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1963 Daytona 500

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1963 Daytona 500
Race details
Race 7 of 55 in the 1963 NASCAR Grand National Series season
1963 Daytona 500 program cover
1963 Daytona 500 program cover
Date February 24, 1963 (1963-02-24)
Location Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (800 km)
Average speed 151.556 mph (243.906 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Banjo Matthews
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner Junior Johnson Ray Fox
Duel 2 Winner Johnny Rutherford Smokey Yunick
Most laps led
Driver Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody
Laps 77
Winner
No. 21 Ford Tiny Lund Wood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network ABC's WWOS
Announcers Bill Flemming and Chris Economaki

The 1963 Daytona 500, the 5th running of the event held on February 24, 1963, was won by Tiny Lund driving a 1963 Ford. Lund drove his number 21 to victory in three hours and 17 minutes. There were 2 cautions flags which slowed the race for 10 laps.[1]

Weather played a critical role in Tiny Lund winning this race; with temperatures reaching up to 75 °F (24 °C) and wind speeds up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h).[2] Lund won by making only four pit stops, but he would not have been able to make the distance on four pit stops had the first ten laps not been run under caution to dry the track from earlier rains. Had the race not started under caution, Lund would have had to make five pit stops, just as Fred Lorenzen and Ned Jarrett did. He was able to win on four pit stops alone because of the slow start time.

Race report

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Lund filled in for an injured Marvin Panch, who suffered injuries after a crash in a Maserati. Panch was to drive a Wood Brothers car in the 500.[3] The win was Lund's first victory of the season.[4]

Jim Cushman, Bubba Farr, Dick Good, Ted Hairfield, and John Rogers retired from professional stock car racing after this event.[5] Drivers who failed to qualify for the race were: Bobby Isaac (#99), Buck Baker (#87), Pete Stewart (#57), Cale Yarborough (#52), Larry Thomas (#36), Roy Mayne (#33), Chuck Daigh (#25), Rodger Ward (#16), Al Terrell (#9) and Bill Foster (#2).[6]

First Daytona 500 starts for LeeRoy Yarbrough, H. B. Bailey, Stick Elliott, Wendell Scott, A. J. Foyt, Jim Hurtubise, and Bob Cooper. Only Daytona 500 starts for Troy Ruttman, Bob James, Red Foote, Len Sutton, Floyd Powell, Frank Graham, John Rogers, Dick Good, Bubba Farr, and Ted Hairfield. Last Daytona 500 starts for Nelson Stacy, Joe Weatherly, Tommy Irwin, Rex White, Ed Livingston, Jim Cushman, Herman Beam, Jim McGuirk, and Jack Smith.[1]

Parnelli Jones, at the wheel of Bill Stroppe's factory-backed Mercury, comes home 15th in the second of his three Daytona 500 appearances.[1] While a great finish wasn't in the cards here about three months later Jones would go on to win the Indianapolis 500.

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.

This race marked the first time that ABC's Wide World of Sports covered the race. It also helped to dispel the long-standing stereotypes of the Southern United States after the rest of the United States witnessed an emotional inspiring win.[citation needed]

Top 10 finishers

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Pos[1] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Winnings Laps led Time/Status
1 12 21 Tiny Lund 1963 Ford 200 $24,550 17 3:17:56
2 2 28 Fred Lorenzen 1963 Ford 200 $15,540 77 +24 seconds
3 8 11 Ned Jarrett 1963 Ford 200 $8,700 26 Lead lap under green flag
4 10 29 Nelson Stacy 1963 Ford 199 $8,275 0 +1 lap
5 11 0 Dan Gurney 1963 Ford 199 $3,550 0 +1 lap
6 23 43 Richard Petty 1963 Plymouth 198 $2,500 0 +2 laps
7 14 7A Bobby Johns 1963 Pontiac 198 $2,600 10 +2 laps
8 26 8 Joe Weatherly 1963 Pontiac 197 $1,500 0 +3 laps
9 4 13 Johnny Rutherford 1963 Chevrolet 196 $1,250 0 +4 laps
10 13 44 Tommy Irwin 1963 Ford 195 $1,000 0 +5 laps

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "1963 Daytona 500". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
  2. ^ "Weather History for the 1963 Daytona 500 race". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-03-15.
  3. ^ "1963 NASCAR Grand National Recap". HowStuffWorks, Inc ; Publications International, Ltd. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
  4. ^ Fleischman, Bill; Al Pearce (2004). "Race Results: 1949–2002; 1960". The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide: 2004. Vol. 2004 (10 ed.). Canton, MI: Checkered Flag Press; Visible Ink Press. pp. 225–226 of 576. ISBN 0-681-27587-1.
  5. ^ Retirements from NASCAR at Race Database
  6. ^ Qualifying information for the 1963 Daytona 500 at Racing Reference