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Awaiting the trick-or-treaters at my home on Halloween, I thought back 50 years to the most memorable ghoulish night of my life.

On Oct. 31, 1965, NASCAR fans and media attending the inaugural American 500 at N.C. Motor Speedway near Rockingham experienced a surprise treat that will endure for all time in the sport’s rich lore.

The first NASCAR race on the new track in the piney Sandhills was won in storybook style by legendary driver Curtis Turner.

When Turner scored the immensely popular triumph five decades ago he was 41, coming back from a lifetime NASCAR ban and suffering a painful injury.

Also, he and other drivers had to battle an unseasonably high temperature of more than 80 degrees and extreme, strength-draining humidity.

Additionally, the relatively tight turns of the one-mile track made racing 500 miles there even more physically exhausting. So the victory that Virginian Turner achieved that day with an estimated 35,000 watching remains among the unlikeliest in NASCAR history, even after the passage of half a century.

I covered that race for The Charlotte Observer, along with friend and colleague Bob Moore, the newspaper’s motorsports beat writer at the time.

What a story we saw unfold! NASCAR founder/president Big Bill France had banned Turner from the sanctioning body in 1961 for union activity. He was attempting to align the drivers with Jimmy Hoffa’s Teamsters.

France was furious and, despite Turner’s popularity, cast him from the sport.

When attendance and interest lagged as mid-season approached in ’65, other promoters implored France to reinstate Turner. The NASCAR giant did so reluctantly.

“I feel like a man who just got out of jail,” cracked Turner.

The fun-loving, handsome Turner displayed that the forced absence hadn’t diminished his driving ability by finishing third in the National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 17.

That race is remembered for the four-way duel during the closing laps between eventual winner Fred Lorenzen, runnerup Dick Hutcherson, Turner and A.J. Foyt.

Turner drove a No. 41 Wood Brothers-fielded Ford at Charlotte as a teammate to Marvin Panch”s No. 21. He was to drive the car again two weeks later at N.C. Motor Speedway, a track that came to be nicknamed “The Rock.”

Turner arrived in Rockingham racked with pain.

He had scraped the wall hard enough during the intense duel at Charlotte to suffer a broken rib.

Even so, he qualified fourth for the American 500.

The pain intensified during subsequent practice runs. Turner knew he couldn’t be competitive in that condition.

So on Saturday he flew his private plane to Charlotte and went to Presbyterian Hospital for treatment.

He later credited that “pit stop” as a critical factor in his victory.

“If it hadn’t been for the treatment and advice that I got at Charlotte I wouldn’t have been able to make it,” said Turner during the victor’s interview in the Rockingham press box. “The fractured rib would have forced me out of the car.

“I’d told Glen Wood that I couldn’t do the job unless I got something done to relieve the pain in my side. He understood and agreed I should go to the hospital.

“The people there checked my injury, applied the appropriate taping and recommended that something be put in my car so that pressure would be on my shoulder rather than on the rib cage.

“Glen and his crew followed the prescribed setup on my automobile seat. If we had ignored that, I couldn’t have toughed it out and there’s no telling how far back I would have finished.”

On the morning of the race Turner and the Wood brothers, Glen and Leonard, deduced that saving the brakes would be key to winning. They decided to adopt that strategy.

“We figured the men who lasted—and had a chance at winning—would have to conserve brakes,” continued Turner. “The type of track they have here forced that on us.

“Being a charger, you can imagine the temptation I had to race with the early leaders. But I made myself hold back, carrying out our pre-race plan of going just hard enough to stay in striking distance.

“As things turned out, this won the race for us. This and the job my team did on the seat to protect my ribs.”

When Turner emerged from the No. 41 Ford, his face was covered in grime from the track and his uniform was soaked in sweat.

Despite the plan to play it conservatively, Turner led eight times for 239 laps, including the final 27. He went ahead for good when Cale Yarborough had to pit his Ford for enough fuel to finish.

Yarborough was the runner-up, 11 seconds behind.

