1964 Daytona 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 8 of 62 in the 1964 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway. | |||
| Date | February 23, 1964 | ||
| Location |
Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Cold with temperatures approaching 55 °F (13 °C); wind speeds approaching 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 154.334 miles per hour (248.376 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ray Nichels | ||
| Time | 174.91 miles per hour (281.49 km/h) | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 184 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
The 1964 Daytona 500, was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on February 23, 1964 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Summary
The race was won by Richard Petty driving a 1964 Plymouth. Petty drove his number 43 to victory in 3 hours and 14 minutes. There were three caution flags that slowed the race for 19 laps. A new Plymouth racing machine debuted in this race; NASCAR ordered the teams who had it to ordered to sandbag it during practice and qualifying due to their superiority.[2]
The transition to purposely-built racers occurred gradually begain in the early 1960s. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s most of the cars were trailored to events or hauled in by trucks.
Bobby Marshman would retire from NASCAR Grand National Series racing after the conclusion of this event.[2] For some drivers, this would be their last Daytona 500, as the 1960s were an especially brutal era for NASCAR. Jimmy Pardue killed later in the year in a test crash. Billy Wade was killed in a tire test in January 1965. Bobby Marshman killed in a test crash in late 1964 at Phoenix. Fireball Roberts died in July from injuries inflicted while racing in the World 600 and Joe Weatherly was killed at Riverside early that year.
Top ten finishers
| Pos[2] | Grid | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 43 | Richard Petty | Plymouth | 200 | $33,300 |
| 2 | 6 | 54 | Jimmy Pardue | Plymouth | 199 | $11,600 |
| 3 | 1 | 25 | Paul Goldsmith | Plymouth | 198 | $8,600 |
| 4 | 9 | 21 | Marvin Panch | Ford | 198 | $4,350 |
| 5 | 10 | 15 | Jim Paschal | Dodge | 197 | $3,700 |
| 6 | 21 | 1 | Billy Wade | Mercury | 197 | $2,500 |
| 7 | 11 | 16 | Darel Dieringer | Mercury | 197 | $2,000 |
| 8 | 14 | 29 | Larry Frank | Ford | 197 | $1,750 |
| 9 | 3 | 3 | Junior Johnson | Dodge | 197 | $1,500 |
| 10 | 19 | 17 | Dave MacDonald | Mercury | 196 | $1,200 |
Timeline
- Start of race: Paul Goldsmith started the event in first place
- Lap 2: Richard Petty took over the lead from Paul Goldsmith
- Lap 3: Bill McMahan could not handle his racing vehicle properly
- Lap 7: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from Richard Petty
- Lap 10: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Isaac
- Lap 13: Fireball Roberts' transmission stopped working in a safe manner
- Lap 15: Bobby Johns managed to blow his engine while he was driving
- Lap 17: Bobby Marshman managed to overheat his vehicle
- Lap 21: Ronnie Chumley managed to overheat his engine
- Lap 31: G.C. Spencer had to leave the race due to a faulty engine
- Lap 40: A.J. Foyt took over the lead from Richard Petty
- Lap 42: Paul Goldsmith took over the lead from A.J. Foyt
- Lap 49: Fred Lorenzen managed to blow his engine
- Lap 52: Richard Petty took over the lead from Paul Goldsmith
- Lap 54: David Pearson's accident forced the yellow flag to appear, caution ended on lap 60
- Lap 64: Buddy Baker managed to blow his engine
- Lap 77: Parnelli Jones managed to blow his engine
- Lap 107: Johnny Rutherford had a terminal crash
- Lap 112: Johnny Rutherford and Ned Jarrett's accident on turn 2 caused a caution, which ended on lap 118
- Lap 126: Jim McElreath had a terminal crash
- Lap 130: Jim McElreath's accident created a caution which ended on lap 134
- Lap 189: Bobby Isaac ran out of fuel while racing
- Finish: Richard Petty was officially declared the winner of the event
References
- ^ "Weather of the 1964 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-01-25.
- ^ a b c "1964 Daytona 500". racing-reference.info. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
 | This NASCAR-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
  | This article related to sports in Florida is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |