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He Started Out Racing as “John Lentz” But We Know Him By Another Name
Part One: Getting Started and Battling the ‘Nice Guy’ Label
By Michael Smith
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With the airing of ESPN’s final NASCAR coverage in the waning weeks of the 2000 Winston Cup season, race fans had to bid farewell to yet another favorite representative of the sport of stockcar racing when Ned Jarrett announced that he would not return to the media booth in 2001. It would be difficult to find another driver who has had a more profound impact on the growth of professional stockcar racing than Ned Jarrett, both behind the wheel and behind the microphone. He gave up the driver’s seat while at the top of his game and he moved, seemingly with ease, into the broadcast and public relations realm to further champion NASCAR’s unique brand of sport.
“Gentleman Ned” Jarrett was born October 12, 1932 to church-going parents Homer Keith and Eoline Jarrett near the North Carolina town of Newton. The Jarrett farm produced cotton, sweet potatoes and corn and it was home to a small sawmill operation. It was while helping out at the sawmill that a young Ned lost the tips of a couple fingers. By all appearances, the loss did not go on to affect his driving ability.
At the tender age of 11, Ned was given an acre of land on which to grow any crop of his choice. The budding farmer chose sweet potatoes because they paid more per bushel than cotton or corn, assuming they were planted early enough and did not receive a frost. Ned’s gamble with the sweet potatoes foreshadowed another gamble he would take years later in an effort to break into Grand National stockcar racing.
Ned cut his teeth behind the steering wheel at the age of 9 when he drove the family’s truck, a converted school bus, to church every week. With profits made from his one acre of crops, Ned saved up enough money to buy his first car, a 1941 Ford.
According to one story, Ned’s entry into stockcar racing came as the result of a poker game one day when rain brought work at the sawmill to a halt. Thanks to a hot set of cards, Ned became part owner and driver of a car being raced at nearby Hickory, North Carolina Speedway. Not long afterward, Ned finished a respectable 10th place in a Limited Sportsman event behind the wheel of the newly won racecar.
To Ned’s straight-laced parents, young men who piloted racecars were little more than riff-raff. In order to keep his hand in the game, Ned agreed to continue working at the family sawmill while serving only as a car owner and not a driver. That plan didn’t last long, however.
One night, Ned’s driver, John Lentz came up sick so Ned donned Lentz’s racing gear and entered the race under Lentz’s name. Ned finished second under the assumed name that first night and Ned and John decided Ned might make a better driver. The following week Ned won the race, again pretending to be John Lentz.
Everybody loves a winner and it wasn’t long before word of Ned’s success reached his parents. The elder Jarrett told his son that, whatever his chosen profession, he should strive to do his best, and for heaven’s sake, use his own name. Ned continued to race at the Hickory Speedway through 1953 and 1954 and he was a regular winner in the Sportsman division. In September 1955 Ned entered his first Grand National (today’s Winston Cup) race, driving a Pontiac owned by Mellie Bernard in the Southern 500. Mechanical troubles sidelined Ned before the checkered flag waved. Undeterred, Ned entered Sportsman division races throughout the South during the next couple of years and claimed the Sportsman Division Championship in 1957 and 1958. The stage was set for bigger things for the driver formerly known as Lentz.
Nothing points out Ned Jarrett’s determination to be a NASCAR driver more than the story of his 1959 re-entry into Grand National racing. Ned ran a handful of Grand National races in the early weeks of the 1959 season, but unable to procure a steady ride, Ned began to search about for a ride to call his own. Hungry to buy a 1957 Ford owned by Paul Spaulding, Ned wrote a $2,000 check to cover the cost of the car after the banks had closed for the day on a Friday, knowing that Spaulding would be unable to cash the check until the following Monday.
Ned gambled that he could raise enough money to cover the cost of the car by winning the upcoming Grand National races at Myrtle Beach’s Rambi Raceway and at the Charlotte Fairgrounds. At Rambi Raceway on August 1, 1959 Ned started 9th and worked his way to the front during the 200-lap event. Ned’s closest contender Jim Paschal was slowed on the final lap by a burned wheel bearing and a no doubt very relieved Ned Jarrett claimed his first Grand National prize money, a check for $800, before hustling off to make the 200 lap event scheduled at the Charlotte Fairgrounds the following day.
At Charlotte Ned again started in the top 10 but he brought with him a painful souvenir of his first victory the night before; Ned’s hands were badly cut and blistered from working the steering wheel at Rambi Raceway. Joe Weatherly, already a star in his own right, was at the Charlotte Fairgrounds as a spectator and he kindly agreed to sit in for Ned for 50 laps. Then, Junior Johnson who was sidelined by a blown engine, hopped in the number 11 Ford to take a few turns as substitute for Ned. Johnson was in a good position to bring the car to victory circle, having driven the same car for its previous owner Paul Spaulding in previous Grand National seasons. Learning of Ned’s creative check-writing gamble, neither Joe Weatherly nor Junior Johnson would take any of the prize money for their part in running the race. Ned remembered their kindness in an interview years later. “Obviously, I’ve never forgotten what they did for me. Who knows where my career would have gone, or if it would have gone, if I hadn’t made that check good.”
