Daytona Countdown: '62

It was a very good year for Roberts and Glenn

Fireball Roberts, a Daytona Beach native, won one for the home crowd on Feb. 18, 1962, when his Pontiac finished 27 seconds in front of Richard Petty's Plymouth in the fourth Daytona 500.

The estimated attendance for the 1962 Daytona 500 was 58,070, or nearly half of Volusia County's population of 125,319 in 1962.

NASCAR ACCELERATION •   Know Your NASCAR •   Get your Daytona tickets •   2004 Daytona 500 highlights •   Get TrackPass for 2005 •   NASCAR accelerates into 2005 with unified campaign ALSO IN 1962 ... •   The L.A. Dodgers' Maury Wills stole 104 bases to become the first man to ever swipe 100 bases in a single season.  •   The first Wal-Mart was opened.   •   Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home in Los Angeles.  •   "Dr. No" became the first in a series of James Bond films.  •   The Cuba Missle Crisis gripped the world in October when Russian missile silos were spotted in Cuba. The Russians eventually withdraw the missles after an American blockcade of ther island. The event was later documented in the 2000 movie "Thirteen Days."  Courtesy: Wikipedia

In 1962, Deltona was created -- and by 2005, its population of 71,599 made it the largest city in Volusia, according to the West Volusia Chamber of Commerce.

Two days after Roberts' win, John Glenn made history of his own when he became the first American in orbit, taking just under five hours to make three trips around the globe.

In 1962, Ford redesigned its Fairlane model, making it shorter, lighter and more powerful, especially with the 260-cubic inch Challenger V8 engine.

Ford sold 297,000 Fairlanes that year. At the manufacturer's standard retail price of $2,257, Roberts could have snapped up 10 Fairlanes with the winner's share of $24,190 and still have enough left over to buy gas at 31 cents a gallon.

Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow was born on Feb. 11, 1962. Her single Steve McQueen was released in 2002.

In 1962, Steve McQueen was starring in Hell Is For Heroes. He would later portray a racecar driver in LeMans and race a Mustang through the streets of San Francisco in Bullitt.

The hot dance craze in February of 1962 was the Twist. No fewer than three songs in the Cash Box Top 10 were Twist-related: The Twist by Chubby Checker, Peppermint Twist by Joey Dee & The Starlighters and Dear Lady Twist by Gary (U.S.) Bonds. Buck Baker was the only driver to twist up his car during the Daytona 500 that year, finishing 28th.

The No. 1 song was Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler. Gerald Duke drove a Ford in the 1962 Daytona 500, finishing 25th. Future President Gerald Ford was a member of the House of Representatives in 1962.

The No. 1 television program in the country in 1962 was The Beverly Hillbilies.

If Roberts had loaded up his Pontiac and gone to see Uncle Jed and Granny, it would have taken him about 50 hours to make the 2,525-mile journey between Daytona Beach and Beverly Hills, Calif., at freeway speeds -- or 16 hours and 33 minutes at the race-winning speed of 152.529 mph.

Current drivers born in 1962:
• Kevin Lepage (June 26)
• Jeff Green (Sept. 6)
• Boris Said (Sept. 18)
• Dave Blaney (Oct. 24)

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