| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 48 of 49 in the1968 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 Layout of Rockingham Speedway | |||
| Date | October 27, 1968 (1968-10-27) | ||
| Official name | American 500 | ||
| Location | North Carolina Motor Speedway,Rockingham, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.017 miles (1.636 km) | ||
| Distance | 492 laps, 500 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Chilly with temperatures of 67.3 °F (19.6 °C); wind speeds of 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 105.06 miles per hour (169.08 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 32,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Wood Brothers Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 216 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The1968 American 500 was aNASCARGrand National Series event that was held on October 27, 1968, atNorth Carolina Motor Speedway inRockingham, North Carolina.
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.
North Carolina Motor Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mileoval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged withPenske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School,[3]
There were 44 drivers who managed to qualify for this event. Only one foreigner was present –Australian-born driverFrank Gardner – would become the last-place driver due to an incident requiring a black flag on the first lap. He would become the "prototype" for Cup Series driverMarcos Ambrose even though Garnder would never run another Cup Series race after this one. Gardner's last-place finish within the confines of the American stock car world was eventually overshadowed by his championship victory at the1968 British Saloon Car Championship while driving a European version of theFord Escort Twin Cam.[4]
American-born driverDexter Gainey would be black-flagged exactly forty laps later and would be disqualified as well.Wendell Scott would become the lowest-finishing driver to complete the event; albeit 191 laps behind the lead lap drivers.[2] Five hundred laps was raced at this event for a duration for four hours and forty-five minutes. Speeds on the track would reach around 105.06 miles per hour or 169.08 kilometres per hour for the entire course of this race. Thirty-two thousand spectators would witness anotherRichard Petty victory with him out-racingDavid Pearson by a time of fifteen seconds.LeeRoy Yarbrough would finish in third place, and two laps behind the top two finishers.[2] Petty was running an older chassis with current sheet metal because he could not get his 1968 vehicle to run on a super-speedway. Shortly after this race, his switch to Ford for 1969 was announced.
Cale Yarborough's solo qualifying performance of 118.677 miles per hour (190.992 km/h) would help him clinch thepole position for the event. While Yarborough andBobby Isaac would dominate the opening laps of this event, the event ended up being a "Petty and Pearson" show for the final 100 laps. Glotzbach quit after he turned Bud Moore into the wall separating pit road from the racetrack on lap 59. Moore swerved to avoid a loose wheel on pit road and swerved into Glotzbach's path. Glotzbach was penalized a lap for the crash, so he parked the car.[2]
Individual race winnings for the drivers ranged from the winner's share of $17,075 ($154,394 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $515 ($4,657 when adjusted for inflation). The entire prize purse that was handed out to all the qualifying participants was $69,800 ($631,139 when adjusted for inflation).[5] Twelve notable crew chiefs were reported as participating in the race; includingJake Elder,Bud Moore,Glen Wood,Banjo Matthews,Dale Inman,Harry Hyde andJunior Johnson.[6]
| Grid[2] | No. | Driver | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Cale Yarborough | '68Mercury |
| 2 | 17 | David Pearson | '68Dodge |
| 3 | 71 | Bobby Isaac | '68Dodge |
| 4 | 43 | Richard Petty | '68Plymouth |
| 5 | 99 | Paul Goldsmith | '68Dodge |
| 6 | 98 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | '68Ford |
| 7 | 6 | Charlie Glotzbach | '68Dodge |
| 8 | 14 | Bobby Allison | '68Plymouth |
| 9 | 16 | Tiny Lund | '68Mercury |
| 10 | 3 | Buddy Baker | '68Dodge |
| 11 | 22 | Darell Dieringer | '68Plymouth |
| 12 | 1 | Pete Hamilton | '68Dodge |
| 13 | 27 | Donnie Allison | '68Ford |
| 14 | 91 | Don White | '68Dodge |
| 15 | 29 | Bud Moore | '68Ford |
| 16 | 84 | G.C. Spencer | '68Ford |
| 17 | 48 | James Hylton | '68Dodge |
| 18 | 75 | Butch Hartman | '68Dodge |
| 19 | 4 | John Sears | '67Ford |
| 20 | 03 | Richard Brickhouse | '67Plymouth |
Section reference:[2]
| Preceded by | NASCAR Grand National Season 1968 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | American 500 races 1968 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Richard Petty's Career Wins 1960-1984 | Succeeded by |