1962 Southern 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 45 of 53 in the 1962 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 Darlington Raceway | |||
| Date | September 3, 1962 | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway (Darlington, South Carolina) | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km) | ||
| Distance | 364 laps, 501.3 mi (806.7 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching 93 °F (34 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 117.965 miles per hour (189.846 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Fireball Roberts | Jim Stephens | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 95 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 66 |
Larry Frank |
Ratus Walters | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1962 Southern 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series race that took place on September 3, 1962 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.[2]
Summary
It took four hours and fourteen minutes to resolve 364 laps.[2] Sixty thousand people would watch Larry Frank defeat Junior Johnson[3] by a time of five seconds; acquiring his only win in the Cup Series.[2] Gary Sain would make his entrance into NASCAR racing at this race while Roscoe Thompson would retire from NASCAR after racing here.[4]
The other racers in the top ten were: Marvin Panch, David Pearson, Richard Petty, Jim Paschal, Nelson Stacy, Ned Jarrett, Rex White, and Joe Weatherly.[2] Matt DeMatthews was the last-place finisher after oil pressure issues forced his 1961 Ford Galaxie out of the race.[2] Fireball Roberts earned the pole position with a speed of 130.246 miles per hour (209.611 km/h) but would finish the race in 36th (out of 44 cars) after crashing on lap 74. Larry Frank's winning speed would be 117.965 miles per hour (189.846 km/h).[2] Johnny Allen had an awful crash[2] but left the race without any injury.
Individual race earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $21,730 ($167,696.31 in today's money) to the last-place finisher's share of $400 ($3,086.91 in today's money). The total prize purse for this racing event was $71,865 ($554,601.73 in today's money).[5] While a kinescope was responsible for filming this race to an audience that couldn't see it live, ABC's Wide World of Sports kept a carbon copy of this race on VHS. For superstition reasons from NASCAR driver Joe Weatherly, this race is historically known as the 12th Revival of the Southern 500 instead of the 13th Southern 500.
References
- ↑ "1962 Southern 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "1962 Southern 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
- ↑ "1962 Southern 500 information (second reference)". How Stuff Works. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
- ↑ "1962 Southern 500 information". Race-Database. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
- ↑ "1962 Southern 500 information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
| Preceded by 1961 |
Southern 500 races 1962 |
Succeeded by 1963 |
| Preceded by 1962 untitled race at Valdosta Speedway |
NASCAR Grand National Series Season 1962 |
Succeeded by 1962 Buddy Shuman 250 |