1964 Textile 250

1964 Textile 250
Race details
Race 1 of 62 in the 1964 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date November 10, 1963
Location Concord Speedway (Concord, North Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.805 km)
Distance 250 laps, 125.0 mi (201.1 km)
WeatherTemperatures reaching up to 72 °F (22 °C); wind speeds up to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)[1]
Average speed 56.897 miles per hour (91.567 km/h)
Pole position
Driver David Pearson Owens Racing
Most laps led
Driver Ned Jarrett Burton-Robinson
Laps 114
Winner
No. 11
 Ned Jarrett
 Burton-Robinson
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1964 Textile 250 was a NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series, also formerly known as the Winston Cup Series and the Winston Cup Grand National Series) race that took place on November 10, 1963, at Concord Speedway in the American community of Concord, North Carolina.[2]

250 laps were done on a dirt track spanning 125 miles (201 km) in total distance.[2] Despite being held during the 1963 calendar year, this race was considered to be the first race in the 1964 Grand National season. The silly season between the 1963 and 1964 seasons was only seven days unlike the twelve weeks that the drivers enjoy today.

Summary

After 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 49 seconds of intense racing action, a winner was decided.[2] Ned Jarrett (Dale Jarrett's father) defeated his opponent Joe Weatherly in twelve seconds.[2] Speeds were relatively slow by today's standards; the average speed was 56.897 miles (91.567 km) per hour while the pole position speed was 69.257 miles (111.458 km) per hour.[2] A balanced combination of corporate multi-car teams and individual owners were recorded on the race log for this event.[3] The typical American passenger vehicle of the 21st century can legally drive up to 90 miles (140 km) on some rural roads. This would make today's passenger vehicles faster than the stock cars of this era (which were supposed to represent advancements in automobile technology). However, many safety features adopted in these early stock cars would be used in passenger vehicles that were made years and even decades later.

In order from second to tenth, the other top ten finishers included: Richard Petty, David Pearson, Maurice Petty, Jack Anderson, Larry Thomas, Larry Manning, Curtis Crider, and Tiny Lund.[2] Notable racers that didn't finish in the top ten included: Buck Baker, Bill Widenhouse, Roy Tyner, Wendell Scott, Junior Johnson, Neil Castles and Jimmy Massey (who would retire from the NASCAR Cup Series after this race).[2] Toy Bolton would make his NASCAR Cup Series debut in this race. While this would be his only race of the 1964 season, he would return for the 1966 season. Three thousand people attended this live racing event as of the start of the race.[2] Due to the low-level interest of the sport outside the North Carolina region during this era, the event was completely untelevised. The fastest finishing positions for each manufacturer were: Ford (1st), Pontiac (2nd), Plymouth (3rd), Dodge (4th), Chevrolet (8th), Mercury (9th), and Chrysler (24th).[2]

Ned Jarrett walked away from the event with the winner's purse of $1,350 ($10,265.5 when adjusted for inflation).[2] John Ervin was the winning crew chief for this racing event; he would go on to win 28 races during the 1964 and 1965 NASCAR Cup Series seasons.[4][5] The last finisher to get a monetary award was Darel Dieringer who received $50 ($380.2 when adjusted for inflation) for finishing in 22nd place (out of twenty-six competitors).[2] After combining all the prize winnings for the drivers, the total winnings purse for this race was $6,010 ($45,700.5 when adjusted for inflation).[6]

Timeline

Finishing order

  1. Ned Jarrett
  2. Joe Weatherly (only other guy to finish race on lead lap)
  3. Richard Petty (highest finishing driver for Petty Engineering Co.)
  4. David Pearson
  5. Maurice Petty
  6. Jack Anderson
  7. Larry Thomas
  8. Larry Manning
  9. Curtis Crider
  10. Tiny Lund
  11. Doug Cooper
  12. Buck Baker* (highest finishing driver not to finish race)
  13. Roy Tyner
  14. Worth McMillion (lowest finishing driver to finish race)
  15. Billy Wade*
  16. Bill Widenhouse*
  17. Wendell Scott*
  18. Jimmy Pardue*
  19. Junior Johnson*
  20. G .C. Spencer*
  21. Jack Smith*
  22. Darel Dieringer*
  23. Toy Bolton* (highest finishing driver not to receive a share of the racers' purse)
  24. Neil Castles*
  25. Ed Livingston*
  26. Jimmy Massey* (never finished a single lap of the race)

* Driver failed to finish race

Preceded by
1963 Golden State 400		 NASCAR Grand National Races
1963-64 		Succeeded by
1964 untitled race at Augusta International Raceway

References

  1. ↑ "1964 Textile 250 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 "1964 Textile 250 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
  3. ↑ "1964 Textile 250 team information". Driver Averages. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  4. ↑ "1964 Textile 250 winning crew chief information". Race Database. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  5. ↑ "Crew chief career information for John Ervin". Race Database. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  6. ↑ "1964 Textile 250 racing information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-11-07.