Smokey Yunick split the $21,050 Daytona 500 Grand Prize right down the middle with Marvin Panch. Panch bought his family a ranch in Daytona Beach, Florida, which they still own. From left to right: Marvette Panch, Richie Panch, Marvin Panch, Bettie Panch.
HPP: Did you have a regimen that you followed to prepare physically for the race?
MP: While driving to out-of-state tracks, I used to unhook the power steering belt on my personal car, roll up the windows and turn off the air conditioner. I'd drive around like that trying to get used to the heat that always built up in the race cars. When I'd sit at home watching TV, I'd sit in a bucket seat that had a steering wheel hooked to a stiff shock. I would watch TV in the chair, cranking the steering wheel back and forth to strengthen up my arms. Other than that, I didn't really have any regimen for the race.
HPP: What was your top speed during qualifying?
MP: Straightaway speeds were in the high 170's...178, 179 mph. I believe my qualifying speed (average lap speed) was 174 mph.
HPP: Was your cam changed after qualifying, but before the race?
MP: No, we used the same engine all through practice, qualifying and the race.
HPP: What other changes did Smokey make in the Pontiac between qualifying and the race?
MP: He didn't mention a word to me-hefigured I would find out if he made any changes when the race started.
The 1961 Daytona 500 Winner celebrates with his children.
HPP: Did you know in your mind before the Daytona 500 that Victory Circle was already yours?
MP: Definitely not! Remember, I was driving a year-old Pontiac. All those '61 Pontiacs were probably given a better chance at winning than me. All I knew is that I had a job to do-to stay out of trouble and win the race, and that's what I did.
HPP: What was the first thing you remember at the Daytona track on the morning of the race?
MP: That was a long time ago but I still remember all of the shortcuts into the track to avoid traffic. I'm sure I spent the first part of the morning totally focused on how I would approach the race.
HPP: What was Smokey Yunick like the day of the race? Can you remember what he said to you to prepare you for the race?
MP: Smokey was Smokey ... his personality never changed for race day. I do remember him telling me not to draft on Fireball. He wanted me to hang back a half lap or so. If there was a mishap, he did not want both his cars involved. Let me tell you what kind of a man Smokey was. After I won the Daytona 500 and got with Smokey to settle up, he told me that anyone who could win the Daytona 500 deserved 50 percent of the purse (instead of the original 40 percent). Smokey was a first-class gentleman.
Semon E. "Bunkie" Knudsen was responsible for supplying the furiously fast Pontiacs that 13 race teams used in the 1961 Daytona 500.
HPP: What were your thoughts when the '61 Bonneville convertible pace car finished lapping and the green flag was brought out?
MP: Step on the throttle and stay out of trouble-it's a long race.
HPP: What did you think about the competition? What did you think about their cars?
MP: Competition was fast and furious; the field was full of tough competitors like Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Curtis Turner, Junior Johnson, Darel Dieringer and a lot of new '61 Pontiacs. They were alldriving new models and I was driving a year-old Pontiac that Fireball campaigned last season. Smokey thought the '60 Catalina wouldn't go through the air like the '61, he thought it was too boxy. But after the qualifying races, I knew it would run with the '61s because Smokey's engine was super strong.
HPP: How did your Pontiac feel the first 10 laps; the first 100 laps?
MP: Same as it did on the last lap...fast.
Marvin Panch, Cotton Owens, Glenn "Fireball" Roberts and Joe Weatherly at the November 16, 1961, Nichels Engineering press conference for the 24-Hour Speed and Endurance Runs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Nichels uncharacteristically promised members of the press that his team would break all of the current Indy Stock Car records. Six days later his team did exactly that.
HPP: Please tell us about your pit stops. Were they routine?
MP: We only made a couple of pit stops, primarily for fuel and once for a new set of tires.
HPP: What were the toughest laps in the race?
MP: The last 10 laps while I was trying to keep all the '61 Pontiacs behind me.
HPP: Did you know you had won when you crossed the checkered flag?
MP: Oh yeah, that's a moment I will always remember. I saw the checkered flag waving and I knew that I had won the biggest race of my career.
HPP: Please tell us how you felt in the Victory Circle.
MP: We didn't have an official Victory Lane in 1961, so NASCAR just made a spot on the grass. I remember driving through the grass and looking out the windshield and seeing Smokey, or actually the first thing I saw was Smokey's black hat. As I drove to the Victory Circle, I remember Smokey being on the right side of the car and Bill France Sr. standing on the left. As I got out, both of them were there to congratulate me. Soon after, my wife, Bettie, and my children, Marvette and Richie, joined in the celebration. Naturally, it was a super good feeling knowing I won the race. In winning the 1961 Daytona 500, I was the first driver to set a closed-course world 500-mile record in a stock car (with an average speed for the race of 149.601 mph). I also set a new Daytona 500 average speed record by just over 14 mph. In fact, our record speed was also better than the pole speed, fastest race lap speed and average race speed of the Indianapolis 500 for the same year. That Smokey Yunick Pontiac was fast.