July 18, 1958: The King's era begins

Last weekend, two of the more memorable races on TV were the dual IndyCar races on the street course through Toronto's Exhibition Place. Indy racing has been a staple in Toronto for many years dating back to the mid 1980s with CART.

But back in 1958, NASCAR's Grand National series raced at Toronto's old Canadian National Exposition stadium for the first and only time. The race was also the second and last time the GN cars rumbled in Canada. Buddy Shuman won the first time the series went north of the border in 1952. Tim Leeming wrote about that race here:

http://racersreunion.com/community/forum/stock-car-racing-history/24995/racing-history-minute-july-1-1952

Not a lot is known about the 1958 Toronto race. Few articles are readily available. Even the local media paid it little attention. The race has become known as the Jim Mideon 500. I have my doubts though since no one knows anything about Jim Mideon, and the race wasn't 500 miles, kilometers, laps, minutes, or anything else 500-related.

Rex White won the pole driving for Julian Petty, and Papa Lee Petty took the checkers. These results ensured the Petty family is connected to yet another NASCAR trivia question.

Interestingly, the race isn't really remembered for Lee's win. Instead, the race is known as the debut Grand National start by a driver who got booted out of the way by Lee on his way to the win: son Richard Petty.

Richard had made his first professional racing start a few days earlier in a ragtop race at Columbia. But the Toronto race is considered his first Grand National series start.

Though I didn't learn a lot of new info about the race itself, I did find several photos of the old stadium and how it was used after racing at CNE stopped.

Read on for more:

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2013/07/july-18-1958-petty-scores-in-canada-eh.html

And as a re-run of a blog entry I posted a year ago about this race as "special edition" part of my Richard Petty 200 Wins, I thought I'd include the link:

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-18-this-day-in-petty-history-part-2.html

Thanks, Chase. That was a special day in the history of NASCAR's elite division.

Great posts Chase! I knew you would rock the site with your Petty history. I do have a question for you though. I have the full collection, plus some extras, of those Petty Pepsi drinks. Do they get better with age like wine does? Just a thought.

I've got the 8 bottle set from 1992's Fan Appreciation Tour. (Though for some reason, the 8 bottle set has a 6 bottle carrier. Kind of like mismatched hotdog and bun packaging.)

I do not have the first round of Pepsi bottles.

However, I do have an unopened can of World's Fair Beer from Knoxville in 1980.

I assure you - I have opened neither the Pepsi bottles nor the beer to see if the taste has improved or worsened over the years. Nor do I intend to.

Now you've got me wondering if they stock any of the stuff below over at that Georgia racing palace in Dawsonville where Cody hangs out?!

I'd be remiss if I didn't bump this on July 18th.

Surely you or Tim have one of these wonderful articles for July 18, 1959? That is the glorious day where Richard Petty took home his first NASCAR win, driving a Convertible to victory at Columbia Speedway. It's also appropriate because the third place finisher in that race, Glen Wood, is 90 years old today!

Yes. Included in this blog post:

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-18-this-day-in-petty-history-part-2.html

Thanks! Nice write up. I can't look at this without noting the terrible misspelling of "Paschal." That poor guy had his name spelled wrong so many times.

Speaking of World's Fair beer, I was at the 1964 NY World's Fair, but my parents took us to the Coke Pavilion rather than the outstanding attraction at the link below, replete with description & photos:

http://www.nywf64.com/schcen06.shtml

Wonder if any of the Ring members made it?

And now I know the location of the longest bar at the NY World's Fair!

Hmmm... these folk were longtime World's fair supporters:

http://www.1939nyworldsfair.com/worlds_fair/wf_tour/zone-3/schaefer.htm

And coming up on tap July 24-26, 2015 at Exhibition Place, Canadian National Exhibition is the Toronto Festival of Beer with over 300 brands available (check for Schaefer ).

www.beerfestival.ca

bump for July 18, 2019