Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States, 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 World 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the National 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith 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).
Race report
Jim Paschal led 334 laps during the race; he would go on to win this event by holding off two hard-chargers, David Pearson and Bobby Allison. Paschal had built a three-lap lead when he lost control of his Plymouth and hit the wall on Lap 339 of 400. His crew patched up his car, but he was back on the same lap as his challengers.[1] Tom Ingram would retire from NASCAR after the race was over.[2]
Paschal was in the middle of winning three races out of four; the $28,450 payoff dwarfed the other races for him that year.[1] He was also considered to be one of the most underrated drivers in NASCAR history, despite winning only 25 races.[3] Martin Truex Jr would eventually beat Jim Paschal's record at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2017 by virtue of leading 392 laps in a race.
Drivers who failed to qualify for the race were Curtis Turner (#74), Don Hume (#09), Jimmy Helms (#91), Ken Spikes (#62) and Paul Marino (#07).[4] The day before the race, Hume crashed into the guardrail during a 30-lap last chance qualifying race, causing his car to flip wildly. The footage was used in the movie Speedway, starring Elvis Presley.