| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 46 of 52 in the1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 Layout of Atlanta International Speedway, used until 1996 | |||
| Date | September 17, 1961 (1961-09-17) | ||
| Official name | Dixie 400 | ||
| Location | Atlanta International Raceway,Hampton, Georgia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.500 miles (2.400 km) | ||
| Distance | 267 laps, 401 mi (705 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching 69.1 °F (20.6 °C); wind speeds of 15.9 miles per hour (25.6 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 125.384 miles per hour (201.786 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 30,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Smokey Yunick Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Banjo Matthews | Matthews Racing | |
| Laps | 167 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | David Pearson | John Masoni | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The1961 Dixie 400 was aNASCARGrand National Series event that was held on September 17, 1961, atAtlanta International Raceway inHampton, Georgia.
A filming of a full-length featureHollywood film entitledThundering Wheels was a part of the festivities planned for this race in addition to a 210-minute performance by some of the legendary performers from theGrand Ole Opry.[3]Local beauty pageant personalityLinda Vaughn was chosen to be the queen of the 1961 running of theDixie 400.[4]
Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten currentintermediate track 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[6]
Fireball Roberts would qualify at a speed of 136.924 miles per hour (220.358 km/h) to clinch thepole position. The average speed of the race was 125.384 miles per hour (201.786 km/h). WhileFireball Roberts,Nelson Stacy andBanjo Matthews would dominate the earliest parts of this event, the closing moments were a contest betweenJunior Johnson andDavid Pearson.[2] These drivers had the monopoly on the first-place position throughout the race; tying with the1960 Atlanta 500 with the fewest lead changes.
The 267-lap race lasted three hours and eleven minutes. There were 42American-born drivers on the grid out of the 46 who originally qualified for this event.[3]Tommy Irwin would suffer from a badpiston in his vehicle that prevented him from starting the race; he was credited as the last-place finisher.[2]Lee Reitzel would be the lowest-finishing driver to complete the entire event while Banjo Matthew's faulty engine prevented him from finishing in the top ten.[2] Lap deficits were noticed between the top cars once Banjo dropped out; forcing the flagman to throw the white flag multiple times.[2] Thirty thousand people would see David Pearson defeat Junior Johnson by five seconds.[2] Fred Lorenzen's engine blew, spewing oil on the track. Lorenzen's car spun into a concrete retaining wall and Fireball Roberts narrowly missed him. Dave Mader spun into a guardrail, knocking him unconscious.[2]
This would be the last start for Jesse James Taylor, the same one that finished 2nd in the1951 Southern 500, and then was critically injured at Lakewood that year.[2]
NASCAR originally made a bad judgment call and declaredBunkie Blackburn the winner. The reason behind this bad call was that one of David Pearson's laps were never officially counted; they decided to re-mark it as official. Most of the spectators had left by the time that Pearson was given the actual win.[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.
Individual earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $9,330 ($98,173 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $200 ($2,104 when adjusted for inflation). The total prize purse for this event was $39,960 ($420,470 when adjusted for inflation).[7] Six notable crew chiefs would take part in this race, includingRay Fox,Bud Allman andShorty Johns.[8]
| Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Speed[9] | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Fireball Roberts | '61Pontiac | 136.294 | Smokey Yunick |
| 2 | 29 | Nelson Stacy | '61Ford | 135.042 | Dudley Farrell |
| 3 | 8 | Joe Weatherly | '61Pontiac | 135.000 | Bud Moore |
| 4 | 28 | Fred Lorenzen | '61Ford | 134.487 | Holman-Moody |
| 5 | 3 | David Pearson | '61Pontiac | 136.778 | John Masoni |
| 6 | 24 | Darel Dieringer | '60Pontiac | 135.287 | James Turner |
| 7 | 94 | Banjo Matthews | '61Ford | 134.220 | Banjo Matthews |
| 8 | 72 | Bobby Johns | '61Ford | 134.220 | Shorty Johns |
| 9 | 27 | Junior Johnson | '61Pontiac | 133.887 | Rex Lovette |
| 10 | 4 | Rex White | '61Chevrolet | 133.581 | Rex White |
Failed to qualify:Tony Lavati (#66)[9]
Dave Mader andJesse James Taylor would retire from NASCAR Cup Series competition after the conclusion of this event.[10]
Section reference:[2]
* Driver failed to finish race
Section reference:[2]
| Preceded by 1961 untitled race atCalifornia State Fairgrounds | NASCAR Grand National races 1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by none | Dixie 400 races 1961 | Succeeded by |