Sandwiched between spring and fall 500-lap Grand National races at Martinsville was the 500-lap Old Dominion 500 for NASCAR's short-lived convertible series. Glen Wood took the pole during qualifying on D-Day, June 6th.
Youngster Richard Petty qualified 2nd at the track he'd come to master many times over the next 20 years. Jimmy Massey timed 3rd in a second Wood Brothers car - one spot behind Petty. Massey likely had a bit of frustration or resignation a year later when he finished one spot behind Petty again - this time in the [ 1960 Virginia 500 ], Richard's 2nd win.
Lee Petty, Bob Welborn and Fireball Roberts arrived too late to qualify but were allowed to start shotgun on the field. Petty and Welborn had raced in the GN race in Spartanburg on Friday night, June 5th. They probably just couldn't make it to Martinsville by the time qualifying began on Saturday. I'm not certain why Fireball was late as he isn't shown in the finishing order for the Spartanburg race. - Spartanburg Herald
The first half or so of the race was competitive with the lead swapping between Wood, Rex White, Welborn, Bobby Johns and Lee Petty. But one by one, the various leaders had issues of one kind or another. Around the 300 lap mark, Tiger Tom Pistone headed to the point in his independent Ford Thunderbird. He was unchallenged the rest of the way as he won by 6 laps over Larry Frank, Joe Lee Johnson, Roy Tyner, and Bobby Johns. The two Petty cars driven by Lee and Richard finished 6th and 7th, respectively.- Spartanburg Herald
Fin | Driver | Car |
1 | Tom Pistone | '59 T-Bird |
2 | Larry Frank | '57 Chevrolet |
3 | Joe Lee Johnson | '57 Chevrolet |
4 | Roy Tyner | '57 Chevrolet |
5 | Bobby Johns | '57 Chevrolet |
6 | Lee Petty | '59 Plymouth |
7 | Richard Petty | '57 Oldsmobile |
8 | Jimmy Massey | '58 Ford |
9 | Junior Johnson | '57 Ford |
10 | Joe Eubanks | '58 Ford |
11 | Gene White | '57 Chevrolet |
12 | Glen Wood | '58 Ford |
13 | Barney Shore | '57 Chevrolet |
14 | Shorty Rollins | '58 Chevrolet |
15 | Brownie King | '58 Chevrolet |
16 | Fritz Wilson | '58 Ford |
17 | Shep Langdon | '58 Ford |
18 | Billy Carden | '57 Chevrolet |
19 | Buck Baker | '59 Chevrolet |
20 | Joe Halton | '57 Chevrolet |
21 | Bob Burdick | '59 T-Bird |
22 | Paul Walton | '57 Mercury |
23 | L.D. Austin | '57 Chevrolet |
24 | Max Berrier | '57 Plymouth |
25 | Ermon Rush | '57 Chevrolet |
26 | Buck Brigance | '57 Chevrolet |
27 | Tiny Lund | '57 Chevrolet |
28 | Ken Rush | '58 Ford |
29 | Johnny Allen | '57 Chevrolet |
30 | Bob Welborn | '57 Chevrolet |
31 | Ben Benz | '57 Chevrolet |
32 | Joe Weatherly | '59 T-Bird |
33 | Rex White | '59 Chevrolet |
34 | Ned Jarrett | '57 Chevrolet |
35 | Bunk Moore | '58 Ford |
36 | Neil Castles | '56 Ford |
--
Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM