The 1967 Fireball 300 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. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

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 (known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 to 1970, then the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand Nation ...

event that was held on March 5, 1967, at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in

Weaverville, North Carolina Weaverville is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,120 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Chartered in 1875 and named for Michael Montraville Weaver ...

. The name of the race was named after

NASCAR Hall of Fame The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, honors drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning ...

inductee

Fireball Roberts Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts Jr. (January 20, 1929July 2, 1964) was an American stock car racer. Background Roberts was born in Tavares, Florida, and raised in Apopka, Florida, where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. He was ...

, who died in 1964 following an accident in that year's

World 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

Race report

This was the historic site of

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

's 50th career win in front of 9,500 people in what is now known as the Cup Series. The average speed of the race was on a paved

oval track Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit 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 ...

spanning for three hundred laps. It took one hour and forty-seven minutes for the race to reach its conclusion; Petty defeating

Darel Dieringer Darel Dieringer (June 1, 1926 – October 28, 1989) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He ran 181 NASCAR Grand National Series races during his career, notably racing for Bud Moore Engineering and Junior Johnson & Associates. ...

by outlapping him twice. All twenty-two racers were from the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Total winnings for this race were $7,150 ($ when adjusted for inflation). Individual earnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $1,800 ($ when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's portion of $100 ($ when adjusted for inflation). Jim Conway would retire from NASCAR Cup Series competition after this event. 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

Finishing order

Section reference: ''* Driver failed to finish race''

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Darel Dieringer officially began the race with the pole position. * Lap 41: Jim Paschal's race would be ruined by his vehicle's faulty wiring. * Lap 51: Engine issues forced Buck Baker out of the race. * Lap 88: James Hylton's vehicle had a nasty engine problem. * Lap 93: Problematic lug nuts would drive Earl Brooks out of the event. * Lap 100: Neil Castles blamed his terrible performance on some nasty clutch issues. * Lap 104: Richard Petty took over the lead from Darel Dieringer. * Lap 109: The problems with Roy Mayne's differential knocked him out of the race. * Lap 116: Darel Dieringer took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 119: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Darel Dieringer. * Lap 128: The problems with Roy Tyner's differential knocked him out of the race. * Lap 144: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 157: The problems with Wayne Smith's differential knocked him out of the race. * Lap 215: Darel Dieringer took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 234: Richard Petty took over the lead from Darel Dieringer. * Finish: Richard Petty was the official winner of the event.

References

{{1967 NASCAR Grand National Fireball 300 Fireball 300 NASCAR races at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway