1963 Golden State 400

Auto race held at Riverside International Raceway in 1963 February 2025 CUST Race 55 of 55 in the 1963 NASCAR Grand National Series season Golden State 400 http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/CA/Moreno%20Valley/1963-11-03 1963 Golden State 400 weather information The Old Farmers' Almanac 2012-08-02 http://www.racing-reference.info/race/1963_Golden_State_400/W 1963 Golden State 400 race information Racing Reference 2011-04-03 http://www.databaseracing.com/races/raceinfo.htm?rid=629 1963 Golden State 400 race information (second reference) Database Racing 2011-04-04 1963 11 3 1963 55 55 Circuit Riverside.svg Layout of Riverside International Raceway Temperatures of 66.9 F C; wind speeds of 9.9 mph km/h Golden State 400 Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California 2.620 4.216 153 400.9 645.1 91.645 mph on 20,000 Dan Gurney Wood Brothers Racing 96.190 seconds Dave MacDonald Wood Brothers Racing 92 16 Darel Dieringer Bill Stroppe untelevised none The 1963 Golden State 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on November 3, 1963, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. Background Riverside International Raceway a race track or road course in Moreno Valley, California. The track was in operation from September 22, 1957, to July 2, 1989. The original course design proved to be dangerous, and it was partially reconfigured in 1969. The track was built to accommodate several different configurations, depending on the type of car and race length. The three options on Riverside Raceway were the long course (3.27 mi km), the short course (2.5 mi km), and the NASCAR (2.62 mi km) course. The original racetrack had a 1.1 mi km on backstretch from 1957 to 1968. When the track was redesigned in 1969, Turn 9 was reconfigured with a wider radius and a dogleg approach added to reduce strain on the cars' brakes. Race report This event took four hours and twenty-one seconds; Darel Dieringer defeated Dave MacDonald by one lap. MacDonald led most of this race until he lost 3rd gear. More than 32000 people would watch the 148-lap race on a road course spanning 2.700 mi km and speeds averaging 91.465 mph km/h. Dan Gurney won the pole position at a speed of 101.050 mph km/h but Marvin Panch substituted for him on the day of the race. Only one caution was waved for the entire race. Forty-one American-born racers would qualify and Bruce Worrell would finish in last place due to an engine problem on the first lap of the race. This would end up becoming the only 1963 race of 300 miles or more where a Holman-Moody Ford failed to secure a place in the top two.1963 NASCAR Grand National Results at Racing Reference Fred Lorenzen only ran just over half the races, focusing on the super speedways, and finished third in points by a good margin over Ned Jarrett, who ran nearly all of them. Lorenzen had a good run going early as he led 20 laps at the start before the transmission failed in his #28 Ford.Driver Fred Lorenzen Career Statistics at Racing Reference Ken Miles, a legendary sports car racer with the Ford GT40 program, made his only NASCAR start and finished just outside the top-10 despite obtaining a considerable amount of damage during the race. Miles was a test driver for Carroll Shelby and he wasn't the only Shelby-connected competitor in this race as Pete Brock, the designer of the iconic Shelby Daytona Coupe, made his only NASCAR Cup start and brought home the #211 Kraco Safety Belts Mercury with a top-20 despite being sidelined by fuel problems. The race purse would add up to $33,780 ($ when adjusted for inflation); with the winner receiving $7,875 ($ when adjusted for inflation) and the last place finisher receiving $200 ($ when adjusted for inflation). http://fantasyracingcheatsheet.com/nascar/races/results/1963/riverside-international-raceway/golden-state-400/842 1963 Golden State 400 purse information Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet 2011-08-03 Joe Weatherly would go on to win the 1963 title over Richard Petty, who overshadowed Weatherly in nearly every statistical category that year. http://www.racing-reference.info/yeardet/1963/W NASCAR Grand National standings for 1963 Racing Reference 2016-11-29 The points were paid per the "importance" of each race. Superspeedway races were paid a certain higher amount. 