The Resurrection of a Champion: 1965 Daytona 500 Winner Gets Full Restoration
05/01/2003
by Mike Dieffenbach
In its fully-restored racing glory, a restored Holman-Moody 1965 Ford Galaxie NASCAR stock car can be seen at the Carlisle All-Ford Nationals held May 30-June 1, 2003 at the Carlisle (Pa.) Fairgrounds.
Originally tagged as Holman-Moody chassis number C5HM10047 (referred to as "chassis number 47"), it was one of 15 1965 Galaxies converted to full trim for competition in NASCAR's Grand National division (now Winston Cup) by the legendary race car builders.
Today, the historic car belongs to a John Craft of Longwood, Fla., a life-long racing fan. Craft went to great lengths to verify the authenticity of the machine when he found it still wore the original Holman-Moody serial number. The car, which wears the No. 28 on its flanks, gained glory as the winner of the 1965 Daytona 500 with Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen. In the 1965 season, Craft says, Lorenzen drove at least two Holman-Moody cars, the chassis number 47 car being used at the beginning of the season.
The 1965 Grand National racing season schedule was constructed differently than that of the modern Winston Cup season. Whereas the season now begins with "Speed Weeks" at the Daytona International Speedway, the initial race of the '65 season began on Jan. 17 on the road course at Riverside, Calif., with the Motor Trend 500. Craft says his restored Galaxie was raced at Riverside with a road course set up and then taken to Florida and set up for the superspeedway. He's had its history authenticated by Ralph Moody, partner in the Holman-Moody team.
"It is one of just two documented Daytona 500-winning stock cars of the '60s vintage to still exist, and the only Ford in that number," says Craft, who is a college professor and prosecution lawyer in addition to being an author. He's written several books for Motorbooks International Publisher including "Legends of Stock Car Racing" and "Vintage and Historic Stock Cars."
The race, the seventh Daytona 500 held at the Daytona International Speedway, was rain-shortened at 332.5 miles after furious action in which 14 cars dropped out by lap seven of the race. "Fast Freddie," as Lorenzen was dubbed, averaged 141.539 mph and won $27,100 in a race that solidified his place in racing history.
It's believed the car was used at several early-season racetracks including those at Riverside, Atlanta and North Wilkesboro, as well as being the winning entry the Virginia 500 at Martinsville, Va., in April 1965 and the winner at the World 600 at Charlotte, N.C., in May 1965. The car dominated the race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway as Lorenzen held off Earl Balmer, Dick Hutchinson and Buddy Baker for his 10th superspeedway victory. Leading 257 of the 400 laps, Lorenzen averaged 121.722 mph and took the $27,270 first-place money.
After its glorious run at the beginning of the 1965 season, records show the car was later re-bodied as a 1966 Galaxie, was possibly used for testing at Daytona in December 1965. At the time, Ford was testing the 427 SOHC hemi engine in search of a competitor to the Chrysler 426-ci hemi engine. But NASCAR banned Ford's engine unless the cars took on additional weight. Ford ordered its factory teams to boycott NASCAR races for the 1966 season. The car became inactive and sat in the Holman-Moody garage. Fate then led chassis number 47 to Carol "Barney" Barnhardt's ARCA series race team in Ohio. There it was driven by Howard "Shad" Wheeler during the 1967 campaign.
"Barney and I went to the Holman-Moody shop to buy parts to build a car," Wheeler remembers. "We were piling up all these parts and Ralph (Moody) said 'I don't know why you're doing all that. Come and take a look at something back here in the garage.' That's when he bought the Lorenzen car." Wheeler, who'd raced in ARCA 200 at Daytona, remembers driving the car in the 1967 ARCA season.
"That was kind of a trick car. Back then they'd use all kinds of tricks to get an advantage - slanted windshields or hidden fuel tanks - I still think that held a couple extra gallons in the tank," Wheeler recalls. "We placed ninth that year in the Daytona ARCA race a lap down, Barney wasn't too speedy in the pits. He was always operating on a shoestring, so by the end of the year we'd run out of money." Barnhardt had to sell the car.
"From that point the car devolved to dirt-track-bull-ring duty in Northeast Ohio where it finally came to rest," Craft says. He was able to purchase it from drag racing enthusiast John Slikkerveer of Green, Ohio. Slikkerveer, who worked for Goodyear Tires, had heard about the car from a friend.
"The car came up here in about 1967, I'd say. A trucking executive named (Bob) Cowen bought it to race," Slikkerveer said. "When it came here in the '60s people knew it was a Holman-Moody car. The fellow who drove the car was Dean Alexander."
The car was raced on the 3/8-mile dirt oval at Wayne Co. Speedway for a period of time until it was no longer useful. Cowen Racing then parked it. From that point, Slikkerveer says, the car disappeared for years. "It's amazing it wasn't just cut up like so many race cars were over the years."
When Slikkerveer found the car, he saw the Holman-Moody numberplate on the chassis. Though he didn't have plans to race it, he knew it could be of value, so he bought it. When he realized a restoration process would require too much time and expense, he sold it to Craft about five years ago. Craft had been pursuing another Holman-Moody car when he crossed paths with the unrestored race chassis.
After establishing the authenticity, Craft used photographs of the period obtained through the Motor Trend archives, and other publications he was able to obtain. He also used film footage, including the feature film "Red Line 7000" starring James Caan.
Craft had Jeff Lynch do the paint and body work and Buzz McKim do the graphics while he was responsible for the remainder of the restoration. It joins a 1969 Grand National Cyclone Spoiler II in Craft's collection. Prior to its public debut at the 2003 Carlisle All-Ford Nationals, the Daytona 500-winning 1965 Ford Galaxie stock car was also used by the Fox Network on its outdoor set of this year's telecast of driver interviews during the Daytona 500 Speedweek.