The 1965 Southern 500 was a NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on September 6, 1965 at Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed the "Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition"...

 in the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 community of Darlington

Darlington, South Carolina

Darlington is a city in and the county seat of Darlington County, in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is a center for tobacco farming. The population was 6,720 at the 2000 census and is part of the Florence Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

.

Summary

The race took four hours and nineteen minutes to complete with Ned Jarrett

Ned Jarrett

Ned Jarrett is a retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR champion.Jarrett was best known for his calm demeanor, and he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett", yet he was an intense competitor when he put his two hands on the steering wheel of a NASCAR Grand National stock car...

 beating Buck Baker

Buck Baker

Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. , better known as Buck Baker, was an American race car driver.-Racing career:...

 by more than fourteen laps. Fifty thousand fans come to see vehicles attain an average speed of 115.878 mi/h and a pole position speed of 137.571 mi/h. Buren Skeen

Buren Skeen

Buren Skeen was a NASCAR driver from Denton, North Carolina.-Career:He competed in eight Grand National Series events in his career, earning three finishes in the top ten....

 was killed in a fatal crash while driving through the second lap of the race. Cale Yarborough

Cale Yarborough

William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...

 would sail off the wall in an unrelated accident; he crashed with Sam McQuagg

Sam McQuagg

Samuel "Sam" McQuagg was an American former NASCAR Rookie of the Year driver. He died of cancer on January 3, 2009 at the age of 73...

. Fortunately, seat belt

Seat belt

A seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...

s managed to save both of their lives. Curtis Turner

Curtis Turner

Curtis Turner was an early NASCAR driver. In addition to his success in racing, he made a fortune, lost it, and remade it buying and selling timberlands. Throughout his life he developed a reputation for drinking and partying...

 would be permitted to race after Bill France dropped his lifetime ban for promoting a trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 with NASCAR. Richard Petty

Richard Petty

Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...

 did not race even though he stopped boycotting Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

 and the Grand National Series.

Other notable names who participated included: Junior Johnson

Junior Johnson

Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...

, LeeRoy Yarbrough

LeeRoy Yarbrough

Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough was a NASCAR racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211...

, Elmo Langley

Elmo Langley

Elmo Langley was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number "64" on his race cars during his NASCAR career.-Racing career:...

, Wendell Scott

Wendell Scott

Wendell Oliver Scott was an American stock car racing driver from Danville, Virginia. He is the only black driver to win a race in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. According to a 2008 biography of Scott, he broke the color barrier in Southern stock car racing on May 23, 1952, at the Danville...

, and Darel Dieringer

Darel Dieringer

Darel Dieringer was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver.-Summary:...

. The winner would walk away with $21,060 ($ considering inflation) while the last place winner would receive $750 in total winnings ($ considering inflation).

Finishing order

1. Ned Jarrett
2. Buck Baker
3. Darel Dieringer
   Darel Dieringer
   Darel Dieringer was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver.-Summary:...
   
   *†
4. Roy Mayne
5. Buddy Arrington
   Buddy Arrington
   Buddy Arrington is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup driver.- Biography :...
   
   
6. H. B. Bailey
   H. B. Bailey
   Herring "H. B." Bailey was a NASCAR driver. He raced his #36 Pontiac part-time as an independent driver in the Grand National/Winston Cup series from 1962 to 1993 making 85 races over his career....
   
   †
7. Stick Elliott
8. Frank Warren
   Frank Warren (NASCAR driver)
   Frank Warren is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1963 to 1980.Out of 88863 laps finished in his career, Warren had led 72 of them. Warren's total career earnings were $625,886 and while his average finish was 20th place in his entire career. The total amount of miles...
   
   
9. J. T. Putney
10. Wendell Scott
    Wendell Scott
    Wendell Oliver Scott was an American stock car racing driver from Danville, Virginia. He is the only black driver to win a race in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. According to a 2008 biography of Scott, he broke the color barrier in Southern stock car racing on May 23, 1952, at the Danville...
    
    †
11. Fred Lorenzen
    Fred Lorenzen
    Fred Lorenzen , nicknamed The Golden Boy, Fast Freddie, The Elmhurst Express and Flyin Freddy, is a former NASCAR driver active between 1958 and 1972. He won the 1965 Daytona 500. Lorenzen was born in Elmurst, Illinois.-Early career:Lorenzen first caught the car bug young, and had built his first...
    
    *
12. Jimmy Helms
    Jimmy Helms
    James H. Helms is an American soul singer.-Early days:Helms' first release "Ragtime Girl" was put out on Pye Records in 1963...
    
    
13. Bob Derrington
    Bob Derrington
    Bob Derrington is a retired NASCAR Grand National Series race car driver whose career spanned from 1964 to 1966.-Summary:His average start was 20th place while his average finish was 15th. Derrington also earned three finishes in the "top five" and raced a distance of - the equivalent of 13,427 laps...
    
    
14. Paul Lewis
15. Wayne Smith
16. E. J. Trivette
17. Bobby Johns
    Bobby Johns
    Bobby Johns is a retired American racecar driver.Johns raced in the NASCAR series in the 1956-1969 seasons, with 141 career starts. He had 2 wins among his 36 top ten finishes and finished the 1960 season 3rd in the points...
    
    *
18. Don Hume
    Don Hume
    Don Hume is a former NASCAR driver from Belvidere, New Jersey. In his limited NASCAR career, Hume competed in fifteen Winston Cup events.-1964:...
    
    
19. Dick Hutcherson
    Dick Hutcherson
    Dick Hutcherson was an American businessman and a former stock car racer. A native of Keokuk, Iowa, Hutcherson drove in NASCAR competition from 1964 to 1967. In 1965 he finished second in the overall NASCAR Drivers Championship and had nine wins...
    
    *†
20. G. C. Spencer*
21. Larry Hess
    Larry Hess
    Larry Hess is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1965 to 1969. His choice of vehicles ranged from a Ford to a Rambler and even the occasional Dodge vehicle.-Summary:...
    
    *
22. Jim Paschal
    Jim Paschal
    James Roy "Jim" Paschal, Jr. was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup driver. He won twenty-five races and twelve poles over his career. Elected to the "Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame" in 1977, he won the World 600 in 1964 and the 1967 Charlotte Motor Speedway...
    
    *†
23. Bud Harless
    Bud Harless
    Bud Harless was a NASCAR Grand National Series driver. He raced for six years and in 28 races . Harless' average starting position was 23rd while his average finishing position was 22nd. The number of laps that Harless raced in his career was 4074 - the equivalent of...
    
    *†
24. Gene Black
    Gene Black
    Gene Black is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver who has accumulated six finishes in the top ten in his career in addition to $10650 in total career earnings. On average, Black began his races in 25th while ending them in 19th...
    
    *
25. Neil Castles
    Neil Castles
    Neil "Soapy" Castles is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver that participate from 1957 to 1976.-History:...
    
    *
26. Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number "64" on his race cars during his NASCAR career.-Racing career:...
    
    *†
27. LeeRoy Yarbrough
    LeeRoy Yarbrough
    Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough was a NASCAR racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211...
    
    *†
28. Buddy Baker
    Buddy Baker
    Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. , nicknamed "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy, is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.-Early life:...
    
    *
29. Sam McQuagg
    Sam McQuagg
    Samuel "Sam" McQuagg was an American former NASCAR Rookie of the Year driver. He died of cancer on January 3, 2009 at the age of 73...
    
    *†
30. Cale Yarborough
    Cale Yarborough
    William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough , is a farmer, businessman and former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships...
    
    *
31. Bunkie Blackburn
    Bunkie Blackburn
    James Ronald "Bunkie" Blackburn was a NASCAR racecar driver.-Career:Blackburn's father owned and operated the Fayetteville, North Carolina racetrack....
    
    *†
32. Earl Balmer*
33. Doug Cooper*
34. Junior Spencer*
35. Curtis Turner
    Curtis Turner
    Curtis Turner was an early NASCAR driver. In addition to his success in racing, he made a fortune, lost it, and remade it buying and selling timberlands. Throughout his life he developed a reputation for drinking and partying...
    
    *†
36. Bobby Wawak
    Bobby Wawak
    Bobby Wawak was an American NASCAR driver from Villa Park, Illinois. He made 141 Grand National/Winston Cup starts, with 14 Top 10 finishes.-Local racing:...
    
    *†
37. Marvin Panch
    Marvin Panch
    Marvin Panch Marvin Panch Marvin Panch (born May 28, 1926, in Menomonie, Wisconsin, is a former NASCAR driver.-Early career:He started his racing career as a car owner in Oakland, California. One week, his driver did not show up, and he raced the car to a third place finish...
    
    *
38. Henley Gray
    Henley Gray
    Henley Gray is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1964 to 1977.-Summary:...
    
    *
39. Tiny Lund
    Tiny Lund
    DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund was a NASCAR driver. He was ironically nicknamed "Tiny" due to his rather large and imposing size.-Background:...
    
    *†
40. Bud Moore
    Bud Moore (NASCAR driver)
    Paul "Bud" Moore is a retired American NASCAR driver. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He was sometimes known as "Little Bud" to avoid confusion with a NASCAR owner with the same name....
    
    *
41. Bert Robbins*
42. Buren Skeen
    Buren Skeen
    Buren Skeen was a NASCAR driver from Denton, North Carolina.-Career:He competed in eight Grand National Series events in his career, earning three finishes in the top ten....
    
    *
43. Red Wickersham*
44. Junior Johnson
    Junior Johnson
    Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...
    
    *

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

* Driver failed to finish race