I waited for Tim to see his choice of race for his Racing Minute today. When he went with Hutch's win at Atlanta in 1967, I figured the deck was clear to post this supplement.
On August 4, Tim and I posted about Jim Paschal's third consecutive win at Nashville in 1963. On August 5, I posted about Paschal's second win in 1962. Today, I'm posting about his first of three wins in the Nashville 500 on August 6, 1961.
Rex White won the pole.
And he was all smiles during the promo photo shoot for the race. (I plan to contact The Tennessean to see if I could get a better version of this photo.)
But I guess some of Rex's smiles faded when he blew a tire and stuck it in the fence.
Richard Petty started on the front row alongside Rex, and he dominated the race leading over 360 laps. But an overheated engine resulted in the 43 having to park it and watch the rest of the race from a different vantage point.
Paschal took over in his Julian Petty-owned Pontiac and led the next 41 laps. Then the rain began to fall, and the race was called after 403 laps. (Click on article to enlarge it for easier reading.)
By 1961, Richard had already built a solid fan following. Many were disappointed to see such a dominant run ended. And of course, most were disappointed when the last 20% of the race was cancelled because of summer showers.
Fin | Driver | Car |
1 | Jim Paschal | '61 Pontiac |
2 | Ned Jarrett | '61 Chevrolet |
3 | Johnny Allen | '61 Chevrolet |
4 | Buck Baker | '61 Chrysler |
5 | Emanuel Zervakis | '61 Chevrolet |
6 | George Alsobrook | '61 Ford |
7 | Jimmy Pardue | '60 Chevrolet |
8 | G.C. Spencer | '60 Chevrolet |
9 | Paul Lewis | '61 Chevrolet |
10 | L.D. Austin | '61 Chevrolet |
11 | Herman Beam | '60 Ford |
12 | Bob Barron | '60 Dodge |
13 | Crash Bond | '60 Ford |
14 | Richard Petty | '61 Plymouth |
15 | Jack Smith | '61 Pontiac |
16 | Curtis Crider | '61 Mercury |
17 | Charlie Chapman | '60 Ford |
18 | Tommy Wells | '60 Chevrolet |
19 | Junior Johnson | '60 Pontiac |
20 | Bob Presnell | '59 Chevrolet |
21 | Dave Mader | '61 Chevrolet |
22 | Buddy Baker | '61 Chrysler |
23 | Rex White | '61 Chevrolet |
24 | Doug Yates | '61 Plymouth |
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 07/18/17 12:21:25PM