1963 Turkey Day 200

1963 Turkey Day 200

Race details
Race 3 of 55 in the 1963 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date	November 22, 1962 (1962-11-22)
Official name	Turkey Day 200
Location	Tar Heel Speedway (Randleman, North Carolina)
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.250 mi (0.500 km)
Distance	200 laps, 50 mi (80 km)
Weather	Temperatures as high as 62.1 °F (16.7 °C); wind speeds up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h)
Average speed	47.5444 miles per hour (76.5153 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Glen Wood	Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Glen Wood	Wood Brothers Racing
Laps	173
Winner
No. 41	Jim Paschal	Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1963 Turkey Day 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on November 22, 1962 at Tar Heel Speedway in Randleman, North Carolina.

The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.

Summary

This race, while being in the 1963 season happened after November 1, 1962. This put the racing event in the 1963 points season. Since 2001, NASCAR has never organized a race this late in the year for its NASCAR Cup Series because NASCAR now mandates a 12-week silly season.

Being a ¼-mile track, the entire race only spanned 50 miles (80 km). Three thousand and five hundred people attended this live racing event which ended in one hour and three minutes. Twenty-three American drivers and one Canadian driver (Jim Bray) participated in this race. Notable speeds were: 47.544 miles per hour (76.515 km/h) for the average speed and 51.933 miles per hour (83.578 km/h) for the pole position speeds. These slow speeds would not look out of place on a modern day American Interstate highway.

The winner (Jim Paschal who raced for Petty Enterprises) would receive $575 in winnings ($5,722.5 when considering inflation) while the last place driver (Ned Jarrett) would walk away with $100 in prize winnings ($995.22 when considering inflation). Glen Wood would lead the most laps (173) before finishing the race in 15th place due to an engine problem.

Finishing order

1. Jim Paschal†
2. Joe Weatherly†
3. Tommy Irwin
4. David Pearson
5. Maurice Petty
6. Curtis Crider
7. Sherman Utsman
8. Jimmy Pardue†
9. George Green
10. Wendell Scott†
11. Richard Petty*
12. Jack Deniston
13. Ray Hughes
14. Billy Foster
15. Glen Wood*
16. Jim Bray
17. Sam Fogle
18. G.C. Spencer*†
19. Lyle Stetler*
20. Fred Harb*
21. Herman Beam†
22. John Hoffman*
23. Larry Thomas*†
24. Ned Jarrett*

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

• Start of race: Glen Wood started the race with the pole position
• Lap 6: Ned Jarrett had problems with his transmission; forcing him to withdraw from the event
• Lap 27: Larry Thomas developed transmission problems in his vehicle; ending his day on the track
• Lap 51: John Hoffman's vehicle became too dangerous to handle properly; causing him to leave the event early
• Lap 117: Fred Harb's driveshaft issues made the vehicle unable to continue the race; securing an early exit for him
• Lap 122: One of Lyle Stetler's tires went flat; forcing him to withdraw from the event
• Lap 156: Oil pressure issues forced G.C. Spencer to exit the race prematurely
• Lap 173: Glen Wood had problems with his vehicle's engine; forcing him out of the race
• Lap 174: Jim Paschal took over the lead from Glen Wood
• Lap 188: Richard Petty's vehicle was humbled by transmission problems; forcing him to accept an eleventh place finish
• End of race: Jim Paschal won the race