https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lQLOh9hBds
The 1965 Southern 500 marked the 16th anniversary of the NASCAR Grand National Series event, and it certainly included some great stock car racing. It was held at the famous Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. Safety back then was not exactly at the same standard of today’s racing, and it showed.
It was an intense motorsports event, but one of the wildest moments from the race was when Cale Yarborough flipped his Ford race car over the guardrail. It happened in Turn 1, when he and Sam McQuagg made contact as Yarborough tried to overtake for the lead. Before they knew it, they were both sideways and heading straight toward the wall.
While McQuagg ended up sideswiping the guardrail, Yarborough was a little less fortunate and ended up ramping off of McQuagg’s car, which sent him into the air and over the wall. On the other side, he sailed down a 40-foot slope, where his destroyed car came to a stop at the bottom. His crew chief and teammates waited for him to come back around on the race track, but they never saw him. That’s when they knew something was wrong. Fortunately, they soon received word that he was uninjured, and the camera turned to him walking back to the pits.
This was just one of many exciting moments during the Southern 500. The drivers gave their all in an attempt to grab a top position, but in the end, Ned Jarrett walked away with the victory for the race.
You can watch the full race in the below video. Look at all of those incredible ’65 Fords!
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1965 Southern 500 Race Results
1. Ned Jarrett — No. 11 Ford
2. Buck Baker — No. 86 Plymouth
3. Darel Dieringer — No. 16 Mercury
4. Roy Mayne — No. 46 Chevrolet
5. Buddy Arrington — No. 67 Dodge
6. H. B. Bailey — No. 04 Pontiac
7. Stick Elliott — No. 18 Chevrolet
8. Frank Warren — No. 79 Chevrolet
9. J. T. Putney — No. 19 Chevrolet
10. Wendell Scott — No. 57 Ford
11. Fred Lorenzen – No. 28 Ford
12. Jimmy Helms — No. 53 Ford
13. Bob Derrington — No. 68 Ford
14. Paul Lewis — No. 1 Ford
15. Wayne Smith — No. 38 Chevrolet
16. E. J. Trivette — No. 52 Chevrolet
17. Bobby Johns – No. 7 Pontiac
18. Don Hume — No. 63 Ford
19. Dick Hutcherson — No. 29 Ford
20. G. C. Spencer — No. 49 Ford
21. Larry Hess — No. 44 Ford
22. Jim Paschal — No. 41 Chevrolet
23. Bud Harless — No. 07 Ford
24. Gene Black — No. 75 Ford
25. Neil Castles — No. 72 Ford
26. Elmo Langley — No. 64 Ford
27. LeeRoy Yarbrough — No. 3 Chevrolet
28. Buddy Baker — No. 87 Chevrolet
29. Sam McQuagg — No. 24 Ford
30. Cale Yarborough — No. 27 Ford
31. Bunkie Blackburn — No. 33 Chevrolet
32. Earl Balmer — No. 15 Mercury
33. Doug Cooper — No. 02 Chevrolet
34. Junior Spencer — No. 17 Ford
35. Curtis Turner — No. 14 Plymouth
36. Bobby Wawak — No. 4 Mercury
37. Marvin Panch — No. 21 Ford
38. Henley Gray — No. 97 Ford
39. Tiny Lund — No. 55 Ford
40. Bud Moore — No. 25 Ford
41. Bert Robbins — No. 00 Ford
42. Buren Skeen — No. 23 Ford
43. Reb Wickersham — No. 03 Ford
44. Junior Johnson — No. 26 Ford