1960 World 600

Auto race run in North Carolina in 1960 February 2025 CUST Race 21 of 44 in the 1960 NASCAR Grand National Series season World 600 Racing information at Racing Reference http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/zipcode/28027/1960-06-19 1960 World 600 weather information The Old Farmers' Almanac 2015-11-28 1960 06 19 1960 21 44 1960_World_600_program_cover_and_logo.jpg 1960 World 600 program cover World 600 Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina 1.500 2.414 400 600 965 Very hot with temperatures of 89.1 F C; wind speeds up to 13.8 mph km/h 107.735 mi/h 35,462 Fireball Roberts John Hines Jack Smith Jack Smith 198 89 Joe Lee Johnson Paul McDuffie The 1960 World 600 was the inaugural running of the World 600, a NASCAR Grand National Series event. It was run on June 19, 1960, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It was NASCAR's first 600-mile race and it was the longest NASCAR race distance. Joe Lee Johnson was the winner of the inaugural race. Background thumb|left|Charlotte Motor Speedway, the track where the race was held. Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, thirteen miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The track is a 1.5 mi km on asphalt quad-oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the World 600 and the National 400. The speedway broke ground in 1958 with Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner as the architects. Charlotte Motor Speedway is now operated by Speedway Motorsports. Race report The race was postponed for three weeks because of construction delays. During the race, Don O'Dell's Pontiac crashed into the driver's door of Lenny Page's Chevy. Lenny Page, who was lucky to survive the crash due to the safety systems at that time, was near death afterward, but reporter Chris Economaki rushed to the scene and aided Page with CPR until safety crews arrived. He was later credited with saving Lenny's life. Cars were allowed to run dirt track style screens to protect the radiators from debris, as officials were aware of the problem before the race started. This is the only time a father and son have been disqualified in the same race. This was the last time the #89 has won in the Cup Series.Car number 89 in 1960 at Racing Reference Ed Markstellar and Japanese-American driver George Tet would make their stock car debuts in this race while Jim Austin, Arnold Gardner and Gene Marmor would make their finale.Notable race information at Race Database Johnny Wolford would run his only NASCAR Cup Series race here. Rex White would take away the championship lead from Richard Petty with his sixth-place finish as opposed to Petty finishing in 55th place due to a disqualification. Petty and five other drivers (Lee Petty, Bob Welborn, Paul Lewis, Junior Johnson, and Lenny Page) were all disqualified for making illegal entrances to pit road. Notable crew chiefs included Louis Clements, Bud Allman, Ray Fox, Shorty Johns, Bud Moore, Mario Rossi, Dale Swanson and Paul McDuffie.Crew chief information at Racing Reference Results Pos Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps completed 1 20 89 Joe Lee Johnson Chevrolet 400 2 38 73 Johnny Beauchamp Chevrolet 396 3 6 46 Bobby Johns Plymouth 394 4 44 92 Gerald Duke Ford Thunderbird 388 5 14 87 Buck Baker Chevrolet 386 6 7 4 Rex White Chevrolet 378 7 31 94 Banjo Matthews Ford 377 8 40 63 Tiny Lund Pontiac 375 9 39 81 Shorty Rollins Ford 374 10 19 67 David Pearson Chevrolet 367 11 58 78 Charley Griffith Chevrolet 365 12 2 47 Jack Smith Pontiac 352 13 49 55 Ernie Gahan Chevrolet 350 14 59 19 Herman Beam Ford 344 15 51 38 Jim Cook Ford 343 16 55 35 Jimmy Pardue Plymouth 343 17 32 77 Marvin Panch Ford 341 18 42 21 Jimmy Massey Chevrolet 333 19 48 20 Buddy Baker Ford 332 20 28 91 Larry Frank Ford 320 21 37 48 G.C. Spencer Chevrolet 316 22 24 45 Joe Caspolich Oldsmobile 313 23 26 64 Bunkie Blackburn Ford 311 24 23 61 Jimmy Thompson Ford Thunderbird 310 25 10 90 Speedy Thompson Ford 287 26 50 33 Reb Wickersham Oldsmobile 260 27 41 24 Arnold Gardner Ford 257 28 13 7 Jim Reed Chevrolet 246 29 54 17 Shorty York Ford 243 30 5 11 Ned Jarrett Ford 233 31 9 59 Tom Pistone Chevrolet 221 32 22 70 Elmo Henderson Pontiac 212 33 16 85 Emanuel Zervakis Chevrolet 209 34 33 15 Johnny Sudderth Ford 202 35 1 22 Fireball Roberts Pontiac 191 36 21 23 Doug Yates Plymouth 176 37 46 51 Roy Tyner Oldsmobile 176 38 47 50 George Tet Ford 171 39 3 26 Curtis Turner Ford 154 40 27 39 Herb Tillman Chevrolet 138 41 18 28 Fred Lorenzen Ford 118 42 52 32 Richard Riley Chevrolet 115 43 15 12 Joe Weatherly Ford 85 44 36 99 Wilbur Rakestraw Ford 57 45 30 82 Joe Eubanks Chevrolet 46 46 35 2 Possum Jones Chevrolet 39 47 53 74 L.D. Austin Chevrolet 33 48 43 86 Ed Markstellar Ford 27 49 25 71 Gene Marmor Pontiac 24 50 57 9 Jim Austin Ford 24 51 4 6 Cotton Owens Pontiac 6 52 17 69 Johnny Allen Chevrolet 6 53 45 95 Bob Duell Ford 6 54 56 88 Johnny Wolford Ford 5 55 11 43 Richard Petty Plymouth 0 56 8 42 Lee Petty Plymouth 0 57 12 49 Bob Welborn Ford 0 58 34 1 Paul Lewis Chevrolet 0 59 29 27 Junior Johnson Chevrolet 0 60 60 83 Lennie Page Ford Thunderbird 0 Timeline Section reference: Start of race: Fireball Roberts officially started with race with the pole position. Lap 5: Johnny Walford had a terminal crash. Lap 6: Cotton Owens and Johnny Allen were involved in a terminal crash. Lap 27: Ed Markstellar was involved in a terminal crash. Lap 66: Tom Pistone took over the lead from Fireball Roberts. Lap 74: Junior Johnson took over the lead from Tom Pistone. Lap 79: Curtis Turner took over the lead from Junior Johnson. Lap 85: Joe Weatherly had a terminal crash. Lap 95: Jack Smith took over the lead from Curtis Turner. Lap 97: Fireball Roberts took over the lead from Jack Smith. Lap 138: Herb Tillman had a terminal crash. Lap 141: Jack Smith took over the lead from Fireball Roberts. Lap 144: Fireball Roberts took over the lead from Jack Smith. Lap 149: Curtis Turner took over the lead from Fireball Roberts. Lap 154: Tom Pistone took over the lead from Curtis Turner. Lap 160: Jack Smith took over the lead from Tom Pistone. Lap 176: Doug Yates and Roy Tyner were involved in a terminal crash. Lap 233: Ned Jarrett had a terminal crash. Lap 246: Jim Reed had a terminal crash. Lap 333: Transmission problems would sideline Jimmy Massey on this lap. Lap 341: Problems with his vehicle's frame would take Marvin Panch out of the race. Lap 352: Jack Smith would experience problems with his vehicle's fuel tank. Lap 353: Joe Lee Johnson took over the lead from Jack Smith. Lap 365: Charley Griffith blew his vehicle's engine while driving at high speeds. Finish: Joe Lee Johnson was officially declared the winner of the event. Race Statistics Section reference: Time of race: 5:34:06 Average Speed: 107.735 mph Pole Speed: 133.904 mph Cautions: 8 for 45 laps Margin of Victory: 4 laps + Lead changes: 11 References 1960 California 250 1960 International 200 NASCAR Grand National Series Season 1960 World 600 World 600 Category:NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway World 600