Official name Turkey Day 200 | ||
Date November 22, 1962; 54 years ago (1962-11-22) Course Permanent racing facility0.250 mi (0.500 km) Distance 200 laps, 50 mi (80 km) Weather Chilly with temperatures approaching 62.1 °F (16.7 °C); wind speeds up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) | ||
The 1963 Turkey Day 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on November 22, 1962, at Tar Heel Speedway in Randleman, North Carolina.
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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
This race, while being in the 1963 season happened after November 1, 1962. This put the racing event in the 1963 points season. Since 2001, NASCAR has never organized a race this late in the year for its NASCAR Cup Series because NASCAR now mandates a 12-week silly season.
Being a ¼-mile track, the entire race only spanned 50 miles (80 km). Three thousand and five hundred people attended this live racing event which ended in one hour and three minutes. Twenty-three American drivers and one Canadian driver (Jim Bray) participated in this race. Notable speeds were: 47.544 miles per hour (76.515 km/h) for the average speed and 51.933 miles per hour (83.578 km/h) for the pole position speeds. These slow speeds would not look out of place on a modern-day American Interstate highway.
The winner (Jim Paschal who raced for Petty Enterprises) would receive $575 in winnings ($4,498.12 when considering inflation) while the last place driver (Ned Jarrett) would walk away with $100 in prize winnings ($782.28 when considering inflation). Glen Wood would lead the most laps (173) before finishing the race in 15th place due to an engine problem.
Finishing order
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race