1964 World 600
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 25 of 62 in the 1964 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
The dangerous crash that hospitalized Fireball Roberts before he died of pneumonia 6 weeks later.
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| Date | May 24, 1964 | ||
| Official name | World 600 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi (2.414 km) |
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| Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965.5 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures between 64.9 °F (18.3 °C) and 82.0 °F (27.8 °C); wind speed reaching a maximum of 10.10 miles per hour (16.25 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 125.772 miles per hour (202.410 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 66,311 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Burton-Robinson | ||
| Time | 149.64 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jim Paschal | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 126 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 41 | Jim Paschal | Petty Enterprises | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS (through local affiliate WBTV) | ||
| Announcers | local reporters | ||
The 1964 World 600, the fifth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that took place on May 24, 1964, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
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.
There was a 30-mile consolation race the day before this to determine the final 14 starters.
Bobby Keck finished 14th in that race (in a 1963 Ford) but it seems he was unable to start the 600 and his car was withdrawn, with Pete Stewart taking the last starting position on the grid as the first alternate starter. Major Melton finished 16th in that race driving a 1963 Dodge and was the second alternate.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race, as well as the Bank of America 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.
This race took place in the daytime because the lights for nighttime racing were not installed until 1992 (for the 8th NASCAR All-Star Race in its "modern day" history).
The race covered four hundred laps of a paved oval track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km). It took four hours, forty-six minutes, and fourteen seconds for the race to go from the first green flag to the checkered flag. Seven cautions were given out by NASCAR officials for forty-eight laps. Notable speeds were: 125.772 miles per hour (202.410 km/h) for the average speed and 144.346 miles per hour (232.302 km/h) for the pole position speed. There was a live attendance of exactly 66,311 racing fans. Miss Linda Vaughn was selected to be Pontiac's representative at this event; she was an adolescent during that time.
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