Sunday 24th February 1963

“Tiny” Lund drove the Wood Brothers Ford to a storybook win in the ‘Daytona 500’. Lund was filling in for regular driver Marvin Panch, who was injured 10 days earlier in a firey crash while practicing for the Daytona Sports Car race. From his hospital bed, Panch asked Glen & Leonard Wood to let Lund drive his car in the 500. Weather played a critical role in Tiny Lund winning this race; with temperatures reaching up to 75 °F (24 °C) and wind speeds up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h). Lund won by making only four pit stops, but he would not have been able to make the distance on four pit stops had the first ten laps not been run under caution to dry the track from earlier rains. Had the race not started under caution, Lund would have had to make five pit stops, just as Fred Lorenzen and Ned Jarrett did. He was able to win on four pit stops along because of the slow start time. It was Lund’s first career GN win.