Race details [1] | |||
---|---|---|---|
Race 10 of 49 in the 1967 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
Date | April 2, 1967 | ||
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 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) | ||
Average speed | 131.238 miles per hour (211.207 km/h) | ||
Attendance | 70,000 [2] | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Wood Brothers | ||
Most laps led | |||
Driver | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers | |
Laps | 301 | ||
Winner | |||
No. 21 | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers | |
Television in the United States | |||
Network | untelevised | ||
Announcers | none |
The 1967 Atlanta 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 2, 1967, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia. [2]
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.
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]
There were 44 American-born drivers on the grid; Cale Yarborough defeated Dick Hutcherson by more than one lap in front of 70,000 audience members. Yarborough would score his second career win, along with his first win of 1967, and end a 31-race drought. [2] [5] The race lasted nearly four hours with the average speed being 131.288 miles per hour (211.288 km/h). [2] [5] Yarborough's qualifying speed was 148.996 miles per hour (239.786 km/h). [2] [5] Veteran NASCAR owner Nord Krauskopf would employ drivers Charlie Glotzbach and Bobby Isaac during the race. [2] Blackie Watt would finish in last-place on lap 2 due to engine failure. [2] [5] Meanwhile, windshield problems would knock Don White out of the race at lap 193 of 334. [2] [5] Six cautions slowed the field for 39 laps. [2] [5]
Fred Lorenzen would race for the final time in his legendary #28 white and blue 1967 Ford Fairlane machine that would make him popular in NASCAR. Curtis Turner, who was driving a Chevrolet owned by Smokey Yunick, would escape being injured in a practice crash. [6]
The purse for this race was $64,995 ($528,198 when adjusted for inflation); the winner's share was $21,035 ($170,946 when adjusted for inflation) while last place received $540 ($4,388 when adjusted for inflation). [5]
Grid [2] | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Owner |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 21 | Cale Yarborough | '67 Ford | Wood Brothers |
2 | 43 | Richard Petty | '67 Plymouth | Petty Enterprises |
3 | 28 | Fred Lorenzen | '67 Ford | Holman-Moody Racing |
4 | 6 | David Pearson | '67 Dodge | Cotton Owens |
5 | 27 | A.J. Foyt | '67 Ford | Banjo Matthews |
6 | 42 | Tiny Lund | '67 Plymouth | Petty Enterprises |
7 | 26 | Darel Dieringer | '67 Ford | Junior Johnson |
8 | 14 | Jim Paschal | '67 Plymouth | Tom Friedkin |
9 | 29 | Dick Hutcherson | '67 Ford | Bondy Long |
10 | 3 | Buddy Baker | '67 Dodge | Ray Fox |
Section reference: [2]
Section reference: [2]
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