Part II

The "Rebel 300" at Darlington Raceway had been a combined Grand National/Convertible race since its first running in 1957, and continued as the only such event until the previous season, 1962 - even though the Convertible Division had been dropped at the end of 1959. Promoter Bob Colvin was always looking for some angle to spice up the race.

For 1963, it was double trouble - two heats, and each heat started with a standing start. In the first heat, Weatherly passed the Junior Johnson Chevrolet on the last lap when the transmission failed. In the second heat, Petty won the heat, but after his sixth in the first heat, he could only manage third overall. Ned Jarrett's poor placing of 20th tightened up the points race considerably, Petty slipping past Jarrett into first place. Combining his win in the first heat with second in the second heat, Weatherly and Bud Moore could celebrate the first win for a Pontiac in a Superspeedway event that season. Indeed, it would be the last such victory for Pontiac for many years.

From the 1.375-mile track at Darlington, the next stop for the Grand National stars was the 0.375-mile dirt Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Virginia. The 300 laps ended with Petty in first, Jarrett a lap back in second, and Weatherly ninth once again in the #2 Cliff Stewart Pontiac. The Southside Speedway in Richmond was a 0.333-mile paved track and could barely hold the 17 cars that competed in the 300-lapper for the Grand National cars. Ned Jarrett finished two laps ahead of points-leader Richard Petty. Weatherly could not scrounge a ride for the event and faded to a distant third in the standings, far behind Petty.

The "World 600" at Charlotte Motor Speedway saw winner Fred Lorenzen pass Junior Johnson with four laps to go when the #3 Ray Fox Chevrolet was forced to pit for new tires - and then coast across the line when the #28 Holman & Moody Ford ran out of gas on the last lap. Points leader Petty finished 36th when the camshaft broke in his engine; Jarrett was 30th when he retired after struggling with engine problems. The #8 Bud Moore Pontiac was fourth and this was enough to put Weatherly into the points lead for the first time during the season. Petty was now second in the points, with Jarrett third.

The return to the Birmingham International Raceway saw Petty return to the victory circle in the 100-miler on the dirt track, Jarrett managing fourth, but Weatherly's poor run with the #2 Cliff Stewart Pontiac continued as he dropped out when a wheel broke, shaving his lead over Petty considerably.

The "Dixie 400" at the Atlanta International Raceway at the end of June saw Junior Johnson and the white Ray Fox Chevrolet with the big red "3" finally enter the winner's circle at a Superspeedway. Johnson edged Lorenzen in a race-long duel to even the score a bit after Charlotte. Weatherly had another consistent run in the Bud Moore Pontiac to finish fifth. With Petty finishing 12th and Jarrett in 10th, Weatherly stretched his lead over Petty to a more comfortable margin. The "Firecracker 400" at Daytona on the Fourth of July saw Petty slice into that margin by finishing eighth and Little Joe retiring when the engine let go in the Moore Pontiac. Jarrett was fifth so he was also edging closer to the current leader.

From 7 to 21 July, there were seven races on the Grand National schedule, stretching from Myrtle Beach in South Carolina to Bridgehampton on Long Island, by way of Asheville, North Carolina. At the Rambi Raceway in Myrtle Beach, it was Jarrett winning the 100-miler, Weatherly third in the Cliff Stewart Pontiac, and Petty a distant 15th after blowing an engine. Three days later they were at the Savannah Speedway, where Jarrett once again took the checkered flag, with both Weatherly and Petty being eliminated in crashes, finishing 14th and 15th - and last - respectively.

The next day the trio assembled at the quarter-mile Dog Track Speedway in Moyock, North Carolina, for a 250-lap event. Weatherly was 13th in the #2 Pontiac when the engine failed, with Petty 11th with differential failure. Jarrett survived to finish second behind Jim Pardue. Two days later and it was back to Bowman-Gray Stadium, the #21 Wood Brothers Ford winning the race - with Glenn Wood at the wheel, Jarrett in second, the first Petty Engineering car in fourth - Lee Petty, Weatherly seventh in the Cliff Stewart Pontiac, with Richard Petty just behind Little Joe in eighth.

The next day the action moved to the New Asheville Speedway, a 0.333-mile paved track for a 300-lapper. Once again, it was Jarrett in victory circle and the win brought Jarrett closer to the points leader Weatherly, who was fourth, with Petty second. The once comfortable margin was now getting thinner - although competing for the title against its lead driver, Petty Engineering gave Weatherly a ride in the #41 Plymouth at Asheville. And in a rare moment of discord, Jarrett and Petty almost engaged in fisticuffs in victory circle after words were exchanged.

The teams had five days to make it from Asheville to Old Bridge Stadium in New Jersey for the 100-miler on the half-mile dirt track. Back in the #8 Moore Pontiac, Weatherly sat on the pole and led most of the way, only to have the engine stall during his pit stop for fuel, losing six laps and falling to seventh at the end, behind winner Fireball Roberts, Jarrett in fourth, but ahead of Petty in 16th, victim of a burst oil line. Two days later, the 2.85-mile road circuit at Bridgehampton was the scene of a 100-mile race for the Grand National cars, Petty winning from Lorenzen, Jarrett eighth, and Weatherly back in 13th after spinning off the track. Petty was inching closer and closer, with Jarrett following suit.

After the torrid pace of seven races in 14 days ended, there was a week before the "Volunteer 500" at Bristol. Petty narrowly lost to Lorenzen after a heated battle in the closing stages of the race. Barely avoiding the spectacular wreck which eliminated Fireball Roberts, Weatherly was sixth, Jarrett 25th - the margin between Petty and Weatherly narrowing considerably. Two days later, Petty won his 11th race of the season by finishing ahead of Jarrett at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Weatherly finally getting a ride in the #05 1962 Pontiac owned by Possum Jones and finishing eighth.

The "Nashville 400" was the victim of wrecks and a lengthy rain delay and ending up with only 350 of the 400 laps scheduled being run. Jim Paschal gave Petty Engineering yet another victory during the season, team leader Richard Petty fourth, just behind Weatherly's #8 Pontiac. Ned Jarrett was seventh. The race was first halted when Tiny Lund crashed after his engine blew and he lost control on the oil it laid down. Lund hit the guardrail, bounced back into traffic and after tumbling, crashed onto the top of the Mercury driven by Rex White. Lund scrambled from his burning car, only to run into the door of the passing Ford of Cale Yarborough - which Lund dented. Once the mess was cleaned up and racing resumed, a thunderstorm halted the race which was finally abandoned. Nearly 100 laps were run under caution during the race.

There was another streak of races, five in 10 days, before a short break prior to the "Southern 500." The "Sandlapper 200" at the Columbia Speedway was Petty's 12th victory of the season. Although still in the Bud Moore Pontiac, Weatherly could only manage to finish 11th when a broken sway bar put him out in the closing laps. Junior Johnson emerged unhurt from a nasty crash which saw the #3 Chevrolet vault the guardrail - inverted - and roll down the embankment and end up on its roof.

Three days later, it was the "Western North Carolina 500" at the Asheville-Weaverville half-mile paved track. Time trials - qualifying - was rained out and starting positions were assigned by the order in which the entries were signed in. Although first in line, Bud Moore could not find an official to sign him in, and after searching for one and finally signing in, he was not happy to discover that he was assigned the 18th starting position. To top things off, Weatherly was late arriving at the track. A fuming Bud Moore packed up and departed for home. When Weatherly finally arrived at the track and found out that his ride nowhere to be found, he quickly arranged a ride in the #36 Wade Younts 1962 Dodge. By finishing second to winner Fred Lorenzen, Petty closed even more on Weatherly's ever shrinking points lead, Weatherly only managing to finish eighth, one place ahead of Jarrett.

Another three days later, Jarrett won the 100-miler at the Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg, with Petty in second. Although on the pole in the #8 Pontiac, Weatherly finished 17th and last when the engine blew early in the race. Two days later, competing once again on the tiny Bowman-Gray Stadium track for the "International 200," Junior Johnson led Petty across the line with Jarrett in fifth and Weatherly ninth in the #361 Wade Younts Dodge. The points lead now shifted from Weatherly to Petty. Interestingly, an MG driven by Smokey Cook was 17th and the Corvette of Bill Whitley was last, 19th, after crashing on the opening lap.

The "Mountaineer 300" was two days later at the West Virginia International Speedway in Huntington. The 300 laps on the new 0.375-mile paved track saw Fred Lorenzen survive a disintegrating track surface and dodge the mayhem of 20 cars on such a small track. With Petty down in 10th place at the finish, second placed Weatherly resumed the points lead, although by the narrowest of margins.

After a two week break, the "Southern 500" at Darlington beckoned. The good news for Little Joe Weatherly was that Bud Moore had finally managed to find a factory deal, with Mercury. The #8 Mercury would be Weatherly's mount for the remainder of the season. Fireball Roberts won the race which was run without a single caution period, a highly unusual set of circumstances. In spite of qualifying third in his new Mercury, an engine change and adjustments altered the handling during the race and Weatherly could only salvage seventh place, much to Bud Moore's disgust. Petty was in 12th and Jarrett even further back in 21st after blowing an engine. It was now becoming a two man title fight, Weatherly padding his lead over Petty by a few more points.

At the Hickory Speedway, Junior Johnson managed to crash during practice - executing a roll, in fact - and still managed to start the race and win it. With Jarrett finishing 13th, Petty 14th, and Weatherly 21st after crashing, the points narrowed a bit once again. The "Capital City 300" at the Richmond fairgrounds track saw Ned Jarrett come back into contention with a vengeance - he won by two laps over runner-up Rex White. Once more, Weatherly had problems, this time an engine blew, and finished well back in 21st and lost points to Petty who was sixth.

The "Old Dominion 500" at Martinsville saw Fred Lorenzen once again scoop up the paycheck, with Weatherly finishing third in an excellent run in the Mercury. Petty was fifth and Jarrett buried in the field in 19th after his engine broke. In Moyock at the Dog Track Speedway, Jarrett and Weatherly rubbed fenders and traded paint virtually the entire 300 laps, Weatherly protesting the results but having to settle for second to Jarrett's first place. Petty was 10 laps down and a distant fourth, never in the picture.

At the end of September, Marvin Panch, so near death at Daytona, won the "Wilkes 250" for the Wood Brothers at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. He led three Holman & Moody entries over the line. Jarrett was fifth and Weatherly sixth, and with Petty dropping out early with engine problems, the points battle leaned more towards the Bud Moore driver. However, the next event was on the quarter-mile Randleman track and Rich Petty won his 13th race of the season with his rival Joe Weatherly in second place, the duo being the only ones to complete the full 200 laps of the race. Jarrett was never in contention after being hit by David Pearson on the first lap.

A crowd favorite all season, Junior Johnson gave the fans something to cheer about when he won the "National 400" at Charlotte. In fifth place was Weatherly, with Petty in sixth. Jarrett crashed early on and was virtually eliminated from the title chase. However, suddenly looming in the standings was Fred Lorenzen. Although not running the full Grand National schedule, Lorenzen was gaining on Ned Jarrett for third in the championship. Had Lorenzen and the Holman & Moody team realized how well they were doing in the points race, they could have taken a serious run at the championship despite missing a number of the events.

A week later, Petty won his 14th race of the 1963 season by finishing three laps ahead of David Pearson in the "South Boston 400." By finishing third, Weatherly kept his points margin safe, but with two races left, it was still a tight battle. At the Orange Speedway in Hillsboro, Little Joe Weatherly won his third race of the season and with Petty only finishing sixth, the gap was just enough that Petty had to not only have a great finish in the last race, but Weatherly had to have a very poor one.

The last event of the 1963 season took place 365 days after the opening event of the season, a "season" which stretched from 4 November 1962 to 4 November 1963. The "Golden State 400" was the second visit of the season to the Riverside International Raceway. The race attracted a large entry, 41 cars, and the title could still go to Petty. However, it was Petty who ran into trouble early, lasting only five laps before the transmission failed, leaving him in 36th place. Weatherly played it safe, stayed on the track, nursed the #8 Mercury to the finish and emerged from the cockpit as the 1963 Grand National Champion for 1963.

Joe Weatherly drove for nine teams during the season, the most being for Bud Moore in the #8 Pontiac or Mercury, 34 starts. However, that meant that Weatherly had to scrounge 19 other starts with eight teams to stay in contention for the championship. Somehow, Little Joe managed to only miss one event during the season and wring out what he could from whatever rides he could to stay in sight of the others going for the title and finally grind it out and take the championship.

The final tally for the 1963 Season:

1. Joe Weatherly      33,398 Points   53 Starts   3 Wins   $74,623.76
2. Richard Petty      31,170 Points   54 Starts  14 Wins   $55,964.00
3. Fred Lorenzen      29,684 Points   29 Starts   6 Wins  $122,587.28
4. Ned Jarrett        27,214 Points   53 Starts   8 Wins   $45,843.29
5. Fireball Roberts   22,642 Points   20 Starts   4 Wins   $73,059.30

Sadly, during the fifth event of the 1964 season, the "Motor Trend 500" at Riverside - the same place where he clinched the championship in 1963 - as the #8 1964 Bud Moore Mercury Marauder came out of the Esses after completing the 86th lap, there was a puff of smoke and the car hit the retaining wall in Turn Six a glancing blow. What seemed to be just a minor incident turned out to be a fatal crash.

The retaining wall was reinforced with boilerplate and when the Mercury hit the wall on the driver's side, Weatherly struck his head on the wall and was killed instantly. One reason for this was that Weatherly was not wearing shoulder harness at Riverside nor was there a window net. Although he had worn shoulder harnesses earlier, an accident at Hickory had caused some severe bruising and he declined to wear one at Riverside due to the discomfort the harness caused.