This time there was no rain, sleet or snow; just sunshine, and the Nichels Engineering team made the most of it. Darlington Raceway was roughly half the size of Indianapolis and required twice as many laps and turns. But that didn't stop Goldsmith, Sutton, Ward, Panch, Weatherly and Roberts. From a green flag standing start, both cars hit 100 mph in less than a lap, and by the second lap, they were traveling at 118 mph. At the 500-mile mark, both cars were averaging in excess of 109 mph and running like the finely tuned machines they were.
When the Nichels team left Darlington, they had set new 24-hour speed and endurance records for that track, as well. A new one-lap record speed of 116.580 mph was set and they ran 500 miles in a record time of 4 hours, 34 minutes and 52 seconds, at an average speed of 109.247 mph. Lastly, in 24 hours, the Nichels team ran 2,612.500 miles at an average speed of 108.819 mph.
Darlington track President Bob Colvin personally awarded the trophy signifying their record-breaking efforts to Nichels. (Author's note: That trophy resided in Ray's office until the day he passed away.)
Conclusion
The world-class performances of the Nichels Engineering Pontiacs ended up being Nichels' going-away present of sorts for his close friend and mentor Bunkie Knudsen. Nichels' racing partner Knudsen did what many thought was the impossible and was recognized for "turning around" the Pontiac division of GM. For the first time ever, Pontiac earned the third spot in national sales in 1961 and the Tempest was named Motor Trend's "Car of the Year." Knudsen's reward for Pontiac's successes was being named head of GM's flagship brand, Chevrolet.
It appeared that Knudsen was right all along... "Win on Sunday; sell on Monday."
Editor's Note: Conversations With A Winner - The Ray Nichels Story is scheduled for an early 2008 release. Go to www.raynichels.com to order.