Think the olden days of NASCAR were better simply because the “stock” cars were really stock? Then take a good look through these photos sent to us by Ron Kellogg of the Kellogg Auto Archive featuring Freddie Lorenzen’s Holman-Moody-prepped 1963 Ford Galaxie, as shot by photographer Ralph Poole shortly before the 1963 Motor Trend 500 at Riverside International Raceway, the first 500-mile stock car road race. While a lot of the parts indeed look like what you’d find in any restored 1963 Galaxie today, there’s plenty of modifications to delight in and puzzle over, and one would simply have to assume that nothing is as it seems here. As Ron noted when he sent us these photos, Lorenzen drove the No. 28 for testing before the race, but handed over actual driving chores to Dan Gurney, “who knew this track better than the back of his hand.” Gurney then proceeded to take the checkered flag – his first win in NASCAR – and pose in the winner’s circle with Margie Petersen, then recently wed to Robert Petersen, publisher of Motor Trend.
In addition, we uncovered a nice little six-minute video with several highlights of the race, including plenty of footage of Gurney as well as of many of the crashes “as the drivers tried to figure out the riddle of Riverside.”