NASCAR’s Cup Series debuted as the Strictly Stock division on June 19, 1949, at the three-quarter-mile Charlotte Speedway, not to be confused with the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, which coincidentally opened on June 19, 1960.
The small, circular dirt track has been gone for 68 years, but the memory of its passage is still vivid for those who attended the races. Among them is seven-time Cup Series champion Richard Petty, now 87, when he was just 19.
Four drivers in the history of NASCAR, which has 76 drivers, hail from Fayetteville. They are James Raymond, “Bunkie” Blackburn, Spook Crawford, John Jennings and Bill Joslin. Their stints in NASCAR’s major series spanned from 1949 to 1970.
James Ronald was introduced to auto racing by his father, Eugene Graham Blackburn, and Myrtle Greene Blackburn, who owned a short track in the Fayetteville area. That’s where James Ronald’s passion for auto racing began.
After serving in the North Carolina National Guard, “Bunkie,” as he was known, became a professional stock car driver in the late 1950s and enjoyed some success.
In 1967, he was part of a three-driver team that set a world speed record of 174 mph in a Smokey Yunick Z-28 Camaro at the Bonneville Salt Flats during a USAC/FIA event.
Blackburn won the 1968 Permatex 300 Sportsman race from the pole position. He competed in what is now the NASCAR Cup Series from 1960 to 1970. Blackburn competed in 71 NASCAR Grand National races, recording four top-five finishes and 14 top-10 finishes. Two of the team owners who hired him were Yunick, a master car and engine builder, and Petty Enterprises, founded by three-time champion Lee Petty.
Blackburn nearly won the 1961 Dixie 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway as a replacement for Junior Johnson. He took the lead in Johnson’s car with five laps to go after race leader Fireball Roberts ran out of gas. However, Blackburn also ran out of gas on the final lap, giving the win to David Pearson.
Blackburn retired from racing after suffering a racing accident during the 1970 season.
Crawford is a former NASCAR driver from Fayetteville who competed in six NASCAR events during his NASCAR Grand National career, earning one top-10 finish.
Crawford made his NASCAR debut in 1956 at Myrtle Beach. Driving for his own team, he had a difficult start to his career. Running 17th, Crawford crashed just 13 laps after taking the green flag and finished in the final 20 laps.th-place position in the race.
Crawford attempted a race on the road course at Watkins Glen, New York. He started and finished all but ten laps to earn a solid 12th-place finish. His next start came in 1958 at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway where he started 13th. Crawford remained in contention for the entire race and finished 14th.th while driving a 1957 Plymouth.
Crawford took a year off and returned to NASCAR in 1960. He made three starts that year, breaking an axle that dropped him to 16th at Hillsboro, North Carolina, on May 29. Crawford’s only top-10 finish came with an eighth-place finish at Pittsburgh, and he finished his racing career with a 12th-place finish at Birmingham, Alabama, on August 3.
Jennings ran six NASCAR races in 1970 for team owner Mack Sellers.
Bill Joslin, a Fayetteville native, also competed in six NASCAR races. Then called the Strictly Stock division, Joslin raced at Charlotte Speedway and drove a 1949 Ford that he owned himself. He likely drove the Fayetteville car and competed in the race and finished 17th.th among the 26 cars entered in the 200-lap event. The race took place on July 23, 1950 and was won by Curtis Turner, leader of the 200 laps.
Joslin competed in his second NASCAR race on August 23, 1950, at Occoneechee Speedway at Hillsboro Speedway. He finished 18th.th Among the 27 cars, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts emerged victorious. Joslin again drove his No. 50 Ford that day. The full final standings were incomplete for mechanical problems or accidents.
Joshlin made four more starts in 1951. His best finish was an 11th-place finish at Columbia on June 11, his final start as a NASCAR driver.
This article was originally published on The Fayetteville Observer: NC Fayetteville NASCAR Drivers Strictly Use Bunkie Blackburn
