Official name Carolina 500 | ||
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Date June 18, 1967 (1967-June-18) Location North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina Course Permanent racing facility
1.000 mi (1.600 km) Distance 500 laps, 500 mi (804 km) Weather Temperatures between 72.3 °F (22.4 °C) and 81.3 °F (27.4 °C); wind speeds up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h) | ||
The 1967 Carolina 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on June 18, 1967, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, 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.
Background
North Carolina Motor Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School,
Summary
The 500-lap race took four hours and forty-six minutes to resolve itself in front of twenty-two thousand live spectators. Nine cautions were given for 45 laps.
Dick Hutcherson won the pole position with a speed of 116.486 miles per hour (187.466 km/h). However, it would be Richard Petty that would ultimately defeat Buddy Baker after outlapping him at least once in the race. This win would push Petty onto the top of the NASCAR standings for the first time in his entire career. Petty's winning dynasty would eventually expand to 200 career race wins and multiple championship wins (that were contended in the 1970s by fellow contender Darrell Waltrip). Most of the manufacturers in this race were either Chevrolet or Ford; with a few other brands as the minority on the racing grid. Buddy Baker was the favorite to win the race but a slow pit stop eventually cost him the opportunity to win. Engine problems and crashes were the primary reasons that drivers didn't finish the race.
All of the 44 drivers on the racing grid were born in the United States of America; as the series was unknown to foreigners during this era. J.T. Putney would receive the last-place finish of the race due to a crash on lap 2. Johnny Allen and Gary Sain would retire from NASCAR after the end of this race.
Finishing order
* denotes that the driver failed to finish the race.
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased