1960 Grand National Series

1960 Grand National Series
Duration	November 8, 1959 through October 30, 1960
Season statistics
No. of races	44
First race	1960-01
Last race	1960 Atlanta 500
Drivers' champion	Rex White
Manufacturers' champion
Rookie of the Year	David Pearson
Most popular driver	Rex White
Previous	1959
Next	1961

The 1960 Grand National Series was the 12th season of the NASCAR Grand National Series. The season began with a race at the Southern States Fairgrounds on November 8, 1959 and ended with the Atlanta 500 at Atlanta International Raceway on October 30, 1960.

Rex White won his first championship in his first full-time season, with six wins in 1960. He defeated Richard Petty by 3936 points to win the title. He also edged out Joe Weatherly to win the Most Popular Driver award.

The season was notable for being the first season where races were broadcast live (two Daytona 500 pole position races held on January 31) on television, and was the last season where an apparent winner was disqualified after the race until 2022. Charlotte Motor Speedway and Atlanta International Raceway debuted on the schedule, each with two races.

Schedule

Round	Date	Race Name	Track
1	November 8, 1959	1960-01	Southern States Fairgrounds
2	November 26, 1959	1960-02	Columbia Speedway
3	February 12, 1960	Daytona 500 Qualifier #1	Daytona International Speedway
4	February 12, 1960	Daytona 500 Qualifier #2	Daytona International Speedway
5	February 14, 1960	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway
6	February 28, 1960	1960-06	Southern States Fairgrounds
7	March 27, 1960	Gwyn Staley 160	North Wilkesboro Speedway
8	April 3, 1960	Copper Cup 100	Arizona State Fairgrounds
9	April 5, 1960	1960-09	Columbia Speedway
10	April 10, 1960	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway
11	April 16, 1960	Hickory 250	Hickory Speedway
12	April 17, 1960	1960-12	Wilson Speedway
13	April 18, 1960	1960-13	Bowman Gray Stadium
14	April 23, 1960	Greenville 200	Greenville-Pickens Speedway
15	April 24, 1960	1960-15	Asheville-Weaverville Speedway
16	May 14, 1960	Rebel 300	Darlington Raceway
17	May 28, 1960	1960-17	Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds
18	May 29, 1960	1960-18	Orange Speedway
19	June 5, 1960	Richmond 200	Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds
20	June 12, 1960	California 250	Marchbanks Speedway
21	June 19, 1960	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway
22	June 26, 1960	International 200	Bowman Gray Stadium
23	July 4, 1960	Firecracker 250	Daytona International Speedway
24	July 10, 1960	1960-24	Heidelberg Raceway
25	July 17, 1960	Empire State 200	Montgomery Air Base
26	July 23, 1960	1960-26	Rambi Raceway
27	July 31, 1960	Dixie 300	Atlanta International Raceway
28	August 3, 1960	1960-28	Dixie Speedway
29	August 7, 1960	Nashville 400	Nashville Speedway
30	August 14, 1960	Western North Carolina 500	Asheville-Weaverville Speedway
31	August 16, 1960	1960-31	Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds
32	August 18, 1960	Capital City 300	Columbia Speedway
33	August 20, 1960	1960-33	South Boston Speedway
34	August 23, 1960	1960-34	Bowman Gray Stadium
35	September 5, 1960	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway
36	September 9, 1960	Buddy Shuman 250	Hickory Speedway
37	September 11, 1960	1960-37	California State Fairgrounds
38	September 15, 1960	1960-38	Gamecock Speedway
39	September 18, 1960	1960-39	Orange Speedway
40	September 25, 1960	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway
41	October 2, 1960	Wilkes 320	North Wilkesboro Speedway
42	October 16, 1960	National 400	Charlotte Motor Speedway
43	October 23, 1960	Capital City 200	Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds
44	October 30, 1960	Atlanta 500	Atlanta International Raceway

