Racing History Minute - May 19, 1963
Stock Car Racing History
Found more info about qualifying. I THINK this may help clarify. On the other hand, there is still plenty of confusion to go around. The first round of qualifying was a week before the race on Sunday, May 12. Dieringer won the pole in Stroppe's Mercury. But he was a last minute sub for the car. Stroppe and presumably Richter arranged for Weatherly to race the car. Pontiac squelched that idea, and Little Joe put together a separate deal with Ray Nichels. Dieringer had to hump it overnight from South Carolina where he finished 7th in the Rebel 300 on Saturday, May 11.
Neither Jack Smith or Rex White made the trip for the first day of time trials. Stick Elliott lost an engine in Jack's #47 at Darlington. So they may have had their hands full with the tear down and rebuild vs. making the trip west for qualifying. Smith's name is not included in the top 15 finishers at Riverside which leads me to question if he made the trip race weekend. His car is also not included in the rundown for either the Old Dominion or Southside races on May 18th and 19th. So really, we don't know jack about where Jack raced. Ha.
Rex finished dead last at Darlington after a wreck on lap 2. He too may have made the decision to start on the repairs for the GN car vs. flying to Riverside for qualifying. Yet he isn't listed in the rundown for either Virginia GN race or the Riverside one. Someone get Rex on the phone & find out where he was that weekend!
After round one, it seems the locked-in top qualifiers were:
1. Darel Dieringer
2. Bob Perry
3. Bruce Worrell
4. Dick Santee
5. Denny Weinburg
6. Lloyd Dane
7. Jack Norton
8. Al Self
9. Jim Cook
10. Jim Simpson (in Chevy that had been arranged for Rex)
Additional qualifying was held Saturday, May 18. It seems Skip Hudson was quickest ON THAT DAY in Weatherly's ride. That would slot the car 11th. Penske was 3rd quickest overall behind Dieringer and Hudson/Weatherly, and he would have lined up 12th. That helps reconcile qualifying and race reports I've found. Only took 53 years.