1968 World 600

1968 World 600
Race details[1]
Race 21 of 54 in the 1968 NASCAR Grand National Series season

Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway
Date May 26, 1968 (1968-May-26)
Official name World 600
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, North Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (2.414 km)
Distance 255 laps, 378 mi (442.89 km)
Scheduled Distance 400 laps, 600 mi (703 km)
Weather Chilly with temperatures up to 68 °F (20 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
Average speed 104.207 miles per hour (167.705 km/h)
Attendance 60,000
Pole position
Driver
Banjo Matthews
Most laps led
Driver Buddy Baker Ray Fox
Laps 98
Winner
No. 3 Buddy Baker Ray Fox
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1968 World 600, the ninth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that took place on May 26, 1968 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

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.

Background

Lowe's Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the Bank of America 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

Summary

This race was shortened to 255 laps due to rain after being able to race for three hours and four minutes in front of a live audience of 60,000 people. Buddy Baker would defeat Donnie Allison under the race's sixth (and final caution flag). Cale Yarborough would become the last-place finisher due to an automobile crash on lap 45. All the competitors (except for Canadian Frog Fagan) was born in the United States of America. Bobby Allison suffered an engine problem on the 229th lap of the race; forcing him to retire in a respectable 28th place.[2]

Donnie Allison won the pole position by driving speeds up to 159.223 miles per hour or 256.245 kilometres per hour during solo qualifying runs while actual race speeds would reach 104.207 miles per hour or 167.705 kilometres per hour. Both of Nord Krauskopf's teams would finish in the "top ten" during this race. The top ten finishers included Buddy Baker, Donny Allison, LeeRoy Yarbrough, David Pearson, Bobby Isaac, Charlie Glotzbach, Tiny Lund, James Hylton, Curtis Turner, and Sam McQuagg.[2]

Darel Dieringer would be a part of the race's second crash on lap 212; giving him a 32nd place finish.[2] Earl Balmer, Paul Lewis, and Phil Wendt would retire from NASCAR after this racing event.[3] Prior to this race, Balmer was known as the winner of the 1966 Daytona 500 qualifying race.

Timeline

References

  1. ↑ Weather information for the 1968 World 600 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 Racing information for the 1968 World 600 at Racing Reference
  3. ↑ Retirements from NASCAR at Race Database
Preceded by
1968 Tidewater 250		 NASCAR Grand National Season
1968 		Succeeded by
1968 Asheville 300
Preceded by
1967		 World 600 races
1968 		Succeeded by
1969


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