The 1961 National 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Seriesstock car race that was held on October 15, 1961, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. 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.
Background
Around 35,821 spectators traveled to Charlotte Motor Speedway to watch the race. Located in Concord, North Carolina, Charlotte Motor Speedway is a banked quad-oval that opened in 1960 for the inaugural World 600. Construction for the track began in 1959 with Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner as architects for the speedway.
Race report
The race was held on a dry circuit; with no precipitation recorded around the speedway. David Pearson, Fireball Roberts and Junior Johnson would dominate the early portion of the race. This race would last for roughly three hours and twenty minutes; an audience of more than 35,000 NASCAR followers would see race cars reaching up to. Ken Rush was credited with the last-place finish due to problems with his rocker arm on lap 16 out of this 267-lap stock car racing event. Junior Johnson's "top ten" finish came as a result of a problem with one of his wheels on lap 256; he was destined for a "top five" finish until he encountered that problem. Seven notable crew chiefs participated in the event; including Smokey Yunick, Bud Allman, Shorty Johns and Ray Fox. Most of the vehicles in the race were either Pontiacs or Ford. Junior Johnson, Bob Welborn and Fireball Roberts would be the joint leaders during the middle portion of the race. Fireball Roberts' vehicle would suffer from severe damage after blowing a right front tire on lap 113. Not only did the vehicle managed to smash the guardrail, but it also succeeded in sliding back into a herd of competing drivers; where a car slammed at it while driving in excess of. However, Fireball Roberts wasn't even remotely injured as a result of seat belts and "superior driving." Joe Weatherly would eventually gain the lead on lap 263 and used this opportunity to rob Richard Petty of a win by being almost two car lengths ahead of him. This would be the seventh of nine wins for Joe Weatherly in the 1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season. He ended on a hot-streak, winning the next race and then the last race of the 1961 NASCAR Cup Series season as well. Joe Weatherly made four pit stops during the race, one unscheduled. He put on one or more new tires each time. He was the only of the top-10 starters in the top-10 finishers' list. Four caution flags, one for 12 laps, helped the Norfolk veteran to stay in contention. Individual race winnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $9,510 to the last-place finishers' share of $275. The total prize purse offered for this professional stock car racing event was $42,050.
