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| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 49 in the1968 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 1968 Daytona 500 program cover | |||
| Date | February 25, 1968 (1968-02-25) | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.023 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures hovering around 59 °F (15 °C); wind speeds up to 20.8 miles per hour (33.5 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 147.251 miles per hour (236.978 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Wood Brothers Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers Racing | |
| Laps | 76 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 21 | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers Racing | |
The1968 Daytona 500 was aNASCARGrand National Series race held on February 25, 1968, atDaytona International Speedway inDaytona Beach, Florida.Cale Yarborough won the race from the pole
The event was won byCale Yarborough driving a 1968 Mercury. Yarborough drove his #21 to victory in just over 3 hours and 23 minutes after starting the race on the pole. There were 11 caution flags which slowed the race for 60 laps, a track record at the time that remained so until 2005.[2] Yarborough squeaked out the victory by less than a second overLeeRoy Yarbrough.[3] The win was Yarborough's first victory of the season[4] and his first victory in the "Great American Race".
This was also the only Daytona 500 where the grid was set exclusively by qualifying times. The125-mile qualifying races were not held due to inclement weather.
Drivers making their first Daytona 500 starts wereAndy Hampton,Buddy Arrington,Bill Seifert,Dave Marcis, (Marcis would make every Daytona 500 until 2000),Earl Brooks,Dick Johnson, Dr.Don Tarr, andDub Simpson. Drivers making their only Daytona 500 starts wereAl Unser,Bob Senneker,Butch Hartman,Larry Manning,Rod Eulenfeld,Charles Burnett,Don Biederman,Stan Meserve, andBud Moore. It was the last Daytona 500 starts forDarel Dieringer,Clyde Lynn,Sam McQuagg,Mario Andretti,Sonny Hutchins,Bob Cooper,Jerry Grant,Paul Lewis,Roy Tyner, andH. B. Bailey.[2]
This was the race in which Junior Johnson cost his own team the race. Cale ran out of gas at some point in the race and overshot his pit as the crew wasn't expecting him. Junior Johnson was standing out waiting for Leeroy to come and he managed to put just enough gas to get Cale back around to his pit.[2]
Al Unser led a lap in this one; it became the only time that he led a NASCAR race in his career.[2] Dub Simpson earned a dubious distinction by becoming the only driver ever to fail to complete a lap in the race.[2] This was also Bob "The Sneaker" Senneker's best career NASCAR finish, where he finished in 13th place.[2] Richard Petty and his "mysterious" black vinyl roof performed well and led the race until James Hylton blew a tire and hit the turn one wall. A piece of debris from Hylton's car hit Petty's and knocked the roof loose starting a day of troubles for Richard's team because of their experiment. Petty would finish the race two laps down.[2]
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.
| Pos | Grid | No. | Driver | Entrant | Manufacturer | Laps | Winnings | Laps led | Time/Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 21 | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers Racing | 1968Mercury | 200 | $47,250 | 76 | 3:23:44 |
| 2 | 3 | 26 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | 1968Mercury | 200 | $17,525 | 62 | +1 second |
| 3 | 6 | 29 | Bobby Allison | Bondy Long | 1968Ford | 200 | $10,150 | 12 | Lead lap, under green flag |
| 4 | 8 | 6 | Al Unser | Cotton Owens | 1968Dodge | 200 | $6,250 | 1 | Lead lap, under green flag |
| 5 | 4 | 17 | David Pearson | Holman-Moody | 1968Ford | 199 | $4,750 | 10 | +1 Lap |
| 6 | 9 | 99 | Paul Goldsmith | Ray Nichels | 1968Plymouth | 199 | $4,500 | 0 | +1 Lap |
| 7 | 23 | 22 | Darel Dieringer | Mario Rossi | 1968Plymouth | 199 | $4,100 | 0 | +1 Lap |
| 8 | 2 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | 1968Plymouth | 198 | $4,350 | 4 | +2 Laps |
| 9 | 5 | 16 | Tiny Lund | Bud Moore Engineering | 1968Mercury | 197 | $2,500 | 0 | +3 Laps |
| 10 | 27 | 32 | Andy Hampton | Rainer Racing | 1967Dodge | 193 | $2,525 | 0 | +7 Laps |
| 11 | 22 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Buddy Arrington | 1967Dodge | 186 | $2,350 | 0 | +14 Laps |
| 12 | 19 | 27 | A. J. Foyt | Banjo Matthews | 1968Ford | 183 | $2,350 | 0 | Transmission |
| 13 | 34 | 84 | Bob Senneker | Doug Cutler | 1966Chevrolet | 182 | $3,200 | 0 | +18 Laps |
| 14 | 25 | 20 | Clyde Lynn | Clyde Lynn | 1967Mercury | 182 | $2,200 | 0 | +18 Laps |
| 15 | 40 | 45 | Bill Seifert | Bill Seifert | 1967Ford | 181 | $2,100 | 0 | +19 Laps |
| 16 | 15 | 5 | Butch Hartman | Butch Hartman | 1968Dodge | 180 | $2,275 | 3 | +20 Laps |
| 17 | 42 | 34 | Wendell Scott | Wendell Scott | 1966Ford | 179 | $2,045 | 0 | +21 Laps |
| 18 | 24 | 46 | Larry Manning | Tom Hunter | 1966Chevrolet | 179 | $2,110 | 0 | +21 Laps |
| 19 | 49 | 19 | Henley Gray | Henley Gray | 1966Ford | 175 | $2,025 | 0 | +25 Laps |
| 20 | 35 | 30 | Dave Marcis | Larry Wehrs | 1966Chevrolet | 175 | $2,015 | 0 | +25 Laps |
| 21 | 38 | 73 | Rod Eulenfeld | Julian Kline | 1966Chevrolet | 174 | $2,000 | 0 | +26 Laps |
| 22 | 10 | 37 | Sam McQuagg | Nord Krauskopf | 1967Dodge | 171 | $1,140 | 0 | Engine |
| 23 | 44 | 96 | Charles Burnett | Roy Buckner | 1966Ford | 146 | $1,135 | 0 | Flagged |
| 24 | 31 | 79 | Frank Warren | Harold Rhodes | 1966Chevrolet | 143 | $1,130 | 0 | +57 Laps |
| 25 | 17 | 64 | Elmo Langley | Elmo Langley / Henry Woodfield | 1966Ford | 141 | $1,125 | 0 | Overheating |
| 26 | 37 | 25 | Jabe Thomas | Don Robertson | 1967Ford | 126 | $1,120 | 0 | Overheating |
| 27 | 29 | 56 | Jim Hurtubise | Lyle Stelter | 1968Mercury | 123 | $1,125 | 0 | Crash |
| 28 | 50 | 95 | Don Biederman | James Brown | 1966Ford | 123 | $1,110 | 0 | Engine |
| 29 | 20 | 11 | Mario Andretti | Holman-Moody | 1968Mercury | 105 | $1,580 | 12 | Crash |
| 30 | 13 | 3 | Buddy Baker | Ray Fox | 1968Dodge | 103 | $1,700 | 20 | Crash |
| 31 | 28 | 4 | John Sears | L. G. DeWitt | 1967Ford | 101 | $1,145 | 0 | Crash |
| 32 | 21 | 15 | Charlie Glotzbach | Tom Friedkin | 1968Plymouth | 91 | $1,140 | 0 | Engine |
| 33 | 41 | 75 | Earl Brooks | Gene Black | 1966Ford | 89 | $1,085 | 0 | Crash |
| 34 | 33 | 10 | Bill Champion | Bill Champion | 1966Ford | 79 | $1,080 | 0 | Overheating |
| 35 | 39 | 18 | Dick Johnson | Bob Casperson | 1967Ford | 63 | $1,075 | 0 | Engine |
| 36 | 11 | 71 | Bobby Isaac | Nord Krauskopf | 1968Dodge | 56 | $1,070 | 0 | Engine |
| 37 | 16 | 7 | Bobby Johns | Shorty Johns | 1966Chevrolet | 55 | $1,065 | 0 | Ignition |
| 38 | 47 | 90 | Sonny Hutchins | Donlavey Racing | 1967Ford | 53 | $1,060 | 0 | Engine |
| 39 | 32 | 02 | Bob Cooper | Bob Cooper | 1967Chevrolet | 52 | $1,055 | 0 | Engine |
| 40 | 7 | 66 | Donnie Allison | Holman-Moody | 1968Ford | 48 | $1,000 | 0 | Crash |
| 41 | 43 | 51 | Stan Meserve | Margo Hamm | 1967Dodge | 34 | $950 | 0 | Brakes |
| 42 | 26 | 14 | Jerry Grant | Tom Friedkin | 1968Plymouth | 32 | $1,000 | 0 | Crash |
| 43 | 30 | 97 | Red Farmer | Red Farmer | 1967Ford | 24 | $850 | 0 | Engine |
| 44 | 14 | 48 | James Hylton | James Hylton | 1967Dodge | 24 | $800 | 0 | Crash |
| 45 | 45 | 0 | Don Tarr | Don Tarr | 1967Chevrolet | 23 | $750 | 0 | Head gasket |
| 46 | 46 | 2 | Paul Lewis | Donald Brackins | 1967Dodge | 14 | $700 | 0 | Engine |
| 47 | 48 | 9 | Roy Tyner | Roy Tyner | 1967Pontiac | 8 | $1,650 | 0 | Engine |
| 48 | 12 | 1 | Bud Moore | A. J. King | 1968Dodge | 7 | $600 | 0 | Crash |
| 49 | 18 | 36 | H. B. Bailey | H. B. Bailey | 1966Pontiac | 6 | $550 | 0 | Engine |
| 50 | 36 | 06 | Dub Simpson | Neil Castles | 1967Dodge | 0 | $500 | 0 | Oil pressure |
| Source:[5] | |||||||||
| Preceded by | NASCAR Grand National Season 1968 | Succeeded by |