Racing History Minute - July 31, 1955

Our History Minute for July 29th, covered an event in Altamont, NY in which Tim Flock finished 11th. Big deal, right? Standing alone, 11th place is not that great among 25 starters. However, on July 30, 1955, Tim Flock won a 100 mile race on a ONE MILE dirttrack in Syracuse, NY. But, Tim won often so even that was not worth of an extra special note in the annals of history. However, considering he had raced 100 miles in New York State on the 30th AND THEN raced 250 miles on another 1 mile dirt track the next day, July 31, 1955, in, are you ready for this? San Mateo, California! Across country to race a total of 350 miles on one mile dirt tracks within 24 hours.

The secret to this adventure is that Tim was driving for Carl Kiekhaefer who was always hell-bent on winning races whatever it took. Carl flew Tim from New York to California to have his best chance of winning the California event as a follow up to the New York escapade. Lee Petty, who had finished third in Sryacuse also ran San Mateo where he finished 6th. The deal here is that Kiekhaefer had planned in advance to fly Flock to the West Coast, but in a last minute display of what Kiekhaefer called "fairness" he allowed Lee Petty and Buck Baker to board the plane for the trip. Please note the use of the word "allowed" rather than invited. Just a point of interest I think.

Thirty-four cars started the San Mateo event on the track known as Bay Meadows Race Track, with Tim Flock on the pole in his Mercury Outboards Chrysler. Fonty Flock actuallyqualified the car for Tim at anpole winning speed of 79.330 mph. Tim had also started the Syracuse race from the pole. Johnny Keiper in an Oldsmobile would start second, Danny Letner in an Olds third, Marvin Panch in a Mercury fourth, and Allen Adkins would roll off fifth in a Dodge.

There were two crashes in the race, Carl Harrill on lap 144 and Bill Amick on lap 155. There were mechanical issues which eliminated some others, but 27 of the 34 starters were running at the finish. One of the most interesting reasons for leaving the race is listed for Bob Stanclift who parked his Hudson on the 36th lap. The "official reason" given for Bob not finishing is "no explanation". Guess the pit road reporters were not as curious back in those days.

Now for the real excitement! Johnny Kieper crossed the finish line first but Tim Flock was declared the winner. Seems there was a major scoring mix-up. NASCAR official realized, half way through the event,, that the score cards were out of order but decided to go ahead and complete the race without disclosing the scoring mixup to the fans. After the race, when the score cards were straightened out, and this was HOURS after the race, it was discovered that Johnny Kieper had actually completed 251 laps, one lap MORE than the scheduled distance. He should have won, right? Not so fast! The recheck discovered that Tim Flock had actually run 252 laps, 2 more than the scheduled distance. Having scored my share of races years ago, I know you can mess it up in a heart beat if you don't give it your complete attention. I guess there was too much going on that day for the scorers to focus. Who knows, but it makes for an interesting story. Oh, and by the way, the "official" winning average speed for the race was 68.571 and was credited to Tim Flock although NASCAR wasn't exactly sure that speed was actually correct.

Top five finishers were:

1. Tim Flock, Mercury Outboard Chrysler, winning $2,050.00

2. Johnny Kieper, Oldsmobile, winning $1,450.00

3. Danny Letner, Oldsmobile, winning $700.00

4. Marvin Panch, Panch Mercury, winning $650.00

5. Buck Baker, Baker Buick, winning $550.00

Sixth through tenth were Lee Petty, Bob West, Lloyd Dane, Ed Negre and Bill Stammer. Dick Rathmann finished 24th, and finishing 34th and last was Crash Carson. Crash only completed 8 laps before losing oil pressure in his Ford so he did not "crash" out of that one.

Worthy of note here is that 8th place finisher, Lloyd Dane, as a West Coast NASCAR champion is the oldest living NASCAR champion of a major division. I had the honor and pleasure of meeting Lloyd at the Hillsborough event last year and hearing some of his stories further enhanced my admiration for the early pioneers of this sport. I am hoping he will be back in Hillsborough on September 28th for this year's event.

I would like to thank TMC Chase for recommending this particular event for today's History Minute. Chase and Dave Fulton contribute so much to these posts and, in fact, actually make the History Minute a great record of racing history. After all, that's what this site is about! Thanks to you guys.

Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future

Race report for the Bay Meadows race in San Mateo from The News and Courier .

Flock reflected on that whirlwind schedule a few years later around the time of the 1967 Southern 500.

Source: News and Courier

And a quote from Flock Flock's about the 24-hour, New York-California double was even included in his obituary published in the New York Times :

Consider Flock's memorable 1955 season. He won 18 races, a one-year record that stood until Richard Petty won [27] in 1967, and 19 pole positions, still the record. That July, 24 hours apart, he won major races in Syracuse and San Mateo, Calif.

"Keep in mind," he said of that coast-to-coast sojourn, "we were riding in a propeller plane that didn't fly very fast. I still had mud in my teeth from the New York State race when I got in my car in California."

Finishing 28th in the race and the last car running was Elias Bowie, making his one and only NASCAR Grand National start. Its believed Bowie is the first black driver to start a GN race.

Elias Bowie made his only start in July 1955 at Bay Meadows Speedway in San Mateo, Calif., in a 250-lap Grand National race that featured notable drivers such as winner Tim Flock, Marvin Panch and Lee Petty.

At the time, Bowie owned several transportation companies in the Bay Area.

The track was a 1-mile dirt track and this was the second of three Grand National races it would host. Bowie started 31st in the No. 60 Cadillac.

The race went 252 laps with Bowie completing 172 and was still running when the checkered flag dropped. He crossed the line with a 28th-place finish, earning Bowie $90.

Bowie died Jan. 25, 2005.

Pictures from FindAGrave.com

Wow... what a GREAT story! A wonderful suggestion, Chase, for one of Tim Leeming's History Minutes.

Worthy of note: A 25 year old Ed Negre of Kelso, Washington drove to a top-10 finish (9th) in his first ever NASCAR Grand National / Cup start in the 1955 San Mateo event. By the time a 49 year old Negre hung up his helmet for good in 1979, he had started 338 NASCAR Grand National / Cup events.

Negre's 9th place finish at San Mateo in his initial NASCAR GN/Cup outing was 13 positions better than another driver who made his very first Cup start in 1975 at Charlotte driving an entry fielded by Negre. That 24 year old driver would go on to score 7 NASCAR Winston Cup Championships. His name was Dale Earnhardt and it could be argued that Earnhardt's Cup dynasty can be traced back to a one-mile dirt track in San Mateo, California where the fellow who gave him his first Cup ride began his own big time NASCAR career.

Hmm, 1955. Richard would've been 18 and Maurice 16, right? And a summertime series of races. Wonder if either or both of them went to Rochester and/or California. Lee flew from NY to the west coast. But someone had to drive the car home from NY as well as take a second car out to California while Lee was up north. Inquiring minds want to know who drove where.

Not cars, but a moving and poignant video made by a horse owner and fan when the San Mateo Bay Meadows facility closed and just before it was torn down to build condos. Now a "ghost track" - but those grandstands stood for 75 years! Trying to picture Tim Flock broadsliding through those beautiful dirt turns.

And.......