There was, once upon a time, a one mile paved track located in Trenton, NJ, where the Grand National (now Cup) cars competed on May 17, 1959, in a 150 lap/150 mile race.As unusual as it seemed to be for the NASCAR boys to compete outside the Southeastern, U.S., there were other things about this particular race that are worth more than a footnote in history.
Bob Burdick, 22 years old and competing in his very first Grand National Race, grabbed the pole in his Dad, Roy's T-Bird that had been previously piloted by Johnny Beauchamp. First time Grand National Starter, Pedro Rodriguez, a famous Mexican Road Racer, was in the thick of the battle for a top five position although he never led. Further, there was a young man from Chicago, starting his 14th Grand National Race who would capture the victory in a Thunderbird!
Cotton Owens started his Pontiac to the outside of rookie Burdick, and when the green flag waved, Cotton put his experience and Pontiac power to work to take the lead immediately. He would lead the first 95 laps with Tiger Tom Pistone right on his rear bumper or trying to pass. Owens made his pit stop on lap 95 and Tiger took the lead in the T-Bird and made fuel mileage pay off going to lap 102 when he had to stop. Jim Reed took over the lead, but once back on the track, Pistone would not be denied. Tiger went back in front on lap 108 and would lead until the end, finishing 11.8 seconds ahead of runner up Cotton Owens.
The only crash of the day was a "wall thump" by Richard Petty on lap 97, which put him out of the race. Only 18 cars started the event with 11 running at the finish, although 11th place was 47 laps behind the winner.
Top five finishers were:
1. Tiger Tom Pistone, Rupert Safely Belts T-Bird, winning $1,450.00
2. Cotton Owens, W. H. Watson Pontiac, winning $750.00
3. Lee Petty, Petty Engineering Plymouth, winning $575.00
4. Jim Reed, Reed Chevrolet, winning $375.00
5. Tommy Irwin, Irwin T-Bird, winning $350.00
Sixth through tenth, in order, were, Pedro Rodriguez, Ben Benz, Dominic Persicketti, Ernie Gesell and Tiny Benson. How many of those names do you recognize?
Remaining finishers, in order, were Junior Johnson, Richard Petty, Charlie Creger, L.D. Austin, Bob Burdick, Reds Kagle, Al White and Elmo Langley.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.
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What a change! It's been awhile since I've checked in and I'm quite surprised. It may take me awhile to figure it our but first look it's really great.
updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM