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1966 Firecracker 400

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1966 Firecracker 400
Race details[1]
Race 28 of 49 in the 1966 NASCAR Grand National Series season
1966 Daytona 500 program cover
1966 Daytona 500 program cover
Date July 4, 1966 (1966-July-04)
Official name Firecracker 400
Location Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
2.500 mi (4.023 km)
Distance 160 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather Temperatures of 93 °F (34 °C); wind speeds of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 153.813 miles per hour (247.538 km/h)
Attendance 46,200[2]
Pole position
Driver Jon Thorne
Most laps led
Driver Sam McQuagg Ray Nichels
Laps 126
Winner
No. 98 Sam McQuagg Ray Nichels

The 1966 Firecracker 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on July 4, 1966, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.[2]

Race report

[edit]

Forty-six Thousand two hundred fans would attended this event.[2] It took two hours and thirty-six minutes to finish.[2] Four cautions slowed the race for 23 laps.[2] The average speed of the race was 153.813 miles per hour (247.538 km/h).[2] Sam McQuagg would beat Darel Dieringer by one minute and six seconds.[2]

This was the first time that a rear spoiler would be used in any NASCAR Cup Series race.[3] On the day of the race, the factory engineers at Dodge would install this new invention on McQuagg's car (which caused him to go several miles per hour faster than his opponents).[3]

Individual winnings for this event ranged from the winner's share of $13,600 ($127,714 when considering inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $350 ($3,287 when considering inflation). A total of $55,105 was handed out to every driver ($517,478 when considering inflation).[4]

Qualifying

[edit]
Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 12 LeeRoy Yarbrough '66 Dodge Jon Thorne
2 43 Richard Petty '64 Plymouth Petty Enterprises
3 13 Curtis Turner '66 Chevrolet Smokey Yunick
4 98 Sam McQuagg '66 Dodge Ray Nichels
5 99 Paul Goldsmith '66 Plymouth Ray Nichels
6 56 Jim Hurtubise '66 Plymouth Norm Nelson
7 31 Don White '66 Dodge Ray Nichels
8 5 Mario Andretti '66 Dodge Cotton Owens
9 3 Buddy Baker '65 Dodge Ray Fox
10 71 Earl Balmer '65 Dodge Nord Krauskopf

Finishing order

[edit]
  1. Sam McQuagg† (No. 98)
  2. Darel Dieringer† (No. 16)
  3. Jim Paschal† (No. 14)
  4. Curtis Turner† (No. 13)
  5. Jim Hurtubise† (No. 56)
  6. Don White (No. 31)
  7. Marvin Panch (No. 04)
  8. Tiny Lund† (No. 24)
  9. James Hylton (No. 48)
  10. John Sears† (No. 4)
  11. Buddy Baker*† (No. 3)
  12. Frank Warren (No. 79)
  13. Elmo Langley† (No.64)
  14. Bobby Allison (No. 2)
  15. David Pearson† (No. 6)
  16. Harold Smith (No. 55)
  17. Larry Hess (No. 44)
  18. Eddie MacDonald (No. 89)
  19. Wendell Scott† (No. 34)
  20. Blackie Watt (No. 93)
  21. J.D. McDuffie† (No.70)
  22. Jack Lawrence (No. 06)
  23. Henley Gray (No. 97)
  24. LeeRoy Yarbrough*† (No. 12)
  25. Roy Mayne† (No. 00)
  26. Jimmy Helms* (No. 53)
  27. Paul Goldsmith* (No. 99)
  28. Doug Cooper* (No. 02)
  29. Richard Petty* (No. 43)
  30. Earl Balmer* (No. 71)
  31. Mario Andretti* (No. 5)
  32. Wayne Smith* (No. 38)
  33. Buck Baker*† (No. 86)
  34. Bunkie Blackburn*† (No. 39)
  35. G.C. Spencer*† (No. 49)
  36. Buddy Arrington* (No. 69)
  37. J.T. Putney*† (No. 19)
  38. Bobby Johns* (No. 7)
  39. Jabe Thomas*† (No. 25)
  40. Joel Davis* (No. 33)

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1966 Firecracker 400 weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "1966 Firecracker 400 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-11-19.
  3. ^ a b "NASCAR Driver of the Day: Sam McQuagg". NASCAR Driver of the Day. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  4. ^ "1966 Firecracker 400 winnings information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
Preceded by NASCAR Grand National races
1966
Succeeded by
1966 untitled race at Old Dominion Speedway
Preceded by Firecracker 400 races
1966
Succeeded by