1964 Old Dominion 500

1964 Old Dominion 500
Race details[1]
Race 56 of 62 in the 1964 NASCAR Grand National Series season

A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway
Date September 24, 1964 (1964-September-24)
Official name Old Dominion 500
Location Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.525 mi (0.844 km)
Distance 500 laps, 262.5 mi (442.4 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures approaching 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds up to 15.9 miles per hour (25.6 km/h)
Average speed 67.32 miles per hour (108.34 km/h)
Attendance 18,214
Pole position
Driver
Holman-Moody
Most laps led
Driver Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody
Laps 493
Winner
No. 28 Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1964 Old Dominion 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on September 24, 1964, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. Forty professional stock car racing drivers would become involved in an event that would become legendary.

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.

Background

Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races.[2] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.[3] The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.[3]

Summary

Fred Lorenzen defeated Richard Petty by ⅓ of a second in front of a live audience of 18,214 spectators; becoming the first recipient of the now-famous Martinsville Grandfather Clock.[4][5] Typical qualifying times for the race ranged from 24.2 seconds to 25.2 seconds with vehicles driving between 71.2 miles per hour (114.6 km/h) and 74.1 miles per hour (119.3 km/h).[6]

In addition to six changes in the lead driver, there were also six caution flags given out for 28 laps.[4] The entire race took three hours and twenty-four minutes to go from green flag to the checkered flag. Top prize at the race was $4,715 ($36,409.72 when adjusted for inflation).[4] Doug Yates and Buddy Arrington both qualified for the race but failed to start in it.[4] NASCAR was authorized to hand out a grand total of $17,580 to each of the drivers who participated in this event ($135,754.57 when adjusted for inflation).[7]

Even with his second-place finish, Petty cliched his first NASCAR championship after this race.[4] Bill Whitley was credited as the actual last-place driver after acquiring a transmission problem on lap 6; bringing home a paycheck of $150 ($1,158.32 when adjusted for inflation).[7] The majority of the entries belonged to the Ford Motor Company. Model years for each vehicle ranged from 1962 to 1964; complying with the NASCAR rules and regulations for that era.[4] Doug Wilson would retire from the NASCAR Cup Series after this race.

Qualifying

Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Qualifying speed[6]
1 28 Fred Lorenzen '64 Ford 74.196
2 27 Junior Johnson '64 Ford 73.770
3 11 Ned Jarrett '64 Ford 73.619
4 7 Bobby Johns '64 Ford 73.529
5 21 Marvin Panch '64 Ford 73.469
6 25 Paul Goldsmith '64 Plymouth 73.289
7 41 Jim Paschal '64 Plymouth 73.170
8 1 Billy Wade '64 Mercury 73.051
9 00 Cale Yarborough '64 Ford 72.786
10 49 G.C. Spencer '64 Ford 72.551

Top twenty finishers

Pos No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Reason for DNF
1 28Fred LorenzenFord500
2 43Richard PettyPlymouth500
3 27Junior JohnsonFord499
4 21Marvin PanchFord499
5 11Ned JarrettFord497
6 16Darel DieringerMercury491
7 26Bobby IsaacDodge491
8 6David PearsonDodge491
9 1Billy WadeMercury490
10 00Cale YarboroughFord489
11 5Earl BalmerDodge487
12 49G.C. SpencerFord486
13 3Buck BakerDodge484
14 19Larry ThomasFord480
15 46J.T. PutneyPlymouth452
16 84Bert RobbinsFord451
17 31Al WhiteFord441
18 09Roy MayneFord436
19 17Junior SpencerFord436
20 83Worth McMillionPontiac436

Timeline

References

  1. ↑ Weather information for the 1964 Old Dominion 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ↑ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on June 3, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "NASCAR Tracks—The Martinsville Speedway". Martinsville Speedway. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 1964 Old Dominion 500 at Racing-Reference.info
  5. ↑ From Sandstone To Sterling: The Top 10 Trophies In NASCAR at Front Stretch
  6. 1 2 Qualifying information for the 1964 Old Dominion 500 at Racing Reference
  7. 1 2 1964 Old Dominion 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
Preceded by
1964 untitled race at Orange Speedway		 NASCAR Grand National Series Season
1964 		Succeeded by
1964 untitled race at Savannah Speedway
Preceded by
1963		 Old Dominion 500 races
1964 		Succeeded by
1965
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