1965 NASCAR Grand National Series

The 1965 NASCAR Grand National Series was the seventeenth season of the premier Grand National Series stock car racing championship sanctioned by NASCAR. Due to the increasing speeds of the cars, the concerns for safety, and no availability of the Hemi to the general public, NASCAR outlawed the Chrysler hemi engine. Chrysler responded by withdrawing their support, and drivers Richard Petty, David Pearson, Paul Goldsmith, Bobby Isaac, and others were forced to sit out the races. Driver Ned Jarrett won the Grand National Drivers Championship after winning 13 of the 54 races he competed in. Ford won the Manufacturers Championship again.

The newly-built Rockingham Speedway opened in 1965, and Curtis Turner returned from his ban to win the inaugural race in his Ford. Turner had been banned from NASCAR in 1961 by Bill France, Sr. for trying to organize a drivers' union with the Teamsters.

Expansion

 * Fords had won 34 races before NASCAR adjusted the rules to allow the Chryslers to compete, but it was too late in the 55 event season for them to mount a championship challenge.