On March 13, 1966, a crowd of 40,000 fans filled Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina for the inaugural Peach Blossom 500. The one-mile oval hosted a competitive 44-car field for the 500-lap event. Paul Goldsmith captured the pole position with a qualifying speed of 116.684 mph in the #99 Nichels Engineering Plymouth.
Goldsmith went on to win the race, which took just under five hours to complete. He held off Cale Yarborough by a narrow 3.82 seconds to score his second victory of the 1966 season. Rookie of the Year contender Bobby Allison finished a strong third, followed by Harold Smith in fourth and John Sears in fifth. Although Yarborough led a race-high 177 laps, Goldsmith proved strongest in the closing stages, making the winning pass on lap 452.
The race posted an average speed of 100.027 mph as the field battled through 10 cautions for 70 laps. Goldsmith’s victory in the Nichels Plymouth further solidified his strong start to the season on the demanding Rockingham oval.
