May 28, 1961 - Charlotte's World 600

When the famed Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, a smaller track sat right off to its edge - the Daytona Beach Kennel Club. The track was a greyhound racing facility owned by John Masoni. 

As an effort to promote the track and bolster betting... errr, races, Masoni lauched a race team in 1960 and hired mechanic Ray Fox to lead his efforts. He hired Junior Johnson as his driver, and *BOOM* just like that Fox and Johnson won the second annual Daytona 500. Johnson won twice more in 1960 before moving on to Rex Lovette's Holly Farms Chicken Pontiac team in 1961. 

Though not at the same level as in 1960, Masoni returned in 1961 and ended up fielding cars for a handful of drivers. After putting established drivers such as Jim Paschal and Marvin Panch in his cars, Masoni gave young South Carolina driver Davie Pearson a shot in the World 600 - though late in the game.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

A week before the 600,  Richard Petty and Joe Weatherly won twin qualifying races. Their wins set them up for a front row start in the following Sunday's 600 and eased any anxiety they may have had about qualifying. Of course, neither driver ever showed much outward anxiety about their racing efforts anyway.

NASCAR sanctioned two Grand National points races in California as the regulars were in North Carolina. Lloyd Dane won at Riverside's road course the same day the good ol' boys ran the qualifying races in Charlotte. Eddie Gray then won a 100-mile race at the famed Ascot Stadium the day before the 600. No one in either race was a regular on NASCAR's GN circuit, so it's not as if anyone paid a points price for going coast to coast to coast in a matter of a few days.

Ralph Earnhardt finished second to Petty in the first qualifying race, and Johnson was runner-up to Weatherly in the second qualifying race. Unlike Daytona, however, where the qualifying races help set the odd and even starters, Charlotte's heats set only the front row. The remainder of the cars had to re-qualify for position in the days leading up to the 600.

Between Sunday and midweek, Johnson bailed from Masoni's car and latched on with the Holly Farms ride. Needing a driver, Masoni reached out to Pearson who hadn't even raced in the twin qualifying heats. The 1960 Rookie of the Year had made a handful of starts in 1961 with results that were all over the board. He jumped at the chance to get in Masoni's car and promptly put down the quickest lap during Wednesday's session to lock in the third starting position. 

Despite finishing second in his qualifying race, Earnhardt ended up starting sixth in the 600 in Cotton Owens' Pontiac - the team Pearson joined in 1963.

The Petty team entered a second car for the 600. Family patriarch and the all-time winningest NASCAR driver (at the time), Lee Petty, continued his recovery from injuries suffered in a savage, over-the-wall accident at Daytona in February. Yet the team soldiered forward. 

Richard raced his yet-to-be-famous #43 1961 Plymouth, and California's Marvin Porter was hired to pilot the team's #44 year-old Plymouth. Porter finished fifth in his qualifying race yet didn't fare so well when he re-qualified 31st. Things turned worse in the 600 when an engine failure doomed the effort to 45th place finish in the 55-car field.

Little Joe got the jump on Ol' Blue at the start. Weatherly led the first lap before Pearson jumped from his third starting spot to lead the next lap.

Weatherly rallied back to lead the next few laps before Earnhardt put Cotton's Pontiac in the wind to lead 75 of the next 120 laps or so. 

As the race neared halfway, Earnhardt faded a bit as Petty, Pearson, and Fireball Roberts hogged the top three spots. The trio exchanged the lead after each led a chunk of laps and set themselves up for the final quarter of the race. 

Several laps shy of lap 300; however, the caution waved for a vicious accident. Reds Kagle tore through the guardrail between turns three and four. His car came to a sudden stop as the guardrail pierced through the car mangling Kagle's left leg. Remarkably, Kagle survived though he did lose his leg to the accident. 

When the race returned to green after about 25 caution laps to tend to Kagle, Pearson seized the lead. While running second with about 70 laps to go, Petty's engine met the fate of his teammate. The pole winner, who had already endured engine failures in a few other races earlier in the season, cruised helplessly to the garage and had to wait another day for his third win of the season.

With his toughest competitor sidelined, Pearson built a three-lap lead over Fireball. Fox was in position to lead his team to another big win - when racing luck turned against him and Pearson.

As Pearson headed down the back stretch on lap 398 and looking for the white flag, his right rear tire blew. Being on the backstretch helped him a bit as he didn't spin. In the era before safety inner liners, Pearson's tire went kablooey and collapsed to the rim. He dropped to the apron and slowed his speed to a crawl in an attempt just to keep the car going straight for the next one and a half laps. 

Fireball stayed in the gas to make up as much lost time as possible. Though he made up a lap and then some on the leader, Pearson coaxed his car around the final four corners to score his first career NASCAR Grand National victory.

Embed from Getty Images

Source: Charlotte News

TMC