Date August 18, 1968; 48 years ago (1968-08-18) Official name Western North Carolina 500 Course Permanent racing facility0.500 mi (0.804 km) Distance 500 laps, 250 mi (402 km) Weather Hot with temperatures approaching 87.1 °F (30.6 °C); wind speeds up to 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h) | ||
The 1968 Western North Carolina 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on August 18, 1968, at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in Weaverville, North Carolina.
Contents
Ervin Pruitt would score his best career finish at this event.
Summary
Five hundred laps took place on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km). The race took three hours and twenty-three minutes to finish. Seven cautions were handed out by NASCAR for ninety laps. David Pearson (with a Holman-Moody owned vehicle) defeated Bobby Isaac (in his Nord Krauskopf-owned vehicle) by more than three laps. Notable speeds were: 73.686 miles per hour (118.586 km/h) for the average speed and 88.409 miles per hour (142.280 km/h) for the pole position speed (accomplished by Darel Dieringer using a vehicle owned by Mr. Mario Rossi). Ten thousand and five hundred stock car racing fans attended this live event. Out of twenty-nine American drivers, only nine of them finished the race in a timely manner. Notable names included: J.D. McDuffie, Richard Petty, Elmo Langley, Roy Tyner, and Wendell Scott.
The vehicle used by the winner was a 1968 Ford Torino machine homologated for use by the general public but modified to increase both speed and safety. A prize amount of $2,150 ($14,807.22 when adjusted for inflation) was given out to the winner of the race while last place paid out $150 ($1,033.06 when adjusted for inflation) for only fifteen laps of work by driver G.C. Spencer. When all the winnings for this racing event are consolidated together, the total prize purse was $13,485 ($92,872.29 when adjusted for inflation).
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.
Finishing order
* Driver failed to finish race