The 1963 National 400, the 52nd race of the NASCAR Grand National Series season, was held on Sunday, October 13th at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. A field of 40 drivers contested the event, which was scheduled for 267 laps on the high-banked quad-oval superspeedway. Junior Johnson, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet for Ray Fox, delivered a dominant performance after starting second. He led a commanding 209 laps and cruised to victory, becoming the first repeat winner of the National 400 in the track’s young history (he had also won the 1962 edition).
Marvin Panch earned the pole in the No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing, while Fred Lorenzen (No. 28 Ford, Holman-Moody) charged from ninth to finish second on the lead lap. Panch recovered to take third, also on the lead lap, followed by Fireball Roberts (No. 22 Ford, Holman-Moody) in fourth and Joe Weatherly (No. 8 Mercury, Bud Moore Engineering) in fifth. The race saw 14 lead changes among several drivers, including 35 laps led by Darel Dieringer and brief stints by others. Three caution periods slowed the action for 17 laps, but the event still posted a strong average speed of 132.105 mph.
Mechanical failures and incidents thinned the field significantly. Early crashes eliminated contenders like Ned Jarrett and Bobby Isaac, while numerous drivers retired with engine problems, overheating, clutch issues, and other woes (including Tiny Lund, Jim Paschal, and Buck Baker). Richard Petty started 15th in his No. 43 Plymouth and salvaged a solid sixth-place finish. The top factory teams, particularly Ford entries from Holman-Moody and Wood Brothers, showed strength, but Johnson’s Chevrolet proved superior on this day. The win added to Johnson’s impressive 1963 campaign and highlighted the competitive balance between manufacturers during the era.
The race lasted several hours under typical fall conditions and drew a record crowd of 46,531 to the relatively new superspeedway. It served as another showcase for the high speeds and attrition common at Charlotte, with only a handful of cars completing all 267 laps on the lead lap.