Turner averaged 101.942 mph in the 500-miler that took 4 hours, 54 minutes and 17 seconds to complete. Some skeptics, including me, expressed suspicion that officials fudged on the time of the event in order to post an average speed in excess of 100 mph and avoid embarrassment of running less on a “superspeedway.”

Whatever, the race was a relative marathon and it led to a classic quote from Yarborough, who was red-faced and appeared near heat exhaustion as he exited his car.

“This race was like a summertime baseball game between towns back home in Timmonsville,” huffed the native of the S.C. hamlet.

“You start at dinner time (lunch) and quit at dark.” Yarborough praised the performance of Turner.

“There’s no question about it, he can still drive a race car,” said Cale.

Few fans left the grandstands when the American 500 ended.

They wanted to relish seeing Turner in Victory Lane again. And they envisioned watching the colorful character add to his total of 17 victories at what is now NASCAR’s Cup Series level.

Alas, it wasn’t to be.

Awaiting the trick-or-treaters at my home on Halloween, I thought back 50 years to the most memorable ghoulish night of my life.

On Oct. 31, 1965, NASCAR fans and media attending the inaugural American 500 at N.C. Motor Speedway near Rockingham experienced a surprise treat that will endure for all time in the sport’s rich lore.

The first NASCAR race on the new track in the piney Sandhills was won in storybook style by legendary driver Curtis Turner.

When Turner scored the immensely popular triumph five decades ago he was 41, coming back from a lifetime NASCAR ban and suffering a painful injury.

Also, he and other drivers had to battle an unseasonably high temperature of more than 80 degrees and extreme, strength-draining humidity.

Additionally, the relatively tight turns of the one-mile track made racing 500 miles there even more physically exhausting. So the victory that Virginian Turner achieved that day with an estimated 35,000 watching remains among the unlikeliest in NASCAR history, even after the passage of half a century.

I covered that race for The Charlotte Observer, along with friend and colleague Bob Moore, the newspaper’s motorsports beat writer at the time.

What a story we saw unfold! NASCAR founder/president Big Bill France had banned Turner from the sanctioning body in 1961 for union activity. He was attempting to align the drivers with Jimmy Hoffa’s Teamsters.

France was furious and, despite Turner’s popularity, cast him from the sport.

When attendance and interest lagged as mid-season approached in ’65, other promoters implored France to reinstate Turner. The NASCAR giant did so reluctantly.

“I feel like a man who just got out of jail,” cracked Turner.

The fun-loving, handsome Turner displayed that the forced absence hadn’t diminished his driving ability by finishing third in the National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 17.

That race is remembered for the four-way duel during the closing laps between eventual winner Fred Lorenzen, runnerup Dick Hutcherson, Turner and A.J. Foyt.

Turner drove a No. 41 Wood Brothers-fielded Ford at Charlotte as a teammate to Marvin Panch”s No. 21. He was to drive the car again two weeks later at N.C. Motor Speedway, a track that came to be nicknamed “The Rock.”

Turner arrived in Rockingham racked with pain.

He had scraped the wall hard enough during the intense duel at Charlotte to suffer a broken rib.

Even so, he qualified fourth for the American 500.

The pain intensified during subsequent practice runs. Turner knew he couldn’t be competitive in that condition.

So on Saturday he flew his private plane to Charlotte and went to Presbyterian Hospital for treatment.

He later credited that “pit stop” as a critical factor in his victory.

“If it hadn’t been for the treatment and advice that I got at Charlotte I wouldn’t have been able to make it,” said Turner during the victor’s interview in the Rockingham press box. “The fractured rib would have forced me out of the car.

“I’d told Glen Wood that I couldn’t do the job unless I got something done to relieve the pain in my side. He understood and agreed I should go to the hospital.

“The people there checked my injury, applied the appropriate taping and recommended that something be put in my car so that pressure would be on my shoulder rather than on the rib cage.

“Glen and his crew followed the prescribed setup on my automobile seat. If we had ignored that, I couldn’t have toughed it out and there’s no telling how far back I would have finished.”

