Although it all started in the Southeast, NASCAR, in its early days, did tour much of the United States. Most events were held on small tracks.
In 1964, Islip Speedway promoter Larry Mendelsohn and his partner Lou Figari brought the Grand National division to four tracks. Now Mendelsohn, who brought 1963 Indianapolis winner Parnelli Jones to Islip the previous year, would have the current Daytona 500 winner, Richard Petty, at Islip. It was quite a promotional coup.
The four tracks were two road courses — Bridgehampton on Long Island and Watkins Glen — the half-mile Old Bridge, N.J., speedway and tiny Islip, the smallest at one-fifth mile, ever to host NASCAR’s premier division.
Despite the big differences in the four venues, one driver won all four races. In 1964, Bud Moore had signed defending champion Joe Weatherly, who used 13 different owners to win his crown; and 1963 rookie of the year, Billy Wade, to race his Mercurys.
Sadly, Weatherly died in the opener at Riverside, Calif. Wade, a young Texan soldiered on in Moore’s No. 1.
He was the first driver to win four GN’s in a row. Those were his only wins. He died the following January, helping develop the inner-liner tire at Daytona.
There’s a funny story concerning the Old Bridge race. Buddy Baker had followed Richard Petty as one of the first second-generation NASCAR drivers. He picked up a ride in Ray Fox’s car for Old Bridge.
The car didn’t show for time trials. This was no big deal. In those days the field was comprised of whoever showed up and 24 cars signed in at Old Bridge.
Baker’s car was pushed to the rear of the field as the order to fire them up was eminent. A push truck failed to bring life to the car, so the race went on.
Simply by lifting the hood, one could see the problem: The car had no engine in it. If you read the official NASCAR box score, Baker was credited with “7 laps,” and the reason out, however, was accurate — “engine.”
Buddy Baker accomplished a lot in his career, including winning the fastest 500 miler in history, but I wonder how he did those “7 laps” at Old Bridge without an engine! It brings new meaning to the phrase, “My engine is missing.” Apparently the NASCAR inspectors weren’t as diligent in 1964.
Bridgehampton was dropped in 1965. Junior Johnson won Old Bridge and Marvin Panch won the other two. A freak incident happened at Islip. Johnson was leading and going down the backstretch, the throttle on his Galaxie jammed. Junior cleared the high third-turn catch fence.
It suddenly got very quiet, never a good sign. Announcer Chris Economaki ran to the third turn to make sure his new Oldsmobile was not damaged. All was OK. Junior even drove back to the pits.
NASCAR then had a weight per cubic inch rule. Bobby Allison, moving up from the modified circuit, came up with an idea he used in the 1966 Tour. Bobby ran a lighter Chevelle with a 327 Chevy in it.
At Oxford Plains, Maine, Allison drove to the first of his 84 victories. Bobby ran the car at Islip and after a nasty battle with Richard Petty, he won there, too. As he made his victorious climb out of his car, he was attacked by Petty’s brother Maurice, much to the delight of the crowd. Bridgehampton was back with David Pearson winning.
Pearson also won on the dirt at Fonda, N.Y.
In 1967, Trenton Speedway with its unique “dog leg” right-turn was added. Petty won there and at Fonda and Islip. Bobby Allison repeated at Oxford.
In 1968, I got a chance to get behind the scenes. Lou Figari was unable to drive, so I chauffeured him to Martinsville and Charlotte to sign up drivers. I had a ball and learned a lot. Allison copped Islip while Petty won at Oxford and Fonda. Lee Roy Yarbrough annexed Trenton, N.J.
Only three tracks were part of the 1969 Tour. Pearson won at Thompson, Conn., and Trenton. Petty carried the checker at Beltsville, Md., the furthest south speedway of the Tour.
Petty won two out of three in 1970, copping victories at Trenton and New York’s Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Mendelsohn’s other track. Bobby Isaac took the win at Thompson.
1971 was the final year. Petty swept the tour at Albany-Saratoga, Islip and Trenton. The latter was victory No. 100.
Lou Figari died in 1971. NASCAR switched to the 30-race Winston Cup format in 1972. Trenton ran one last race in 1972, won by Bobby Allison.
The Northern Tour had a short but colorful run in NASCAR history.