The 1968 Dixie 250 was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (the top NASCAR series, known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 and 1970, then the NASCAR ...

event that was held on May 3, 1968, at Augusta Speedway in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. This is the only race of the year that eventual 1968 NASCAR Grand National Series champion

David Pearson David or Dave Pearson may refer to: * David Pearson (librarian) (born 1955), British librarian and scholar * David Pearson (racing driver) (1934–2018), American car racing champion * David Pearson (geologist) (born 1942), Canadian scientist, acad ...

didn't run.

Race report

Two hundred and fifty laps were done on a paved

oval track Oval track racing is a form of motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffic is almost univ ...

spanning for a grand total of . The race took one hour, forty-two minutes, and thirty-six seconds to reach its full conclusion:

Bobby Isaac Robert Vance Isaac (August 1, 1932 – August 14, 1977) was an American stock car racing driver. Isaac made his first NASCAR appearance in 1961, and quickly forged a reputation of one of the toughest competitors of the 1960s and 1970s. He was most ...

defeated

Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 19 ...

by more than a lap; bringing home $1,100 as the winner's top prize ($ when considering inflation).

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

driver Frog Fagan participated in this event as the only non-American driver. Four thousand and five hundred people went to see speeds averaging with Bobby Isaac gaining the pole position with a speed of . Bobby Isaac would go on to earn three pole positions during the 1968 NASCAR Grand National Series season and 19 pole positions during the following season; making him a prototypical version of Ryan Newman with his blistering speeds that he would register during qualifying. Notable crew chiefs who attended the race were Ray Hicks, Frankie Scott,

Dale Inman Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/ Winston Cup Series crew chief. He is best known for being the crew chief of Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three decades. They won 188 races and seven championsh ...

and

Harry Hyde Harry Hyde (January 17, 1925 – May 13, 1996) was a leading crew chief in NASCAR stock car racing in the 1960s through the 1980s, winning 56 races and 88 pole positions. He was the 1970 championship crew chief for Bobby Isaac. He inspired t ...

. Total winnings for this event were $6,260 ($ when considering inflation). In this race, Bob Cooper finished in 22nd place and won $100 just for driving a stock car as fast and as efficiently as possible. A man could have easily supported himself by earning $100 a week back in the late-1960s and lived comfortably. In the 21st century, a typical person needs to make at least $1000 a week in order to make ends meet. The transition to purpose-built racecars 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.

Qualifying

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Bobby Isaac started the race with the pole position. * Lap 17: Stan Meserve noticed that his vehicle had a problematic ignition. * Lap 20: Bill Cooper's engine developed problems. * Lap 30: Bill Seifett had a terminal crash, causing him to leave the event. * Lap 54: Henley Grey's vehicle managed to overheat, Frog Fagan's suspension developed problems that ended his day on the track. * Lap 86: The axle on Richard Petty's vehicle acted up, stopping his race for the weekend. * Lap 87: The rear end of Roy Tyner's vehicle fell off, forcing him to finish outside the top-15. * Lap 125: J.D. McDuffie's vehicle developed problems with its rear end. * Lap 131: Tom Pistone takes over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 139: Bobby Isaac takes over the lead from Tom Pistone. * Lap 158: LeeRoy Yarbrough's vehicle developed problems with its rear end. * Lap 170: John Sears' vehicle developed problems with its rear end. * Lap 175: Neil Castles' engine became problematic. * Lap 188: Elmo Langley's vehicle developed a problematic engine. * Lap 233: Frank Warren suffered a terminal crash, forcing him out of the race. * Finish: Bobby Isaac was officially declared the winner of the event.

Finishing order

Section reference: # Bobby Isaac (No. 71) # Buddy Baker (No. 3) #

Tom Pistone "Tiger" Tom Pistone (born March 17, 1929) is an American former NASCAR Grand National driver from Chicago. He made his Grand National debut in 1955. He won two races and finished 6th in championship points in the 1959 season for Carl Rupert, his ...

(No. 12) #

James Hylton James Harvey Hylton (August 26, 1934 – April 28, 2018) was an American stock car racing driver. He was a two-time winner in NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition and was a long-time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series. Hylton finished secon ...

(No. 48) #

Buck Baker Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. (March 4, 1919 – April 14, 2002), better known as Buck Baker, was an American stock car racing, stock car racer. Born in Richburg, South Carolina, Richburg, South Carolina, Baker began his NASCAR career in 1949 and won his ...

(No. 87) #

Clyde Lynn Clyde Lynn (March 3, 1936 – November 1, 1996) 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 Events January–February * January 14 – ...

(No. 20) # Frank Warren* (No. 79) #

Wendell Scott Wendell Oliver Scott Sr. (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was the first African-American driver and team owner to compete and win in all divisions of NASCAR at its highest level. Scott began his ...

(No. 34) # Jabe Thomas (No. 25) # Bob Moore (No. 96) # Paul Dean Holt (No. 01) # Elmo Langley* (No. 64) #

Neil Castles Henry Neil Castles (October 1, 1934 – August 4, 2022) was an American NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. He raced from 1957 to 1976, and won the NASCAR Grand National East Series in 1972. Early life Castles was born in Ma ...

* (No. 06) # John Sears* (No. 4) #

LeeRoy Yarbrough Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough (September 17, 1938 – December 7, 1984) was an American stock car racing, stock car racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, had 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211 ($ when adjusted for infl ...

* (No. 55) #

J.D. McDuffie John Delphus McDuffie Jr. (December 5, 1938 – August 11, 1991) was an American racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1963 to 1991, collecting 106 top-10 finishes during his career, despite never finishing on the lead ...

* (No. 70) #

Roy Tyner William Leroy "Roy" Tyner (January 3, 1934 – February 23, 1989) was a ''NASCAR Grand National'' driver from Red Springs, North Carolina, United States. NASCAR career Driver Tyner participated in the 1968 Fireball 300 in addition to the 1959 ...

* (No. 09) #

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "the King", is an American former stock car racing driver who competed from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most nota ...

* (No. 43) # Henley Gray* (No. 19) # Frog Fagan* (No. 95) #

Bill Seifert William John Seifert (born July 2, 1939) is a retired NASCAR Cup Series driver who raced from 1966 to 1979.Bob Cooper* (No. 02) #

Stan Meserve Stan Meserve (born August 23, 1941 in Winslow, Maine) is a retired ''NASCAR Grand National'' driver who competed in one year of NASCAR racing. Career He earned a grand total $7,745 through his entire NASCAR racing career (which did not reach bey ...

* (No. 51) ''* Driver failed to finish race''

References

{{s-end Dixie 250 Dixie 250 Dixie 250 NASCAR races at Augusta International Raceway