Fred Lorenzen, driving a 1965 Ford, won the race from fourth position in a two-hour-and-23-minute time span by Darel Dieringer by a full lap.

[4] NASCAR instituted new rules in October 1964 to enhance safety and decrease speeds for 1965 after the previous year's deaths of Joe Weatherly and Fireball Roberts.

Ford Motor Company wanted a new engine with high-rise cylinder heads to compete with the Hemi and threatened to pull out if Bill France Sr. didn't allow it.

Darel Dieringer won the pole with a speed of 171.151 mph (275.441 km/h) in Bud Moore's 1964 Mercury, then held off Ned Jarrett's move in the final turn to win the first 100-mile (160 km) qualifying race.

After Johnson's abrupt departure, 1961 winner Marvin Panch led through lap 68 in the Wood Brothers Ford, with Lorenzen and Bobby Johns on his tail.

"Stay out", ordered crew chief Herb Nab, who was counting on the weather to shorten the race.