Official name Beltsville 300 | ||
Date May 17, 1968; 48 years ago (1968-05-17) Location Langley Field Speedway, Hampton, Virginia Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.836 km) Distance 300 laps, 150.0 mi (225.0 km) Weather Warm with temperatures approaching 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds up to 19 miles per hour (31 km/h) | ||
The 1968 Beltsville 300 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on May 17, 1968, at Beltsville Speedway in Beltsville, Maryland.
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
Beltsville Speedway was specially designed with banked turns for stock car racing. Originally known as the "Baltimore-Washington Speedway", this track received its final name in its 19th month of operation. The track hosted modified stock car racing vehicles alongside the other NASCAR series. Wednesday nights were the original night for racing but the schedule eventually added Friday night racing. Ten Grand National races were raced there including the popular Beltsville 300 series of races.
Summary
It took two hours for David Pearson (in his Holman-Moody owned '68 Ford Torino) to defeat Bobby Isaac (in his '67 Dodge Charger) by one lap and five seconds in front of 8,700 people. The majority of the starting grid would be driving Ford vehicles while Dodge, Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile and Plymouth made up the minority of the racing vehicles.
Notable speeds were: 74.844 miles or 120.450 kilometres per hour as the average speed and 83.604 miles or 134.548 kilometres per hour as the pole position speed. The track was a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles or 0.805 kilometres. Three hundred laps were raced on this track for a grand total of 150.0 miles or 241.4 kilometres. There was one Canadian participant named Frog Fagan; he started in 20th place and finished the race in 22nd place.
Total winnings for this race were $6,800 ($46,832.15 when considering inflation); David Pearson would receive $1,400 ($9,641.91 when considering inflation) while last-place finisher Wendell Scott would receive a meager $100 ($688.71 when considering inflation). Tim Pistone was the start and park car for this race; he quit the race for reasons unknown. Other notable racers who participated included Wendell Scott, Buck Baker, and J.D. McDuffie.
Top ten finishers
- David Pearson (No. 17)
- Bobby Isaac (No. 71), 1 lap behind
- Buddy Baker (No. 3), 3 laps behind
- James Hylton (No. 48), 3 laps behind
- John Sears (No. 4), 15 laps behind
- Jabe Thomas (No. 25), 18 laps behind
- Neil Castles (No. 06), 18 laps behind
- Roy Tyner (No. 09), 27 laps behind
- Bill Champion (No. 10), 31 laps behind
- Henley Gray (No. 19), 33 laps behind