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1961 Southern 500

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NASCAR Grand National race number 42 of 52
Monday, September 4, 1961 at Darlington Raceway, Darlington, SC
364 laps on a 1.375 mile paved track (500.500 miles)

Time of race: 4:54:45
Average speed: 117.787 mph
Pole speed: 128.68 mph

Cautions: 6 for 21 laps
Margin of victory: 2.64 sec
Attendance: 80000
Lead changes: 19

Glossary 1961 NASCAR Grand National results / 1961 standings

Pos	St	#	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Car	Laps	Money	Status	Led
1	3	29	Nelson Stacy	Ron's Ford Sales / Holt-Stacy (Dudley Farrell)	'61 Ford	364	18430	running	72
2	1	22	Fireball Roberts	Smokey Yunick	'61 Pontiac	364	10670	running	180
3	9	3	David Pearson	Daytona Kennel (John Masoni)	'61 Pontiac	363	5060	running	6
4	7	44	Jim Paschal	Julian Petty	'61 Pontiac	359	2625	running	0
5	20	85	Emanuel Zervakis	Monroe Shook	'61 Chevrolet	359	2450	running	0
6	33	11	Ned Jarrett	B.G. Holloway	'61 Chevrolet	354	1500	running	0
7	26	14	Johnny Allen	Joe Lee Johnson	'61 Chevrolet	348	1195	running	0
8	18	24	Roscoe Thompson	James Turner	'60 Pontiac	347	1195	running	0
9	6	6	Ralph Earnhardt	Cotton Owens	'61 Pontiac	346	875	engine	0
10	36	47	Rex White	Jack Smith	'61 Pontiac	345	925	running	0
11	12	72	Bobby Johns	Shorty Johns	'61 Ford	344	750	running	0
12	16	66	Bill Morgan	Cafe Burgundy (Ratus Walters)	'61 Ford	342	700	running	0
13	32	30	Elmo Langley	Fred Clark	'60 Chevrolet	341	500	running	0
14	14	27	Junior Johnson	Holly Farms (Rex Lovette)	'61 Pontiac	337	450	running	0
15	24	59	Tiny Lund	B.G. Holloway	'61 Pontiac	323	650	crash	0
16	40	74	L.D. Austin	L.D. Austin	'61 Chevrolet	321	350	running	0
17	35	54	Jimmy Pardue	Jimmy Pardue	'60 Chevrolet	316	300	running	0
18	39	62	Curtis Crider	Mims Amusement Co. (Curtis Crider)	'61 Mercury	312	750	running	0
19	23	19	Herman Beam	Herman Beam	'60 Ford	312	250	running	0
20	17	46	Larry Frank	Jack Smith	'61 Pontiac	273	480	spindle	0
21	25	90	Dave Mader	Dave Mader	'61 Chevrolet	262	280	timing	0
22	4	8	Joe Weatherly	Bud Moore	'61 Pontiac	229	370	rf hub	13
23	31	7	Jim Reed	Jim Reed	'61 Chevrolet	228	200	brakes	0
24	15	86	Buddy Baker	Buck Baker	'61 Chrysler	221	700	bearings	0
25	34	10	T.C. Hunt	Fred Wheat	'61 Dodge	206	700	rear end	0
26	5	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	'61 Plymouth	201	1110	engine	41
27	11	87	Buck Baker	Buck Baker	'61 Chrysler	190	220	con rod	0
28	21	2	Tommy Irwin	Tom Daniels	'61 Chevrolet	164	200	rocker arm	0
29	2	28	Fred Lorenzen	Holman-Moody Racing	'61 Ford	158	950	throttle	52
30	19	52	Cale Yarborough	Julian Buesink	'61 Ford	135	200	engine	0
31	8	42	Marvin Panch	Petty Enterprises	'61 Plymouth	94	200	carburetor	0
32	28	82	Marvin Porter	Henry Dunbar	'61 Ford	85	200	crash	0
33	29	1	Paul Lewis	Jess Potter	'61 Chevrolet	81	200	crash	0
34	30	5	Woodie Wilson	Leroy Faucett	'61 Pontiac	79	200	crash	0
35	38	68	Ed Livingston	Curtis Crider	'61 Ford	79	200	head gasket	0
36	10	94	Banjo Matthews	Banjo Matthews	'61 Ford	65	430	engine	0
37	22	32	Joe Caspolich	J.L. Cheatham	'61 Ford	50	200	rear end	0
38	27	80	Darel Dieringer	Tubby Gonzales	'61 Ford	45	300	rear end	0
39	13	9	Bunkie Blackburn	Wildcat Williams	'61 Ford	34	200	head gasket	0
40	37	96	Friday Hassler	J.L. Cheatham	'60 Chevrolet	22	200	brakes	0
41	43	99	George Alsobrook	Joe Jones	'61 Ford	2	200	handling	0
42	41	75	Red Hollingsworth	J.D. Braswell	'60 Chevrolet	2	200	handling	0
43	42	93	Lee Reitzel	Lee Reitzel	'60 Ford	2	200	handling	0

Condition	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps	Reason
Caution flag breakdown:
	1	67	67
	68	69	2	#94 stalled turn 3
	70	85	16
	86	88	3	#1,5,46,82 accident turn 4
	89	202	114
	203	204	2	#43 oil on track
	205	211	7
	212	213	2	#47,46 spun turns 2/4
	214	338	125
	339	343	5	#59 accident turn 2
	344	346	3
	347	353	7	#6 spun turn 3
	354	364	11
Percent of race run under caution: 5.8% Average green flag run: 49.0 laps

Leader	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps
Lap leader breakdown:
Fireball Roberts	1	15	15
Fred Lorenzen	16	63	48
Fireball Roberts	64	79	16
Richard Petty	80	82	3
David Pearson	83	86	4
Fred Lorenzen	87	90	4
Joe Weatherly	91	103	13
Fireball Roberts	104	112	9
Nelson Stacy	113	123	11
Fireball Roberts	124	131	8
Richard Petty	132	169	38
Nelson Stacy	170	182	13
Fireball Roberts	183	225	43
Nelson Stacy	226	240	15
Fireball Roberts	241	258	18
David Pearson	259	260	2
Fireball Roberts	261	276	16
Nelson Stacy	277	302	26
Fireball Roberts	303	357	55
Nelson Stacy	358	364	7