1966 Columbia 200

Last updated
1966 Columbia 200
Race details [1] [2]
Race 10 of 49 in the 1966 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date April 7, 1966;54 years ago (1966-04-07)
Official name Columbia 200
Location Columbia Speedway, Columbia, South Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.805 km)
Distance 200 laps, 100 mi (160 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures of 70 °F (21 °C); wind speeds of 25.1 miles per hour (40.4 km/h)
Average speed 65.574 miles per hour (105.531 km/h)
Attendance 11,000 [3]
Pole position
Driver
Tom Pistone
Most laps led
Driver David Pearson Cotton Owens
Laps 130
Winner
No. 6David PearsonCotton Owens
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1966 Columbia 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 7, 1966, at Columbia Speedway in Columbia, South Carolina.

Contents

Background

Columbia Speedway was an oval racetrack located in Cayce, a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. It was the site of auto races for NASCAR's top series from 1951 through 1971. [4] For most of its history, the racing surface was dirt. The races in April and August 1970 were two of the final three Grand National Series races ever held on a dirt track. [5]

The track was paved before hosting its last two Grand National races in 1971.

While Columbia Speedway was shut down to cars in 1979, noise complaints, it reopened as a velodrome in 2001.

Race report

Two hundred laps were done on a dirt track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km). [2] [3] The race took an hour and thirty-one minutes to decide that David Pearson defeated Paul Goldsmith by a margin of one car length (less than one lap [2] ). [3] Eleven thousand people attended this race which had eight cautions for 19 laps. [3]

All 24 competitors were born in the United States of America and were male. [3] Buck Baker and Tiny Lund failed to collect any winnings from this race. [3] This race was dominated by Chevrolet and Ford entries. [3] Speeds for the racing weekend reached 72.202 miles per hour (116.198 km/h) in qualifying (achieved by Tom Pistone) and 65.747 miles per hour (105.810 km/h) during the actual race. [3] The speeds were equalized by the dirt surface; which slowed down the stock cars during the 1950s and 1960s but brought exciting racing for those who were not quite ready for the blistering fast pace of asphalt racing.

Buddy Baker was involved in the event's only crash at lap 95. [3] [6] Frankie Scott and Dale Inman were the two crew chiefs that were the most notable during the race. [7]

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.

Qualifying

Grid [3] No.DriverManufacturerOwner
159Tom Pistone'64 FordTom Pistone
219J.T. Putney'66 ChevroletJ.T. Putney
388Buddy Baker'66 ChevroletBuck Baker
404John Sears'64 FordL.G. DeWitt
518Stick Elliott'66 ChevroletToy Bolton
66David Pearson'64 DodgeCotton Owens
787Buck Baker'66 OldsmobileBuck Baker
897Henley Gray'65 FordHenley Gray
902Paul Goldsmith'65 PlymouthBob Cooper
1055Tiny Lund'64 FordLyle Stelter
1170J.D. McDuffie'64 FordJ.D. McDuffie
1277Joel Davis'65 PlymouthHarold Mays
1364Elmo Langley'64 FordElmo Langley / Henry Woodfield
1466Wayne Woodward'66 ChevroletWayne Woodward
1561Toy Bolton'66 ChevroletToy Bolton

Finishing order

  1. David Pearson (No. 6)
  2. Paul Goldsmith (No. 02)
  3. Tom Pistone (No. 59)
  4. J.T. Putney (No. 19)
  5. John Sears (No. 04)
  6. Richard Petty (No. 43)
  7. Roy Tyner (No. 9)
  8. Toy Bolton (No. 61)
  9. Wendell Scott (No. 34)
  10. Henley Gray (No. 97)
  11. Wayne Woodward (No. 66)
  12. Clyde Lynn (No. 20)
  13. Gene Cline (No. 95)
  14. J.D. McDuffie (No. 70)
  15. Neil Castles (No. 86)
  16. Joel Davis (No. 77)
  17. Jim Tatum (No. 45)
  18. Stick Elliott* (No. 18)
  19. Jimmy Helms* (No. 53)
  20. Buddy Baker* (No. 88)
  21. Bill Seifert* (No. 74)
  22. Elmo Langley* (No. 64)
  23. Buck Baker* (No. 87)
  24. Tiny Lund* (No. 55)

* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference: [3]

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References

  1. ↑ "1966 Columbia 200 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
  2. 1 2 3 "1966 Columbia 200 information (third reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "1966 Columbia 200 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  4. ↑ Columbia Speedway page of Racing-Reference website , retrieved 8 May 2007.
  5. ↑ Fielden, Greg, "NASCAR Cleans Up", Speedway Illustrated, September 2004.
  6. ↑ "1966 Columbia 200 information (second reference)". Everything Stock Car. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  7. ↑ "1966 Columbia 200 crew chief information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
Preceded by
1966 Hickory 250 		NASCAR Grand National Series Season
1966		Succeeded by
1966 Greenville 200
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