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1961 National 400

Auto race held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1961

Field	Value
Type	CUST
Description	Race 49 of 52 in the 1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Race Name	National 400
Details ref
Fulldate
Year	1961
Race_No	49
Season_No	52
Image	Lowe's Motor Speedway.svg
Caption	Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway
Official name	National 400
Location	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course_mi	1.500
Course_km	2.410
Distance_laps	267
Distance_mi	400.5
Distance_km	644.5
Avg	112.905 mph
Weather	Chilly with temperatures of 66.9 F; wind speeds of 14 mph
Pole_Driver	David Pearson
Pole_Team	John Masoni
Pole_Time	138.577 seconds
Most_Driver	Fireball Roberts
Most_Team	Smokey Yunick
Most_laps	107
Car	8
First_Driver	Joe Weatherly
First_Team	Bud Moore Engineering

The 1961 National 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series stock car race that was held on October 15, 1961, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

The transition to purpose-built racecars 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.

Background

Around 35,821 spectators traveled to Charlotte Motor Speedway to watch the race. Located in Concord, North Carolina, Charlotte Motor Speedway is a banked 1.5 mi quad-oval that opened in 1960 for the inaugural World 600. Construction for the track began in 1959 with Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner as architects for the speedway.

Race report

David Pearson, Fireball Roberts and Junior Johnson would dominate the early portion of the race. This race would last for roughly three hours and twenty minutes; an audience of more than 35,000 would see race cars reaching up to 120 mph. Ken Rush was credited with the last-place finish due to problems with his rocker arm on lap 16 out of this 267-lap event. Junior Johnson's top ten finish came as a result of a problem with one of his wheels on lap 256; he was destined for a top five finish until he encountered that problem.

Notable crew chiefs in the event; included Smokey Yunick, Bud Allman, Shorty Johns and Ray Fox.

Most of the vehicles in the race were either Pontiacs or Fords. Junior Johnson, Bob Welborn and Fireball Roberts would be the leaders during the middle portion of the race.

Fireball Roberts' vehicle would suffer severe damage after blowing a right front tire on lap 113. The vehicle struck the guardrail and slid back into a pack cars; a car slammed into it while driving in excess of 100 mph. Roberts wasn't injured."

Joe Weatherly would eventually gain the lead on lap 263 and beat Richard Petty by almost two car lengths. This would be the seventh of nine wins for Joe Weatherly in the 1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season. He ended on a hot-streak, winning the next race and then the last race of the 1961 NASCAR Cup Series season as well. Joe Weatherly made four pit stops during the race, one unscheduled. He put on one or more new tires each time. He was the only of the top-10 starters in the top-10 finishers' list. Four caution flags, one for 12 laps, helped the Norfolk veteran to stay in contention.

Individual race winnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $9,510 ($ when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finishers' share of $275 ($ when adjusted for inflation). The total prize purse offered for this event was $42,050 ($ when adjusted for inflation).

Qualifying

Grid	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Speed	Qualifying time
3	David Pearson	'61 Pontiac	138.577	2:35.870	John Masoni
22	Fireball Roberts	'61 Pontiac	138.497	2:35.960	Smokey Yunick
94	Banjo Matthews	'61 Ford	137.308	2:37.310	Banjo Matthews
28	Fred Lorenzen	'61 Ford	137.291	2:37.330	Holman-Moody
20	Marvin Panch	'60 Pontiac	138.444	2:36.020	Smokey Yunick
8	Joe Weatherly	'61 Pontiac	137.265	2:37.360	Bud Moore
47	Jack Smith	'61 Pontiac	137.064	2:37.590	Jack Smith
72	Bobby Johns	'61 Ford	136.986	2:37.680	Shorty Johns
29	Nelson Stacy	'61 Ford	136.761	2:37.590	Dudley Farrell
21	Speedy Thompson	'61 Ford	136.588	2:38.140	Wood Brothers

Top 10 finishers

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Winnings	Laps led
6	8	Joe Weatherly	Pontiac	267	$9,510	5	3:20:20
22	43	Richard Petty	Plymouth	267	$4,870	0	+1.5 car lengths
14	18	Bob Welborn	Pontiac	267	$3,275	51	Lead lap under green flag
21	6	Cotton Owens	Pontiac	266	$2,275	0	+1 lap
13	4	Rex White	Chevrolet	264	$1,800	0	+3 laps
29	42	Darel Dieringer	Plymouth	263	$1,375	0	+4 laps
24	85	Emanuel Zervakis	Chevrolet	261	$1,250	0	+6 laps
25	14	Joe Lee Johnson	Chevrolet	258	$1,125	0	+9 laps
12	27	Junior Johnson	Pontiac	256	$1,535	100	Wheel issues
30	30	J. C. Hendrix	Ford	254	$875	0	+13 laps

Timeline

Section reference:

Start of race: David Pearson had the pole position to begin the event.
Lap 4: Fireball Roberts took over the lead from David Pearson.
Lap 27: Curtis Crider fell out with engine failure; Nelson Stacy managed to overheat his vehicle.
Lap 38: Tubby Gonzales fell out with engine failure.
Lap 42: Bunkie Blackburn had a terminal crash.
Lap 54: Banjo Matthews fell out with engine failure.
Lap 55: Bobby Johns had a terminal crash.
Lap 74: David Pearson took over the lead from Fireball Roberts.
Lap 75: Junior Johnson took over the lead from David Pearson.
Lap 77: Fireball Roberts took over the lead from Junior Johnson.
Lap 111: Bill Morgan had a terminal crash.
Lap 113: Fireball Roberts had a terminal crash.
Lap 114: Junior Johnson took over the lead from Fireball Roberts.
Lap 136: Marvin Panch had a terminal crash.
Lap 140: Bob Welborn took over the lead from Junior Johnson.
Lap 169: Elmo Langley fell out with engine failure.
Lap 180: Junior Johnson took over the lead from Bob Welborn.
Lap 197: Bob Welborn took over the lead from Junior Johnson.
Lap 198: Junior Johnson took over the lead from Bob Welborn.
Lap 200: Bob Welborn took over the lead from Junior Johnson.
Lap 204: Junior Johnson took over the lead from Bob Welborn.
Lap 223: Ned Jarrett fell out with engine failure.
Lap 252: Speedy Thompson fell out with engine failure.
Lap 257: Bob Welborn took over the lead from Junior Johnson
Lap 263: Joe Weatherly took over the lead from Bob Welborn
Finish: Joe Weatherly was officially declared the winner of the event

References

before = 1961 Wilkes 200| after = 1961 Southeastern 500| title = NASCAR Grand National Series Season| years = 1961 |

References

[http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/zipcode/28027/1961-10-15 Weather information for the ''1961 National 400''] at The Old Farmers' Almanac
[http://www.racing-reference.info/race?id=1961-49&series=W Racing information for the ''1961 National 400''] at Racing Reference
[http://www.racing-reference.info/entrylist/1961-49/W/C Crew chief information] at Racing Reference
[https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2001/05/28/fireball-racing-stars-death-spurred-changes/ `Fireball' -- Racing Star's Death Spurred Changes] at Orlando Sentinel
[http://fantasyracingcheatsheet.com/nascar/races/results/1961/charlotte-motor-speedway/national-400/732 Racing information for the ''1961 National 400''] at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
[http://www.racing-reference.info/getqualify/1961-49/W Qualifying information] at Racing Reference

Info: Wikipedia Source

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