The November 17, 1963, race at the 3-mile Augusta International Raceway road course in Augusta, Georgia—known as the Augusta 510—was officially counted as Race 2 of the 1964 NASCAR Grand National Series season, even though it was held in late 1963. NASCAR had begun assigning points for the following year starting that November, making this the second event of the new campaign.
Scheduled for a longer distance, the event was shortened to 139 laps (417 miles) due to a planned 5:00 p.m. cutoff after a noon start, as darkness would have made it impossible to finish safely on the challenging road course. Fred Lorenzen took the pole in his Holman-Moody Ford but suffered an early engine failure after just 12 laps. Fireball Roberts, starting second in another Holman-Moody Ford, charged to the front late and led the final 14 laps to claim victory—his 33rd and final NASCAR win. The race saw 10 lead changes among five drivers, with Richard Petty pacing the field for a race-high 56 laps before transmission troubles ended his day.
High attrition defined the afternoon, as engines, transmissions, and other failures sidelined many cars on the demanding layout. Roberts finished a full lap ahead of teammate Dave MacDonald after a grueling 4 hours, 49 minutes, and 51 seconds, with Billy Wade third, Joe Weatherly fourth, and Ned Jarrett fifth. The average speed was a modest 86.32 mph, underscoring the punishing nature of the shortened endurance test on the new road course.
Event Schedule
First Road Course Type Race
Fred Lorenzen
Joe Weatherly