Media accounts at the time claimed he stated heard a voice telling him to get out of the car immediately or he would die.

Two different commentators were under the initial belief that Smith had driven the car from the outside wall to the safety apron under his own power, and that the damage from the hit was sufficient to take him out of the race.

[2] Track officials indicated that the headrest of Smith's car had been broken by the wall impact, and that he had died of massive head injuries.

Dick Brooks took the checkered flag for the win, with Buddy Baker keeping his heavily smoking car going to finish second.

Pearson's pit crew reported that his car was 'missing badly', and he finished third on the lead lap, with a partially disabled engine.

David Pearson's third-place finish was sufficient to make him the second NASCAR driver to reach the $1,000,000 purse earnings mark.

His brother, Peter Crawford, designed an induction system to maximize airflow to the car's engine despite the mandatory restrictor plate.

Privately, testing performed by the team demonstrated that the Peter Crawford's intake manifold allowed their engine to produce in excess of 600 horsepower even with the restrictor plate installed.

After the race and the runaway result from the Plymouth, AIMS track owner and then-NASCAR president Bill France Sr. called a meeting with the brothers.