1967 Carolina 500

1967 Carolina 500

Race details
Race 25 of 49 in the 1967 NASCAR Grand National Series season
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 up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)
Average speed	104.682 miles per hour (168.469 km/h)
Attendance	22,000
Pole position
Driver	Dick Hutcherson	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 (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on June 18, 1967, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, 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 any more.

Summary

The 500-lap race took four hours and forty-six minutes to resolve itself in front of twenty-two thousand live spectators. Nine cautions were given for 45 laps.

Dick Hutcherson won the pole position with a speed of 116.486 miles per hour (187.466 km/h). However, it would be Richard Petty that would ultimately defeat Buddy Baker after outlapping him at least once in the race. This win would push Petty onto the top of the NASCAR standings for the first time in his entire career. 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). Most of the manufacturers in this race were either Chevrolet or Ford; with a few other brands as the minority on the racing grid. Buddy Baker was the favorite to win the race but a slow pit stop eventually cost him the opportunity to win. Engine problems and crashes were the primary reasons that drivers didn't finish the race.

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. J.T. Putney would receive the last-place finish of the race due to a crash on lap 2. Johnny Allen and Gary Sain would retire from NASCAR after the end of this race.

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. Wayne Smith*
35. Johnny Allen*
36. Bobby Allison*
37. George Davis*
38. Frank Warren*
39. Buddy Arrington*
40. Bobby Johns*
41. Ken Spikes*
42. Gary Sain*
43. Armond Holley*
44. J.T. Putney*†

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

References

Preceded by 1967 East Tennessee 200

Richard Petty's career wins 1960–1984

Succeeded by 1967 Pickens 200