Race details [1] | |||
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Race 44 of 44 in the 1960 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
Date | October 30, 1960 | ||
Official name | Atlanta 500 | ||
Location | Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia | ||
Course | Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi (2.400 km) | ||
Distance | 334 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km) | ||
Weather | Temperatures of 69.1 °F (20.6 °C); wind speeds of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) | ||
Average speed | 108.408 mph (174.466 km/h) | ||
Attendance | 30,000 [2] | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | John Hines | ||
Time | 160.030 seconds | ||
Most laps led | |||
Driver | Bobby Johns | Cotton Owens | |
Laps | 194 | ||
Winner | |||
No. 5 | Bobby Johns | Cotton Owens | |
Television in the United States | |||
Network | untelevised | ||
Announcers | none |
The 1960 Atlanta 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on October 30, 1960, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.
Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten current intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. [3] However, at the time, only Charlotte and Darlington were built.
The layout at Atlanta International Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long. [4] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five. [4]
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.
Thirty thousand spectators would attend this live spectacle where Bobby Johns (in his 1960 Pontiac Catalina) would defeat Johnny Allen (in his 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air) by a distance of one lap. [2] [5] The late-season combination of Speedy Thompson and the Wood Brothers racing organization paid off as they managed to win their first two races. Thompson tried to win his third race in a row, but came up short as he finished in fourth-place; with Bobby Johns out-lapping him four times over. [2] [5]
Johns would acquire his only victory on a superspeedway in this race. This would also serve as his only victory in the 1960 NASCAR Grand National Series season. [2] [5] In the 1960 NASCAR Grand National Series points standings, Rex White would beat Richard Petty by a whopping 3,936 points. [6] It would completely shatter the record set by Lee Petty in 1959, but still wouldn't come close to the all-time record.
The race itself took four hours and thirty-six minutes to fully resolve 334 laps; with speeds averaging 108.408 miles per hour (174.466 km/h). [2] [5] Fireball Roberts would qualify for the pole position with a speed of 134.596 miles per hour (216.611 km/h). [2] The other top ten finishers were: Jim Paschal, Speedy Thompson, Rex White (officially declared the Grand National Champion that year [7] ), Lee Petty, Richard Petty, Joe Weatherly, Bob Welborn and Fred Lorenzen. [2] [5]
Bill Gazaway would receive the last-place finish for his collision involving the rear end of his 1960 Oldsmobile vehicle on the first lap of the race; [2] [5] giving him the shortest NASCAR Grand National Series career alongside Paul Norris and Rich Vogler. LeeRoy Yarbrough would make his first NASCAR career start here; finishing in 33rd due to a crash on lap 60. [2] [5] Eight notable crew chiefs participated in the event; including Bud Moore, Ray Fox, Leonard Wood and Cotton Owens. [8]
The record for the shortest NASCAR career would be broken in 1990 by Rich Vogler. He qualified for a 1990 race at Pocono, but he died the night before the race. He was given a 40th-place finish and a "Did Not Start", which means he completed zero laps. The fewest lead changes were committed here; this record would be officially tied with the 1961 Dixie 400 the following year.
Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Qualifying time [9] | Speed [9] | Owner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 22 | Fireball Roberts | '60 Pontiac | 2:40.030 | 134.975 | John Hines |
2 | 47 | Jack Smith | '60 Pontiac | 2:41.180 | 134.012 | Jack Smith |
3 | 27 | Junior Johnson | '60 Pontiac | 2:41.810 | 133.490 | John Masoni |
4 | 28 | Fred Lorenzen | '60 Ford | 2:44.660 | 133.169 | Fred Lorenzen |
5 | 5 | Bobby Johns | '60 Pontiac | 2:44.660 | 131.179 | Cotton Owens |
6 | 12 | Joe Weatherly | '60 Ford | 2:44.130 | 131.603 | Holman-Moody |
7 | 94 | Banjo Matthews | '60 Ford | 2:44.070 | 131.651 | Banjo Matthews |
8 | 4 | Rex White | '60 Chevrolet | 2:45.790 | 130.285 | Rex White |
9 | 85 | Emanuel Zervakis | '60 Chevrolet | 2:45.960 | 130.152 | Monroe Shook |
10 | 90 | Tiny Lund | '60 Ford | 2:46.100 | 130.042 | Junie Donlavey |
Section reference: [2]
The 1955 Southern 500, the sixth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event. The event was held on September 5, 1955, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. This race spanned 500 miles on a paved oval track. An unofficial 30-minute highlight film of this race would appear on the collector's set of Stock Cars of 50s & 60s – Stock Car Memories: Darlington-Southern 500; which was released in 2008.
The 1964 Daytona 500, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on February 23, 1964, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The 1961 World 600, the second running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that took place on May 28, 1961, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Chris Economaki called the race in one of the few televised NASCAR races of the 1960s. A series of two qualifying events took place on May 21 to determine the starting grid for this event.
The 1961 Rebel 300 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event held on May 6, 1961, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Two hundred and nineteen laps were run on an oval track spanning 1.375 miles (2.213 km).
The 1961 NASCAR Grand National season was the 13th season of professional stock car racing in the United States, and contested over 52 events from November 6, 1960, to October 29, 1961. Ned Jarrett captured the championship which was run on 20 dirt tracks, 31 paved tracks, and one road course. Seventeen events were considered short tracks, and 14 events were held at super speedways. Joe Weatherly won the season opening's event at Charlotte, and Jarrett went on to capture the championship with 27,272 points; 830 more than second-place finisher Rex White. Emanuel Zervakis finished third in points, with Joe Weatherly fourth and Fireball Roberts fifth.
The 1952 Southern 500, the third running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 1, 1952, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.
The 1959 Southern 500, the 10th running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 7, 1959, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.
The 1964 World 600, the fifth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that took place on May 24, 1964, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
The 1962 Southern 500, the 13th running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 3, 1962, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.
The 1957 Southern 500, the eighth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 2, 1957, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.
The 1973 Dixie 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on July 22, 1973, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.
The 1965 Atlanta 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 11, 1965, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.
The 1971 World 600, the 12th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 30, 1971, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It marked the return of Chevrolet to NASCAR.
The 1964 Atlanta 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 5, 1964, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia, the fifth annual race in the history of the Atlanta 500 series of races.
The 1962 Dixie 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on October 28, 1962, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.
The 1961 Dixie 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 17, 1961, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.
The 1961 National 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series stock car race that was held on October 15, 1961, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
The 1962 Volunteer 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 29, 1962, at Bristol International Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.
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.
The 1958 Southern 500, the 9th running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 1, 1958 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested over 364 laps on the 1.375 mile (2.221 km) speedway, it was the 41st race of the 1958 NASCAR Grand National Series season. Fireball Roberts won the race.