| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 10 of 49 in the1966 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
| Date | April 7, 1966; 59 years ago (1966-04-07) | ||
| Official name | Columbia 200 | ||
| Location | Columbia Speedway,Columbia, South Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.500 miles (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. 6 | David Pearson | Cotton Owens | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The1966 Columbia 200 was aNASCARGrand National Series event that was held on April 7, 1966, atColumbia Speedway inColumbia, South Carolina.
Columbia Speedway was an oval racetrack located inCayce, a suburb ofColumbia, South Carolina. It was the site ofauto races forNASCAR'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 threeGrand 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.
Two hundred laps were done on adirt track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km).[2][3] The race took an hour and thirty-one minutes to decide thatDavid Pearson defeatedPaul 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 theUnited States of America and were male.[3]Buck Baker andTiny Lund failed to collect any winnings from this race.[3] This race was dominated byChevrolet andFord entries.[3] Speeds for the racing weekend reached 72.202 miles per hour (116.198 km/h) in qualifying (achieved byTom 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 andDale 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.
| Grid[3] | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 59 | Tom Pistone | '64 Ford | Tom Pistone |
| 2 | 19 | J.T. Putney | '66 Chevrolet | J.T. Putney |
| 3 | 88 | Buddy Baker | '66 Chevrolet | Buck Baker |
| 4 | 04 | John Sears | '64 Ford | L.G. DeWitt |
| 5 | 18 | Stick Elliott | '66 Chevrolet | Toy Bolton |
| 6 | 6 | David Pearson | '64 Dodge | Cotton Owens |
| 7 | 87 | Buck Baker | '66 Oldsmobile | Buck Baker |
| 8 | 97 | Henley Gray | '65 Ford | Henley Gray |
| 9 | 02 | Paul Goldsmith | '65 Plymouth | Bob Cooper |
| 10 | 55 | Tiny Lund | '64 Ford | Lyle Stelter |
| 11 | 70 | J.D. McDuffie | '64 Ford | J.D. McDuffie |
| 12 | 77 | Joel Davis | '65 Plymouth | Harold Mays |
| 13 | 64 | Elmo Langley | '64 Ford | Elmo Langley / Henry Woodfield |
| 14 | 66 | Wayne Woodward | '66 Chevrolet | Wayne Woodward |
| 15 | 61 | Toy Bolton | '66 Chevrolet | Toy Bolton |
* Driver failed to finish race
Section reference:[3]
| Preceded by | NASCAR Grand National Series Season 1966 | Succeeded by |