The 1968 Western North Carolina 500 was a NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on August 18, 1968 at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway

Asheville-Weaverville Speedway

The Asheville-Weaverville Speedway near Weaverville, North Carolina, USA was considered to be site for the old-school NASCAR races in both the Grand National and the Winston Cup eras . None of the active drivers that are in the Sprint Cup Series today have ever raced at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway...

 in Weaverville

Weaverville, North Carolina

Weaverville is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,646 in 2007. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Weaverville is located at ....

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

.

Summary

Five hundred laps took place on a paved oval track spanning 0.5 mile (0.80467 km). The race took three hours and twenty-three minutes to finish. Seven cautions were handed out by NASCAR for ninety laps. David Pearson (with a Holman-Moody

Holman Moody

Holman Moody was an auto racing team, racecar manufacturer, and marine engine manufacturer. The team built virtually all of the factory Ford racecars of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. It owned racecars that competed in NASCAR, drag racing, ocean boat racing, rallys, and sports car racing. The team...

 owned vehicle) defeated Bobby Isaac

Bobby Isaac

Bobby Isaac is a former NASCAR Grand National champion.-Early life:Isaac grew up on a farm near Catawba, North Carolina, the second youngest of nine children...

 (in his Nord Krauskopf

Nord Krauskopf

Nord Krauskopf was a former NASCAR Winston Cup Series race car owner whose career spanned from 1966 to 1977. He was the owner of K&K Insurance and a part of the business since its foundation in 1952. This was a position that he kept in the corporate world while having a second career in the...

-owned vehicle) by more than three laps. Notable speeds were: 73.686 mi/h for the average speed and 88.409 mi/h for the pole position speed (accomplished by Darel Dieringer using a vehicle owned by Mr. Mario Rossi

Mario Rossi

Mario Rossi was an Italian conductor, noted for his solid and meticulous readings of a repertory ranging from Italian classics to Russian moderns such as Prokoffiev, to the German operatic classicist Christoph Willibald Gluck.He studied composition in Rome with Respighi and conducting with Giacomo...

). Ten thousand and five hundred stock car racing fans attended this live event. Out of twenty-nine American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 drivers, only nine of them finished the race in a timely manner. Notable names included: J.D. McDuffie

J.D. McDuffie

John Delphus McDuffie was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He raced in the top division of NASCAR from 1963 to 1991. McDuffie had 106 top-tens in his Cup Series career...

, Richard Petty

Richard Petty

Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...

, Elmo Langley

Elmo Langley

Elmo Langley was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number "64" on his race cars during his NASCAR career.-Racing career:...

, Roy Tyner

Roy Tyner

William Leroy "Roy" Tyner was a retired Native American NASCAR Grand National driver from Red Springs, North Carolina, USA.-Driver:...

, and Wendell Scott

Wendell Scott

Wendell Oliver Scott was an American stock car racing driver from Danville, Virginia. He is the only black driver to win a race in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. According to a 2008 biography of Scott, he broke the color barrier in Southern stock car racing on May 23, 1952, at the Danville...

.

The vehicle used by the winner was a 1968 Ford Torino

Ford Torino

The Ford Torino is an intermediate automobile produced by the Ford Motor Company for the North American market between 1968 and 1976. The car was named after the city of Turin , which is considered the Detroit of Italy...

 machine homologated for use by the general public but modified to increase both speed and safety. A prize amount of $2,150 ($ in today's money) was given out to the winner of the race while last place paid out $150 ($ in today's money) for only fifteen laps of work by driver G.C. Spencer

G.C. Spencer

G. C. Spencer July 9, 1925 in Owensboro, Kentucky – September 20, 2007 in Johnson City, Tennessee was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1977...

.

Finishing order

1. David Pearson
2. Bobby Isaac
3. Neil Castles
   Neil Castles
   Neil "Soapy" Castles is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver that participate from 1957 to 1976.-History:...
   
   
4. Roy Tyner
5. Bill Seifert
   Bill Seifert
   Bill Seifert is a retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who raced from 1966 to 1979.-Summary:Seifert raced 41,875 laps for . His grand total for race winnings is $147,831 USD . Seifert's average career start is 21st and his average career finish is 19th...
   
   
6. Jabe Thomas
   Jabe Thomas
   Cerry Ezra "Jabe" Thomas is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver who competed from the mid 1960s through the late 1970s. His son Ronnie was also a NASCAR Cup Series driver; competing from 1977 to 1989.-Career:Thomas drove 75243 laps of racing and earned $295,497 in total...
   
   
7. Ervin Pruett
8. Walson Gardener
   Walson Gardener
   Walson Gardener is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver and a competitor at the 1968 Fireball 300. Gardener has had two finishes in the top-ten, 4953 laps of racing experience - the equivalent of , a total career earnings of $6740, an average start of 25th, an average finish of 20th, and four...
   
   
9. Wendell Scott
10. Pete Hamilton
    Pete Hamilton
    Pete Hamilton is a retired American NASCAR racer. He won four times in his career , three times driving for Petty Enterprises. His father was a Ph.D. from Harvard University....
    
    *
11. Paul Dean Holt
    Paul Dean Holt
    Paul Dean Holt is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup driver and a competitor at the 1968 Fireball 300....
    
    *
12. Bobby Allison
    Bobby Allison
    Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....
    
    *
13. Eddie Yarboro*
14. George England
    George England
    George England and Co. was an early English manufacturer of steam locomotives founded by the engineer George England of Newcastle upon Tyne...
    
    *
15. Ed Negre
    Ed Negre
    Ed Negre is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1955 to 1979....
    
    *
16. Elmo Langley*
17. Paul Goldsmith
    Paul Goldsmith
    Paul Goldsmith is a motorcycle Hall of Famer, Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee and former USAC and NASCAR driver.- Motorcycle career :...
    
    *
18. James Hylton
    James Hylton
    James Harvey Hylton is a part-time race car driver. He is a two-time winner in NASCAR and competes in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,finishing 16th in points in 2006. He made headlines while attempting to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 at age 72...
    
    *
19. Bob Burcham
    Bob Burcham
    Robert Wayne "Bob" Burcham, Sr. was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1968 to 1979. His primary ride was the #19 Belden Asphalt-sponsored Chevrolet of Mr. Henley Gray. Jack White was Burcham's other employer in NASCAR.-Summary:His parents were Mr. Robert "Bobby" and Mrs...
    
    *
20. Earl Brooks*
21. Clyde Lynn
    Clyde Lynn
    Clyde Lynn was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver from Christiansburg, Virginia and a runner-up for the NASCAR Rookie of the Year award in the year 1965...
    
    *
22. Darel Dieringer*
23. Tiny Lund
    Tiny Lund
    DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund was a NASCAR driver. He was ironically nicknamed "Tiny" due to his rather large and imposing size.-Background:...
    
    *
24. Stan Meserve
    Stan Meserve
    Stan Meserve is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver who competed in one year of NASCAR racing.-History:...
    
    *
25. J.D. McDuffie*
26. Richard Petty*
27. Wayne Smith*
28. John Sears*
29. G.C. Spencer
    G.C. Spencer
    G. C. Spencer July 9, 1925 in Owensboro, Kentucky – September 20, 2007 in Johnson City, Tennessee was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1977...
    
    *

* Driver failed to finish race