| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 40 of 55 in the 1963 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season | |||
| Date | August 6, 1963 | ||
| Location | Columbia Speedway (Columbia, South Carolina) | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 0.500 mi (0.804 km) |
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| Distance | 200 laps, 100 mi (160 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures up to 95.0 °F (35.0 °C); winds up to 11.10 miles per hour (17.86 km/h)[1] | ||
| Avg Speed | 83.360 miles per hour (134.155 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 138 | ||
| Winner | |||
| 43 |
Richard Petty |
Petty Enterprises | |
| Television | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1963 Sandlapper 200 was the official site of Richard Petty's 25th NASCAR Grand National win for Petty Enterprises (now Richard Petty Motorsports).[2]
It was also the last time that the letter "X" could be legally used as a race number. An amendment to one of NASCAR's rules made by Bill France, Sr. forced all drivers to use only single-digit and double-digit race car numbers started in the 1963 Western North Carolina 500 event. As a result, cars could no longer use letters and/or numbers higher than "99" on at any NASCAR Cup Series racing event - although EA Sports would violate this rule numerous times on their NASCAR video game series.
The race took place on August 8, 1963 at Columbia Speedway in the American community of Columbia, South Carolina.[2] Two hundred laps were done on a dirt track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km). It took one hour, forty-seven minutes, and fifty-five seconds for Richard Petty to defeat David Pearson by a margin of nine seconds.[2] The notable speeds were: 55.598 miles per hour (89.476 km/h) as the average speed and 69.014 miles per hour (111.067 km/h) as the pole position speed.[2] Eight thousand and five hundred people attended this live untelevised race.[2] Other notable participants included: J.D. McDuffie, Wendell Scott, Cale Yarborough, and Buck Baker.[2] Possum Jones would score last place in the race after only finishing five laps due to tire issues.[2] Frank Warren would finish the race in 13th in his unsponsored 1961 Pontiac Catalina vehicle (with the X designation for his driver number) after starting in 18th place. He would receive $100 ($717.34 in today's money) as a part of his winnings.[2]
Total winnings for this race were $4,825 ($34,611.61 in today's money) with Richard Petty receiving the lion's share with $1,140 ($8,177.67 in today's money).[3]
* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
| Preceded by 1963 Gywn Staley 400 |
Richard Petty's Career Wins 1960-1984 |
Succeeded by 1963 untitled race at Old Dominion Speedway |
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