| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 49 of 52 in the1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway | |||
| Date | October 15, 1961 (1961-10-15) | ||
| Official name | National 400 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway,Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.500 miles (2.410 km) | ||
| Distance | 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.5 km) | ||
| Weather | Chilly with temperatures of 66.9 °F (19.4 °C); wind speeds of 14 miles per hour (23 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 112.905 mph (181.703 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | John Masoni | ||
| Time | 138.577 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Fireball Roberts | Smokey Yunick | |
| Laps | 107 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 8 | Joe Weatherly | Bud Moore Engineering | |
The1961 National 400 was aNASCARGrand National Series stock car race that was held on October 15, 1961, atCharlotte Motor Speedway inConcord, 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.
Around 35,821 spectators traveled toCharlotte Motor Speedway to watch the race. Located inConcord, North Carolina, Charlotte Motor Speedway is a banked 1.5-mile (2.4 km) quad-oval that opened in 1960 for theinaugural World 600. Construction for the track began in 1959 withBruton Smith andCurtis Turner as architects for the speedway.
David Pearson,Fireball Roberts andJunior Johnson would dominate the early portion of the race. This race would last for roughly three hours and twenty minutes; an audience of more than 35,000 would see race cars reaching up to 120 miles per hour (190 km/h).Ken Rush was credited with the last-place finish due to problems with hisrocker arm on lap 16 out of this 267-lap event. Junior Johnson's top ten finish came as a result of a problem with one of his wheels on lap 256; he was destined for a top five finish until he encountered that problem.[2]
Notable crew chiefs in the event; includedSmokey Yunick,Bud Allman,Shorty Johns andRay Fox.[3]
Most of the vehicles in the race were eitherPontiacs orFords. Junior Johnson,Bob Welborn and Fireball Roberts would be the leaders during the middle portion of the race.[2]
Fireball Roberts' vehicle would suffer severe damage after blowing a right front tire on lap 113. The vehicle struck the guardrail and slid back into a pack cars; a car slammed into it while driving in excess of 100 miles per hour or 160 kilometres per hour. Roberts wasn't injured.[4]"
Joe Weatherly would eventually gain the lead on lap 263 and beatRichard Petty by almost two car lengths.[2] This would be the seventh of nine wins for Joe Weatherly in the1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season. He ended on a hot-streak, winning the next race and then the last race of the 1961 NASCAR Cup Series season as well. Joe Weatherly made four pit stops during the race, one unscheduled. He put on one or more new tires each time. He was the only of the top-10 starters in the top-10 finishers' list.[2] Four caution flags, one for 12 laps, helped the Norfolk veteran to stay in contention.[2]
Individual race winnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $9,510 ($100,067 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finishers' share of $275 ($2,894 when adjusted for inflation). The total prize purse offered for this event was $42,050 ($442,462 when adjusted for inflation).[5]
| Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Speed[6] | Qualifying time[6] | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | David Pearson | '61 Pontiac | 138.577 | 2:35.870 | John Masoni |
| 2 | 22 | Fireball Roberts | '61 Pontiac | 138.497 | 2:35.960 | Smokey Yunick |
| 3 | 94 | Banjo Matthews | '61 Ford | 137.308 | 2:37.310 | Banjo Matthews |
| 4 | 28 | Fred Lorenzen | '61 Ford | 137.291 | 2:37.330 | Holman-Moody |
| 5 | 20 | Marvin Panch | '60 Pontiac | 138.444 | 2:36.020 | Smokey Yunick |
| 6 | 8 | Joe Weatherly | '61 Pontiac | 137.265 | 2:37.360 | Bud Moore |
| 7 | 47 | Jack Smith | '61 Pontiac | 137.064 | 2:37.590 | Jack Smith |
| 8 | 72 | Bobby Johns | '61 Ford | 136.986 | 2:37.680 | Shorty Johns |
| 9 | 29 | Nelson Stacy | '61 Ford | 136.761 | 2:37.590 | Dudley Farrell |
| 10 | 21 | Speedy Thompson | '61 Ford | 136.588 | 2:38.140 | Wood Brothers |
| Pos[2] | Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Winnings | Laps led | Time/Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 8 | Joe Weatherly | Pontiac | 267 | $9,510 | 5 | 3:20:20 |
| 2 | 22 | 43 | Richard Petty | Plymouth | 267 | $4,870 | 0 | +1.5 car lengths |
| 3 | 14 | 18 | Bob Welborn | Pontiac | 267 | $3,275 | 51 | Lead lap under green flag |
| 4 | 21 | 6 | Cotton Owens | Pontiac | 266 | $2,275 | 0 | +1 lap |
| 5 | 13 | 4 | Rex White | Chevrolet | 264 | $1,800 | 0 | +3 laps |
| 6 | 29 | 42 | Darel Dieringer | Plymouth | 263 | $1,375 | 0 | +4 laps |
| 7 | 24 | 85 | Emanuel Zervakis | Chevrolet | 261 | $1,250 | 0 | +6 laps |
| 8 | 25 | 14 | Joe Lee Johnson | Chevrolet | 258 | $1,125 | 0 | +9 laps |
| 9 | 12 | 27 | Junior Johnson | Pontiac | 256 | $1,535 | 100 | Wheel issues |
| 10 | 30 | 30 | J. C. Hendrix | Ford | 254 | $875 | 0 | +13 laps |
Section reference:[2]
| Preceded by | NASCAR Grand National Series Season 1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National 400 races 1961 | Succeeded by |