Charlotte Motor Speedway 1968 Camaro RS/SS 396 Conv Pace Car NASCAR World 600

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Here is a picture of the 1968 Camaro RS/SS 396 convertible that was used to pace the World 600 NASCAR Grand National event held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday, May 26, 1968.  Buddy Baker won the race in his 1968 Ray Fox Dodge Charger. 

I found the picture on page 17 of the official souvenir program for the event.  Under the picture was a caption that states the following:

"Officials of Charlotte Motor Speedway have selected the Chevrolet Camaro as the Official Pace Car for the Ninth Annual World 600.  The Camaro, furnished to Charlotte Motor Speedway by Chevrolet Division of General Motors Corporation and LaPointe Chevrolet Company of Charlotte, was selected because of its 'direct reflection of the many features found in grand national competition which have been translated into the street automobile.'  The Official Pace Car has been specially equipped with the new Firestone radial-ply Wide Oval tires with safety shield inner-liner."

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Here are pictures of the front cover of the souvenir program, a sticker and rain check tickets for the event.  All found at worthpoint.com

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The Charlotte Motor Speedway Camaro RS/SS 396 pace car is the same car that appeared in the pit lane at the conclusion of the Rebel 400 at Darlington Speedway two weeks before the World 600. 

The Charlotte Motor Speedway Camaro RS/SS 396 pace car also made an appearance at the Atlanta 500 event held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 31, 1968.  See it parked in front of the Ford pickup truck here: http://racersreunion.com/ray-lamm/gallery/8148/26-yarbrough

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Just as occurred at several NASCAR events during the 1968 season, a different 1968 Camaro RS/SS convertible from a different track appeared at the World 600 NASCAR Grand National event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  While I can't tell from the footage which track it came from, I can tell that it has the large red and black decals that appeared on several pace cars that year.  The Camaro, with its convertible top up, is parked to the left of pit lane behind another convertible pace car that is not a Camaro. 

This footage came from the the WSLS-TV (Roanoke, VA) News Film Collection.  See the Camaro briefly at 0:39 here: https://search.lib.virginia.edu/catalog/uva-lib:2214757