1964 World 600


The 1964 World 600, the fifth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that took place on May 24, 1964, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
There was a 30-mile consolation race the day before this to determine the final 14 starters.
Bobby Keck finished 14th in that race but he was unable to start the 600 and his car was withdrawn, with Pete Stewart taking the last starting position as the first alternate starter. Major Melton finished 16th in that race driving a 1963 Dodge and was the second alternate.

Background

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race, as well as the Bank of America 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner 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. with Marcus G. Smith as track president.

Race report

The race covered four hundred laps of the paved oval track spanning. It took four hours, forty-six minutes, and fourteen seconds. Seven cautions slowed the race for 48 laps. The race averaged and was the pole position speed. The attendance was 66,311. Notable crew chiefs for this race included Bud Moore, Herman Beam, Ralph Gray, Glen Wood, Banjo Matthews and Dale Inman.
Miss Linda Vaughn was selected to be Pontiac's representative at this event; she was an adolescent during that time.
Jim Paschal defeated Richard Petty by more than four laps. Other notable drivers included: Ralph Earnhardt, Roy Tyner, Fireball Roberts, Elmo Langley, and Buddy Baker. The top two finishers were teammates at Petty Enterprises. Jim Paschal would receive $24,785 in prize money after becoming the only driver to finish all 400 laps of the race. Pete Stewart was rewarded with $600 for finishing only one lap; resulting in a last place finish. Billy Wade started in pole position while the winner started in 12th place.

Qualifying

Death of Fireball Roberts

Fireball Roberts was involved in a crash while trying to avoid Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett's crash on lap 7. Roberts was sent to Charlotte hospital. While he was not seriously injured by the crash itself, Roberts was trapped when his ankle became pinned under the dashboard and caught by either the clutch or brake pedal. The death would have occurred at the speedway if Jarrett hadn't pulled Roberts out. He died on July 2 of that year; leaving behind a wife and a young daughter. Roberts told Jarrett "My God, Ned, help me! I'm on fire!" after being caught on fire because of the crash.
Before the fatal accident, Roberts was going to announce his retirement from the NASCAR Cup Series after the race to work as a spokesperson for a beer company. Fireball, as he was known to his racing fans and to his fellow drivers, was the first superstar of the superspeedway era.
Doctors ultimately blamed his death on pneumonia and he spent the last 39 days of his life at Charlotte Memorial Hospital in extremely critical condition. The entire week from April 29 through May 1, 1964, ultimately became one of the darkest weeks in motorsports history as Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald were both killed in that year's Indianapolis 500. Actual home video footage of the accident was being recorded as the race occurred. The race was being televised by local CBS affiliate WBTV. Roberts' body was eventually delivered to his burial crypt in Daytona Beach, Florida. One of the quotes that came in an earlier race sometime prior to his death was "I fear fire the most!"
Numerous safety innovations came about as a result of Roberts' death including the fire suit, as some drivers still raced wearing jeans and t-shirts, as well as a specialized fuel cell for racing. These inventions would first see usage at the 1964 Firecracker 400; just two days after Roberts' death.

Finishing order

Section reference:
  1. Jim Paschal†
  2. Richard Petty
  3. Rex White
  4. Fred Lorenzen
  5. Billy Wade†
  6. G.C. Spencer†
  7. Larry Frank†
  8. David Pearson†
  9. Wendell Scott†
  10. Jack Anderson
  11. Curtis Crider†
  12. J.T. Putney†
  13. Darel Dieringer†*
  14. Worth McMillion†
  15. Doug Cooper†
  16. Roy Tyner†
  17. Bob Derrington†
  18. Bunkie Blackburn†*
  19. Paul Goldsmith*
  20. Buck Baker†*
  21. Bill McMahan*
  22. Ken Spikes*†
  23. Larry Thomas†*
  24. Jimmy Pardue†*
  25. Bobby Isaac†*
  26. LeeRoy Yarbrough†*
  27. Stick Elliott*
  28. Cale Yarborough*
  29. Marvin Panch*
  30. Roy Mayne*†
  31. Ken Rush*
  32. Mark Hurley*
  33. Ned Jarrett*
  34. Junior Johnson†*
  35. Fireball Roberts†*
  36. Buddy Baker*†
  37. Ralph Earnhardt†*
  38. Neil Castles*
  39. Jimmy Helms*
  40. Bob Cooper*
  41. Bud Harless†*
  42. Elmo Langley†*
  43. E.J. Trivette*
  44. Pete Stewart*
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

Section reference: