The 200 lap race started with Cotton Owens on the pole and Jack Smith joining him on the front row.

Junior Johnson won the four hour race driving a 59 Chevy owned by John Masoni.

Less than a minute and a half after the green flag flew, mayhem ensued when Dick Foley's Chevy got out of shape.

While Foley was able to gather control of his car, and finish the race in tenth place, 37 other vehicles behind him crashed while attempting to avoid the confusion.

It's just a miracle that no-one got hurt any worse than they did It took cleaning crews and tow trucks only 39 minutes to clear the track for the restart.

The win was Smith's second of the year, and 12,500 people looked on as he and Roberts grabbed the two top spots in the qualifying races.

Tommy Herbert suffered a broken arm and severe eye injury when his T-bird flipped and blew apart when he crashed into the wall on the back straightaway on lap 118.

[11] There were so many cars destroyed or damaged during the 500 that NASCAR officials felt compelled to cancel a couple races that were scheduled for the following weekend.

[5][8] Race winner Junior Johnson went on to achieve multiple accolades in the following years; including being inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990 and being selected as one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

Part of Johnson's duties as Grand Marshal would be to utter the immortal words "Gentleman, start your engines" at the 52nd running of the Daytona 500 on February 14, 2010.