1964 Capital City 300
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 53 of 62 in the 1964 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
Layout of Richmond International Speedway
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| Date | September 14, 1964 | ||
| Official name | Capital City 300 | ||
| Location | Virginia State Fairgrounds, Richmond, Virginia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 0.542 mi (0.872 km) |
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| Distance | 300 laps, 150 mi (241 km) | ||
| Weather | Mild with temperatures approaching 72 °F (22 °C); wind speeds up to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 66.89 miles per hour (107.65 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Bondy Long | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Junior Johnson | Matthews Racing | |
| Laps | 117 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 5 | Cotton Owens | Owens Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1964 Capital City 300 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on September 14, 1964, at Virginia State Fairgrounds in Richmond, Virginia. Notable drivers who appeared at this race were Elmo Langley, Wendell Scott, Tiny Lund, Roy Tyner and Richard Petty.
There were 33 American-born drivers on the grid; no foreigners attempted to qualify for this racing event. Vehicles registered from this race varied in year models from 1962 to 1964. NASCAR team owners that were fortunate enough to afford the 1964 model of stock car vehicles found that their vehicles could exceed 175 miles per hour or 282 kilometres per hour in the right circumstances; bringing in an era of unlimited horsepower. Having this level of speed within the sanctioned NASCAR events brought forth many events in addition to tragedies throughout the year in addition to the remainder of the 1960s.
In 1953, Richmond International Raceway began hosting the Grand National Series with Lee Petty winning that first race in Richmond. The original track was paved in 1968. In 1988, the track was re-designed into its present D-shaped configuration
The name for the raceway complex was "Strawberry Hill" until the Virginia State Fairgrounds site was bought out in 1999 and renamed the "Richmond International Raceway". The Strawberry Hill Races, which are a series of steeplechase horse races were formerly held the third Saturday of April at the Richmond Raceway Complex. In 2001, the races were moved to Colonial Downs in New Kent County, Virginia's first Thoroughbred racetrack.
During this race, there were lead changes between Billy Wade, Junior Johnson, and Cotton Owens. The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s; most of the cars were trailered to events or hauled in by trucks.
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