On the morning of the race Turner and the Wood brothers, Glen and Leonard, deduced that saving the brakes would be key to winning. They decided to adopt that strategy.

“We figured the men who lasted—and had a chance at winning—would have to conserve brakes,” continued Turner. “The type of track they have here forced that on us.

“Being a charger, you can imagine the temptation I had to race with the early leaders. But I made myself hold back, carrying out our pre-race plan of going just hard enough to stay in striking distance.

“As things turned out, this won the race for us. This and the job my team did on the seat to protect my ribs.”

When Turner emerged from the No. 41 Ford, his face was covered in grime from the track and his uniform was soaked in sweat.

Despite the plan to play it conservatively, Turner led eight times for 239 laps, including the final 27. He went ahead for good when Cale Yarborough had to pit his Ford for enough fuel to finish.

Yarborough was the runner-up, 11 seconds behind.

Turner averaged 101.942 mph in the 500-miler that took 4 hours, 54 minutes and 17 seconds to complete. Some skeptics, including me, expressed suspicion that officials fudged on the time of the event in order to post an average speed in excess of 100 mph and avoid embarrassment of running less on a “superspeedway.”

Whatever, the race was a relative marathon and it led to a classic quote from Yarborough, who was red-faced and appeared near heat exhaustion as he exited his car.

“This race was like a summertime baseball game between towns back home in Timmonsville,” huffed the native of the S.C. hamlet.

“You start at dinner time (lunch) and quit at dark.” Yarborough praised the performance of Turner.

“There’s no question about it, he can still drive a race car,” said Cale.

Few fans left the grandstands when the American 500 ended.

They wanted to relish seeing Turner in Victory Lane again. And they envisioned watching the colorful character add to his total of 17 victories at what is now NASCAR’s Cup Series level.

Alas, it wasn’t to be.Turner never triumphed again and on Oct. 4, 1970 he and his friend Clarence King lost their lives in the crash of a plane Curtis was piloting during take-off from an air strip in Pennsylvania.

Awaiting the trick-or-treaters at my home on Halloween, I thought back 50 years to the most memorable ghoulish night of my life.

On Oct. 31, 1965, NASCAR fans and media attending the inaugural American 500 at N.C. Motor Speedway near Rockingham experienced a surprise treat that will endure for all time in the sport’s rich lore.

The first NASCAR race on the new track in the piney Sandhills was won in storybook style by legendary driver Curtis Turner.

When Turner scored the immensely popular triumph five decades ago he was 41, coming back from a lifetime NASCAR ban and suffering a painful injury.

Also, he and other drivers had to battle an unseasonably high temperature of more than 80 degrees and extreme, strength-draining humidity.

Additionally, the relatively tight turns of the one-mile track made racing 500 miles there even more physically exhausting. So the victory that Virginian Turner achieved that day with an estimated 35,000 watching remains among the unlikeliest in NASCAR history, even after the passage of half a century.

I covered that race for The Charlotte Observer, along with friend and colleague Bob Moore, the newspaper’s motorsports beat writer at the time.

What a story we saw unfold! NASCAR founder/president Big Bill France had banned Turner from the sanctioning body in 1961 for union activity. He was attempting to align the drivers with Jimmy Hoffa’s Teamsters.

France was furious and, despite Turner’s popularity, cast him from the sport.

When attendance and interest lagged as mid-season approached in ’65, other promoters implored France to reinstate Turner. The NASCAR giant did so reluctantly.

“I feel like a man who just got out of jail,” cracked Turner.

The fun-loving, handsome Turner displayed that the forced absence hadn’t diminished his driving ability by finishing third in the National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 17.

That race is remembered for the four-way duel during the closing laps between eventual winner Fred Lorenzen, runnerup Dick Hutcherson, Turner and A.J. Foyt.

Turner drove a No. 41 Wood Brothers-fielded Ford at Charlotte as a teammate to Marvin Panch”s No. 21. He was to drive the car again two weeks later at N.C. Motor Speedway, a track that came to be nicknamed “The Rock.”

