1962 – Pontiac’s Greatest Season; Race 42

08/18/1962 – International 200 – Bowman-Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, NC – Jack Smith starts from the pole in his self-owned 1962 Pontiac and proceeds to lead the first 146 laps (out of 200 scheduled), but it’s Richard Petty once again in his 1962 Plymouth that leads the final 54 laps to take the win (and finishing as the only car on the lead lap).

Pontiacs also finish 3rd and 4th with Joe Weatherly and Jimmy Pardue in 1962 Pontiacs as the Tin Indians take 3 of the top-5 finishing positions.

This was a rare race where several foreign brands (as indicative of the race’s title) also participated, including Alfa Romeo, Austin-Healey, Sprite, and MG.  The idea of the promoters was to have the domestic stock cars versus the (mostly) foreign sports cars.  While a great promotional idea, on track the sports cars had a rough go of it (even the Corvette that was entered), as none finished the race and occupied 9 of the final 10 finishing positions.

MG in NASCAR?  Yes indeed, in 1962 (not this car, possibly similar).

After 42 races – 20 wins, 24 poles for Pontiac.

1962 – Pontiac’s Greatest Season; Race 41

08/15/1962 – Starkey Speedway, Roanoke, VA – Jack Smith wins the pole position in his self-owned 1962 Pontiac, but can only lead the first 8 laps until Ned Jarrett dominates for the next 152 laps in his 1962 Chevrolet.  Richard Petty then takes over and leads the final 40 laps in his 1962 Plymouth to take the win.  Joe Weatherly manages to sneak past Ned Jarrett for another 2nd place finish in Bud Moore’s 1962 Pontiac.  Bob Welborn’s 4th place finish in J.C. Parker’s 1962 Pontiac, combined with Smith’s 5th place finish, puts 3 Pontiacs in the top-5.

After 41 races – 20 wins, 23 poles for Pontiac.

 

1962 – Pontiac’s Greatest Season; Race 40

08/12/1962 – Western North Carolina 500 – Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, Weaverville, NC – Jack Smith wins the pole in his self-owned 1962 Pontiac and leads the first 163 laps, but at the end of the day it’s Jim Paschal taking the win as the only car on the lead lap in one of Petty Enterprises’ legendary 1962 Plymouths.   Joe Weatherly continues his consistent performance with a 2nd place finish in Bud Moore’s 1962 Pontiac; pole sitter Smith finishes 5th to place 2 Pontiacs in the top-5.

Weatherly in the pits.

After 40 races – 20 wins, 22 poles for Pontiac.

1962 – Pontiac’s Greatest Season; Race 39

08/08/1962 – Huntsville Speedway, Huntsville, AL – Richard Petty leads flag-to-flag in his 1962 Plymouth as he leaves the entire field a lap down; Bob Welborn finishes 2nd in J.C. Parker’s 1962 Pontiac and Jim Paschal finishes 3rd in Cliff Stewart’s 1962 to give the Tin Indians 2 podium finishes.  Jack Smith and Joe Weatherly finish 6th and 7th respectively to place 4 Pontiacs in the top-10; this race was the only Cup event ever held at Huntsville Speedway.

Huntsville Speedway today.

After 39 races – 20 wins, 21 poles for Pontiac.

 

1962 – Pontiac’s Greatest Season; Race 38

08/05/1962 – Nashville 500 – Nashville Speedway, Nashville, TN – Pontiac takes the pole position courtesy of Johnny Allen in Rex Lovette’s Holly Farms 1962 Pontiac, but when the checkered flag falls it’s the Plymouths of Petty Enterprises finishing 1-2 courtesy of Jim Paschal and Richard Petty respectively.

Joe Weatherly finishes 4th in Bud Moore’s 1962 Pontiac and Tom Cox takes 5th in Cliff Stewart’s 1962 Pontiac to place 2 Pontiacs in the top-5 (this would be Cox’s sole top-5 Cup finish in a Pontiac out of 3 career top-5’s).  Cox would eventually be named Rookie of the Year for 1962, although it should be said that of his 42 starts that year only 6 were in Pontiacs.

After 38 races – 20 wins, 21 poles for Pontiac.

1962 – Pontiac’s Greatest Season; Race 37

08/03/1962 – Confederate 200 – Boyd Speedway, Chattanooga, TN – Richard Petty wins the pole and dominates the race in his 1962 Plymouth, but at the end of the day it’s Joe Weatherly in Bud Moore’s 1961 Pontiac leading a podium sweep for the Tin Indians with Fireball Roberts and Jim Paschal taking 2nd and 3rd in their 1962 Pontiacs.

After 37 races – 20 wins, 20 poles for Pontiac.

 

 

1962 – Pontiac’s Greatest Season; Race 36

07/29/1962 – Southeastern 500 – Bristol International Speedway, Bristol, TN – Pontiacs fall short at Bristol after crushing the field in the April race as Jim Paschal takes the win in one of Petty Enterprises’ 1962 Plymouths.

Fireball Roberts does win the pole in Jim Stephens’ 1962 Pontiac and leads the first 29 laps and Junior Johnson leads the most laps on the day (166 in Cotton Owens’ 1962 Pontiac), but due to attrition only 1 Pontiac finishes in the top-5 with Johnny Allen taking 4th in Fred Lovette’s Holly Farms 1962 Pontiac.

After 36 races – 19 wins, 20 poles for Pontiac.

1962 – Pontiac’s Greatest Season; Race 35

07/21/1961 – Rambi Speedway, Myrtle Beach, SC – ‘Gentleman’ Ned Jarrett shows everybody how to tame a 1/2-mile dirt track as he takes the win from the pole in B.G. Holloway’s 1962 Chevrolet, lapping the entire field.  Joe Weatherly finishes 2nd (1 lap down), Jack Smith finished 3rd (4 laps down), and Bob Welborn finishes 5th (10 laps down) to place 3 Pontiacs in the top-5.  Weatherly was driving an older 1960 model (no doubt Bud Moore was saving the 1962’s for the superspeedways) while Smith and Welborn were driving the new 1962 models.

After 35 races – 19 wins, 19 poles for Pontiac

1962 – Pontiac’s Greatest Season; Race 34

07/20/1962 – Savannah Speedway, Savannah, GA – Joe Weatherly makes it 2 in a row as he takes home another win in Bud Moore’s 1961 Pontiac, leading a trio Pontiacs in the top-5 (Bob Welborn finishes 4th, Jim Paschal finishes 5th, both in 1962 Pontiacs).

This marked the second time in the 1962 season that Weatherly won 2 consecutive races (earlier in the year he won at Concord and Weaverville).

After 34 races – 19 wins, 19 poles for Pontiac.

1962 – Pontiac’s Greatest Season; Race 33

07/17/1962 – Augusta Speedway, Augusta, GA – Jack Smith wins the pole in his self-owned 1961 Pontiac, but it’s Joe Weatherly in Bud Moore’s 1961 Pontiac bringing home the victory ahead of championship rival Richard Petty in his 1962 Plymouth (Weatherly and Petty were the only 2 cars finishing on the lead lap).  Bob Welborn finishes 5th to place 2 Pontiacs in the top-5.

After 33 races – 18 wins, 19 poles for Pontiac.