1968 Daytona 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 49 in the 1968 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway. | |||
| Date | February 25, 1968 | ||
| Location |
Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.023 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Average speed | 147.251 miles per hour (236.978 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Wood Brothers Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers Racing | |
| Laps | 76 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 21 | Cale Yarborough | Wood Brothers Racing | |
The 1968 Daytona 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) race held on February 25, 1968, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Cale Yarborough won the race from the pole.
Summary
The event was won by Cale Yarborough driving a 1968 Mercury. Yarborough drove his #21 to victory in just over 3 hours and 23 minutes after starting the race on the pole. There were 11 caution flags which slowed the race for 60 laps, a track record at the time that remained so until 2005.[1] Yarborough squeaked out the victory by less than a second over LeeRoy Yarbrough.[2] The win was Yarborough's first victory of the season[3] and his first victory in the "Great American Race".
This was also the only Daytona 500 where the grid was set exclusively by qualifying times. The 125-mile qualifying races were not held due to inclement weather.
The transition to purposely-built racers 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; most of the cars were trailered to events or hauled in by trucks.
References
- ^ "1968 Daytona 500". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
- ^
Auto editors of Consumer Guide. "1968 NASCAR Grand National Recap". HowStuffWorks, Inc ; Publications International, Ltd. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ Fleischman, Bill; Al Pearce (2004). "Race Results: 1949–2002; 1960". The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide: 2004. Vol. 2004 (10 ed.). 43311 Joy Rd. #414, Canton, MI, 48187: Checkered Flag Press; Visible Ink Press. pp. 226 of 576. ISBN 0-681-27587-1.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
 | This NASCAR-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
  | This article related to sports in Florida is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |