1968 National 500

Summary

The race was held on a dry circuit; with no precipitation recorded around the speedway.

There were 45 American-born drivers on the racing grid for this event. Bud Moore scored the last-place finish of the race because he wanted to discontinue the race after only six laps. It took more than three and a half hours to complete the 334 advertised laps.

Dub Simpson, David Mote, Ken Meisenhelder and Walson Gardner failed to qualify while Eddie Yarboro withdrew from the race at the last moment. Notable crew chiefs who actively participated in the race were Junior Johnson, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Banjo Matthews, Jake Elder, and Cotton Owens. Charlie Glotzbach defeated legendary driver Paul Goldsmith (a 1956 Southern 500 competitor) by a time of only seven seconds. More than 38000 audience members would see 26 different changes; nine of the best drivers would compete for the first place spot for the race. Six cautions would be waved by NASCAR officials for a total distance of 49 laps.

The other drivers in the top ten included: David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Donnie Allison, Pete Hamilton, Darel Dieringer, Bobby Isaac, and A. J. Foyt.

Roy Trantham, Bill Vanderhoff, and Lennie Waldo would retire from the NASCAR Cup Series after this race.

Buddy Baker, considered at the time to be one of the notable names in stock car racing, blew his engine and span around the paved oval track in flames. Country musician Marty Robbins would improve on his 22nd place start with a 12th-place finish with driving a 1967 Dodge Charger.

The total prize purse of the race was $90,988 ($ when adjusted for inflation); the winner received $19,280 of it ($ when adjusted for inflation).

Carl Parsons (a mechanic of the team from Detroit, Michigan) drove the car #11 in qualifying but A.J. Foyt drove the car in the race.

References

before = 1968 Augusta 200 | after = 1968 American 500| title = NASCAR Grand National Season| years = 1968 |

References

1. [http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/zipcode/28027/1968-10-20 Weather information for the ''1968 National 500''] at The Old Farmers' Almanac
2. [http://www.racing-reference.info/race?id=1968-47&series=W ''1968 National 500''] racing information at Racing Reference. Accessed 2012-03-04. 2012-03-06.
3. "Charlotte NASCAR Climatology". SERCC.
4. [http://www.racing-reference.info/getqualify/1968-47/W Qualifying information] {{Webarchive. link. (April 5, 2016 at Racing Reference)
5. [https://www.racing-reference.info/entrylist/1968-47/W/C 1968 National 500 crew chiefs information] at Racing Reference
6. [http://www.race-database.com/results/results.php?year=1968&race=47&series_id=2 ''1968 National 500''] racing information at Race-Database.com. Accessed 2012-03-04. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230813/http://www.race-database.com/results/results.php?year=1968&race=47&series_id=2 Archived] 2012-03-06.
7. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19700509&id=NYwsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=X8wEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7186,1726028 ''Baker Feels He Is Ready for "400" Test''] at Google News Archives
8. [http://www.martyrobbins.net/racing.htm Marty Robbins' stats for the ''1968 National 500''] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-03-16 at MartyRobbins.net)
9. [http://fantasyracingcheatsheet.com/nascar/races/results/1968/charlotte-motor-speedway/national-500/1105 ''1968 National 500''] at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Accessed 2012-03-04. 2012-03-06.