1966 Myers Brothers 250

1966 Myers Brothers 250
Race details
Race 41 of 59 in the 1966 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date August 27, 1966
Location Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
0.250 mi (0.421 km)
Distance 250 laps, 62.5 mi (100.5 km)
WeatherTemperatures up to 84.9 °F (29.4 °C); wind speeds up to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)[1]
Average speed 45.928 miles per hour (73.914 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver David Pearson Cotton Owens
Laps 129
Winner
No. 6
 David Pearson
 Cotton Owens
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1966 Myers Brothers 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series, also formerly known as the Winston Cup Series and the Winston Cup Grand National Series) race that took place on August 27, 1966, at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.[2][3]

Summary

The race took one hour and twenty-one minutes to complete.[2][3] Three cautions were given out by NASCAR for sixteen laps.[2][3] Notable speeds for this race were: 45.928 miles per hour (73.914 km/h) as the average speed[3] and 54.348 miles per hour (87.465 km/h) for the pole position speed.[2] Because the paved oval course only spanned 0.250 miles (0.402 km),[2][3] speeds on this track emulated that of America's Interstate Highway System. Fifteen thousand fans came to see David Pearson defeat Richard Petty by ten seconds.[2][3] There were 23 American-born drivers and one foreign driver (Don Biederman).[2]

Curtis Turner and Bobby Allison were involved in a crash[3] that got them disqualified from the race in addition to police intervention. However, no charges were laid. The incident started on lap eight of the race and the two drivers would knock and spin each other for approximately ten laps. Both vehicles were eventually tossed out as they came out of a demolition derby. However, Allison and Turner eventually became friends again but this incident would be the most heinous in pre-modern NASCAR history. Turner would eventually die in 1970 from an airplane crash which would also take the life of professional golfer Clarence King.[4]

The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.

Timeline

Finishing order

  1. David Pearson
  2. Richard Petty
  3. James Hylton
  4. John Sears†
  5. Tom Pistone
  6. Wendell Scott†
  7. Clyde Lynn†
  8. J.D. McDuffie†
  9. Henley Gray
  10. Eddie Yarboro
  11. Don Biederman*†
  12. Ernest Eury
  13. Larry Manning
  14. Joel Davis
  15. Elmo Langley*†
  16. Buddy Baker*
  17. Curtis Turner*†
  18. Bobby Allison*
  19. Bill Seifert*
  20. Paul Dean Holt*
  21. Hank Thomas*
  22. Buddy Arrington*
  23. Wayne Smith*
  24. Jimmy Helms*

* Driver failed to finish race
† Driver is deceased

References

  1. ↑ "1966 Myers Brothers 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 "1966 Myers Brothers 250 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "1966 Myers Brothers 250 racing results (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  4. ↑ "Curtis Turner's Death". Motorsports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
Preceded by
1966 Maryland 200		 NASCAR Grand National Series season
1966 		Succeeded by
1966 Southern 500