1960 World 600


The 1960 World 600 was the inaugural running of the World 600, a NASCAR Grand National Series event. It was run on June 19, 1960 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It was NASCAR's first 600-mile race and it was the longest NASCAR race distance. Joe Lee Johnson was the winner of the inaugural race.

Background

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, thirteen miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The track is a asphalt quad-oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the World 600 and the National 400. The speedway broke ground in 1958 with Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner as the architects. Charlotte Motor Speedway is now operated by Speedway Motorsports.

Race report

The race was postponed for three weeks because of construction delays. During the race, Don O'Dell's Pontiac crashed into the driver's door of Lenny Page's Chevy. Lenny Page, who was lucky to survive the crash due to the safety systems at that time, was near death afterward, but reporter Chris Economaki rushed to the scene and aided Page with CPR until safety crews arrived. He was later credited with saving Lenny's life.
Cars were allowed to run dirt track style screens to protect the radiators from debris, as officials were aware of the problem before the race started. This is the only time a father and son have been disqualified in the same race. This was the last time the #89 has won in the Cup Series.
Ed Markstellar and Japanese-American driver George Tet would make their stock car debuts in this race while Jim Austin, Arnold Gardner and Gene Marmor would make their finale. Johnny Wolford would run his only NASCAR Cup Series race here. Rex White would take away the championship lead from Richard Petty with his sixth-place finish as opposed to Petty finishing in 55th place due to a disqualification.
Notable crew chiefs included Louis Clements, Bud Allman, Ray Fox, Shorty Johns, Bud Moore, Mario Rossi, Dale Swanson and Paul McDuffie.

Results

Timeline

Section reference:
Section reference: