Looking through the Greg Fielden Book, "Forty Years of Stock Car Racing", I came upon the "Northern Tour" from 1955 and was somewhat fascinated by such a tour in 1955, although the boys ran up north often it seems in the early days of NASCAR. That is nothing new for the sport and certainly most know the Grand Nationals raced in Canada in the 60s. So, looking back, the 1955 NorthernTour started on June 10th with Junior Johnson winning in New Oxford, PA on the half-mile dirt track.
Today, we are going to Monroe County Fairgrounds in Rochester, New York, where 21 cars showed up to race before a crowd of just over 6,000 folks. The track was a half-mile dirt track as it seems most of the tracks on the Northern Tour were in those days. Buck Baker would qualify his Oldsmobile on the pole with Lee Petty putting a Chrysler in second starting spot. Starting third was Tim Flock with his brother, Fonty, to his outside.
On the very first lap, Lee Petty, the current points leader, was involved in a crash with pole winner Baker, which resulted in parking his swift Chrysler for the evening. Baker would later depart on lap 116 with a blown engine. Tim Flock manuevered around the first lap accident to take the number spot and he would lead the remainder of the 200 laps to win by a full lap over his brother Fonty. Fonty drove the last 150 laps of the race with no brakes. Manhandling that big Chrysler around that dirt track!
The race was slowed by caution flags twice for a total of six laps which kept the average speed at 57.170 mph which is not that far off Bakers pole winning speed of 61.141 mph. This was the 20th race of the 1955 NASCAR season and was Tim Flock's seventh victory on the season.
Top five finishers were:
1. Tim Flock, Mercury Outboards Chrysler, winning $1,000.00
2. Fonty Flock, Mercury Outboards Chrysler, winning $650.00
3.Bob Welborn, Chevrolet, winning $450.00
4. Jimmie Lewallen, Ernest Woods Oldsmobile, winning $350.00
5. Harvey Henderson, Hudson Hornet, winning $300.00
Sixth through tenth were John Dodd, Jr., Eddie Skinner, Emory Mahon, Al Weber, and Gene Simpson. Junior Johnson finished 12th with Jim Reed 13th, Jim Paschal 15th and Buck Baker 16th. Lee Petty was credited with 20th finishing position out of the twenty-one cars.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future
Personal note to this post. My Daddy was raised in Rochester, NY and when he came south in January, 1942, to report to Ft. Jackson, he met my Mother who was a Columbia Southern Girl. After a courtship lasting from March 18th to September 19th, they were married by a Justice of the Peace in Chesterfield, SC, before my Dad went to the Pacific to fight the Imperial Forces of the Japan. My Mom went to live with his folks in Rochester and when he was discharged after the war, the plan was to stay in Rochester where he would work for Kodak. I was born in Rochester in October, 1946. Meanwhile, in late February, 1947, my Mother's mom in Columbia got very sick and my Dad and Mom decided to move back to Columbia so Mama could take care of my grandmother.
The story I wasalways told was that they loaded all they owned in a 1937 Plymouth coupe and my mom held me on her lap for the entire two day trip. She often reminded me I was car sick all the way from Rochester to Columbia. She would laugh so many times when I talked about driving race cars and never failed to mention the two day car sick episode. I finally convinced her it was my Daddy's driving that made me car sick. (not true, but my only defense).
Anyway, my parents built a house across the street from my grandparents and moved in on my first birthday in October, 1947. Although I was too young to know it at the time, my then 13 years old Uncle Bobby (my Mother's brother) would play a huge part in my life by introducing me to stock car racing just short of my sixth birthday. He would take me to races from that night in September, 1952, until I went in the Navy. When I started to drive in NASCAR in 1969, he was right there. Finished second in the very first race I drove (heat race) and my never emotional Uncle Bobby reached through the wire fence between the pits and infield and shook my hand and said "you did it boy". Even under those dim lights at Columbia Speedway I could detect the tear in his eye as he realized, I think for the first time, that it was because of him that I was in that race car.
I have often wondered what my life would have been like if I had grown up in Rochester and never gotten to be around Uncle Bobby. I'm sure I would know nothing about stock car racing and would not have known, nor cared, that there was a race track in Rochester, or that NASCAR raced there in the 50s.
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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
