The 1968 Northern 300 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on July 14, 1968, at

Trenton Speedway Trenton Speedway was a racing facility located near Trenton, New Jersey at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Races for the United States' premier open-wheel and full-bodied racing series of the times were held at Trenton Speedway. Racing histor ...

in Trenton, New Jersey.

Background

The first race at the Fairgrounds was held on September 24, 1900, but there was no further racing there until 1907. Regular racing began in 1912 and continued until 1941. A new 1 mile dirt oval was opened in 1946. In 1957 the track was paved. It operated in that configuration until 1968 when the track was expanded to 1.5 miles (2.41 km) and a "

kidney bean The kidney bean is a variety of the common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris''). It resembles a human kidney and thus is named after such. Red kidney beans should not be confused with other red beans, such as adzuki beans. Classification There are d ...

" shape with a 20° right-hand dogleg on the back stretch and a wider turn 3 & 4 complex than turns 1 & 2. The track closed in 1980 and the Fairgrounds itself closed 3 years later. The former site of the speedway is now occupied by the Grounds for Sculpture, a UPS shipping facility, and the housing development known as "Hamilton Lakes".

Race report

Three hundred laps were done on a paved oval track spanning . The total time of the race was three hours and twenty-two minutes; LeeRoy Yarbrough defeated

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 (scientist) (born 1942), Canadian scientist, a ...

by more than one lap in front of 16800 people. Speeds for the race were: as the average and as the pole position speed. Five cautions were waved for twenty-eight laps. Retired Canadian driver

Frog Fagan Harold "Frog" Fagan (November 3, 1940 – August 6, 1993) was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver from the Toronto subdivision of Willowdale, Ontario, Canada. History Harold Fagan is the son of Mrs. Yvonne Fagan (who was the owner of the ''Northway Res ...

participated in this race. Total winnings for this race were $17,725 USD ($ when considering inflation). Bobby Allison was driving a 1966

Chevrolet Chevelle The Chevrolet Chevelle is a mid-sized automobile that was produced by Chevrolet in three generations for the 1964 through 1978 model years. Part of the General Motors (GM) A-body platform, the Chevelle was one of Chevrolet's most successful ...

to this event. While he flourished early on as an independent race car driver, he quickly floundered after being able to compete against NASCAR racing legends like LeeRoy Yarbrough and David Pearson on a consistent basis.

Gene Black Gene Black (September 23, 1943 - October 4, 2010 ) was an American '' NASCAR Grand National'' driver who competed from 1965 to 1968. Summary Black was born in Arden, North Carolina. He accumulated six finishes in the top ten in his career in a ...

, Blaine Kauffman, and

David Mote David Mote (born October 3, 1940 - Siler City, North Carolina-died May 17, 2010) was a NASCAR Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt ...

would end their top-level professional stock car careers at this event. Notable crew chiefs on attendance for this race include Junior Johnson, Harry Hyde,

Dale Inman Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief from Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina. He is best known for being the crew chief of Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three de ...

and

Jake Elder J. C. "Jake" Elder (November 22, 1936 – February 24, 2010) was a NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief. He was the championship crew chief for two years and for part of a third season. Elder had these successes despite never pas ...

. 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

# LeeRoy Yarbrough† (#98) # David Pearson† (#17) # Bobby Allison (#2) # Charlie Glotzbach (#6) # Pete Hamilton† (#5) # James Hylton† (#48) # John Sears† (#4) #

G.C. Spencer Grover Clifton "G. C." Spencer (July 9, 1925GC Spencer obituaryhttp://www.heartfeltconnections.net/memberEulogy.cfm?memberid=14734&sqry_rownum=1&CFTOKEN=39227896 . – September 20, 2007) was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/ ...

† (#49) #

Elmo Langley Elmo Harold Langley (August 21, 1928 – November 21, 1996) was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number 64 on his race cars during his NASCAR career. Racing career Langley began his racing career racing modified cars in Vir ...

† (#64) # Clyde Lynn† (#20) # Jabe Thomas (#25) # Wendell Scott† (#34) # Dick Johnson (#18) # Bill Seifert (#45) # Bill Champion*† (#10) # Bobby Isaac*† (#71) # Blaine Kauffmann* (#44) # Darel Dieringer*† (#22) #

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 ...

*† (#70) #

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 198 ...

*† (#3) # Buck Baker*† (#87) #

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 ...

* (#43) #

Earl Brooks Earl Lee Brooks (August 11, 1929 – July 21, 2010) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1962 to 1979. His career came at a time where NASCAR was less organized than it is today and drivers independently owned their v ...

*† (#28) #

Paul Dean Holt Paul Dean Holt (born March 30, 1936, in Sweetwater, Tennessee) is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup driver and a competitor at the 1968 Fireball 300. Career Holt had one top ten finish and he competed in 10604 laps and . Holt started an average of ...

* (#01) # Stan Meserve* (#51) #

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 ...

* (#06) #

Don Tarr Donald James Tarr (11 March 1910 – 4 June 1980) was a Welsh international hooker who played club rugby for Swansea and Cardiff, county rugby for Hampshire and invitational rugby for the Barbarians. Tarr was a career naval officer, reaching t ...

* (#0) # Roy Hallquist* (#11) # Sonny Hutchins*† (#90) #

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

*† (#76) #

*† (#75) #

Ed Negre Ed Negre (July 16, 1927June 4, 2014) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1955 to 1979.''E ...

*† (#8) # Frog Fagan* (#23) #

David Mote David Mote (born October 3, 1940 - Siler City, North Carolina-died May 17, 2010) was a NASCAR Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt ...

* (#69) # Bill Vanderhoff* (#09) # George Davis* (#07) ''† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased''
''* Driver failed to finish race''

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: LeeRoy Yarbrough began the event with the pole position. * Lap 2: David Pearson took over the lead from LeeRoy Yarbrough. * Lap 3: LeeRoy Yarbrough took over the lead from David Pearson. * Lap 18: Roy Tyner blew his vehicle's engine while racing at high speeds. * Lap 39: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from LeeRoy Yarbrough. * Lap 40: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 41: LeeRoy Yarbrough took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 74: Don Tarr had a terminal crash, forcing him to retire from the event prematurely. * Lap 96: Richard Petty took over the lead from LeeRoy Yarbrough. * Lap 97: LeeRoy Yarbrough took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 111: Stan Meserve managed to lose the rear end of his vehicle. * Lap 119: Earl Brooks had a terminal crash, forcing him to retire from the event early. * Lap 134: Richard Petty took over the lead from LeeRoy Yarbrough. * Lap 135: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 136: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 145: LeeRoy Yarbrough took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 162: Richard Petty blew his vehicle's engine while racing at high speeds. * Lap 168: Buck Baker blew his vehicle's engine while racing at high speeds. * Lap 191: Buddy Baker blew his vehicle's engine while racing at high speeds. * Lap 231: Darel Dieringer blew his vehicle's engine while racing at high speeds. * Lap 249: Blaine Kauffmann notice that the oil in his vehicle was leaking badly, forcing him to exit the race with a somewhat respectable 17th-place finish. * Lap 250: Bobby Isaac blew his vehicle's engine while racing at high speeds. * Lap 254: Bill Champion blew his vehicle's engine while racing at high speeds. * Finish: LeeRoy Yarbrough was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

{{Northern 300

Northern 300 The Northern 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held in 1958, 1959, and from 1967 to 1972 at Trenton Speedway in Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer ...

NASCAR races at Trenton Speedway