1967 National 500

1967 National 500
Race details
Race 47 of 49 in the 1967 NASCAR Grand National Series season

Despite the wreck, Mr. Charlie Glotzbach finished in fourth place after the race was over.
Date October 15, 1967
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, North Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (2.414 km)
Distance 334 laps, 501 mi (804 km)
WeatherTemperatures reaching up to 77 °F (25 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)[1]
Average speed 130.317 miles per hour (209.725 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Cale Yarborough Wood Brothers
Most laps led
Driver Buddy Baker Ray Fox
Laps 160
Winner
No. 3
Buddy Baker
Ray Fox
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1967 National 500 is a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series, also formerly known as the Winston Cup Series and the Winston Cup Grand National Series) racing event that took place on October 15, 1967, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the American community of Concord, North Carolina.[2]

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 any more.

Summary

Sixty thousand live spectators attended the event where Buddy Baker managed to defeat Bobby Isaac by more than one lap.[2] Nine cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for 64 laps.[2] The race took three hours and fifty minutes to fully complete.[2] Cale Yarborough achieved the pole position with a qualifying speed of 130.317 miles per hour (209.725 km/h).[2] In reality, the speeds in the race actually approached 130.317 miles per hour (209.725 km/h).[2] Whitey Gerkin finished in last place due to a crash on lap 2 out of the 334 laps raced on a paved track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km).[2] All 44 of the drivers on the racing grid were American-born males.[2]

Richard Petty 10-race winning streak ended at this race. Bobby Wawak made his best career finish as an owner with one of his vehicles finishing in seventh place.[2] LeeRoy Yarbrough was scheduled to drive in Junior Johnson's #26 vehicle but the car was wrecked in practice due to a fire extinguisher going off automatically.[3] 22 lead changes were made amongst seven different leaders.[4] Don Schissler and Dub Simpson made their NASCAR debuts here.[4]

The total prize purse for this race was $87,005 ($615,373.69 when adjusted for inflation). Buddy Baker received $18,950 in winnings ($134,030.59 when adjusted for inflation) while last-place finisher Whitey Gerkin walked away with only $625 ($4,420.53 when adjusted for inflation).[5]

Finishing order

* Driver failed to finish race

DNQ's

References

  1. "1967 National 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-09-14.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "1967 National 500 race information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  3. Greg Fielden's "Charlotte Motor Speedway", p. 55
  4. 4.0 4.1 "1967 National 500 race information (second reference)". Race Database. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
  5. "1967 National 500 race information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-09-15.
Preceded by
1967 Wilkes 400
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1967
Succeeded by
1967 American 500
Preceded by
1966
National 500 races
1967
Succeeded by
1968