1963 Pickens 200

1963 Pickens 200

Race details[1][2][3]
Race 38 of 55 in the 1963 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date	July 30, 1963
Official name	Pickens 200
Location	Greenville-Pickens Speedway (Greenville, South Carolina)
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.500 mi (0.804 km)
Distance	200 laps, 100 mi (160 km)
Weather	Warm with temperatures approaching 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)
Average speed	62.456 miles per hour (100.513 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ned Jarrett	Charles Robinson
Most laps led
Driver	Ned Jarrett	Charles Robinson
Laps	112
Winner
No. 41	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1963 Pickens 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on June 30, 1963 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South 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 any more.

Summary

Three lead changes ended up circulating amongst three different race leaders.^[4]

Two cautions were initiated by NASCAR with the average speed of the competitors being 62.456 miles per hour (100.513 km/h).^[2][3] Pole position winner Ned Jarrett would earn the post with a speed of 65.526 miles per hour (105.454 km/h) on his 1963 Ford Galaxie before losing to Richard Petty driving his 1963 Plymouth Belvedere in the actual race.^[2][5] J. D. McDuffie would crash into the wall on his first lap in his 1961 Ford Galaxie vehicle; causing him to become the last-place finisher of the race.^[2][3][4] Frank Warren would make his NASCAR debut racing against Buck Baker, Neil Castles, Joe Weatherly, Wendell Scott (NASCAR's first African-American competitor), and Cale Yarborough.^[2][3][4]

This racing event took place on a dirt track oval with 200 laps being the pre-determined number of laps according to the NASCAR officials who sanctioned the event.^[2][3]

Timeline

• Start of race: Ned Jarrett started the race with the pole position while J.D. McDuffie's vehicle suffered from a terminal crash
• Lap 10: Jack Smith's vehicle overheated, causing him to withdraw from the race
• Lap 23: Bunkie Blackburn's engine came to a screeching halt; Billy Wade developed problems with his vehicle's differential
• Lap 70: David Pearson takes over the lead from Ned Jarrett
• Lap 71: Stick Elliott's V-gasket became problematic, causing him to leave the race
• Lap 90: Curtis Crider's fuel pump developed problems, forcing him out of the race
• Lap 106: Ned Jarrett takes over the lead from David Pearson
• Lap 149: Richard Petty takes over the lead from Ned Jarrett
• Lap 172: Neil Castles' vehicle had its spindle become problematic, forcing him to withdraw from the event
• Finish: Richard Petty was officially declared the winner of the event

Top ten finishers

1. Richard Petty – #41
2. Ned Jarrett – #11
3. Buck Baker – #87
4. Fred Harb – #2
5. Bobby Isaac – #99
6. David Pearson – #6
7. Tiny Lund – #32
8. Joe Weatherly – #05
9. Frank Warren – #X
10. Wendell Scott – #34

References

1. "1963 Pickens 200 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
2. "1963 Pickens 200 racing information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
3. "1963 Pickens 200 racing information (second reference)". Ultimate Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
4. "NASCAR debut for Frank Warren/J.D. McDuffie's accident". Race Database. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
5. "1963 Pickens 200 pole winner and race winner". Jacobs USA. Retrieved 2011-01-31.