1961 Dixie 400


The 1961 Dixie 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 17, 1961, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.
A filming of a full-length feature Hollywood film entitled Thundering Wheels was a part of the festivities planned for this racing event in addition to a 210-minute performance by some of the legendary performers from the Grand Ole Opry.
Local beauty pageant personality Linda Vaughn was chosen to be the queen of the 1961 running of the Dixie 400.

Background

is one of ten current intermediate track to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. However, at the time, only Charlotte and Darlington were built.
The layout at Atlanta International Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that is long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.

Race report

Fireball Roberts would qualify at a speed of in order to clinch the pole position. The average speed of the race was. While Fireball Roberts, Nelson Stacy and Banjo Matthews would dominate the earliest parts of this event, the closing moments were a contest between Junior Johnson and David Pearson. These drivers had the monopoly on the first-place position throughout the race; tying with the 1960 Atlanta 500 with the fewest lead changes.
The 267-lap racing event lasted three hours and eleven minutes. There were 42 American-born drivers on the grid out of the 46 who originally qualified for this event. Tommy Irwin would suffer from a bad piston in his vehicle that prevented him from starting the race; he was credited as the last-place finisher. Lee Reitzel would be the lowest-finishing driver to complete the entire event while Banjo Matthew's faulty engine prevented him from finishing in the top ten. Lap deficits were noticed between the top cars once Banjo dropped out; forcing the flagman to throw the white flag multiple times. Thirty thousand people would see David Pearson defeat Junior Johnson by five seconds. Fred Lorenzen's engine blew, spewing oil on the track. Lorenzen's car spun into a concrete retaining wall and Fireball Roberts narrowly missed him. Dave Mader spun into a guardrail, knocking him unconscious.
NASCAR originally made a bad judgment call and declared Bunkie Blackburn the winner. The reason behind this bad call was that one of David Pearson's laps were never officially counted; they decided to re-mark it as official. Most of the spectators had left by the time that Pearson was given the actual win, making this race very controversial to both Blackburn and Pearson alike.
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.
Individual earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $9,330 to the last-place finisher's share of $200. The total prize purse for this event was $39,960. Six notable crew chiefs would take part in this race, including Ray Fox, Bud Allman and Shorty Johns.

Qualifying

Failed to qualify: Tony Lavati

Retirements

and Jesse James Taylor would retire from NASCAR Cup Series competition after the conclusion of this event.

Finishing order

Section reference:
  1. David Pearson
  2. Junior Johnson
  3. Fireball Roberts
  4. Jack Smith
  5. Richard Petty
  6. Johnny Allen
  7. Ned Jarrett
  8. Bob Welborn
  9. Woodie Wilson
  10. Marvin Panch
  11. Banjo Matthews*
  12. Bobby Johns
  13. Jim Paschal
  14. Emanuel Zervakis
  15. Tiny Lund
  16. Joe Weatherly
  17. Ken Rush
  18. Rex White
  19. Nelson Stacy*
  20. Darel Dieringer*
  21. L.D. Austin
  22. Herman Beam
  23. Ed Livingston
  24. Lee Reitzel
  25. Buck Baker*
  26. Bill Morgan*
  27. J.C. Hendrix*
  28. Elmo Langley*
  29. Bunkie Blackburn*
  30. T.C. Hunt*
  31. G.C. Spencer*
  32. Bob Barron*
  33. Doug Yates*
  34. George Alsobrook*
  35. Ralph Earnhardt*
  36. Fred Lorenzen*
  37. Dave Mader*
  38. Tubby Gonzales*
  39. Herb Tillman*
  40. Jesse James Taylor*
  41. Curtis Crider*
  42. Tommy Irwin*
* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference: