Official name 1964-03 | ||
Date December 1, 1963; 53 years ago (1963-12-01) Location Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.805 km) Distance 200 laps, 100 mi (160.934 km) Weather Temperatures ranging between 37.9 °F (3.3 °C) and 54.0 °F (12.2 °C); average wind speeds of 7.48 miles per hour (12.04 km/h) | ||
The 1964 Jacksonville 200, the third race of the 1964 NASCAR Cup Series calendar (despite taking place on December 1, 1963) is best known for being won by the first (and so far, only) African-American driver to win a race, Wendell Scott.
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Background
Speedway Park, also known as Jacksonville Speedway, was a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) dirt oval auto racing track, located in Jacksonville, Florida.
Opened in 1947, the track was located at the intersection of Lenox Avenue and Plymouth Street in southwest Jacksonville. NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) races were held at the track during the 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1961 and 1964 seasons. The final Grand National Series race at the track was won by Wendell Scott, the only African-American to win in NASCAR's top series.
In addition to auto racing, the track hosted the Duval County Exposition. The NASCAR Grand American Series also competed there.
Summary
Jack Smith started from the pole position. Ned Jarrett drove to a substantial lead early in the event, but a damaged wheel hub caused him to fall 20 laps behind while it was repaired. Richard Petty led the most laps, 103, before having his steering break due to the rough track conditions. Scott, driving a car formerly owned by Jarrett, took the lead with 275 laps to and led to the scheduled finish of the event; however, after 200 laps, the checkered flag was not waved.
Two laps later, second-place finisher Buck Baker took the checkered flag and the win. Scott protested the results; two hours later, following a review of the scoring, Scott was declared the winner by two laps. Some, including Scott's family, stated that the victory was awarded to Baker, with the results being altered after the crowd had left the speedway, due to racism; others, including two-time NASCAR champion Ned Jarrett, believe it was simply a scoring error, which was very common in the pre-electronic scoring system. Four weeks later at Savannah Speedway, Scott was given his first-place prize check and a replica trophy; the genuine trophy has never resurfaced, however in October 2010 the Jacksonville Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame gave a more accurate replica trophy to Scott's family. It was not until 2013 that another African American driver won a NASCAR national touring series race, when Darrell Wallace, Jr. won the 2013 Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway.
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.
Stats
The race officially lasted a duration of one hour and forty-three minutes. The average speed was 58.252 miles per hour (93.748 km/h). Jack Smith won the pole at 70.921 miles per hour (114.136 km/h). The margin of victory was over two laps after the correction of the scoring error, resulting in an addition of two laps to the race. Five thousand people attended the race.