1968 Dixie 250

Last updated
1968 Dixie 250
Race details [1] [2]
Race 13 of 49 in the 1968 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Augusta International Raceway 8 Track Racing Complex.jpg
Augusta International Raceway layout
Date May 3, 1968;55 years ago (1968-05-03)
Official name Dixie 250
Location Augusta Speedway, Augusta, Georgia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.804 km)
Distance 300 laps, 125 mi (216 km)
Weather Temperatures of 84.9 °F (29.4 °C) with wind speeds of 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)
Average speed 73.099 miles per hour (117.641 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
 Nord Krauskopf
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Isaac Nord Krauskopf
Laps 242
Winner
No. 71 Bobby Isaac Nord Krauskopf
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1968 Dixie 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 3, 1968, at Augusta Speedway in Augusta, Georgia.

Contents

This is the only race of the year that eventual 1968 NASCAR Grand National Series champion David Pearson didn't run.

Race report

Two hundred and fifty laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km) for a grand total of 125.0 miles (201.2 km). [1] The race took one hour, forty-two minutes, and thirty-six seconds to reach its full conclusion: Bobby Isaac defeated Buddy Baker [3] by more than a lap; bringing home $1,100 as the winner's top prize ($9,257 when considering inflation). [4]

Canadian driver Frog Fagan participated in this event as the only non-American driver. [1] Four thousand and five hundred people went to see speeds averaging 73.099 miles per hour (117.641 km/h) with Bobby Isaac gaining the pole position with a speed of 83.877 miles per hour (134.987 km/h). [1] Bobby Isaac would go on to earn three pole positions during the 1968 NASCAR Grand National Series season and 19 pole positions during the following season; making him a prototypical version of Ryan Newman with his blistering speeds that he would register during qualifying. [5]

Notable crew chiefs who attended the race were Ray Hicks, Frankie Scott, Dale Inman and Harry Hyde. [6]

Total winnings for this event were $6,260 ($52,680 when considering inflation). [1] In this race, Bob Cooper finished in 22nd place and won $100 just for driving a stock car as fast and as efficiently as possible. [1] A man could have easily supported himself by earning $100 a week back in the late-1960s and lived comfortably. In the 21st century, a typical person needs to make at least $1000 a week in order to make ends meet.

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 [1] No.DriverManufacturerOwner
171Bobby Isaac'67 Dodge Nord Krauskopf
255LeeRoy Yarborough'67 Ford Lyle Stelter
312Tom Pistone'68 Mercury Tom Pistone
443Richard Petty'68 Plymouth Petty Enterprises
548James Hylton'67 Dodge James Hylton
64John Sears'67 Ford L.G. DeWitt
73Buddy Baker'67 Dodge Ray Fox
879Frank Warren'67 Chevrolet Harold Rhodes
994Elmo Langley'66 Ford Elmo Langley / Henry Woodfield
1006Neil Castles'67 Plymouth Neil Castles

Timeline

Section reference: [1]

Finishing order

Section reference: [1]

  1. Bobby Isaac (No. 71)
  2. Buddy Baker (No. 3)
  3. Tom Pistone (No. 12)
  4. James Hylton (No. 48)
  5. Buck Baker (No. 87)
  6. Clyde Lynn (No. 20)
  7. Frank Warren* (No. 79)
  8. Wendell Scott (No. 34)
  9. Jabe Thomas (No. 25)
  10. Bob Moore (No. 96)
  11. Paul Dean Holt (No. 01)
  12. Elmo Langley* (No. 64)
  13. Neil Castles* (No. 06)
  14. John Sears* (No. 4)
  15. LeeRoy Yarbrough* (No. 55)
  16. J.D. McDuffie* (No. 70)
  17. Roy Tyner* (No. 09)
  18. Richard Petty* (No. 43)
  19. Henley Gray* (No. 19)
  20. Frog Fagan* (No. 95)
  21. Bill Seifert* (No. 45)
  22. Bob Cooper* (No. 02)
  23. Stan Meserve* (No. 51)

* Driver failed to finish race

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "1968 Dixie 250 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
  2. ↑ "1968 Dixie 250 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2011-02-04.
  3. ↑ "1968 Dixie 250 race winner information". Jacobs USA. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  4. ↑ "1968 Dixie 250 information (winner's bounty)". Everything Stock Car. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  5. ↑ "Bobby Isaac: The Original Rocketman". Lionel Racing. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  6. ↑ "1968 Dixie 250 crew chiefs information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
Preceded by NASCAR Grand National Season
1968		Succeeded by
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