1961 Southern 500 - NASCAR Race

Name of Race:	1961 Southern 500
Name of Track:	Darlington Raceway
Date:	N/A

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina.

Looks Like An Egg

It was the first superspeedway built with NASCAR racing in mind and is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

Largest Field of Racers

Darlington has an interesting history. When the 1.366 mile long track first opened over a half-century ago, it was not uncommon for there to be 80 or more entrants in a race; this was curtailed over the years as NASCAR adopted a more uniform set of guidelines with regard to the number of cars which could qualify for a race.

Flip-Flop

In recent years the track has been reconfigured; what was the front stretch is now the back stretch, and the turns have been renumbered accordingly. Seating has been increased to approximately 60,000; it has been limited by the proximity of a railroad track to the facility, a highway behind the back stretch, and the still-present pond.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

1961 Southern 500 NASCAR Race Results

Below are the race results for 1961 Southern 500, in order of finishing place.

Fin	Driver	Num	Start	Money	Laps	Status	Sponsor
1	Nelson Stacy	29	3	$18,430	364	running	Holt-Stacy
2	Fireball Roberts	22	1	$10,670	364	running	Smokey Yunick
3	David Pearson	3	9	$5,060	363	running	Daytona Kennel
4	Jim Paschal	44	7	$2,625	359	running	Julian Petty
5	Emanuel Zervakis	85	20	$2,450	359	running	Monroe Shook
6	Ned Jarrett	11	33	$1,500	354	running	B.G. Holloway
7	Johnny Allen	14	26	$1,195	348	running	Joe Lee Johnson
9	Ralph Earnhardt	6	6	$875	346	engine	Cotton Owens
10	Rex White	47	36	$925	345	running	Jack Smith
11	Bobby Johns	72	12	$750	344	running	Shorty Johns
13	Elmo Langley	30	32	$500	341	running	Fred Clark
14	Junior Johnson	27	14	$450	337	running	Holly Farms
15	Tiny Lund	59	24	$650	323	crash	B.G. Holloway
16	L.D. Austin	74	40	$350	321	running	L.D. Austin
17	Jimmy Pardue	54	35	$300	316	running	Jimmy Pardue
18	Curtis Crider	62	39	$750	312	running	Curtis Crider
19	Herman Beam	19	23	$250	312	running	Herman Beam
20	Larry Frank	46	17	$480	273	spindle	Jack Smith
22	Joe Weatherly	8	4	$370	229	rf hub	Bud Moore
23	Jim Reed	7	31	$200	228	brakes	Jim Reed
24	Buddy Baker	86	15	$700	221	bearings	Buck Baker
25	T.C. Hunt	10	34	$700	206	rear end	Fred Wheat
26	Richard Petty	43	5	$1,110	201	engine	Petty Enterprises
27	Buck Baker	87	11	$220	190	con rod	Buck Baker
28	Tommy Irwin	2	21	$200	164	rocker arm	Tom Daniels
29	Fred Lorenzen	28	2	$950	158	throttle	Holman-Moody
30	Cale Yarborough	52	19	$200	135	engine	Julian Buesink
31	Marvin Panch	42	8	$200	94	carburetor	Petty Enterprises
32	Marvin Porter	82	28	$200	85	crash
33	Paul Lewis	1	29	$200	81	crash	Jess Potter
34	Woodie Wilson	5	30	$200	79	crash	Leroy Faucett
35	Ed Livingston	68	38	$200	79	h gasket	Curtis Crider
37	Joe Caspolich	32	22	$200	50	rear end
38	Darel Dieringer	80	27	$300	45	rear end	Tubby Gonzales
39	Bunkie Blackburn	9	13	$200	34	h gasket	Wildcat Williams
40	Friday Hassler	96	37	$200	22	brakes	J.L. Cheatham
41	George Alsobrook	99	43	$200	2	handling	Joe Jones
42	Red Hollingsworth	75	41	$200	2	handling	J.D. Braswell