1960 World 600

The 1960 World 600 was the inaugural running of the World 600, a NASCAR Grand National Series event. It was run on June 19, 1960 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It was NASCAR's first 600-mile race and it was the longest NASCAR race distance. Joe Lee Johnson was the winner of the inaugural race.

1960 World 600
Race details[1][2]
Race 21 of 44 in the 1960 NASCAR Grand National Series season
1960 World 600 program cover
1960 World 600 program cover
Date June 19, 1960 (1960-June-19)
Official name World 600
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (2.414 km)
Distance 400 laps, 600 mi (965 km)
Weather Very hot with temperatures of 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds up to 13.8 miles per hour (22.2 km/h)
Average speed 107.735 miles per hour (173.383 km/h)
Attendance 35,462
Pole position
Driver
John Hines
Most laps led
Driver Jack Smith Jack Smith
Laps 198
Winner
No. 89 Joe Lee Johnson Paul McDuffie
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Bill Fleming & Chris Economaki

Background
Charlotte Motor Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, thirteen miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The track is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) asphalt quad-oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the World 600 and the National 400. The speedway broke ground in 1958 with Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner as the architects. Charlotte Motor Speedway is now operated by Speedway Motorsports.

Race report

The race was postponed for three weeks because of construction delays. During the race, Don O'Dell's Pontiac crashed into the driver's door of Lenny Page's Chevy. Lenny Page, who was lucky to survive the crash due to the safety systems at that time, was near death afterward, but reporter Chris Economaki rushed to the scene and aided Page with CPR until safety crews arrived. He was later credited with saving Lenny's life.

Cars were allowed to run dirt track style screens to protect the radiators from debris, as officials were aware of the problem before the race started. This is the only time a father and son have been disqualified in the same race.[3] This was the last time the #89 has won in the Cup Series.[4]

Ed Markstellar and Japanese-American driver George Tet would make their stock car debuts in this race while Jim Austin, Arnold Gardner and Gene Marmor would make their finale.[3] Johnny Wolford would run his only NASCAR Cup Series race here.[3] Rex White would take away the championship lead from Richard Petty with his sixth-place finish as opposed to Petty finishing in 55th place due to a disqualification.[3] Petty and five other drivers (Lee Petty, Bob Welborn, Paul Lewis, Junior Johnson, and Lenny Page) were all disqualified for making illegal entrances to pit road.[3]

Notable crew chiefs included Louis Clements, Bud Allman, Ray Fox, Shorty Johns, Bud Moore, Mario Rossi, Dale Swanson and Paul McDuffie.[5]

Results
Pos[1] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps
1 2089Joe Lee JohnsonChevrolet400
2 3873Johnny BeauchampChevrolet396
3 646Bobby JohnsPlymouth394
4 4492Gerald DukeFord Thunderbird388
5 1487Buck BakerChevrolet386
6 74Rex WhiteChevrolet378
7 3194Banjo MatthewsFord377
8 4063Tiny LundPontiac375
9 3981Shorty RollinsFord374
10 1967David PearsonChevrolet367
11 5878Charley GriffithChevrolet365
12 247Jack SmithPontiac352
13 4955Ernie GahanChevrolet350
14 5919Herman BeamFord344
15 5138Jim CookFord343
16 5535Jimmy ParduePlymouth343
17 3277Marvin PanchFord341
18 4221Jimmy MasseyChevrolet333
19 4828Buddy BakerFord332
20 2891Larry FrankFord320
21 3748G.C. SpencerChevrolet316
22 2445Joe CaspolichOldsmobile313
23 2664Bunkie BlackburnFord311
24 2361Jimmy ThompsonFord Thunderbird310
25 1090Speedy ThompsonFord287
26 5033Reb WickershamOldsmobile260
27 4124Arnold GardnerFord257
28 137Jim ReedChevrolet246
29 5417Shorty YorkFord243
30 511Ned JarrettFord233
31 959Tom PistoneChevrolet221
32 2270Elmo HendersonPontiac212
33 1685Emanuel ZervakisChevrolet209
34 3315Johnny SudderthFord202
35 122Fireball RobertsPontiac191
36 2123Doug YatesPlymouth176
37 4651Roy TynerOldsmobile176
38 4750George TetFord171
39 326Curtis TurnerFord154
40 2739Herb TillmanChevrolet138
41 1828Fred LorenzenFord118
42 5232Richard RileyChevrolet115
43 1512Joe WeatherlyFord85
44 3699Wilbur RakestrawFord57
45 3082Joe EubanksChevrolet46
46 352Possum JonesChevrolet39
47 5374L.D. AustinChevrolet33
48 4386Ed MarkstellarFord27
49 2571Gene MarmorPontiac24
50 579Jim AustinFord24
51 46Cotton OwensPontiac6
52 1769Johnny AllenChevrolet6
53 4595Bob DuellFord6
54 5688Johnny WolfordFord5
55 1143Richard PettyPlymouth0
56 842Lee PettyPlymouth0
57 1249Bob WelbornFord0
58 341Paul LewisChevrolet0
59 2927Junior JohnsonChevrolet0
60 6083Lennie PageFord Thunderbird0

Timeline

Section reference: [1]

  • Start of race: Fireball Roberts officially started with race with the pole position.
  • Lap 5: Johnny Walford had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 6: Cotton Owens and Johnny Allen were involved in a terminal crash.
  • Lap 27: Ed Markstellar was involved in a terminal crash.
  • Lap 66: Tom Pistone took over the lead from Fireball Roberts.
  • Lap 74: Junior Johnson took over the lead from Tom Pistone.
  • Lap 79: Curtis Turner took over the lead from Junior Johnson.
  • Lap 85: Joe Weatherly had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 95: Jack Smith took over the lead from Curtis Turner.
  • Lap 97: Fireball Roberts took over the lead from Jack Smith.
  • Lap 138: Herb Tillman had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 141: Jack Smith took over the lead from Fireball Roberts.
  • Lap 144: Fireball Roberts took over the lead from Jack Smith.
  • Lap 149: Curtis Turner took over the lead from Fireball Roberts.
  • Lap 154: Tom Pistone took over the lead from Curtis Turner.
  • Lap 160: Jack Smith took over the lead from Tom Pistone.
  • Lap 176: Doug Yates and Roy Tyner were involved in a terminal crash.
  • Lap 233: Ned Jarrett had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 246: Jim Reed had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 333: Transmission problems would sideline Jimmy Massey on this lap.
  • Lap 341: Problems with his vehicle's frame would take Marvin Panch out of the race.
  • Lap 352: Jack Smith would experience problems with his vehicle's fuel tank.
  • Lap 353: Joe Lee Johnson took over the lead from Jack Smith.
  • Lap 365: Charley Griffith blew his vehicle's engine while driving at high speeds.
  • Finish: Joe Lee Johnson was officially declared the winner of the event.

Race Statistics

Section reference: [3]

  • Time of race: 5:34:06
  • Average Speed: 107.735 miles per hour (173.383 km/h)
  • Pole Speed: 133.904 miles per hour (215.498 km/h)
  • Cautions: 8 for 45 laps
  • Margin of Victory: 4 laps +
  • Lead changes: 11

References
  1. Racing information at Racing Reference
  2. "1960 World 600 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  3. Notable race information at Race Database
  4. Car number 89 in 1960 at Racing Reference
  5. Crew chief information at Racing Reference
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