The 1961 Greenville 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on April 1, 1961, at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina.
After nearly two hours of racing 200 laps, Emanuel Zervakis emerged as the winner as he managed to defeat Richard Petty by an unknown margin in front of a crowd of 5000 people. This would make the first of two career victories for Zervakis and the only time that a driver with the number 85 to have two career victories in NASCAR Cup Series history.[1] All 21 of the drivers on the grid were American-born males.[1] Doug Yates would receive the last-place finish due to a driveshaft issue on the eighth lap.[1] Other notable names who competed were: Junior Johnson, Roy Tyner, and Ned Jarrett.[1] Johnson would qualify for the pole position with speeds up to 62.09mph during the qualifying sessions.[1] Four cautions slowed the race for 20 laps; there was only one crash during the entire race.[1]
Bob Barron was a middle-aged rookie who started in 20th place and finished in 18th place. After the 1961 NASCAR Grand National Series season, Barron attempted to do only one more NASCAR Cup Series race while making attempts to look into it further.[1]
Zervakis would make his first win in his NASCAR career at this racing event.[2] Bud Allman was one of the notable crew chiefs at the race; he worked on Ned Jarrett's #11 Ford vehicle.[3]
The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s.
| Grid | Driver | Manufacturer | Owner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | '60 Pontiac | Rex Lovette | ||
| 2 | 85 | '60 Chevrolet | Monroe Shook | ||
| 3 | 47 | '61 Pontiac | Jack Smith | ||
| 4 | 4 | '60 Chevrolet | Rex White | ||
| 5 | 43 | '60 Plymouth | Petty Enterprises | ||
| 6 | 23 | '59 Plymouth | Raeford Johnson | ||
| 7 | 86 | '61 Chrysler | Buck Baker | ||
| 8 | 67 | '60 Chevrolet | G.C. Spencer | ||
| 9 | 11 | '60 Ford | B.G. Holloway | ||
| 10 | 48 | '60 Chevrolet | G.C. Spencer | ||
| 11 | 54 | '59 Chevrolet | Jimmy Pardue | ||
| 12 | 2 | Tom Daniels | |||
| 13 | 17 | '59 Ford | Fred Harb | ||
| 14 | 9 | '60 Ford | Roy Tyner | ||
| 15 | 0 | '59 Dodge | Bobby Waddell | ||
| 16 | 1 | '61 Chevrolet | Jess Potter | ||
| 17 | 35 | '59 Plymouth | M.J. Black | ||
| 18 | 62 | '59 Plymouth | Curtis Crider | ||
| 19 | 19 | '60 Ford | Herman Beam | ||
| 20 | 71 | '60 Dodge | Bob Barron | ||
| 21 | 30 | Doug Cox |
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