a car without power steering, and a car with power steering and the ps isn’t working. Oh, you are a pussy, too. Still using meth?
1:38 - Total BS. The Hemi was not banned. It was used until it was no longer eligible due to no longer being produced after 1971. Last year it's mentioned in the rule book is 1974, for the Grand National West series, along with the 1971 cars that were eligible. The 429 Ford put out at least 15 more HP than the 426 Hemi, according to Chrysler documents and Robert Yates' interview about developing the 429, so why on Earth would NASCAR 'ban' the 10 year old Hemi and not the more powerful and newer 429? Because it never happened. It's easy to see why so many people are misled and confused when the TV is telling people lies. Some things never change...
@@andrewrcmadwilkinson6999 ange, you must have espn or something. How do you know what my eating habits are? And, how do you know if your most personal thoughts are accurate? By the way, ange, it is *you* who is screaming. Just another dumbass...
...yeah, cept they'd be wrong once again. If it was a Chevy motor, then where were all the Chevy cars if they had a winning motor? They won't be able to figure it out.
There hadn’t been a fatality since 2001 Maybe they are too safe now allowing drivers to bump too much How can fans even root for their fav manufacturers now?
When drivers think there cars are completely safe they will wreck competitors cars to help their team mates you see crashes all done with a purpose I want to see stock cars race Not play bumper cars
eddie bowens they won some races but didn't have much factory sponsorships, I'm sure they would have been more competitive if GM would have been more involved. their 427 motor made good power but was not near as realiable as the Ford 427.
GM stopped factory sponsor racing I believe in 1965. They where getting smoked by Plymouth and Mercury, Dodge and Ford. Bad for sales and there egos. Lol. Can't run with the big dogs stay on the porch. As we all know they did get back into factory sponsorship and have done quite well. I love racing, well except fn Toyota. LOL
Where they riding on those ridiculously slippery polyglass tires? If they were, how in the hell did they get any tracktion in the turns? They must have had beefed up rear suspensions on the cars. Even so, it must have ripped those tires to shot in no time. My brother has a 69 GTO with poly glass tires-you just touch the gas and you.get a smoke show!
Those cars did have a small spoiler mounted at the rear of the trunk lid for stability; and the race tires used at Darlington may have been a soft compound for traction; as it was mentioned in this race about excessive tire wear among some of the competitors. Also have to take in consideration the crudeness of the cars back then, required drivers of the highest skills, to make the cars competitive. Nowadays it is more about the engineering and setup of the cars to make them competitive.
And no one complained about the confederate flag being flown out of the car pulling in to victory lane. Imagine that. Good old days before everyone got so butt hurt about everything.
@@mikeburks9641 But they were not factory sponsored like the Ford and Mopar cars. Look up GM's racing ban of 1963. GM came back to NASCAR in full force 10 years later.