Results

Round	Race	Pole Winner	Winner	Make	Cautions	Caution Laps	Average Speed	Number of Lead Changes
1	1960-01	Buck Baker	Jack Smith		8		52.409	6
2	1960-02	Junior Johnson	Ned Jarrett				55.071
3	1960 Daytona 500 Qualifier #1	Cotton Owens	Fireball Roberts		2	5	137.614	1
4	1960 Daytona 500 Qualifier #2	Jack Smith	Jack Smith		2	2	146.520	0
5	1960 Daytona 500	Cotton Owens	Junior Johnson		4	32	124.740	13
6	1960-06	Lee Petty	Richard Petty		6		53.404
7	1960 Gwyn Staley 160	Junior Johnson	Lee Petty		6		66.347	3
8	1960 Copper Cup 100	Mel Larson	John Rostek				71.899	4
9	1960-09	Doug Yates	Rex White				50.697
10	1960 Virginia 500	Glen Wood	Richard Petty		8		63.943	8
11	1960 Hickory 250	Rex White	Joe Weatherly				66.347
12	1960-12	Emanuel Zervakis	Joe Weatherly				55.113
13	1960-13	Glen Wood	Glen Wood				43.082	0
14	1960 Greenville 200	Curtis Turner	Ned Jarrett		0	0	62.337	2
15	1960-15	Junior Johnson	Lee Petty				63.368	4
16	1960 Rebel 300	Fireball Roberts	Joe Weatherly		4		102.640	7
17	1960-17	Jack Smith	Ned Jarrett				51.843
18	1960-18	Richard Petty	Lee Petty		1	6	83.583	1
19	1960 Richmond 200	Ned Jarrett	Lee Petty		1	6	62.251	7
20	1960 California 250	Frank Secrist	Marvin Porter				88.032	4
21	1960 World 600	Fireball Roberts	Joe Lee Johnson		8	45	107.735	11
22	1960 International 200	Lee Petty	Glen Wood				45.872	1
23	1960 Firecracker 250	Jack Smith	Jack Smith		0	0	146.842	10
24	1960-24	Lee Petty	Lee Petty				67.450	2
25	1960 Empire State 200	John Rostek	Rex White		1		88.626	6
26	1960-26	Ned Jarrett	Buck Baker				60.985
27	1960 Dixie 300	Fireball Roberts	Fireball Roberts				112.652	12
28	1960-28	Ned Jarrett	Ned Jarrett				54.463	0
29	1960 Nashville 400	Rex White	Johnny Beauchamp				56.966
30	1960 Western North Carolina 500	Jack Smith	Rex White				65.024	8
31	1960-31	Cotton Owens	Cotton Owens				59.681
32	1960 Capital City 300	Tommy Irwin	Rex White				54.265
33	1960-33	Ned Jarrett	Junior Johnson				50.732	12
34	1960-34	Glen Wood	Glen Wood		1	3	44.389	0
35	1960 Southern 500	Fireball Roberts	Buck Baker		5	61	105.901	14
36	1960 Buddy Shuman 250	Buck Baker	Junior Johnson				69.998
37	1960-37	Jim Cook	Jim Cook				70.629
38	1960-38	David Pearson	Ned Jarrett				41.208
39	1960-39	Richard Petty	Richard Petty		1	3	80.161	0
40	1960 Old Dominion 500	Glen Wood	Rex White				60.439
41	1960 Wilkes 320	Rex White	Rex White		5		77.444
42	1960 National 400	Fireball Roberts	Speedy Thompson		7	34	112.905	8
43	1960 Capital City 200	Ned Jarrett	Speedy Thompson				63.739	3
44	1960 Atlanta 500	Fireball Roberts	Bobby Johns				108.408	7

Final Points Standings

Pos.	Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points	Difference
1	Rex White	40	6	25	35	3	21164
2	Richard Petty	40	3	16	30	2	17228	-3,936
3	Bobby Johns	19	1	8	10	0	14964	-6,200
4	Buck Baker	37	2	15	24	2	14674	-6,490
5	Ned Jarrett	40	5	20	26	5	14660	-6,504
6	Lee Petty	39	5	21	30	3	14510	-6,654
7	Junior Johnson	34	3	14	18	3	9932	-11,232
8	Emanuel Zervakis	14	0	2	10	1	9720	-11,444
9	Jim Paschal	10	0	3	7	0	8968	-12,196
10	Banjo Matthews	12	0	0	4	0	8458	-12,706
11	Johnny Beauchamp	11	1	3	5	0	8306	-12,858
12	Herman Beam	26	0	1	6	0	7776	-13,388
13	Joe Lee Johnson	22	1	6	8	0	7352	-13,812
14	Jack Smith	13	3	7	7	3	6944	-14,220
15	Fred Lorenzen	10	0	3	5	0	6764	-14,400
16	Bob Welborn	15	0	6	10	0	6732	-14,432
17	Jimmy Pardue	32	0	1	11	0	6682	-14,482
18	Tom Pistone	20	0	2	8	0	6572	-14,592
19	Johnny Allen	10	0	2	5	0	6506	-14,658
20	Joe Weatherly	24	3	7	11	0	6380	-14,784
21	Doug Yates	24	0	3	8	1	6374	-14,790
22	L.D. Austin	27	0	1	10	0	6180	-14,984
23	David Pearson	22	0	3	7	1	5956	-15,208
24	Gerald Duke	11	0	1	7	0	5950	-15,214
25	Speedy Thompson	9	2	4	5	0	5658	-15,506
26	Marvin Panch	11	0	0	1	0	5268	-15,896
27	Paul Lewis	22	0	0	4	0	5212	-15,952
28	Curtis Crider	24	0	0	2	0	4720	-16,444
29	Fireball Roberts	9	2	2	3	6	4700	-16,464
30	Shorty Rollins	4	0	0	1	0	4374	-16,790
31	Possum Jones	13	0	4	5	0	4270	-16,894
32	Tiny Lund	8	0	0	2	0	4124	-17,040
33	G.C. Spencer	26	0	2	6	0	3986	-17,178
34	Larry Frank	11	0	0	2	0	3634	-17,530
35	Herb Tillman	9	0	0	0	0	3504	-17,660
36	Curtis Turner	9	0	0	1	1	3300	-17,864
37	Bunkie Blackburn	20	0	1	4	0	3252	-17,912
38	Buddy Baker	15	0	0	1	0	3070	-18,094
39	Cotton Owens	14	1	5	5	2	3050	-18,114
40	Charley Griffith	5	0	0	0	0	2684	-18,480

Complete statistics can be found at Racing-Reference.info.

Rookie of the Year

With 3 Top 5s and 7 Top 10s in 22 starts, David Pearson was the 1960 Rookie of the Year.

Position	Driver	Race Wins
1	David Pearson	0
2	Gerald Duke	0
3	Paul Lewis	0

Manufacturer's Championship

Despite winning 13 races to Ford's 15, Chevrolet won the 1960 Manufacturer's Championship. The Ford Thunderbird was once again counted as a separate make this year.

Position	Make	Race Wins
1		13
2		15
3		8
4		7
5	T-Bird	0
6		1