February 25, 1956: NASCAR's ragtops rumble to life

In December 1955, Bill France and his board of directors for NASCAR completed a merger with the Society of Auto Sports, Fellowship and Education - a lengthy label reduced to a concise acronym of SAFE. - Sarasota Journal

The business combination expanded NASCAR's operations a bit in the Midwest. NASCAR also launched a "new" convertible division series in 1956 - a racing division operated previously by SAFE. Though eligible to join NASCAR, most of SAFE's drivers apparently chose not to align with France and went different directions. Nonetheless, NASCAR scheduled the first convertible race under its new sanctioning and promotion umbrella for February 25, 1956. Where else COULD such a division debut but the sands of Daytona Beach.

Race preview from Daytona Beach Morning Journal

Though NASCAR didn't expand its driver base by adding racers from SAFE, it did fill a 29-car field with plenty of names familiar to NASCAR fans including:

Two-time NASCAR GN champion, Herb Thomas. The race would be the future NASCAR HOFer's only convertible series start. - Getty

Bob Pronger whose Ford was so new his number had not yet been painted on it - Getty

Mel Larson - looking dapper in his suit and with a novel connecting roll bar from the windshield to the bar behind the front seat - Getty

Roy Atkinson - Bill Rankin

Don Oldenberg - a SAFE driver who did choose to join NASCAR. He was SAFE's 1955 convertible champion. - Getty

Jimmy Thompson - with a stylish white look - car, tires, windshield, and side windows - Getty

Joe Weatherly - who probably had a good chuckle upon realizing his name on the car was spelled wrong - Getty

Local favorite Fireball Roberts - Bill Rankin

Weatherly claimed the pole position and led the first five laps. Shortly after the green, Bill Brown drifted wide on his first pass through the north turn. He stalled his Mercury against the fence in the north turn and simply abandoned the car. - DBMJ

Starting 14th after apparently not even laying down a qualifying lap was Curtis Turner. (If true, I'm not sure how he ended up in 14th vs. deeper in the field.) He'd had a mild scare in the modified sportsman race the day before when his car caught fire. But Turner wasn't worried about where he'd been or where he was starting - he was focused on where he was GOING.

From Full Throttle: The Life And Times of Curtis Turner :

Though Weatherly leveraged his top starting spot to lead the first few laps, Turner pursued him relentlessly from the jump. Once he caught him, Pop and Little Joe waged an epic, see-saw battle at the front of the field until the mid-point of the race. They raced lap after lap...

...after lap... - Getty

...after lap... - Getty

...after lap. Here they slide past the abandoned car of Bill Brown. - Getty

Again, from Full Throttle :

Though the pair drove team Fords for Pete DePaolo (along with Fireball), Little Joe's blue oval couldn't keep up. He lost the water pump on his car, was done for the day and finished a disappointing 19th.

With his rival and friend sidelined, Pop just kept the wheel in his Ford until the end. After many attempts before and after the formation of NASCAR, Turner finally got the win that he truly wanted at Daytona. - Bill Rankin

Teammate Roberts hung in there with Turner to finish second. Thomas was third, and Marvin Panch finished 4th with an assist from a relief driver. Placing 17th in the finishing order was RacersReunion member Tiger Tom Pistone.

Once more from Full Throttle :

Race report from DBMJ

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great report Chase..well done....thanks for all the pics..

Thanks Chase. One of the greatest of the many battles between those two.

Nice work Chase, really enjoyed this one.

Real daredevils

love those 57 ragtops......