Dargan Watts
The First Southern 500 1950
Goober Sosebee in his '50 Oldsmobile was the third fastest of a field of 75 cars and drivers for the first annual Southern 500 while Jimmy Thompson was the second fastest qualifier in a '50 Lincoln, but finished 40th. Curtis Turner was the fastest qualifier in a '50 Oldsmobile, but he fell out and was awarded 60th position.
Johnny Mantz bought a new Plymouth in nearby Florence and entered it in the race and pocketed $10,510 for winning the 500-mile chase. After the race, he put the headlights back in their places and drove the car home in California.
If you notice to the right of the white line is the pit area. Actually, tires were changed and work was done on the cars on the race track. The dark spots were made by spilled oil during the 20 days of practice before race day.
It took NASCAR officials 17 days to inspect all of the cars.
