`63 Datona 500

[dq409]

Head Lines SUCK !!

But that is just the short "end" of the story !
Chevy dominated the race early and also blew the doors off the field in the two 100 mile races !!

Junior Johnson lead the field with the fastest car on the track at 168 mph !!!
Ray Fox prepared his car and G.C. Spencers car.

During the early part of the race Junior ran away from everyboby but Paul Goldsmith who stuck to him. They were clocked at 167 !
Unfortunatly Johnson went out at 26 laps with a broken pushrod.

Smokey Yunicks `63 driven by rookie John Rutherford averaged 165.

Rex white #4 also was an early leader until he went out with heating problems.
Rutherford (Yunick car) is in the #13 car.

It`s really sad that the dumbies at Chevy dropped the Mystery engine before they got all the bugs out !! The next years could have been Chevy`s finest !!,,,dq

 

[real61ss]

DQ,
Great pictures!!! Thanks for the memories, I was at that race, my first trip to Daytona. It was reallly something to see, the Chevrolets would be WAY out front on one lap, then on the next lap, the rest of the field would be right up behind them, then they would pull away again like they were just playing with everyone in the 100 mile races. Of course, the big dissapointment was Sunday, they all droppped out pretty quickly. It was fun though.

 

[MK IISS]

Tommy:

In the 4th photo there appears to be writting on the track surface. Do you remember what this was for and what it said?

Richard

 

[real61ss]

Richard,
I think some prankster wrote "Slow, School Zone" in the middle of the track. I seem to remember there being something in the Daytona paper about it.
Four of us kids left Virginia in a 61 Bel-Air going to Daytona, probably didn't have $200 between us!! Coming back, we stopped at the Va state line, pooled our money, had enough to fill the car with gas and buy each of us a soft drink and a pack of nabs!!! Luckly, we were only about 80 miles from home then, if that tank of gas hadn't been enough, we'd been in trouble. Did we ever have a good time, didn't have a care in the world.

 

[MK IISS]

Tommy:

Thanks for your reply. My buddy and I went to the '62 Indy 500 under the same circumstances. Drove my friend's fathers '60 Chevy 348 Conv. We thought we were hot stuff.

Richard

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

What moves us...

DQ : Great pics!
Tommy: My guess is when you pull one of those vehicles down from the rack and take her for a spin, you return to that "not a care in the world" feeling
Richard: You didn't just think you were hot stuff, you really were !!!

1963 was a great year for my family. Dad bought a one year old 1962 SS convertible for the family car (327 PG). His younger brother, my coolest Uncle, purchased a grand new 1963 Corvette. That was a great time indeed! And the Beatles hadn't even landed on our shores yet...

Cheers,
TomK

 

[dq409]

DQ,
Great pictures!!! Thanks for the memories, I was at that race, my first trip to Daytona.

ME TOO !!!! Camera in hand !! Almost got run over by that Poncho heading for the pits !! Got to shake Smokies hand and pick up a few of his bunts laying around and smoked them later !! What a rush !!


Had to do that guys !! Every time you talk about being there and buying it new and ,,, and ,,,, and..,,,, I wish I were a little older back then !!

I still was old enough to see what I was too young to do though,,,
Glad I had older cousins !!!

 

[bjburnout]

Daytona

Hey Guys
I remember watching that race on Wide World of Sports. I think they were experimenting with live coverage and the rain delays were killing them.
I remember Tiny Lund in the F**D that won, but who is that #43 Plymouth back there? Did he ever amount to anything driving a Plymouth?

Thanx for the great pics DQ.......brings back a lot of memories.

BJ

 

[oil4kids]

Smokeys 13

It was a little tuff to win using the barn door technique


DQ----look at your picture of the 13 in the pits--

Smokey is changing the right front tire!!!!!!

 

[dq409]

Mark !!!! How the heck did I miss that!!!!

BTW,,, F**d had 13 cars entered verses 5 Chevy`s !!

 

[oil4kids]

Smokey

I told Smokeys daughter Trish to check out this website about her dad.

If we could only go back in time and ask him a few questions about the 09

Mark !!!! How the heck did I miss that!!!!

BTW,,, F**d had 13 cars entered verses 5 Chevy`s !!