1967 Carolina 500

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1967 Carolina 500
Race details[1]
Race 25 of 49 in the 1967 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Layout of Rockingham Speedway
Layout of Rockingham Speedway
Date June 18, 1967 (1967-June-18)
Official name Carolina 500
Location North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.000 mi (1.600 km)
Distance 500 laps, 500 mi (804 km)
Weather Temperatures between 72.3 °F (22.4 °C) and 81.3 °F (27.4 °C); wind speeds of 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)
Average speed 104.682 miles per hour (168.469 km/h)
Attendance 22,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Bondy Long
Most laps led
Driver Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Laps 249
Winner
No. 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1967 Carolina 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on June 18, 1967, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina.

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.

Background[]

North Carolina Motor Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School,[3]

Race report[]

The 500-lap race took four hours and forty-six minutes to resolve itself in front of twenty-two thousand live spectators.[2] Nine cautions were given for 45 laps.[4] Ten of the most notable crew chiefs of the late 1960s would make their appearance here; including Dale Inman, Harry Hyde and Glen Wood.[5] Dick Hutcherson won the pole position with a speed of 116.486 miles per hour (187.466 km/h).[2] Richard Petty, however, made an overall impression on the competition as he records his first Rockingham victory by defeating Buddy Baker.[2][6][7]

This win would push Petty onto the top of the NASCAR standings for the first time in his entire career.[8]

Petty's winning dynasty would eventually expand to 200 career race wins and multiple championship wins (that were contended in the 1970s by fellow contender Darrell Waltrip). Richard Petty scored his 11th win of an eventual 27 wins on a title-winning 1967 NASCAR Grand National Series season.[2] Most of the manufacturers in this race were either Chevrolet or Ford; with a few other brands as the minority on the racing grid.[2] Buddy Baker was the favorite to win the race and was a dominant force on the track alongside Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough. However, a slow pit stop made by Buddy Baker and his pit crew eventually forced Baker to accept a humble second place finish and one lap behind the winner. Engine problems and crashes were the primary reasons that drivers didn't finish the race.[2]

All of the 44 drivers on the racing grid were born in the United States of America; as the series was unknown to foreigners during this era.[2] J.T. Putney would receive the last-place finish of the race due to a crash on lap 2.[2] Johnny Allen and Gary Sain would retire from NASCAR after the end of this race.[9]

Qualifying[]

Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 29 Dick Hutcherson '67 Ford Bondy Long
2 43 Richard Petty '67 Plymouth Petty Enterprises
3 3 Buddy Baker '67 Dodge Ray Fox
4 21 Cale Yarborough '67 Ford Wood Brothers
5 14 Jim Paschal '67 Plymouth Tom Friedkin
6 16 LeeRoy Yarbrough '67 Mercury Bud Moore
7 71 Bobby Isaac '67 Dodge Nord Krauskopf
8 99 Paul Goldsmith '67 Plymouth Ray Nichels
9 6 Bobby Allison '67 Dodge Cotton Owens
10 26 Darel Dieringer '67 Ford Junior Johnson

Finishing order[]

  1. Richard Petty
  2. Buddy Baker†
  3. Dick Hutcherson†
  4. Cale Yarborough
  5. Darel Dieringer†
  6. Paul Lewis
  7. Charlie Glotzbach
  8. James Hylton
  9. John Sears*†
  10. Jim Paschal†
  11. Bill Dennis
  12. Paul Goldsmith*
  13. Clyde Lynn†
  14. Earl Brooks†
  15. Paul Dean Holt
  16. Bobby Isaac*†
  17. Buck Baker*†
  18. LeeRoy Yarbrough*†
  19. Neil Castles*
  20. Ed Negre†
  21. David Pearson*†
  22. Roy Tyner*†
  23. Doug Cooper*
  24. Elmo Langley*†
  25. Bobby Wawak*†
  26. Roy Mayne*†
  27. Henley Gray*
  28. Jabe Thomas*†
  29. Bill Seifert*
  30. Wendell Scott*†
  31. G. C. Spencer*†
  32. Tiny Lund*†
  33. Dick Johnson*
  34. *
  35. Johnny Allen*
  36. Bobby Allison*
  37. *
  38. Frank Warren*
  39. Buddy Arrington*
  40. Bobby Johns*†
  41. Ken Spikes*†
  42. Gary Sain*
  43. *
  44. J.T. Putney*†

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

References[]

  1. ^ "1967 Carolina 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "1967 Carolina 500 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
  3. ^ "Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Inc". Fasttrackracing.com. Retrieved 2012-07-16.
  4. ^ "1967 Carolina 500 information (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
  5. ^ "1967 Carolina 500 crew chief information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  6. ^ "1967 Carolina 500 information (third reference)". Everything Stock Car. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
  7. ^ "1967 Carolina 500 information (fourth reference)". Database Racing. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
  8. ^ "Richard Petty 1967 NASCAR season points information". How Stuff Works. Archived from the original on 2011-07-12. Retrieved 2011-02-18.
  9. ^ "1967 Carolina 500 retirement information". Race Database. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
Preceded by
 Richard Petty's career wins
1960–1984 		Succeeded by
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