1968 Northern 300
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 29 of 49 in the 1968 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
Trenton Speedway, featuring its "kidney bean" shape.
|
|||
| Date | July 14, 1968 | ||
| Official name | Northern 300 | ||
| Location | Trenton Speedway, Trenton, New Jersey | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.000 mi (1.609 km) |
||
| Distance | 300 laps, 300 mi (500 km) | ||
| Weather | Warm with temperatures approaching 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 89.079 miles per hour (143.359 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 16,800 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Junior Johnson & Associates | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Laps | 285 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 98 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | Ned Jarrett (radio commentary) | ||
Coordinates: 40°14′21″N 74°43′16″W / 40.23917°N 74.72111°W
The 1968 Northern 300 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on July 14, 1968, at Trenton Speedway in Trenton, New Jersey.
The first race at the Fairgrounds was held on September 24, 1900, but there was no further racing there until 1907. Regular racing began in 1912 and continued until 1941. A new 1 mile dirt oval was opened in 1946. In 1957 the track was paved. It operated in that configuration until 1968 when the track was expanded to 1.5 miles (2.41 km) and a "kidney bean" shape with a 20° right-hand dogleg on the back stretch and a wider turn 3 & 4 complex than turns 1 & 2. The track closed in 1980 and the Fairgrounds itself closed 3 years later. The former site of the speedway is now occupied by the Grounds for Sculpture, a UPS shipping facility, and the housing development known as "Hamilton Lakes".
Three hundred laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 1.000 mile (1.609 km). The total time of the race was three hours and twenty-two minutes; LeeRoy Yarbrough defeated David Pearson by more than one lap in front of 16800 people. Speeds for the race were: 89.079 miles per hour (143.359 km/h) as the average and 103.717 miles per hour (166.916 km/h) as the pole position speed. Five cautions were waved for twenty-eight laps. Retired Canadian driver Frog Fagan participated in this race. Total winnings for this race were $17,725 USD ($122,073.52 when considering inflation).
...
Wikipedia