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1966 Myers Brothers 250

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1966 Myers Brothers 250
Race details[1][2][3]
Race 41 of 59 in the 1966 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date August 27, 1966; 58 years ago (1966-08-27)
Official name Myers Brothers 250
Location Bowman Gray Stadium (Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
0.250 mi (0.421 km)
Distance 250 laps, 62.5 mi (100.5 km)
Weather Temperatures up to 84.9 °F (29.4 °C); wind speeds up to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)
Average speed 45.928 miles per hour (73.914 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Petty Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver David Pearson Cotton Owens
Laps 129
Winner
No. 6 David Pearson Cotton Owens
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1966 Myers Brothers 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on August 27, 1966 at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Summary

The race took one hour and twenty-one minutes to complete.[2][3] Three cautions were given out by NASCAR for sixteen laps.[2][3] Notable speeds for this race were: 45.928 miles per hour (73.914 km/h) as the average speed[3] and 54.348 miles per hour (87.465 km/h) for the pole position speed.[2] Because the paved oval course only spanned 0.250 miles (0.402 km),[2][3] speeds on this track emulated that of America's Interstate Highway System. Fifteen thousand fans came to see David Pearson defeat Richard Petty by ten seconds.[2][3] There were 23 American-born drivers and one foreign driver (Don Biederman).[2]

Curtis Turner and Bobby Allison were involved in a crash[3] that got them disqualified from the race in addition to police intervention. However, no charges were laid. The incident started on lap eight of the race and the two drivers would knock and spin each other for approximately ten laps. Both vehicles were eventually tossed out as they came out of a demolition derby. However, Allison and Turner eventually became friends again but this incident would be the most heinous in pre-modern NASCAR history. Turner would eventually die in 1970 from an airplane crash which would also take the life of professional golfer Clarence King.[4]

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.

Timeline

  • Start of race: Richard Petty started with the pole position but David Pearson quickly took over the lead
  • Lap 6: Jimmy Helms had a faulty fuel pump; which forced him off the track for the rest of the day
  • Lap 12: Wayne Smith managed blow his vehicle's engine
  • Lap 25: Buddy Arrington lost the gas tank from his vehicle
  • Lap 32: Axle problems forced Hank Thomas to accept a meager 21st place finish out of 24 drivers
  • Lap 50: A problematic ball joint caused Paul Dean Holt to finish in a miserable 20th place
  • Lap 96: Bad vehicle brakes ended Bill Seifert's day on the track
  • Lap 98: Curtis Turner takes over the lead from David Pearson
  • Lap 106: Richard Petty takes over the lead from Curtis Turner
  • Lap 111: Bobby Allison had a terminal crash; he was forced to withdraw from the race
  • Lap 114: Curtis Turner had a terminal crash; making his exit from the race mandatory
  • Lap 153: Rising oil pressure forced Buddy Baker to accept 16th place for the race
  • Lap 169: A faulty axle managed to end Elmo Langley's attempt at a top-ten finish
  • Lap 209: Canadian driver Don Biederman managed to overheat his vehicle; cauing him to leave the race
  • Lap 219: David Pearson takes over the lead from Richard Petty
  • End of race: David Pearson wins the race

Finishing order

  1. David Pearson
  2. Richard Petty
  3. James Hylton
  4. John Sears†
  5. Tom Pistone
  6. Wendell Scott†
  7. Clyde Lynn†
  8. J.D. McDuffie†
  9. Henley Gray
  10. Eddie Yarboro
  11. Don Biederman*†
  12. Ernest Eury
  13. Larry Manning
  14. Joel Davis
  15. Elmo Langley*†
  16. Buddy Baker*†
  17. Curtis Turner*†
  18. Bobby Allison*
  19. Bill Seifert*
  20. Paul Dean Holt*
  21. Hank Thomas*
  22. Buddy Arrington*
  23. Wayne Smith*
  24. Jimmy Helms*

* Driver failed to finish race
† Driver is deceased

References

  1. ^ "1966 Myers Brothers 250 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "1966 Myers Brothers 250 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-11-20.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "1966 Myers Brothers 250 racing results (second reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  4. ^ "Curtis Turner's Death". Motorsports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
Preceded by NASCAR Grand National Series season
1966 		Succeeded by


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