The April 30, 1961, race at Martinsville Speedway, officially known as the Virginia 500 Sweepstakes, was a full-distance NASCAR Grand National Series event (the 18th race of the 1961 season) held three weeks after the original Virginia 500 on April 9 was abandoned early due to heavy rain after only 149 of its scheduled 500 laps. Promoters and officials rescheduled a complete 500-lap race (approximately 263 miles on the 0.526-mile paved short track) to allow teams and fans a full event, essentially serving as a makeup or follow-up contest under a slightly modified name to distinguish it. Junior Johnson, driving a Pontiac for owner Rex Lovette, dominated much of the day by leading 135 laps and won convincingly, finishing four laps ahead of runner-up Emanuel Zervakis in a Chevrolet, with Fireball Roberts taking third in another Pontiac.
Fred Lorenzen, the winner of the rain-shortened April 9 race, started strong by leading 334 laps in his Holman-Moody Ford but fell to 11th after mechanical troubles. The race drew strong competition from top drivers like Rex White (who led 31 laps and finished ninth), Ned Jarrett, Buck Baker, and others, with an average winning speed of about 66.278 mph, marking a successful resolution to the earlier weather disruption at the Virginia track.
