1960 World 600

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1960 World 600
Race details[1][2]
Race 21 of 44 in the 1960 NASCAR Grand National Series season
1960 World 600 program cover
1960 World 600 program cover
Date June 19, 1960 (1960-June-19)
Official name World 600
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (2.414 km)
Distance 400 laps, 600 mi (965 km)
Weather Very hot with temperatures of 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds up to 13.8 miles per hour (22.2 km/h)
Average speed 107.735 miles per hour (173.383 km/h)
Attendance 35,462
Pole position
Driver
John Hines
Most laps led
Driver Jack Smith Jack Smith
Laps 198
Winner
No. 89 Joe Lee Johnson
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Bill Fleming & Chris Economaki

The 1960 World 600 was the inaugural running of the World 600, a NASCAR Grand National Series event. It was run on June 19, 1960 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It was NASCAR's first 600-mile race and it was the longest NASCAR race distance. Joe Lee Johnson was the winner of the inaugural race.

Background[]

Charlotte Motor Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, thirteen miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The track is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) asphalt quad-oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the World 600 and the National 400. The speedway broke ground in 1958 with Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner as the architects. Charlotte Motor Speedway is now operated by Speedway Motorsports.

Race report[]

The race was postponed for three weeks because of construction delays. During the race, Don O'Dell's Pontiac crashed into the driver's door of Lenny Page's Chevy. Lenny Page, who was lucky to survive the crash due to the safety systems at that time, was near death afterward, but reporter Chris Economaki rushed to the scene and aided Page with CPR until safety crews arrived. He was later credited with saving Lenny's life.

Cars were allowed to run dirt track style screens to protect the radiators from debris, as officials were aware of the problem before the race started. This is the only time a father and son have been disqualified in the same race.[3] This was the last time the #89 has won in the Cup Series.[4]

Ed Markstellar and Japanese-American driver George Tet would make their stock car debuts in this race while Jim Austin, Arnold Gardner and Gene Marmor would make their finale.[3] Johnny Wolford would run his only NASCAR Cup Series race here.[3] Rex White would take away the championship lead from Richard Petty with his sixth-place finish as opposed to Petty finishing in 55th place due to a disqualification.[3]

Notable crew chiefs included , , Ray Fox, , Bud Moore, , Dale Swanson and .[5]

Results[]

Pos[1] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps
1 20 89 Joe Lee Johnson Chevrolet 400
2 38 73 Johnny Beauchamp Chevrolet 396
3 6 46 Bobby Johns Plymouth 394
4 44 92 Ford Thunderbird 388
5 14 87 Buck Baker Chevrolet 386
6 7 4 Rex White Chevrolet 378
7 31 94 Banjo Matthews Ford 377
8 40 63 Tiny Lund Pontiac 375
9 39 81 Shorty Rollins Ford 374
10 19 67 David Pearson Chevrolet 367
11 58 78 Charley Griffith Chevrolet 365
12 2 47 Jack Smith Pontiac 352
13 49 55 Chevrolet 350
14 59 19 Herman Beam Ford 344
15 51 38 Jim Cook Ford 343
16 55 35 Jimmy Pardue Plymouth 343
17 32 77 Marvin Panch Ford 341
18 42 21 Jimmy Massey Chevrolet 333
19 48 28 Buddy Baker Ford 332
20 28 91 Larry Frank Ford 320
21 37 48 G.C. Spencer Chevrolet 316
22 24 45 Oldsmobile 313
23 26 64 Bunkie Blackburn Ford 311
24 23 61 Jimmy Thompson Ford Thunderbird 310
25 10 90 Speedy Thompson Ford 287
26 50 33 Reb Wickersham Oldsmobile 260
27 41 24 Ford 257
28 13 7 Jim Reed Chevrolet 246
29 54 17 Ford 243
30 5 11 Ned Jarrett Ford 233
31 9 59 Tom Pistone Chevrolet 221
32 22 70 Elmo Henderson Pontiac 212
33 16 85 Emanuel Zervakis Chevrolet 209
34 33 15 Ford 202
35 1 22 Fireball Roberts Pontiac 191
36 21 23 Doug Yates Plymouth 176
37 46 51 Roy Tyner Oldsmobile 176
38 47 50 Ford 171
39 3 26 Curtis Turner Ford 154
40 27 39 Chevrolet 138
41 18 28 Fred Lorenzen Ford 118
42 52 32 Chevrolet 115
43 15 12 Joe Weatherly Ford 85
44 36 99 Wilbur Rakestraw Ford 57
45 30 82 Joe Eubanks Chevrolet 46
46 35 2 Possum Jones Chevrolet 39
47 53 74 L.D. Austin Chevrolet 33
48 43 86 Ford 27
49 25 71 Pontiac 24
50 57 9 Jim Austin Ford 24
51 4 6 Cotton Owens Pontiac 6
52 17 69 Johnny Allen Chevrolet 6
53 45 95 Ford 6
54 56 88 Ford 5
55 11 43 Richard Petty Plymouth 0
56 8 42 Lee Petty Plymouth 0
57 12 49 Bob Welborn Ford 0
58 34 1 Paul Lewis Chevrolet 0
59 29 27 Junior Johnson Chevrolet 0
60 60 83 Ford Thunderbird 0

Timeline[]

Section reference: [1]

  • Start of race: Fireball Roberts officially started with race with the pole position.
  • Lap 5: Johnny Walford had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 6: Cotton Owens and Johnny Allen were involved in a terminal crash.
  • Lap 27: Ed Markstellar was involved in a terminal crash.
  • Lap 66: Tom Pistone took over the lead from Fireball Roberts.
  • Lap 74: Junior Johnson took over the lead from Tom Pistone.
  • Lap 79: Curtis Turner took over the lead from Junior Johnson.
  • Lap 85: Joe Weatherly had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 95: Jack Smith took over the lead from Curtis Turner.
  • Lap 97: Fireball Roberts took over the lead from Jack Smith.
  • Lap 138: Herb Tillman had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 141: Jack Smith took over the lead from Fireball Roberts.
  • Lap 144: Fireball Roberts took over the lead from Jack Smith.
  • Lap 149: Curtis Turner took over the lead from Fireball Roberts.
  • Lap 154: Tom Pistone took over the lead from Curtis Turner.
  • Lap 160: Jack Smith took over the lead from Tom Pistone.
  • Lap 176: Doug Yates and Roy Tyner were involved in a terminal crash.
  • Lap 233: Ned Jarrett had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 246: Jim Reed had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 333: Transmission problems would sideline Jimmy Massey on this lap.
  • Lap 341: Problems with his vehicle's frame would take Marvin Panch out of the race.
  • Lap 352: Jack Smith would experience problems with his vehicle's fuel tank.
  • Lap 353: Joe Lee Johnson took over the lead from Jack Smith.
  • Lap 365: Charley Griffith blew his vehicle's engine while driving at high speeds.
  • Finish: Joe Lee Johnson was officially declared the winner of the event.

Race Statistics[]

Section reference: [3]

  • Time of race: 5:34:06
  • Average Speed: 107.735 miles per hour (173.383 km/h)
  • Pole Speed: 133.904 miles per hour (215.498 km/h)
  • Cautions: 8 for 45 laps
  • Margin of Victory: 4 laps +
  • Lead changes: 11

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Racing information at Racing Reference
  2. ^ "1960 World 600 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  3. ^ a b c d e Notable race information at Race Database
  4. ^ Car number 89 in 1960 at Racing Reference
  5. ^ Crew chief information at Racing Reference
Preceded by
 NASCAR Grand National Series Season
1960 		Succeeded by
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