1963 Turkey Day 200

Last updated
1963 Turkey Day 200
Race details [1] [2]
Race 3 of 55 in the 1963 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date November 22, 1962;57 years ago (1962-11-22)
Official name Turkey Day 200
Location Tar Heel Speedway, Randleman, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.250 mi (0.500 km)
Distance 200 laps, 50 mi (80 km)
Weather Chilly with temperatures of 62.1 °F (16.7 °C); wind speeds of 20 miles per hour (32 km/h)
Average speed 47.5444 miles per hour (76.5153 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
DriverGlen WoodWood Brothers Racing
Laps 173
Winner
No. 41 Jim Paschal Petty Enterprises

The 1963 Turkey Day 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on November 22, 1962, at Tar Heel Speedway in Randleman, North Carolina.

Contents

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.

Race report

This race, while being in the 1963 season happened after November 1, 1962. This put the racing event in the 1963 points season. Since 2001, NASCAR has never organized a race this late in the year for its NASCAR Cup Series because NASCAR now mandates a 12-week silly season. While the focus may have been on the Pettys it was another fast family in control for much of the race as Glen Wood dominated in the Wood Brothers entry until the famous #21 Ford blew an engine. With Wood on the sidelines, Jim Paschal and his hometown Petty Enterprise Plymouth sped to victory. [2]

Richard Petty's first home race didn't go well as the future King fell out with a transmission failure. Still it was a great day for the family as in addition to Paschal's win Richard's mechanic brother Maurice Petty, racing with Lee's famous #42, turned in a top-5 run. [2]

Being a ¼-mile track, the entire race only spanned 50 miles (80 km). [2] Three thousand and five hundred people attended this live racing event which ended in one hour and three minutes. [2] Twenty-three American drivers and one Canadian driver (Jim Bray) participated in this race. [2] Notable speeds were: 47.544 miles per hour (76.515 km/h) for the average speed and 51.933 miles per hour (83.578 km/h) for the pole position speeds. [2] These slow speeds would not look out of place on a modern-day American Interstate highway.

The winner (Jim Paschal who raced for Petty Enterprises) would receive $575 in winnings ($4,802 when considering inflation) while the last place driver (Ned Jarrett) would walk away with $100 in prize winnings ($835 when considering inflation). [3] Glen Wood would lead the most laps (173) before finishing the race in 15th place due to an engine problem. [2]

Herman Beam would be his own crew chief during the race while Leonard Wood was Glen Wood's crew chief. [4]

Qualifying

Grid [2] No.DriverManufacturerOwner
121 Glen Wood '62 Ford Wood Brothers Racing
241 Jim Paschal '62 Plymouth Petty Enterprises
349 Jimmy Pardue '62 Pontiac J.C. Parker
411 Ned Jarrett '62 Ford Charles Robinson
543 Richard Petty '62 Plymouth Petty Enterprises
642 Maurice Petty '62 Plymouth Petty Enterprises
78 Joe Weatherly '62 Pontiac Bud Moore
844 Tommy Irwin '62 Ford Stewart McKinney
91 George Green '62 Chevrolet Jess Potter
1062 Curtis Crider '62 Mercury Curtis Crider

Finishing order

Section reference: [2]

  1. Jim Paschal† (No. 41)
  2. Joe Weatherly† (No. 8)
  3. Tommy Irwin (No. 44)
  4. David Pearson† (No. 6)
  5. Maurice Petty (No. 42)
  6. Curtis Crider (No. 62)
  7. Sherman Utsman (No. 61)
  8. Jimmy Pardue† (No. 49)
  9. George Green (No. 1)
  10. Wendell Scott† (No. 34)
  11. Richard Petty* (No. 43)
  12. Jack Deniston (No. 33)
  13. Ray Hughes (No. 60)
  14. Billy Foster (No. 2)
  15. Glen Wood*† (No. 21)
  16. Jim Bray (No. 5)
  17. Sam Fogle (No. 31)
  18. G.C. Spencer*† (No. 48)
  19. Lyle Stetler* (No. 58)
  20. Fred Harb*† (No. 17)
  21. Herman Beam† (No. 19)
  22. John Hoffman* (No. 32)
  23. Larry Thomas*† (No. 36)
  24. Ned Jarrett* (No. 11)

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

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

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References

  1. "1963 Turkey Day 200 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "1963 Turkey Day 200 racing information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  3. "1963 Turkey Day 200 racing information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  4. "1963 Turkey Day 200 crew chief information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
Preceded by
1963 untitled race at Golden Gate Speedway
NASCAR Grand National Season
1963
Succeeded by
1963 Riverside 500