1966 Southeastern 500

Last updated
1966 Southeastern 500
Race details
Race 7 of 49 in the 1966 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Bristol Motor Speedway map.png
Layout of Bristol Motor Speedway
Date March 20, 1966 (1966-March-20)
Official name Southeastern 500
Location Bristol International Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.800 km)
Distance 500 laps, 250.0 mi (400.0 km)
Weather Temperatures of 69 °F (21 °C); wind speeds of 14 miles per hour (23 km/h) [1]
Average speed 69.952 miles per hour (112.577 km/h)
Attendance 25,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver
 Owens Racing
Time 20.870
Most laps led
DriverDavid PearsonOwens Racing
Laps 330
Winner
No. 29 Dick Hutcherson Holman-Moody
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1966 Southeastern 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on March 20, 1966, at Bristol International Speedway in the Bristol, Tennessee.

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

Five hundred laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km). [2] The total time of the race was three hours, twenty-four minutes, and twenty-six seconds. [2] There were seven cautions for 92 laps. [2] Speeds were: 69.952 miles per hour or 112.577 kilometres per hour and 86.248 miles per hour or 138.803 kilometres per hour for the pole position speed (accomplished by David Pearson). [2] Dick Hutcherson defeated Paul Lewis by outlapping him more than four times; resulting in Ford's 200th win. [2] The Ray Nichels team had also used the #9 for Larry Frank's entry at Daytona earlier in the season. They also had Don White run multiple car numbers in the 1966 season, so they weren't always consistent with them.

Richard Petty had an injured finger and couldn't participate in this race; Jim Paschal had to take over as the relief driver.

Twenty-five thousand fans saw thirty-two drivers start a race that only seven would complete. [2] Attrition levels were worse in this Bristol race than it is in the 2010 NASCAR Cup Series season; a rare instance where lower speeds on a track are more dangerous than faster speeds. By contrast, the 2010 Food City 500 would see an average speed of 79.618 miles per hour or 128.133 kilometres per hour and a pole position speed of 124.63 miles per hour or 200.57 kilometres per hour with only eight drivers not being able to complete the race. [3]

The total winnings for the race were $21,735 in American dollars ($171,272 when inflation is taken into effect). [2] Notable crew chiefs for this race were Bud Hartje, Frankie Scott, Jake Elder, Jack Sullivan and Herman Beam. [4]

Qualifying

GridNo.DriverManufacturerQualifying time [5] Speed [5] Owner
16David Pearson'66 Dodge20.87086.248 Cotton Owens
228Fred Lorenzen'66 Ford21.05085.510 Holman-Moody
39Paul Goldsmith'65 Plymouth21.06085.470 Ray Nichels
443Jim Paschal'65 Plymouth21.09085.348 Petty Enterprises
521Marvin Panch'66 Ford21.19084.945 Wood Brothers
629Dick Hutcherson'66 Ford21.26084.666Holman-Moody
798Sam McQuagg'66 Dodge21.32084.427Ray Nichels
827Cale Yarborough'66 Ford21.44083.955 Banjo Matthews
949G.C. Spencer'65 Plymouth21.52083.643 G.C. Spencer
1019J.T. Putney'66 Chevrolet21.75082.758 J.T. Putney

Finishing order

Section reference: [2]

  1. Dick Hutcherson† (No. 29)
  2. Paul Lewis (No. 1)
  3. James Hylton (No. 48)
  4. Elmo Langley† (No. 64)
  5. Sam McQuagg† (No. 98)
  6. Gene Black† (No. 74)
  7. Bill Seifert (No. 45)
  8. Wendell Scott*† (No. 34)
  9. Henley Gray* (No. 97)
  10. G.C. Spencer*† (No. 49)
  11. Clyde Lynn*† (No. 20)
  12. Gene Cline* (No. 95)
  13. Johnny Allen* (No. 0)
  14. Larry Manning*† (No. 63)
  15. David Pearson*† (No. 6)
  16. Walter Wallace* (No. 73)
  17. J. D. McDuffie*† (No. 70)
  18. Marvin Panch* (No. 21)
  19. Ned Jarrett* (No. 11)
  20. Jim Paschal*† (No. 43)
  21. Paul Goldsmith* (No. 9)
  22. Fred Lorenzen* (No. 28)
  23. Bobby Isaac*† (No. 26)
  24. Cale Yarborough* (No. 27)
  25. Johnny Steele* (No. 2)
  26. J.T. Putney*† (No. 19)
  27. Buddy Arrington* (No. 67)
  28. Bobby Allison* (No. 24)
  29. Wayne Smith* (No. 38)
  30. John Sears*† (No. 04)
  31. Sonny Lamphear* (No. 96)
  32. E.J. Trivette* (No. 52)

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

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

David Pearson
David Pearson
Marvin Panch
David Pearson
Dick Hutcherson
Dick Hutcherson
│
1
│
21
│
41
│
61
│
81
│
101
│
121
│
141
│
161
│
181
│
201
│
221
│
241
│
261
│
281
│
301
│
321
│
341
│
361
│
381
│
401
│
421
│
441
│
461
│
481

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References

  1. ↑ "1966 Southeastern 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "1966 Southeastern 500 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  3. ↑ "2010 Food City 500 - for comparison study". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  4. ↑ "1966 Southeastern 500 crew chief information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  5. 1 2 "1966 Southeastern 500 qualifying results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
Preceded by
1966 Peach Blossom 500 		NASCAR Grand National Season
1966		Succeeded by
1966 Atlanta 500
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