Auto race run in Florida in 1966
1966 Daytona 500
Race details
[1]
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1966 Daytona 500 program cover
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Date
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February 27, 1966
(
1966-02-27
)
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Location
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Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
, U.S.
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Course
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Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.023 km)
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Distance
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198 laps, 495 mi (796.625 km)
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Scheduled Distance
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200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
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Weather
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Temperatures reaching as high as 60.1 °F (15.6 °C); wind speeds approaching 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
[2]
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Average speed
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160.927 miles per hour (258.987 km/h)
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Driver
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Petty Enterprises
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Duel 1 Winner
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Paul Goldsmith
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Ray Nichels
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Duel 2 Winner
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Earl Balmer
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Ray Fox
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Driver
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Richard Petty
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Petty Enterprises
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Laps
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108
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No. 43 Plymouth
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Richard Petty
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Petty Enterprises
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The
1966 Daytona 500
, the 8th running of the
event
, was won by
Richard Petty
driving a 1966
Plymouth
on February 27, 1966. Petty drove his number 43 to victory in just over three hours after starting the race on the pole. There were four caution flags which slowed the race for 22 laps. Petty came from two laps down to win the event after 198 laps were completed.
[1]
The race was shortened by two laps due to rain.
[3]
The win was Petty's second victory of the season.
1966 season
[
edit
]
The
1966 season
marked the return of the
Chrysler
Hemi engine
in NASCAR competition, while
Ford
took a one-year leave from competition before realizing that the ploy was detrimental to their sales.
[3]
The 1966 Daytona 500 was the fifth event of 49 in the 1966 season,
[5]
which included the two qualifying races for the 500. The 1966 season opened in
Augusta
with Petty taking the win in the season inaugural event.
Dan Gurney
followed with a win in
Riverside
before the drivers and their teams ventured to
Daytona International Speedway
for the 500-mile (800 km) event.
NASCAR ran a total of 49 events, ending at the
Rockingham Speedway
in October.
[3]
David Pearson
won the NASCAR
Grand National Series
Championship after winning 15 events while 168 drivers competed in at least one event during the 1966 season.
[6]
Background
[
edit
]
Qualifying
[
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]
Richard Petty captured the
pole position
for the event with a speed of 175.165 miles per hour (281.901 km/h).
[7]
The two 100 mile qualifying events were won by
Paul Goldsmith
driving a number 99 1965 Plymouth, who bested second-place finisher Richard Petty,
[8]
and
Earl Balmer
driving his number 3 1965 Dodge.
[9]
A total of 50 drivers started the Daytona 500 in 1966,
[10]
and a total of 18 cars were still running at the conclusion of the race.
[1]
Qualifying race results
The Race
[
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]
After starting on the 1966
Daytona 500 pole
, Petty went on to lead the first six laps of the event, before relinquishing the lead to Paul Goldsmith, who had started in the third position. Petty and Goldsmith swapped the lead back and forth a total of four times before
Dick Hutcherson
drove his number 29 1966 Ford into the lead on lap 34.
[1]
Petty suffered from tire problems early in the race, yet work by his pit crew, and having one of the fastest cars allowed him to work his way back to the front of the field. In 2008 Petty said: "...we was the quickest car all week long. That car, again, like the '64 car, was just a real fast car, and we just outrun everybody."
[11]
Petty returned to the lead on lap 97 when he overtook Goldsmith.
[1]
A total of 6 drivers exchanged the lead 15 times throughout the event, with Petty, Goldsmith, Hutcherson,
Cale Yarborough
,
Marvin Panch
,
Jim Hurtubise
all leading at least one lap.
[12]
On lap 113 Petty took the lead for the final time, and went on to finish more than a full lap ahead of second-place finisher Yarborough.
[1]
Petty went on to lead a race-high 108 laps by the time the checkered flag fell.
[12]
The victory by Petty was his second at the Daytona International Speedway, having won the event in
1964
. Richard Petty's victory at the 1966 Daytona 500 was the first and only time that he captured the pole position, despite winning the event a record seven times.
[13]
As of 2009, Richard Petty is the only driver to win the event seven times: 1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, and 1981. The driver with the second highest number of victories would be Cale Yarborough, with a total of 4 victories; 1968, 1977, 1983 and 1984.
[12]
The 1966 Daytona 500 was the first time that a driver won the event for a second time.
[14]
Results
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Citations
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"1966 Daytona 500"
. racing-reference.info
. Retrieved
July 30,
2012
.
- ^
"Weather of the
1966 Daytona 500
"
. The Old Farmers' Almanac
. Retrieved
June 25,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
"1966 NASCAR Grand National Recap"
. HowStuffWorks, Inc ; Publications International, Ltd. p. 1
. Retrieved
August 16,
2009
.
- ^
"1966 Grand National Results"
. racing-reference.info
. Retrieved
August 25,
2009
.
- ^
"Grand National standings for 1966"
. racing-reference.info
. Retrieved
July 30,
2012
.
- ^
"Past Daytona 500 Champions"
. CNN Sports Illustrated
. Retrieved
June 10,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
"1966 Daytona 500 Qualifier #1"
. racing-reference.info
. Retrieved
July 30,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"1966 Daytona 500 Qualifier #2"
. racing-reference.info
. Retrieved
July 30,
2012
.
- ^
"1966 DAYTONA 500 Results"
. Daytona International Speedway. Archived from
the original
on July 18, 2011
. Retrieved
August 25,
2009
.
- ^
Zeller, Bob (February 14, 2008).
"Daytona 500 50th Anniversary; RICHARD PETTY"
. Speed Magazine; News-Journal Corporation
. Retrieved
August 25,
2009
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
a
b
c
"DAYTONA 500 Winners"
. Daytona International Speedway. 2009. Archived from
the original
on December 27, 2010
. Retrieved
August 25,
2009
.
- ^
"Richard Petty"
. Daytona International Speedway. Archived from
the original
on December 28, 2010
. Retrieved
August 25,
2009
.
- ^
Flatter, Ron.
"He made racing not-so-Petty"
.
ESPN Sports Century
. ESPN.com. p. 1
. Retrieved
August 25,
2009
.
Bibliography
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Track and race information
| Track
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Statistics
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History
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Related events
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Related areas
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Daytona 500 race reports
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- 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 ·
1959
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