Official name World 600 | ||
Date May 24, 1964 (1964-May-24) Course Permanent racing facility1.500 mi (2.414 km) Distance 400 laps, 600 mi (965.5 km) Weather Temperatures between 64.9 °F (18.3 °C) and 82.0 °F (27.8 °C); wind speed reaching a maximum of 10.10 miles per hour (16.25 km/h) | ||
The 1964 World 600, the fifth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that took place on May 24, 1964, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
Contents
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.
There was a 30-mile consolation race the day before this to determine the final 14 starters.
Bobby Keck finished 14th in that race (in a 1963 Ford) but it seems he was unable to start the 600 and his car was withdrawn, with Pete Stewart taking the last starting position on the grid as the first alternate starter. Major Melton finished 16th in that race driving a 1963 Dodge and was the second alternate.
Background
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race, as well as the Bank of America 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.
Summary
This race took place in the daytime because the lights for nighttime racing were not installed until 1992 (for the 8th NASCAR All-Star Race in its "modern day" history).
The race covered four hundred laps of a paved oval track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km). It took four hours, forty-six minutes, and fourteen seconds for the race to go from the first green flag to the checkered flag. Seven cautions were given out by NASCAR officials for forty-eight laps. Notable speeds were: 125.772 miles per hour (202.410 km/h) for the average speed and 144.346 miles per hour (232.302 km/h) for the pole position speed. There was a live attendance of exactly 66,311 racing fans. Miss Linda Vaughn was selected to be Pontiac's representative at this event; she was an adolescent during that time.
Jim Paschal defeated Richard Petty by more than four laps. Other notable drivers included: Ralph Earnhardt, Roy Tyner, Fireball Roberts, Elmo Langley, and Buddy Baker. The top two finishers were teammates at Petty Enterprises (now Richard Petty Motorsports). Jim Paschal would receive $24,785 ($191,392.32 when adjusted for inflation) in prize money after becoming the only driver to finish all 400 laps of the race. Pete Stewart was rewarded with $600 ($4,633.26 when adjusted for inflation) for finishing only one lap; resulting in a last place finish. Billy Wade started in pole position while the winner started in 12th place.
Death of Fireball Roberts
Fireball Roberts ended up in a terrible crash in this race while trying to avoid Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett's crash on lap 7. Roberts was sent to Charlotte hospital by a team of emergency paramedics. While he was not seriously injured by the crash itself, Roberts was trapped when his ankle became pinned up from under the dashboard and caught by either the clutch or brake pedal. The death would have occurred at the speedway if Jarrett hadn't pulled Roberts out in time. Instead, he died in hospital on July 2 of that year; leaving behind a wife (Doris Roberts) and a young daughter (Pamela Jane Roberts Trivette). Many fans could hear Roberts screaming "My God, Ned, help me! I'm on fire!" after being caught on fire because of the crash.
Before the fatal accident, Roberts was going to announce his retirement from the NASCAR Cup Series after the race to work as a spokesperson for a beer company. Fireball, as he was known to his racing fans and to his fellow drivers, was the first superstar of the superspeedway era.
Doctors ultimately blamed his death on pneumonia and he spent the last 39 days of his life at Charlotte Memorial Hospital (now Carolinas Medical Center) in extremely critical condition. The entire week from April 29 through May 1, 1964, ultimately became one of the darkest weeks in motorsports history as Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald were both killed in that year's Indianapolis 500. Actual home video footage of the accident was being recorded as the race occurred. The race was being televised by local CBS affiliate WBTV. Roberts' body was eventually delivered to his burial crypt in Daytona Beach, Florida. One of the quotes that came in an earlier race sometime prior to his death was "I fear fire the most!"
A couple of inventions that would come as a result of Roberts' death would be the fire suit and a specialized fuel cell for racing, preventing drivers from racing in a T-shirt and jeans. These inventions would first see notable usage at the 1964 Firecracker 400; just two days after Roberts' death.
Finishing order
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race