NASCAR Hall of Fame countdown: Ned Jarrett
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009
Ned Jarrett entered the Catawba County Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. He was one of the first four so honored.
Ned Jarrett at work with CBS in 1990. – Charlotte Observer file
Very early in his racing career, Ned Jarrett was the king at Hickory Motor Speedway. – Charlotte Observer file
Ned Jarrett was honored by Newton, N.C., in 1998. Charlotte Observer file
- Slideshow | Ned Jarrett
- Slideshow | Dale Earnhardt
- Slideshow | Richard Petty
- Slideshow | Cale Yarborough
- Slideshow | David Pearson
- Slideshow | Bobby Allison
- Slideshow | Junior Johnson
- Slideshow | Bill France Jr.
- Slideshow | Bill France Sr.
- Slideshow | Hall of Fame nominees
- David Poole's picks for NASCAR's hall
- NASCAR hall countdown: Cale Yarborough
- NASCAR Hall of Fame countdown: Bobby Allison
- NASCAR Hall of Fame countdown: David Pearson
- Hall of fame's first class: Junior Johnson
- Hall of Fame's first class: Dale Earnhardt
- Hall of fame's first class: Richard Petty
- Hall of fame's first class: Bill France Jr.
- Hall of fame's first class: Bill France
- The official NASCAR hall site
Editor's note: We're looking at some of the NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees as Wednesday's selection of the inaugural class nears.
Ned Jarrett
Competed: 1953-66
Starts: 353
Wins: 50
Poles: 35
Jarrett’s 50 career victories are tie him for 10th all-time with Junior Johnson. He also won a total of 28 races during the 1964 and ’65 seasons.
Jarrett won his first series title in 1961 while driving a Chevrolet for W.G. Holloway Jr. He finished with one win and posted an impressive 34 top 10s in 46 starts.
In 1965, he won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway by 14 laps, still the largest margin of victory in NASCAR's top series.
Tom Higgins on Ned Jarrett
Motorsports writer and historian Tom Higgins shares a standout memory of each of the 10 nominees we're featuring as we count down to the NASCAR Hall of Fame vote and announcement.
Darlington – Sept. 6, 1965
Ned Jarrett was praying just to finish third in the Southern 500.
His prayers brought more than that at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway, dating to 1950.
Almost simultaneously the two drivers battling for the victory in front of Jarrett experienced trouble. The engines in the cars of Fred Lorenzen and Darrel Dieringer failed on the 319th of the race’s 364 laps.
Dieringer managed to continue for a while, but at drastically reduced speed. Jarrett passed him for the lead with 39 laps to go.
As the 500 wound down, Jarrett found himself with a whopping advantage of 14 laps, or nearly 20 miles, over second-place Buck Baker.
That’s the margin Ned won by, although he backed way off the gas in the final 20 laps to cool the engine in his Ford, owned and fielded by colorful crew chief Bondy Long.
It was a wise idea. The race was marred by wrecks, including one that tragically took the life of driver Buren Skeen.
A spectacular incident sent Cale Yarborough's car car sailing over the first-turn guardrail. Yarborough was unhurt.
Only 15 of the 44 starters were running at the finish.
In a post-race press conference, Jarrett credited prayers beyond his own with helping him post the greatest victory margin in NASCAR history.
“I spoke to a Methodist Youth Fellowship group last night (a Sunday),” said Jarrett. “As I left, the kids followed me to my car. They said they were going to pray for me.
“I’ve always believed in the power of prayer, but I didn’t expect anything like this.”
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