1963 Western North Carolina 500

1963 Western North Carolina 500

Race details[1]
Race 41 of 55 in the 1963 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date	August 11, 1963
Official name	Western North Carolina 500
Location	Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, Weaverville, North Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.500 mi (0.804 km)
Distance	500 laps, 250 mi (310 km)
Weather	Mild with temperatures approaching 78.1 °F (25.6 °C); wind speeds up to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)
Average speed	77.603 miles per hour (124.890 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ned Jarrett	Charles Robinson
Most laps led
Driver	Fred Lorenzen	Holman Moody
Laps	452
Winner
No. 28	Fred Lorenzen	Holman Moody
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1963 Western North Carolina 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on August 11, 1969, at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in Weaverville, North Carolina.^[2]

The transition to purposely-built racers 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; most of the cars were trailered to events or hauled in by trucks.

Summary

The race took three hours and thirteen minutes to successfully complete.^[2] Fred Lorenzen won the race with an average speed of 77.673 miles per hour (125.003 km/h) and defeated Richard Petty by outlapping him once.^[2] Five hundred laps were done on an oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km) in front of 14500 live spectators.^[2] Total winnings for this race were $13,765 ($106,574.02 when adjusted for inflation) while Lorenzen walked away as the biggest cash earner with a $2,550 paycheck ($19,743.10 when adjusted for inflation). Possum Jones (the last place finisher) came home from the race with a meager $150 ($1,161.36 when adjusted for inflation) as a result of only completely eight laps of the race due to a fuel leak.^[2]

A balanced mixture of Ford vehicles in addition to vehicles from the Plymouth, Dodge and Chevrolet brands kept the race interesting for people who were looking to buy a new automobile during the early 1960s. Chrysler's lone entry was with driver Major Melton who had to leave the race after 324 laps due to problem with his grease seal. A lot of the team owners in the race were wealthy individuals who had the money to cope with the constant travelling expenses that was expected in a NASCAR season.^[3]

Tommy Irwin would never race in a NASCAR Cup Series race after this one due to his lackluster performance. Constant vibrations in his vehicles forced him off the track after 264 laps; Stewart McKinney was his faithful crew chief.^[2] McKinney's crew chief career only lasted throughout 1963 with six good finishes for his stable of five NASCAR drivers.^[4]

Timeline

• Start of race: Ned Jarrett started the race with the pole position
• Lap 8: Racing fuel was leaking from Possum Jones' car, causing him to leave the event
• Lap 30: Stick Elliott had a terminal crash, forcing him to withdraw from the event
• Lap 14: Fred Lorenzen takes over the lead from Ned Jarrett
• Lap 189: Richard Petty takes over the lead from Fred Lorenzen
• Lap 199: Lee Reitzel had a terminal crash, forcing him to withdraw from the event
• Lap 216: G.C. Spencer had a terminal crash, forcing him to withdraw from the event
• Lap 224: Fred Lorenzen takes over the lead from Richard Petty
• Lap 379: Elmo Langley had problems with his vehicle's engine, forcing him to exit the race
• Finish: Fred Lorenzen was officially declared the winner of the event

Finishing order

1. Fred Lorenzen (No. 28)
2. Richard Petty (No. 43)
3. Jim Paschal (No. 42)
4. David Pearson (No. 6)
5. Billy Wade (No. 5)
6. Jack Smith (No. 47)
7. Buck Baker (No. 87)
8. Joe Weatherly (No. 36)
9. Ned Jarrett (No. 11)
10. Buddy Baker (No. 2)
11. Wendell Scott (No. 34)
12. Red Wickersham (No. 67)
13. Worth McMillion (No. 83)
14. Cale Yarborough (No. 19)
15. Elmo Langley* (No. 09)
16. Roy Mayne (No. 33)
17. Major Melton* (No. 88)
18. Bobby Isaac* (No. 99)
19. Tommy Irwin* (No. 44)
20. Curtis Crider* (No. 62)
21. G.C. Spencer* (No. 48)
22. Lee Reitzel* (No. 93)
23. Junior Johnson* (No. 3)
24. Bobby Keck* (No. 57)
25. Jimmy Pardue* (No. 54)
26. Stick Elliott* (No. 18)
27. Possum Jones* (No. 05)

* Driver failed to finish race

References

1. "1963 Western North Carolina 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. 1963-08-11. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
2. "1963 Western North Carolina 500 information". Race Database. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
3. "1963 Western North Carolina 500 team information". Driver Averages. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
4. "1963 Stewart McKinney NASCAR Grand National statistics". Race Database. Retrieved 2014-04-16.