April 15, 1962
“Gwyn Staley 400”
Top 5 finishers.....
The race could have been called the GFS 400—not like the GFS (Marketplace) 400 currently run at Michigan, but the GREAT FUEL SHORTAGE 400. Just after the halfway point of the race, the fuel truck ran out of gas. A yellow flag was thrown so the fuel truck could go refill. In the meantime, crewmen hurried through the infield, siphoning gas from passenger cars. The race was completed. The fuel truck never made it back. I wonder if the fuel truck drivers all of a sudden realized what day it was and instead of returning, they went and paid their taxes.......
Running in his seventh race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Richard Petty drove his 1962 Plymouth to victory. He completed the 400 lap/250 mile race in 2 hours, 57 minutes, 01 second. Petty started the race from the 15th spot. This became the farthest back a winner had come from in a Grand National race at NWS. That record stood for 8 years until........Richard Petty bettered that with a win from the 16th starting spot.
Finishing four car lengths behind Petty was Fred Lorenzen. Lorenzen started the race from the 6th position. “Friendly Fred”, “Fearless Freddie”, “The Golden Boy”, Lorenzen had many nicknames. I’m sure he was called a few other names due to his ability to win over and over again. In an era filled with the likes of Petty, Roberts, Weatherly, Pearson, Baker, Paschal, Jarrett, Panch (get my point?), Lorenzen’s 16.5% winning percentage and 47.5% top five finishes percentage were nothing short of astounding. Folks just don’t realize how good this guy was—mainly because he ran a limited schedule. In 1964 Lorenzen finished 13th in the points standings—after competing in only 16 of the 62 races on the schedule. He won 8 of them and finished in the top 5 two additional times. This was accomplished on tracks of all shapes and sizes—1/2 mile to 2.5 mile, along with road courses. ShortTrackFan wishes he could have had the chance to watch this guy race.
Taking yet another NWS pole (94.142 mph), his third consecutive, was Junior Johnson in his Holly Farms sponsored 1961 Pontiac. Johnson led 19 laps in the race and ended up the first and only car, one lap down. Johnson was known to race hard—almost too hard at times. He was out to lead as many laps as possible. But it would often damage his equipment. In his 313 career Grand National starts, he would be running at the finish in just 148 (47.3%) of the races. Ironically, Johnson’s driving career ended with 148 top ten finishes also.
Fireball Roberts finished exactly where he started—in the 4th position. He led 95 laps and finished two laps behing the winner. Roberts was driving for Banjo Matthews in this race. Roberts went on to a victory in Matthew’s car at Daytona in the Firecracker 250 of that same year.
In his Grand National debut at NWS, Darel Dieringer improved 12 spots from where he started to finish 5th. Dieringer’s ’62 Dodge, one of only three Dodge’s in the 35 car field, finished four laps behind the leader. Dieringer enjoyed success in NASCAR’s premier series, but it was Dieringer’s career as a test driver that was perhaps his greatest accomplishment and certainly his largest legacy in NASCAR’s history. Dieringer was one of a handful of test drivers who helped develop the tire inner liner, the “tire-within-a-tire” that is one of the most important tire safety innovations in racing history.
Two other drivers also led laps in the race. Joe Weatherly (8th place finish) led 90 laps and Ned Jarrett (24th) led 56 laps. A few well known names that joined Dieringer as newcomers in a Grand National race at NWS were Billy Wade, Bobby Johns and Nelson Stacey. And Herb Thomas’ masterful career came to a final end this day. Following a life-threatening crash near the end of the 1956 season, Thomas returned for 2 races the following year. After a 5 year hiatus, Thomas ended his career at the place he dominated so many times—14 starts, 3 wins (consecutive), 8 top five’s, 4 poles (consecutive) at NWS. Thomas was running at the finish in 14th place.