Ned brought home a total of $1,600 for two afternoon’s of racing and, combined with an additional $400 he scraped together, Ned the Gambler was able to deposit funds to cover the check to Paul Spaulding.
Ned didn’t find his way to victory circle again during the 1959 Grand National season, however, in 17 starts that year, he posted five top ten finishes in addition to his two wins and finished 37th in the final points standings, taking home over $3,800 in prize money.
The 1960 NASCAR season dawned to find newer and bigger facilities being constructed and longer races being run. Dirt tracks were making way for paved super speedways and into this mix came Ned Jarrett, still riding the optimistic buzz of two victories in the ’59 season. He wasted little time in proving to any doubters that he meant business when it came to racing. Rear end mechanical troubles relegated Ned to a non-paying 26th place finish in the 1960 season opener at the Charlotte Fairgrounds on November 8, 1959. But things would be different next time out.
Ned started third in the second race of the season, a 100-mile event held at Columbia Speedway in South Carolina on November 26, 1959 and sped to a narrow victory over Jack Smith. Ned averaged 55 miles per hour in his number 11 Ford, to claim the $800 prize money and his third career win. Three races later Ned finished a respectable 6th in the second annual Daytona 500 that had a freakish incident in its closing laps. Bobby Johns was leading the race with a comfortable seven second lead over Junior Johnson when the rear window of his Pontiac was sucked out causing an obviously shocked Johns to spin in turn two, just narrowly avoiding a dip in Lake Lloyd. Johnson sped into the lead and Johns managed to salvage a second place finish, minus his rear window.
For his 6th place finish at Daytona, Ned Jarrett pocketed a little over $2,000, nearly as much money as he’d taken home in three previous victories combined. He would go on to claim five victories during the 1960 season, beating the likes of Lee and Richard Petty, David Pearson and Junior Johnson. For his efforts in the 1960 season, Ned Jarrett claimed 5th place in the point’s standings, taking home over $25,000. The coming 1961 season gave every indication of being a success.
The 1961 NASCAR season is remembered as the year that some of the drivers, led by Curtis Turner and Tim Flock, tried to organize. Another of the early union leaders, Fireball Roberts dropped out of the effort, as did several others who had signed on as regular members, including Ned Jarrett. Ned acknowledged that the drivers had legitimate grievances, including purse money that lagged behind the actual cost of entering racecars week after week, but according to Ned, joining a union backed by the Teamsters, was “going about it in the wrong way.” Indeed, Ned was eventually chosen, along with Rex White, to serve as a driver representative on the Grand National Advisory Board, to evaluate the rules, regulations and payoff schedule in an effort to assuage at least some of the driver’s beefs. The unionizing effort fizzled and Turner and Flock both received lifetime bans from NASCAR.
Consistency was the watchword for Ned’s 1961 driving campaign, behind the wheel of a ’61 Chevy. The uproar over the attempted unionization of the drivers, and Ned’s service on the NASCAR-sanctioned Advisory Board do not seem to have had a negative impact on Ned’s success. In 46 starts, Ned managed to garner only one win, however, he amassed an amazing 34 top ten finishes on his way to clinching the 1961 NASCAR Grand National Championship. Ned’s single victory for 1961 came in a 100-mile event at the Alabama State Fairgrounds on June 4, 1961. Naturally, the championship race went right down to the wire, with Ned nailing the title down during the season’s final event at Orange Speedway in Hillsboro, North Carolina. With the 1961 NASCAR championship, the former sweet potato farmer and sawmill hand wrote his own page in stockcar racing history and gone was any thought of ever again racing under an assumed name.
The 1962 Grand National season would find Ned in victory circle more often than in 1961, however the championship eluded him. Ned scored his first win of the year in the season’s 11th start at Columbia Speedway’s Arclite 200 on April 13, 1962. Two races later Ned notched another victory at Rambi Raceway. A third victory came on May 19, 1962 in a 100-mile event at the Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Ned notched another victory at Rambi Raceway in July and on August 25th Ned snapped Richard Petty’s three race winning streak by taking the checkers at Valdosta, Georgia. Ned’s final win of the season came at Moyock North Carolina’s Dog Track Speedway on September 11th.
Joe Weatherly took the championship in 1962 with 9 wins, followed by Richard Petty with 8 wins and Ned Jarrett took third place with his 6 wins for the season. The book closed on the 1962 season with Ned Jarrett again firmly planted in the top five in championship points with a respectable tally of wins. Nineteen sixty-three would see Ned break out of the dirt track mode to score his first win on a paved track. The coming season would also find Ned being forced to assert himself on the track to fight a nice-guy image.
Nineteen sixty-three will be remembered as the year a “Yankee” named Fred Lorenzen finally made his breakthrough into Grand National competition, and the year USAC hotfoot Johnny Rutherford stunned the NASCAR ranks by notching his first and only NASCAR victory. For Ned Jarrett 1963 would largely be business as usual except that on and off track rivalries emerged with other famous drivers.
Ned’s first win came in the 14th race of the season at New Augusta Speedway. The race was scheduled for 200 laps (100 miles) however NASCAR officials elected to end the race at the 112 lap mark due to steadily worsening dust conditions. Many in the crowd cried foul, complaining about paying $4 for half a race. The death knoll began to ring louder for the dirt tracks.
Ned had some bad luck that cost him a victory two races later when he blew a tire with just two laps to go at Greenville-Pickens Speedway on April 13, 1963. Buck Baker sped around the floundering #11 to claim his first win in two years and Ned hung on for a second place finish. Ned haunted the top five finishing order in the next nine races, except for Darlington where he finished 20th partly because of a convoluted scoring system devised by the track owner.
At Southside Speedway in Richmond, Virginia, Ned battled head to head with Richard Petty, swapping the lead four times to finally claim the checkers with a two lap margin of victory to take home the $1,000 prize money. Ned claimed the prize money again five races later on July 7th then again on July 10th while Richard Petty took a ride through the retaining wall and into a nearby swamp at Savannah Speedway. With their consistent close finishes week after week, the rivalry between Jarrett and Petty was beginning to simmer.
At New Asheville Speedway on July 14th, things reached a boiling point. Ned brought his Ford across the line for his fifth win of the season, but not after a hard fought battle with Richard Petty. Ned passed Petty for good on lap 281, swapping paint with Petty as they overtook a lapped car. With just 20 laps to go, one of Petty’s tires let go, no doubt the result of damage from his tangle with Ned, and he limped around to claim second place. As Ned prepared to begin the victory lane celebration, an obviously angry Richard Petty shook his fist at Jarrett. Ned’s crew chief, Bud Allman stepped in and was restrained by Richard’s brother Maurice while NASCAR officials stepped in to separate Ned and Richard.
Eight races later, Ned notched another victory on August 14, 1963, then again on September 8th where he overcame a two lap deficit after running over a piece of debris on the track. On September 29th Jarrett was flagged the winner at Moyock’s Dog Track Speedway but Joe Weatherly contested the outcome, claiming that he had completed 300 laps first. Ned and Joe had run a close contest, swapping paint and leaning on each other throughout the race. “Our cars were about equal,” Ned commented after the race. “There’s bound to be a little rubbing with cars that close in speed on a little quarter-mile track like this.” NASCAR re-checked the scorecards and Ned was confirmed the winner. He pocketed $645 for the day’s work.
In the meantime, Ned was evidently struggling with image problems that began to simmer below the surface. In the coming days, it wouldn’t be Richard Petty, but another big name driver who would find himself at odds with Ned both on and off the track. During the 51st race of the season, held at Tar Heel Speedway in Randleman, North Carolina, Richard Petty would grab the checkered flag in front of a hometown crowd, but a heated sheet metal duel between Ned Jarrett and David Pearson would steal the show.
When the green flag dropped, Ned and David Pearson wasted little time getting together. The front of Pearson’s Dodge snagged Ned’s rear bumper on the first lap, sending Ned into the wall. Ned dropped out for repairs and was back on the track within ten laps. Ned found his way around the tight quarter-mile track and, just past the halfway point of the race, he drove into the side of Pearson’s car, taking Pearson out of the race. “I think this ‘nice guy’ label has been carried too far,” Ned proclaimed after the race. “It seems some of the drivers are getting the idea they can drive over me. That’s not the case. I can be just as mean as anybody, and I will if I have to be.”
“I bumped Ned on the first lap,” Pearson countered. “But I didn’t mean to. Then he came back later and forced me into the wall.” While Richard Petty claimed the checkered flag, Ned salvaged a 9th place finish and David Pearson had to satisfy himself with 14th place and $125 prize money.
The 1963 season wound up just four races after the Jarrett-Pearson altercation at Tar Heel Speedway. In the remaining races, mechanical woes hampered Ned’s efforts in the Burton-Robinson #11 Ford, but for the season he finished a respectable 4th behind the “wonder boy” Fred Lorenzen (3rd), Richard Petty (2nd) who won an astounding 14 races and Joe Weatherly who claimed the championship by hitchhiking his way through the season.
Copyright, 2001 Michael Smith
Next time…..Part Two: “Tragedy and Triumph, Respect and Retirement”
copyright 2000. Michael Smith
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