1968 Western North Carolina 500

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1968 Western North Carolina 500
Race details[1][2]
Race 36 of 49 in the 1968 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date August 18, 1968; 55 years ago (1968-08-18)
Official name Western North Carolina 500
Location Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, Weaverville, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.804 km)
Distance 500 laps, 250 mi (402 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures approaching 87.1 °F (30.6 °C); wind speeds up to 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h)
Average speed 73.686 miles per hour (118.586 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Mario Rossi
Most laps led
Driver David Pearson Holman-Moody
Laps 456
Winner
No. 17 David Pearson Holman-Moody
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1968 Western North Carolina 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on August 18, 1968 at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in Weaverville, North Carolina.

Five hundred laps took place on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km). The race took three hours and twenty-three minutes to finish.[2] Seven cautions were handed out by NASCAR for ninety laps.[2] David Pearson (with a Holman-Moody owned vehicle) defeated Bobby Isaac (in his Nord Krauskopf-owned vehicle) by more than three laps.[2] Notable speeds were: 73.686 miles per hour (118.586 km/h) for the average speed and 88.409 miles per hour (142.280 km/h) for the pole position speed (accomplished by Darel Dieringer using a vehicle owned by Mr. Mario Rossi).[2] Ten thousand and five hundred stock car racing fans attended this live event.[2] Out of twenty-nine American drivers, only nine of them finished the race in a timely manner.[2] Notable names included: J.D. McDuffie, Richard Petty, Elmo Langley, Roy Tyner, and Wendell Scott.[2]

The vehicle used by the winner was a 1968 Ford Torino machine homologated for use by the general public but modified to increase both speed and safety. A prize amount of $2,150 ($14,630.29 when adjusted for inflation) was given out to the winner of the race while last place paid out $150 ($1,020.72 when adjusted for inflation) for only fifteen laps of work by driver G.C. Spencer.[2] When all the winnings for this racing event are consolidated together, the total prize purse was $13,485 ($91,762.52 when adjusted for inflation).[3]

Finishing order

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  1. David Pearson
  2. Bobby Isaac
  3. Neil Castles
  4. Roy Tyner
  5. Bill Seifert
  6. Jabe Thomas
  7. Ervin Pruett
  8. Walson Gardener
  9. Wendell Scott
  10. Pete Hamilton*
  11. Paul Dean Holt*
  12. Bobby Allison*
  13. Eddie Yarboro*
  14. George England*
  15. Ed Negre*
  16. Elmo Langley*
  17. Paul Goldsmith*
  18. James Hylton*
  19. Bob Burcham*
  20. Earl Brooks*
  21. Clyde Lynn*
  22. Darel Dieringer*
  23. Tiny Lund*
  24. Stan Meserve*
  25. J.D. McDuffie*
  26. Richard Petty*
  27. Wayne Smith*
  28. John Sears*
  29. G.C. Spencer*

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

  • Start of race: Darel Dieringer began the event with the pole position
  • Lap 3: David Pearson took over the lead from Darel Dieringer
  • Lap 14: Engine issues forced G.C. Spencer out of the race
  • Lap 33: John Sears had problems with his vehicle's engine, forcing him to exit the race
  • Lap 35: Wayne Smith's driveshaft stopped working properly
  • Lap 40: Paul Goldsmith took over the lead from David Pearson
  • Lap 52: A frame came off Richard Petty's vehicle, forcing his exit for safety reasons
  • Lap 56: J.D. McDuffie's engine stopped working properly
  • Lap 64: David Pearson took over the lead from Paul Goldsmith
  • Lap 91: Stan Meserve managed to overheat his vehicle
  • Lap 93: Vibration issues ended up giving Tiny Lund some "bad vibrations," forcing his exit from the track
  • Lap 119: Engine issues forced Darel Dieringer out of the event
  • Lap 129: Paul Goldsmith took over the lead from David Pearson
  • Lap 132: Engine issues forced Clyde Lynn to leave the event sooner than he planned to
  • Lap 136: Earl Brooks had a terminal crash, forcing himself to retire from the race
  • Lap 146: David Pearson took over the lead from Paul Goldsmith
  • Lap 148: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from David Pearson
  • Lap 149: David Pearson took over the lead from Bobby Isaac
  • Finish: David Pearson was officially declared the winner of the event

References

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  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Preceded by NASCAR Grand National Season
1968		 Succeeded by
1968 untitled race at South Boston Speedway
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