1961 Dixie 400
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 46 of 52 in the 1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
Layout of Atlanta International Speedway, used until 1996
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| Date | September 17, 1961 | ||
| Official name | Dixie 400 | ||
| Location | Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi (2.400 km) |
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| Distance | 267 laps, 401 mi (705 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 69.1 °F (20.6 °C); wind speeds up to 15.9 miles per hour (25.6 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 125.384 miles per hour (201.786 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 30,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Smokey Yunick Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Banjo Matthews | Matthews Racing | |
| Laps | 167 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | David Pearson | John Masoni | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1961 Dixie 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on September 17, 1961, at Atlanta International Raceway in Hampton, Georgia.
Seven automobile manufacturers from the United States would demonstrate their fastest stock car vehicles in an attempt to impress new vehicle sales on Monday. Homologation rules during this era only allowed drivers to bring vehicles that are street-legal and driver to the track directly by the competing driver(s). A filming of a full-length feature Hollywood film entitled Thundering Wheels was a part of the festivities planned for this racing event in addition to a 210-minute performance by some of the legendary performers from the Grand Ole Opry. Local beauty pageant personality Linda Vaughn was chosen to be the queen of the 1961 running of the Dixie 400.
Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway) is one of ten current intermediate track to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. However, at the time, only Charlotte and Darlington were built.
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