|| *Comments on the 1961 Daytona 500 Qualifier #2:* View the most recent comment <#21> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Dennis Garrett posted: 06.05.2005 - 7:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1961 Daytona 500 Qualifier #2 Lee Petty drove and wreck a 1961 Plymouth, not a 1961 Pontiac !! The Greg Fielden's book named: Forty Years of Stock Car Racing - The Superspeedway Boom 1959 -1964 is wrong on this information!! I had to relied old photos of this wreck for the corret answer. Enjoyed your web site very much!! sincerely yours, Dennis Garrett 2. webmaster posted: 06.21.2005 - 4:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dennis - Thanks for that information, and the error has been fixed. 3. Steve posted: 07.25.2006 - 9:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Grand National start for Bobby Allison. 4. Dan posted: 03.24.2007 - 5:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Banjo Matthews got crashed out of the lead in the final corner by Weatherly. 5. Destiny posted: 09.05.2007 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Steve, however, Bobby's first start came in just a day before Davey's birth. 6. RaceFanX posted: 12.31.2007 - 9:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Two years after thier dramatic finish in the first Daytona 500, Lee Petty and Johnny Beauchamp again get the headlines, this time for the wrong reasons. The two had a violent crash together in which both of their cars jumped the rail at the top of the track and went flipping down the side of the hill. Both drivers were injured in the crash. Due to the wreck, this was Johnny Beauchamp's last race. The wreck all but ended Lee's career also, he'd run only a handful of events over the next few seasons before hanging up his helmet for good in 1964. 7. Anonymous posted: 05.16.2008 - 8:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Weatherly wins in the Bud Moore team's first start 8. 29PennzoilChevy09 posted: 12.02.2008 - 8:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) A terrible crash on lap 38 between Lee Petty and Johnny Beauchamp was triggered sending both drivers through the guardrail and sent them both to the hospital ending Johnny's short career, with Lee's to follow shortly in 1964. 9. RaceFanX posted: 11.17.2009 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) F1 racer Brian Naylor makes his NASCAR debut and scores a career-best 32nd finish (despite it being next to last). Daytona Speedweeks in 1961 were Naylor's only NASCAR races. 10. Matthew posted: 12.23.2009 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) banjo matthews wrecked on final lap.I WAS CHEERING FOR HIM AT THE TRACK 11. CC posted: 05.12.2010 - 9:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Petty was in the hospital for 4 months! 12. Anonymous posted: 01.30.2011 - 2:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Naylor crashed on the backstretch on the first lap with Buzz McCann. Naylor hit the infield dirt bank and later said that he watched his left front wheel fly off his car and land in the middle of Lake Lloyd. 13. Anonymous posted: 11.01.2011 - 4:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, today I discovered that this was not Johnny Beauchamp's last race. He ran one more race on August 20 of that year, a IMCA Stock Car race at the Ozark Fairgrounds in Missouri. 14. RaceFanX posted: 12.18.2011 - 4:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was Lee Petty's last race in his signature #42, he used #41 for his remaining starts after he came back. 15. Alex posted: 10.29.2015 - 7:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnny Beauchamp raced in the Midwest for several years after this. 16. James lafomtaine posted: 01.29.2016 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Davey allison was born thr day after the race. Bobby left the track to be at the birth and came back for the 500 17. We need more Onion posted: 07.27.2018 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In this race Brian Naylor became the first driver with F1 experience to start a NASCAR race. He is not the first driver in NASCAR who later gone on to race in F1 (that would be Bob Said, followed by Pedro Rodriguez), but he is the first to do so before trying his luck in stock cars. 18. TheHendrickFan9244888 posted: 07.20.2019 - 7:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If you google Lee Petty 1961, you can see the remains of Petty's car. 19. QFH-BOBO83329521 posted: 08.07.2020 - 1:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Weatherly wins after wrecking Banjo Matthews on the last lap, making him the first driver to have both a win and a loss on a last lap pass. 20. thecautionlightnews posted: 09.23.2020 - 11:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brian Naylor becomes the first European to race in a NASCAR race, and also by default the First British driver. 21. Danish_Pie posted: 04.20.2021 - 7:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tubby Gonzales' sponsor was Independent Garageman's Association http://racersreunioncom.jamroomhosting.com/data/media/0/0/Ning_Media/discussions/5/5566_discussions.jpg From an article by Drew Hierwarter posted on Motor Sports Weekly News: "In 1961 [Tubby Gonzales] came to Florida and attempted to get his Ford into the prestigious Daytona 500. He started 11th in his 100 mile qualifying event but dropped out after only nine laps. It looked like that was going to be that for Gonzales but little did he know that his Daytona experience wasn't quite over yet. Fred Lorenzen was also in Daytona for the 500 that year." ... "So there was Lorenzen in Daytona 1961 with Holman-Moody. But the problem was they had no car. There just hadn't been time to get one prepared for him to drive. And now the story shifts to a New England Ford dealer and racer named Bob Tasca. Tasca knew about Tubby Gonzales and knew that Gonzales car was available. So he put Gonzales together with Ralph Moody and the deal was made for Holman-Moody to take over Gonzales car and put Lorenzen in the drivers seat." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: