Date April 1, 1961; 55 years ago (1961-04-01) Course Permanent racing facility0.500 mi (0.804 km) Distance 200 laps, 100 mi (160 km) Weather Chilly with temperatures approaching 62.1 °F (16.7 °C); wind speeds up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) | ||
The Greenville 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on April 1, 1961, at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina.
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Summary
After nearly two hours of racing 200 laps, Emanuel Zervakis emerged as the winner as he managed to defeat Richard Petty by an unknown margin in front of a crowd of 5000 people. All 21 of the drivers on the grid were American-born males. Doug Yates would receive the last-place finish due to a driveshaft issue on the eighth lap. Other notable names who competed were: Junior Johnson, Roy Tyner, and Ned Jarrett. Johnson would qualify for the pole position with speeds up to 62.09 miles per hour (99.92 km/h) during the qualifying sessions. Four cautions were given out by NASCAR officials for 20 laps; there was only one crash during the entire race.
Zervakis would make his first win in his NASCAR career at this racing event.
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.
Top ten finishers
- Emanuel Zervakis (No. 85)
- Richard Petty (No. 43)
- Rex White (No. 4), 1 lap behind
- G.C. Spencer (No. 48), 1 lap behind
- Buck Baker (No. 86), 4 laps behind
- Jimmy Pardue (No. 54), 5 laps behind
- Fred Harb (No. 17), 14 laps behind
- George Green (No. 35), 14 laps behind
- Bobby Waddell (No. 0), 18 laps behind
- David Pearson (No. 67), 19 laps behind