1961 Greenville 200

1961 Greenville 200
Race details[1]
Race 10 of 52 in the 1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date April 1, 1961 (1961-04-01)
Official name Greenville 200
Location Greenville-Pickens Speedway (Greenville, South Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.804 km)
Distance 200 laps, 100 mi (160 km)
Weather Chilly with temperatures approaching 62.1 °F (16.7 °C); wind speeds up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h)
Average speed 52.189 miles per hour (83.990 km/h)
Attendance 5,000
Pole position
Driver Rex Lovette
Most laps led
Driver Rex White Rex White
Laps 106
Winner
No. 85 Emanuel Zervakis Monroe Shook
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The Greenville 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on April 1, 1961, at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina.

Summary

After nearly two hours of racing 200 laps, Emanuel Zervakis emerged as the winner as he managed to defeat Richard Petty by an unknown margin in front of a crowd of 5000 people.[2] All 21 of the drivers on the grid were American-born males.[2] Doug Yates would receive the last-place finish due to a driveshaft issue on the eighth lap.[2] Other notable names who competed were: Junior Johnson, Roy Tyner, and Ned Jarrett.[2] Johnson would qualify for the pole position with speeds up to 62.09 miles per hour (99.92 km/h) during the qualifying sessions.[2] Four cautions were given out by NASCAR officials for 20 laps; there was only one crash during the entire race.[2]

Zervakis would make his first win in his NASCAR career at this racing event.[3]

The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s; most of the cars were trailered to events or hauled in by trucks.

Qualifying

Grid No. Driver Manufacturer
1 27 Junior Johnson '60 Pontiac
2 85 Emanuel Zervakis '60 Chevrolet
3 47 Jack Smith '61 Pontiac
4 4 Rex White '60 Chevrolet
5 43 Richard Petty '60 Plymouth
6 23 Doug Yates '59 Plymouth
7 86 Buck Baker '61 Chrysler
8 67 David Pearson '60 Chevrolet
9 11 Ned Jarrett '60 Ford
10 48 G.C. Spencer '60 Chevrolet
11 54 Jimmy Pardue '59 Chevrolet
12 2 Tommy Irwin '67 Ford Thunderbird
13 17 Fred Harb '59 Ford
14 9 Roy Tyner '60 Ford
15 0 Bobby Waddell '59 Dodge

Finishing order

  1. Emanuel Zervakis (No. 85)
  2. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  3. Rex White (No. 4)
  4. G.C. Spencer (No. 48)
  5. Buck Baker (No. 86)
  6. Jimmy Pardue (No. 54)
  7. Fred Harb (No. 17)
  8. George Green (No. 35)
  9. Bobby Waddell (No. 0)
  10. David Pearson (No. 67)
  11. Curtis Crider (No. 62)
  12. Doug Cox (No. 30)
  13. Herman Beam (No. 19)
  14. Ned Jarrett (No. 11)
  15. Roy Tyner (No. 9)
  16. Junior Johnson (No. 27)
  17. Tommy Irwin (No. 2)
  18. Bob Barron (No. 71)
  19. Jack Smith (No. 47)
  20. Paul Lewis (No. 1)
  21. Doug Yates (No. 23)

Timeline

References

  1. Weather information for the 1961 Greenville 200 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 1961 Greenville 200 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. 1961 Greenville 200 racing information at Race-Database
Preceded by
1961 Atlanta 500
NASCAR Grand National races
1961
Succeeded by
1961 untitled race at Orange Speedway


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