1968 Northern 300
The 1968 Northern 300 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on July 14, 1968, at Trenton Speedway in Trenton, New Jersey. Background. The first race at the Fairgrounds was held on September 24, 1900, but there was no further racing there until 1907. Regular racing began in 1912 and continued until 1941. A new 1 mile dirt oval was opened in 1946. In 1957 the track was paved. It operated in that configuration until 1968 when the track was expanded to 1.5 miles (2.41 km) and a "kidney bean" shape with a 20 ° right-hand dogleg on the back stretch and a wider turn 3 & 4 complex than turns 1 & 2. The track closed in 1980 and the Fairgrounds itself closed 3 years later. The former site of the speedway is now occupied by the Grounds for Sculpture, a UPS shipping facility, and the housing development known as "Hamilton Lakes". Race report. Three hundred laps were done on a paved oval track spanning . The total time of the race was three hours and twenty-two minutes; LeeRoy Yarbrough defeated David Pearson by more than one lap in front of 16800 people. Speeds  for the race were: as the average and as the pole position speed. Five cautions were waved for twenty-eight laps. Retired Canadian driver Frog Fagan participated in this race. Total winnings for this race were $17,725 USD ($ when considering inflation). Bobby Allison was driving a 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle to this event. While he flourished early on as an independent race car driver, he quickly floundered after being able to compete against NASCAR racing legends like LeeRoy Yarbrough and David Pearson on a consistent basis. Gene Black, Blaine Kauffman, and David Mote would end their top-level professional  stock car careers at this event. Notable crew chiefs on attendance for this race include Junior Johnson, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman and Jake Elder. The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s. Finishing order. "† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased" "* Driver failed to finish race"