As Tim Leeming posted from time to time during his series of Racing History Minutes, NASCAR sanctioned several sweepstakes races. The events featured a combination of hard top sedans and convertible racers. Martinsville Speedway hosted its first sweepstakes race, the Old Dominion 400, on October 28, 1956. The second was originally scheduled for September 29, 1957.
Two drivers positioned to gain a lot from the day were Buck Baker and Bob Welborn. Baker was looking to lock-up his second consecutive Grand National title, and Welborn was on the verge of winning his second of three consecutive convertible championships.
Mother Nature, however, had other plans. Heavy rains interrupted Saturdays qualifying session and rained out Sundays race. The race was rescheduled for Sunday, October 6, 1957.
From Spartanburg Herald
From the Herald
Not only did the race have a mixture of sedans and ragtops - but it also had a unique qualifying format that was edited on the fly by Bill France following the race's postponement because of rain.
When rain interrupted qualifying on the race's original weekend, three cars had already qualified - Californias Eddie Pagan (HT),Johnny Mackison (HT) andFrankie Schneider (HT). The three were permitted to retain their speeds when the cars returned the following weekend. Rather than have another full qualifying session, NASCAR slotted the Pagan, Mackison and Schneider in positions 1, 3 and 5. The remaining odd numbered starters were filled by the top 10 GN drivers in the points standings at the time. The even numbered starters were filled by the top 10 drivers in the convertible series. The remainder of the field of 40 was set based on the results of two 10-lap qualifying races.
As the convertible series point leader, Welborn shared the front row with Pagan for the 500. Joe Weatherly (CV) and Glen Wood (CV) rounded out the top six starters for the sweepstakes race alongside Mackison and Schneider. In addition to his own #49 Chevrolet, Welborn entered a second #48 Chevy convertible for Possum Jones to race. Possum started 10th on the day.
Weatherly, who was second in the convertible standings to Welborn at the time, had his good buddy Curtis Turner standing by as a possible relief driver. I'm unsure why Turner may have been needed or if Pops actually spelled Little Joe during the race.
Race preview from Spartanburg Herald
At the drop of the green, Welborn had the top down, sailed off for a Sunday afternoon drive and led the first 183 laps. He then surrendered the lead to Lee Petty who had started 15th in his Oldsmobile hard top. Papa Lee led for 15 circuits before giving way to Jimmy Massey in the Wood Brothers Ford convertible.
For reasons that aren't clear, Welborn needed a relief driver around the mid-point of the race. So who did he tap? Possum Jones in Welborns second car. Only one issue Possum was still in the race and running competitively. Yet Possum was pulled off the track, taken out of the 48 and belted into Welborns 49. But what about the 48? Darel Dieringer was at Martinsville that day though not entered in the race. Welborns team suited him up and had him take over Possums original car.
With Possum at the wheel of the 49, the car soon found its way back to the front. Jones led the remaining 252 laps to take the checkers on Welborns behalf. Consequently, Welborn was credited for his first GN win despite driving a convertible. Yet Welborn apparently earned convertible series points for his day's efforts that allowed him to extend his points lead over Joe Weatherly.
The race was not only a dominant affair by the Welborn car but was also a fairly clean one. The only wreck ... at Martinsville ... in a 500-lap race ... with 40 starters was a blown engine and wreck by Paul Goldsmith who then collected Speedy Thompson to end his day.
Between the two drivers behind the wheel of #49, the car led an amazing 435 of the races 500 laps. Perhaps even more surprising than the dominating performance by Welborn/Possum was the 8th place finish by Dieringer in Possums original car, albeit 10 laps down to the winner.
Massey finished second to Welborn in the Woods Ford the only other car on the lead lap with Welborn. Lee Petty was the first hard top to finish. He nabbed P3 two laps down to the winner. The Woods primary car driven by Glen Wood could only muster a 13th place finish despite a sixth place starting spot.
A couple of somewhat Petty related finishes Gwyn Staley finished 9th in Julian Pettys Chevrolet. And finishing 17th was T.A. Toomes in a #41 1956 Dodge entered in his own name as the owner. Toomes was a first cousin of Elizabeth Toomes Petty and second cousin of Richard and Maurice (if I've done my genealogy mapping correctly). Toomes raced in 11 GN events all in 1957. He later spent time in the sport as a mechanic including time with Smokey Yunick. T.A. was with Yunick when [ Curtis Turner demolished Yunicks car ] during practice at Atlanta in 1967.
Race report - Spartanburg Herald
I tried noting the type of car (hard top vs. convertible) using the news clippings and the odd-even starting positions. I couldn't find the results of the qualifying races or any other source to know if my hunch is completely accurate. I'm certainly open to support one way or the other & will edit the Type if necessary.
| Fin | Driver | Type | Car |
| 1 | Bob Welborn | CV | '57 Chevrolet |
| 2 | Jimmy Massey | CV | '56 Ford |
| 3 | Lee Petty | HT | '57 Oldsmobile |
| 4 | Rex White | CV | '57 Chevrolet |
| 5 | Joe Weatherly | CV | '57 Ford |
| 6 | Bill Amick | HT | '57 Ford |
| 7 | Jack Smith | HT | '57 Chevrolet |
| 8 | Possum Jones | CV | '57 Chevrolet |
| 9 | Gwyn Staley | CV | '57 Chevrolet |
| 10 | Tiny Lund | HT | '57 Chevrolet |
| 11 | Whitey Norman | HT | '57 Ford |
| 12 | Fireball Roberts | HT | '57 Chevrolet |
| 13 | Glen Wood | CV | '57 Ford |
| 14 | Larry Frank | CV | '56 Chevrolet |
| 15 | Brownie King | HT | '57 Chevrolet |
| 16 | Marvin Panch | HT | '57 Ford |
| 17 | T.A. Toomes | CV | '56 Dodge |
| 18 | Jim Paschal | HT | '57 Ford |
| 19 | Eddie Pagan | HT | '57 Ford |
| 20 | L.D. Austin | HT | '56 Chevrolet |
| 21 | Eddie Skinner | CV | '57 Ford |
| 22 | Emanuel Zervakis | CV | '57 Chevrolet |
| 23 | Buck Baker | HT | '57 Chevrolet |
| 24 | Frankie Schneider | HT | '57 Chevrolet |
| 25 | Art Binkley | CV | '56 Plymouth |
| 26 | Ted Chamberlain | CV | '56 Chevrolet |
| 27 | Roy Tyner | CV | '56 Ford |
| 28 | Speedy Thompson | HT | '57 Chevrolet |
| 29 | Ken Rush | CV | '56 Mercury |
| 30 | Bill Champion | CV | '56 Ford |
| 31 | Dick Walters | CV | '56 Plymouth |
| 32 | Paul Goldsmith | CV | '57 Ford |
| 33 | Banjo Matthews | HT | '57 Ford |
| 34 | George Green | CV | '56 Chevrolet |
| 35 | Johnny Allen | HT | '57 Plymouth |
| 36 | Neil Castles | CV | '56 Ford |
| 37 | Billy Myers | HT | '57 Mercury |
| 38 | Cotton Owens | HT | '57 Pontiac |
| 39 | Johnny Mackison | HT | '57 Ford |
| 40 | Bill Massey | CV | '56 Ford |
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 01/21/19 11:08:15PM
