1963 Old Dominion 500
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| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 48 of 55 in the 1963 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway | |||
| Date | September 22, 1963 | ||
| Official name | Old Dominion 500 | ||
| Location | Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.844 km (0.525 miles) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 262.5 mi (442.4 km) | ||
| Weather | Mild with temperatures of 73.9 °F (23.3 °C); wind speeds of 17.1 miles per hour (27.5 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 67.486 mph (108.608 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 20,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Fox Racing | ||
| Time | 24.530 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Fred Lorenzen | Holman-Moody | |
| Laps | 421 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 28 | Fred Lorenzen | Holman-Moody | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1963 Old Dominion 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 22, 1963, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.
Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races.[2] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.[3] The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.[3]
Race report
The race was scheduled for 500 laps; taking three hours and forty-two minutes to complete.[4] Fred Lorenzen defeated Marvin Panch by a single lap and two seconds.[4] Twenty thousand people came to witness three lead changes and five cautions for eighteen laps.[4] Junior Johnson won the pole position for this race; driving speeds up to 73.379 miles per hour (118.092 km/h) in qualifying.[4] Speeds during the actual race managed to reach up to 67.486 miles per hour (108.608 km/h).[4]
Jimmy Massey became the last-place finisher after having to drop out prior to the race due to a terminal crash with Jimmy Pardue.[4] Jack Anderson pulled out of the race on lap 13 after dealing with a faulty head gasket in his vehicle.[4] An oil leak would take Bobby Keck out of the action on lap 26.[4] A faulty vehicle bearing forced Perk Brown out of the race on lap 43.[4] Problems with the vehicles' brakes would force Major Melton and Fred Harb to retire from the race.[4]
Perk Brown and Major Melton would end their NASCAR Grand National Series careers after the conclusion of this race.[4]
Most of the car owners that were involved in the race were independents and had no affiliation with a multi-car team.[5] This race still holds the record for the fewest leaders in a NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville along with the 1961 Old Dominion 500, the 1965 Old Dominion 500 and the 1976 Old Dominion 500.[6] Individual winnings for this race were as low as $100 ($1,027 when adjusted for inflation) and as high as $3,800 ($39,028 when adjusted for inflation).[7]
At least nine notable crew chiefs attended this race; including Ray Fox, Herman Beam, Glen Wood and Herb Nab.[8]
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.