1968 Hickory 250

The 1968 Hickory 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) event that occurred on April 7, 1968, at Hickory Speedway – a paved oval track in the American community of Hickory, North Carolina – which spanned a distance of 0.400 miles or 0.644 kilometres per lap.^[1][2]

Summary

The "250" portion of the event's name referred to the number of laps that were scheduled to be performed that day; the race lasted only 100 miles or 160 kilometres overall.^[1] It took one hour, fifteen minutes, and thirty-two seconds for the race to reach its conclusion; Richard Petty defeated David Pearson by 0.5 laps in front of ten thousand people.^[1][2] Two cautions were waved for nineteen laps.^[1][2][3] Notable speeds in this race were: 79.435 miles per hour (127.838 km/h) as the average speed achieved by David Pearson^[2][4] and 86.795 miles per hour (139.683 km/h) as the pole position speed.^[1]

For the race, the temperatures reached a maximum of 66.9 °F or 19.4 °C with wind speeds reaching 7.00 miles per hour or 11.27 kilometres per hour, providing a relatively cool climate for the drivers and for the fans.^[5] Precipitation was relatively absent during the day of the race, although rain and/or melted snow was reported at the nearest airport on that day.^[5] For people who were driving to the race track that day, visibility on the road was a vivid 9.1 miles or 14.6 kilometres.^[5] Total winnings for the race were $4,940 ($33,502.18 when adjusted for inflation); with the winner receiving $1,200 ($8,138.18 when adjusted for inflation). Most of the vehicles that raced in this event had the Ford Motor Company as their manufacturer.^[1]

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.

Finishers

* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

Timeline

• Lap 1: David Pearson takes over the lead from Richard Petty
• Lap 5: Jim Vandiver developed terminal problems with his driveshaft; forcing him off the track
• Lap 9: Bobby Isaac takes over the lead from David Pearson
• Lap 99: Bob Cooper's vehicle overheated; ending his day on the track
• Lap 115: Buck Baker's engine developed problems; causing him to withdraw from the event
• Lap 122: Neil Castles' engine became problematic; forcing him to exit the race
• Lap 125: Richard Petty takes over the lead from Bobby Isaac
• Lap 136: David Pearson takes over the lead from Richard Petty
• Lap 187: Richard Petty takes over the lead from David Pearson
• Lap 244: James Hylton's engine became problematic; forcing him to exit the race
• End of race: Richard Petty wins the race

References