Today In NASCAR History

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1961: Joe Weatherly leads only the final five laps, pouncing on a victory in the National 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for his seventh win of the season. After Junior Johnson retired with a broken wheel while leading just 11 laps from the finish, Weatherly slipped by Bob Welborn in the 263rd of 267 laps and held off runner-up Richard Petty by 1 1/2 car-lengths at the checkered flag. Welborn, Weatherly’s teammate in Bud Moore-owned Pontiacs, held on for third place as the last car on the lead lap.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.