Turner arrived in Rockingham racked with pain.

He had scraped the wall hard enough during the intense duel at Charlotte to suffer a broken rib.

Even so, he qualified fourth for the American 500.

The pain intensified during subsequent practice runs. Turner knew he couldn’t be competitive in that condition.

So on Saturday he flew his private plane to Charlotte and went to Presbyterian Hospital for treatment.

He later credited that “pit stop” as a critical factor in his victory.

“If it hadn’t been for the treatment and advice that I got at Charlotte I wouldn’t have been able to make it,” said Turner during the victor’s interview in the Rockingham press box. “The fractured rib would have forced me out of the car.

“I’d told Glen Wood that I couldn’t do the job unless I got something done to relieve the pain in my side. He understood and agreed I should go to the hospital.

“The people there checked my injury, applied the appropriate taping and recommended that something be put in my car so that pressure would be on my shoulder rather than on the rib cage.

“Glen and his crew followed the prescribed setup on my automobile seat. If we had ignored that, I couldn’t have toughed it out and there’s no telling how far back I would have finished.”

On the morning of the race Turner and the Wood brothers, Glen and Leonard, deduced that saving the brakes would be key to winning. They decided to adopt that strategy.

“We figured the men who lasted—and had a chance at winning—would have to conserve brakes,” continued Turner. “The type of track they have here forced that on us.

“Being a charger, you can imagine the temptation I had to race with the early leaders. But I made myself hold back, carrying out our pre-race plan of going just hard enough to stay in striking distance.

“As things turned out, this won the race for us. This and the job my team did on the seat to protect my ribs.”

When Turner emerged from the No. 41 Ford, his face was covered in grime from the track and his uniform was soaked in sweat.

Despite the plan to play it conservatively, Turner led eight times for 239 laps, including the final 27. He went ahead for good when Cale Yarborough had to pit his Ford for enough fuel to finish.

Yarborough was the runner-up, 11 seconds behind.

Turner averaged 101.942 mph in the 500-miler that took 4 hours, 54 minutes and 17 seconds to complete. Some skeptics, including me, expressed suspicion that officials fudged on the time of the event in order to post an average speed in excess of 100 mph and avoid embarrassment of running less on a “superspeedway.”

Whatever, the race was a relative marathon and it led to a classic quote from Yarborough, who was red-faced and appeared near heat exhaustion as he exited his car.

“This race was like a summertime baseball game between towns back home in Timmonsville,” huffed the native of the S.C. hamlet.

“You start at dinner time (lunch) and quit at dark.” Yarborough praised the performance of Turner.

“There’s no question about it, he can still drive a race car,” said Cale.

Few fans left the grandstands when the American 500 ended.

They wanted to relish seeing Turner in Victory Lane again. And they envisioned watching the colorful character add to his total of 17 victories at what is now NASCAR’s Cup Series level.

Alas, it wasn’t to be.Overall, Turner is credited with winning approximately 300 races, especially excelling on dirt tracks.

Awaiting the trick-or-treaters at my home on Halloween, I thought back 50 years to the most memorable ghoulish night of my life.

On Oct. 31, 1965, NASCAR fans and media attending the inaugural American 500 at N.C. Motor Speedway near Rockingham experienced a surprise treat that will endure for all time in the sport’s rich lore.

The first NASCAR race on the new track in the piney Sandhills was won in storybook style by legendary driver Curtis Turner.

When Turner scored the immensely popular triumph five decades ago he was 41, coming back from a lifetime NASCAR ban and suffering a painful injury.

Also, he and other drivers had to battle an unseasonably high temperature of more than 80 degrees and extreme, strength-draining humidity.

Additionally, the relatively tight turns of the one-mile track made racing 500 miles there even more physically exhausting. So the victory that Virginian Turner achieved that day with an estimated 35,000 watching remains among the unlikeliest in NASCAR history, even after the passage of half a century.

I covered that race for The Charlotte Observer, along with friend and colleague Bob Moore, the newspaper’s motorsports beat writer at the time.

What a story we saw unfold! NASCAR founder/president Big Bill France had banned Turner from the sanctioning body in 1961 for union activity. He was attempting to align the drivers with Jimmy Hoffa’s Teamsters.

France was furious and, despite Turner’s popularity, cast him from the sport.

When attendance and interest lagged as mid-season approached in ’65, other promoters implored France to reinstate Turner. The NASCAR giant did so reluctantly.

“I feel like a man who just got out of jail,” cracked Turner.

The fun-loving, handsome Turner displayed that the forced absence hadn’t diminished his driving ability by finishing third in the National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 17.

That race is remembered for the four-way duel during the closing laps between eventual winner Fred Lorenzen, runnerup Dick Hutcherson, Turner and A.J. Foyt.

Turner drove a No. 41 Wood Brothers-fielded Ford at Charlotte as a teammate to Marvin Panch”s No. 21. He was to drive the car again two weeks later at N.C. Motor Speedway, a track that came to be nicknamed “The Rock.”

Turner arrived in Rockingham racked with pain.

He had scraped the wall hard enough during the intense duel at Charlotte to suffer a broken rib.

Even so, he qualified fourth for the American 500.

The pain intensified during subsequent practice runs. Turner knew he couldn’t be competitive in that condition.

So on Saturday he flew his private plane to Charlotte and went to Presbyterian Hospital for treatment.

He later credited that “pit stop” as a critical factor in his victory.

“If it hadn’t been for the treatment and advice that I got at Charlotte I wouldn’t have been able to make it,” said Turner during the victor’s interview in the Rockingham press box. “The fractured rib would have forced me out of the car.

“I’d told Glen Wood that I couldn’t do the job unless I got something done to relieve the pain in my side. He understood and agreed I should go to the hospital.

“The people there checked my injury, applied the appropriate taping and recommended that something be put in my car so that pressure would be on my shoulder rather than on the rib cage.

“Glen and his crew followed the prescribed setup on my automobile seat. If we had ignored that, I couldn’t have toughed it out and there’s no telling how far back I would have finished.”

On the morning of the race Turner and the Wood brothers, Glen and Leonard, deduced that saving the brakes would be key to winning. They decided to adopt that strategy.

“We figured the men who lasted—and had a chance at winning—would have to conserve brakes,” continued Turner. “The type of track they have here forced that on us.

“Being a charger, you can imagine the temptation I had to race with the early leaders. But I made myself hold back, carrying out our pre-race plan of going just hard enough to stay in striking distance.

“As things turned out, this won the race for us. This and the job my team did on the seat to protect my ribs.”

When Turner emerged from the No. 41 Ford, his face was covered in grime from the track and his uniform was soaked in sweat.

Despite the plan to play it conservatively, Turner led eight times for 239 laps, including the final 27. He went ahead for good when Cale Yarborough had to pit his Ford for enough fuel to finish.

Yarborough was the runner-up, 11 seconds behind.

Turner averaged 101.942 mph in the 500-miler that took 4 hours, 54 minutes and 17 seconds to complete. Some skeptics, including me, expressed suspicion that officials fudged on the time of the event in order to post an average speed in excess of 100 mph and avoid embarrassment of running less on a “superspeedway.”

Whatever, the race was a relative marathon and it led to a classic quote from Yarborough, who was red-faced and appeared near heat exhaustion as he exited his car.

“This race was like a summertime baseball game between towns back home in Timmonsville,” huffed the native of the S.C. hamlet.

“You start at dinner time (lunch) and quit at dark.” Yarborough praised the performance of Turner.

“There’s no question about it, he can still drive a race car,” said Cale.

Few fans left the grandstands when the American 500 ended.

They wanted to relish seeing Turner in Victory Lane again. And they envisioned watching the colorful character add to his total of 17 victories at what is now NASCAR’s Cup Series level.

Alas, it wasn’t to be.Watching him triumph at Rockingham in such fabulous fashion on Halloween in 1965 was a treat to be savored forever.