The 1961 Western North Carolina 500 was a Grand National (now Nextel Cup) event held at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway on August 13, 1961. Junior Johnson led all 258 laps, already having the race on a string before track deterioration ended the event. Second-place Joe Weatherly was three laps behind, while eventual 1961 champion Ned Jarrett registered a 4th place showing. However, that wasn't good enough for most fans. 4,000 of them formed an angry mob that kept officials and drivers hostage in the infield for nearly four hours. Stats