The 1962 Southern 500, the 13th running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 3, 1962 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. The transition to purposely-built racers occurred gradually begain in the early 1960s. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s; most of the cars were trailored to events or hauled in by trucks. One of the oversights of this race happened to one of the vehicles. Ralph Earnhardt drove the #47 car for Jack Smith. The car had "Jack" written on the roof, but Earnhardt drove the race and was involved in a spin entering turn one.