1967 Atlanta 500
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 10 of 49 in the 1967 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 Layout of Atlanta International Speedway, used until 1996 | |||
| Date | April 2, 1967 | ||
| Official name | Atlanta 500 | ||
| Location | Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi (2.400 km) | ||
| Distance | 334 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Warm with temperatures approaching 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds up to 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 131.238 miles per hour (211.207 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 70,000[2] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Wood Brothers | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers | |
| Laps | 301 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 21 | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1967 Atlanta 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on April 2, 1967, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.[2]
The transition to purposely-built racers 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; most of the cars were trailered to events or hauled in by trucks.
Background
Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) 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.[3] 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 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.[4] 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.[4]
Summary
There were 44 American-born drivers on the grid; Cale Yarborough managed to defeat Dick Hutcherson by just more than one lap in front of 70000 live audience members.[2][5] The race lasted nearly four hours with the average speed being 131.288 miles per hour (211.288 km/h).[2][5] Yarborough's qualifying speed was 148.996 miles per hour (239.786 km/h); bringing his speed close to the 150 miles per hour (240 km/h) threshold.[2][5] Veteran NASCAR owner Nord Krauskopf would employ drivers Charlie Glotzbach and Bobby Isaac during the race.[2] Blackie Watt would finish in last-place on lap 2 due to a difficulty in the engine department.[2][5] Meanwhile, windshield problems would knock Don White out of the race at lap 193 of 334.[2][5] Six cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for a distance of 39 laps.[2][5]
Fred Lorenzen would race for the final time in his legendary #28 white and blue 1967 Ford Fairlane machine that would make him popular in NASCAR. Curtis Turner, who was driving a Chevrolet owned by Smokey Yunick, would escape being injured in a practice session that managed to become a wild crash session.[6]
The entire racing purse for this racing event was $64,995 ($462,035.31 when adjusted for inflation); the winner's share of this amount was $21,035 ($149,533.24 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place winner received a meager $540 ($3,838.74 when adjusted for inflation).[5]
Finishing order
- Cale Yarborough
- Dick Hutcherson
- Buddy Baker
- Charlie Glotzbach
- Bobby Isaac
- James Hylton
- Friday Hassler
- John Sears
- Donnie Allison
- G.C. Spencer
- J.T. Putney
- Donnie Allison
- Sonny Hutchins
- Buddy Arrington
- Jim Paschal
- Bill Champion
- Paul Lewis
- Sam McQuagg
- Mario Andretti
- Tiny Lund
- David Pearson
- Richard Petty
- Darel Dieringer
- Don White
- Wayne Smith
- Elmo Langley
- A.J. Foyt
- Fred Lorenzen
- Roy Mayne
- LeeRoy Yarbrough
- Paul Goldsmith
- Bay Darnell
- Jack Harden
- Neil Castles
- Bobby Johns
- Frank Warren
- Eldon Yarborough
- John Martin
- Clyde Lynn
- Wendell Scott
- Gordon Johncock
- Dick Johnson
- Bill Seifert
- Blackie Watt
Timeline
- Start of race: Cale Yarborough was leading the pack when the green flag was waved
- Lap 2: Blackie Watt had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 4: Bill Seifert had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 5: Dick Johnson had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 9: Gordon Johncock had a terminal crash
- Lap 10: Wendell Scott had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 44: An oil leak in his vehicle took John Martin out of the race
- Lap 46: Eldon Yarbrough managed to overheat his vehicle
- Lap 54: Frank Warren just couldn't handle the vehicle's faulty transmission and left the race
- Lap 61: Darel Dieringer took over the lead from Cale Yarborough
- Lap 68: Fred Lorenzen took over the lead from Darel Dieringer
- Lap 70: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Fred Lorenzen
- Lap 80: Bobby Johns had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 100: Fred Lorenzen took over the lead from Cale Yarborough
- Lap 101: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Fred Lorenzen
- Lap 120: Jack Harden had a terminal crash
- Lap 152: Mario Andretti took over the lead from Cale Yarborough
- Lap 153: Paul Goldsmith managed to overheat his vehicle
- Lap 158: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Mario Andretti
- Lap 162: LeeRoy Yarbrough had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 173: Fred Lorenzen had a terminal crash
- Lap 174: A.J. Foyt had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 175: Elmo Langley had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 180: Buddy Baker took over the lead from Cale Yarborough
- Lap 184: Wayne Smith had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 193: Don White's vehicle suffered from a troublesome windshield
- Lap 195: Darel Dieringer had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 197: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Buddy Baker
- Lap 215: Richard Petty had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 224: A faulty ignition ended David Pearson's hopes of winning the race
- Lap 246: Tiny Lund had some engine issues which forced him out of the race
- Lap 261: Mario Andretti had a terminal crash
- Finish: Cale Yarborough was officially declared the winner of the event
References
- ↑ Weather information for the 1967 Atlanta 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1967 Atlanta 500 at Racing Reference
- ↑ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- 1 2 "NASCAR Tracks—The Atlanta Motor Speedway". Atlanta Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1967 Atlanta 500 racing information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
- ↑ Wild practice session - 1967 Atlanta 500 at HowStuffWorks.com
| Preceded by 1967 untitled race at Bowman-Gray Stadium |
NASCAR Grand National Series Season 1967 |
Succeeded by 1967 Columbia 200 |