| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 44 of 44 in the1960 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 1960 Atlanta 500 program cover | |||
| Date | October 30, 1960 (1960-10-30) | ||
| Official name | Atlanta 500 | ||
| Location | Atlanta International Raceway,Hampton, Georgia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.500 miles (2.400 km) | ||
| Distance | 334 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures of 69.1 °F (20.6 °C); wind speeds of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 108.408 mph (174.466 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 30,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | John Hines | ||
| Time | 160.030 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bobby Johns | Cotton Owens | |
| Laps | 194 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 5 | Bobby Johns | Cotton Owens | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The1960 Atlanta 500 was aNASCARGrand National Series event that was held on October 30, 1960, atAtlanta International Raceway inHampton, Georgia.
Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten currentintermediate tracks to holdNASCAR races; the others areCharlotte Motor Speedway,Chicagoland Speedway,Darlington Raceway,Homestead Miami Speedway,Kansas Speedway,Kentucky Speedway,Las Vegas Motor Speedway,New Hampshire Motor Speedway, andTexas 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 arebanked at twenty-fourdegrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.[4]
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.
Thirty thousand spectators would attend this live spectacle whereBobby Johns (in his 1960Pontiac Catalina) would defeatJohnny Allen (in his 1960Chevrolet Bel Air) by a distance of one lap.[2][5] The late-season combination of Speedy Thompson and the Wood Brothers racing organization paid off as they managed to win their first two races. Thompson tried to win his third race in a row, but came up short as he finished in fourth-place; with Bobby Johns out-lapping him four times over.[2][5]
Johns would acquire his only victory on a superspeedway in this race. This would also serve as his only victory in the 1960 NASCAR Grand National Series season.[2][5] In the 1960 NASCAR Grand National Series points standings, Rex White would beat Richard Petty by a whopping 3,936 points.[6] It would completely shatter the record set by Lee Petty in 1959, but still wouldn't come close to the all-time record.
The race itself took four hours and thirty-six minutes to fully resolve 334 laps; with speeds averaging 108.408 miles per hour (174.466 km/h).[2][5]Fireball Roberts would qualify for the pole position with a speed of 134.596 miles per hour (216.611 km/h).[2] The other top ten finishers were:Jim Paschal,Speedy Thompson,Rex White (officially declared the Grand National Champion that year[7]),Lee Petty,Richard Petty,Joe Weatherly,Bob Welborn andFred Lorenzen.[2][5]
Bill Gazaway would receive the last-place finish for his collision involving the rear end of his 1960Oldsmobile vehicle on the first lap of the race;[2][5] giving him the shortest NASCAR Grand National Series career alongside Paul Norris andRich Vogler.LeeRoy Yarbrough would make his first NASCAR career start here; finishing in 33rd due to a crash on lap 60.[2][5] Eight notable crew chiefs participated in the event; includingBud Moore,Ray Fox,Leonard Wood andCotton Owens.[8]
The record for the shortest NASCAR career would be broken in 1990 byRich Vogler. He qualified for a 1990 race at Pocono, but he died the night before the race. He was given a 40th-place finish and a "Did Not Start", which means he completed zero laps. The fewest lead changes were committed here; this record would be officially tied with the1961 Dixie 400 the following year.
| Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Qualifying time[9] | Speed[9] | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Fireball Roberts | '60 Pontiac | 2:40.030 | 134.975 | John Hines |
| 2 | 47 | Jack Smith | '60 Pontiac | 2:41.180 | 134.012 | Jack Smith |
| 3 | 27 | Junior Johnson | '60 Pontiac | 2:41.810 | 133.490 | John Masoni |
| 4 | 28 | Fred Lorenzen | '60 Ford | 2:44.660 | 133.169 | Fred Lorenzen |
| 5 | 5 | Bobby Johns | '60 Pontiac | 2:44.660 | 131.179 | Cotton Owens |
| 6 | 12 | Joe Weatherly | '60 Ford | 2:44.130 | 131.603 | Holman-Moody |
| 7 | 94 | Banjo Matthews | '60 Ford | 2:44.070 | 131.651 | Banjo Matthews |
| 8 | 4 | Rex White | '60 Chevrolet | 2:45.790 | 130.285 | Rex White |
| 9 | 85 | Emanuel Zervakis | '60 Chevrolet | 2:45.960 | 130.152 | Monroe Shook |
| 10 | 90 | Tiny Lund | '60 Ford | 2:46.100 | 130.042 | Junie Donlavey |
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