250 mile major short track races were paid a little lower and short track races of less than 250 miles were paid the lowest amount. Notable crew chiefs in the race were Herb Nab, Bradley Denis, Mario Rossi, and Louis Clements. https://www.racing-reference.info/entrylist/1963-55/W/C 1963 Golden State 400 crew chiefs information Racing Reference 2018-08-27 Richard Petty attempted to drive this race using an automatic transmission but his transmission failed only five laps into the race. He would go on to become a replacement driver for Junior Johnson; although Johnson got credit for the fifth-place finish. Qualifying Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Qualifying time http://www.racing-reference.info/getqualify/1963-55/W 1963 Golden State 400 qualifying information Racing Reference 2017-04-04 April 6, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170406020930/http://www.racing-reference.info/getqualify/1963-55/W dead Speed Speed in miles per hour Owner 1 121 Dan Gurney '63 Ford 1:36.190 101.050 Wood Brothers 2 22 Fireball Roberts '63 Ford 1:37.810 99.376 Holman-Moody 3 16 Darel Dieringer '63 Mercury 1:38.110 99.072 Bill Stroppe 4 28 Fred Lorenzen '63 Ford 1:38.160 99.022 Holman-Moody 5 4 Rex White '63 Mercury 1:38.210 98.971 Rex White 6 21 Dave MacDonald '63 Ford 1:38.400 98.780 Wood Brothers 7 11 Ned Jarrett '63 Ford 1:38.420 98.760 Charles Robinson 8 33 Clem Proctor '63 Pontiac 1:38.850 98.330 Clem Proctor 9 8 Joe Weatherly '63 Mercury 1:39.980 97.219 Bud Moore 10 281 Ken Miles '63 Ford 1:40.310 96.899 Holman-Moody Failed to qualify: Danny Weinberg (#3), A. J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Rodger Ward, Roger Penske Driver change: Dan Gurney (#121) replaced by Marvin Panch Top 10 finishers Pos Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps completed Winnings Laps led Laps as the lead driver Time/Status 1 3 16 Darel Dieringer Mercury 148 $7,845 35 4:21:37 2 6 21 Dave MacDonald Ford 147 $4,655 92 +1 lap 3 1 121 Marvin Panch Ford 147 $2,860 1 +1 lap 4 2 22 Fireball Roberts Ford 147 $1,775 0 +1 lap 5 19 26 Junior Johnson Mercury 145 $1,300 0 +3 laps 6 15 47 Jack Smith Plymouth 144 $1,175 0 +4 laps 7 9 8 Joe Weatherly Mercury 143 $1,475 0 +5 laps 8 22 62 Bill Amick Mercury 142 $1,000 0 +6 laps 9 40 18 Bob Ross Mercury 140 $950 0 +8 laps 10 33 97 Ron Hornaday Ford 140 $850 0 +8 laps Timeline Section reference: Start of race: Fred Lorenzen leaves the start/finish line as the lead driver. Lap 1: Rex White had a terminal crash, forcing him to retire from the race. Lap 22: Dave MacDonald takes over the lead from Fred Lorenzen. Lap 42: Paul Goldsmith had a terminal crash, forcing him out of the race. Lap 44: Bob Bondurant had a terminal crash, forcing him out of the race. Lap 67: Scotty Cain fell out with engine failure. Lap 74: Chuck Shove fell out with engine failure. Lap 77: Darel Dieringer takes over the lead from Dave MacDonald. Lap 80: Dave MacDonald takes over the lead from Darel Dieringer. Lap 116: Darel Dieringer takes over the lead from Dave MacDonald. Lap 117: Jimmy Pardue's vehicle had a major case of transmission issues. Lap 118: Dave MacDonald takes over the lead from Darel Dieringer. Lap 119: Darel Dieringer takes over the lead from Dave MacDonald. Lap 133: Jim Cook had a terminal crash, forcing himself to exit the race prematurely. Lap 134: Pete Brock managed to run out of fuel while racing. Finish: Darel Dieringer was officially declared the winner of the event. References 1963 untitled race at Orange Speedway 1964 Textile 250 NASCAR Grand National Races 1963-64 Golden State 400 Golden State 400 Category:NASCAR races at Riverside International Raceway