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Date February 23, 1964 (1964-02-23) Location Daytona International SpeedwayDaytona Beach, Florida, U.S. Course Permanent racing facility2.5 mi (4.02 km) Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) Weather Cold with temperatures approaching 55 °F (13 °C); wind speeds approaching 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) Average speed 154.334 miles per hour (248.376 km/h) | ||
The 1964 Daytona 500, was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on February 23, 1964, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
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Summary
The race was won by Richard Petty driving a 1964 Plymouth. Petty drove his number 43 to victory in 3 hours and 14 minutes. There were three caution flags that slowed the race for 19 laps. A new Plymouth racing machine debuted in this race; NASCAR ordered the teams who had it to ordered to sandbag it during practice and qualifying due to their superiority.
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.
Bobby Marshman would retire from NASCAR Grand National Series racing after the conclusion of this event. For some drivers, this would be their last Daytona 500, as the 1960s were an especially brutal era for NASCAR. Jimmy Pardue killed later in the year in a test crash. Billy Wade was killed in a tire test in January 1965. Bobby Marshman killed in a test crash in late 1964 at Phoenix. Fireball Roberts died in July from injuries inflicted while racing in the World 600 and Joe Weatherly was killed at Riverside early that year.