A NEW RACING MINUTE
Stock Car Racing History
Well,well, Johnny. At least now I know why you tricked me into writng this. lol
Forum Activity for @tim-leeming
Stock Car Racing History
A NEW RACING MINUTE
Stock Car Racing History
Well, Johnny, thank you for the compliment. I enjoy writing and hope there are those who enjoy reading what I write. I assume you are referring to the return to dirt last night, so, i'll take a shot at it later today, although anything I write can't do justice to what I felt as I watched last night.
Racing History Minute - July 24, 1957
Stock Car Racing History
Back in the mid 1960s, I spent two years stationed on a U.S. Navy ship homeported out of Little Creek, Virginia, which is a suburg of Norfolk. During the height on the Viet Nam War, there really were signs there that said "Dogs and Sailors Keep Off the Grass". After the Kent State event, we were instructed not to leave base in uniform. At the time, I had no idea that had been a track in Norfolk, although I was a frequent visitor to Langley Field just up the road. But, today's Minute takes us to Norfolk Speedway a .4 mile dirt tack where a 100 mile/250 lap event would take place on July 24, 1957. For the record, I was in elementary school then!
Twenty-three entries lined up for the green flag with Bill Amick starting his Ford on the pole. Jack Smith would start second, Tiny Lund third, Fireball Roberts fourth, and Marvin Panch fifth. Amick's pole winning speed was 56.338 mph.
My resource does not contain lap leader breakdown, nor much of anything else such as caution flags or attendance. It does indicate that 14 of the 23 starters were running at the finish and all those not finishing were eliminated by car problems of one kind or another with no indication of crashes by anyone. Even so, the average speed for the race was 47.987 mph.
Buck Baker would earn his sixth win of the year and increased his lead in the points to 472 points over second place. This win was also Buck's 32nd overall GrandNational win. It should also be noted that pole winner, Bill Amick, parked his Ford on lap 29 with distributors problems.
It is also noted in the write up in Greg Fielden's "Forty Years of Stock Car Racing" that "Tiny Lund, hard charger" was once again bitten by bad luck I have mentioned before that I got to know Tiny well when he raced for Lyle Stetzler out of a shop here in Columbia and he was the proverbial one that "if he didn't have bad luck, he would have no luck at all". That situation followed Tiny, for reasons I'll never understand, thoughout his career, nothwithstanding the Hollywood scripted Daytona 500win in 1963. Tiny, in my opinion, always deserved much more than he ever received.
Top five finishers were:
1. Buck Baker, Baker Chevrolet, winning $900.00
2. Joe Weatherly, Holman-Moody Ford, winning $575.00
3. Jim Paschal, Frank Hayworth Mercury, winning $375.00
4. Billy Myers, Myers Mercury, winning $280.00
5. Jack Smith,, Smith Chevrolet, winning $245.00
Sixth through tenth were Tiny Lund, Gwyn Staley, Lee Petty, Speedy Thompson, and Whitey Norman. Bill Champion would finish 15th, Marvin Panch 16th,, Johnny Allen 19th, Darel Dieringer 20th and Fireball Roberts 21st. As already stated, pole winner, Bill Amick fell out on lap 29 and finished in 23rd and last place.
I haven't been back to Norfolk/Little Creek since I left there in 1968. I know it's changed a great deal, as has our country and has racing. But tonight, July 24th, NASCAR will have a touring division, The Camping World Truck Series, running on dirt again. While I am hoping and expected a great show tonight, I'm sure I'll be thinking a lot about Tiny Lund power sliding on dirt. Tiny and Junior Johnson had to be the best there ever was at that. I can still see Tiny throwing his car into a slide going into turn one at The Historic Columbia Speedway and hanging it out all the way around one and two and hitting the back straight at full speed. He would do the same thing in turns three and four. And Junior Johnson? He would one hand steer his car in awesome power slides as he had his left hand holding onto the roof, I assume to keep from sliding over in the seat, or maybe he was worried about the roof blowing off. I just don't expect to see that at Eldora tonight, but I do expect some good racing.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.
updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
RICHARD SAID THIS IS THE NEW NASCAR
Stock Car Racing History
But can any of today's drivers power-slide it like Tiny Lund or Junior Johnson?
NASCAR and NBC Sports Group Reach Landmark Media Rights Agreement
Stock Car Racing History
Nice, Chase. Thanks, but I don't do the boogity scene.
Racing History Minute - July 23, 1950
Stock Car Racing History
Today we return to Charlotte, NC. No, not to the mile and half facility near Concord, but the 3/4 mile dirt track first known as Charlotte Speedway. This is the track where, just over a year before today's minute NASCAR would run its first Strickly Stock Race. We are going to the 17th Grand National (or Strickly Stock) race for NASCAR, the 9th race of the 1950 season.
Twenty-six drivers entered the event but my resource only indicates the pole winner, who was Curtis Turner driving the Eanes Motor Company Oldsmobile. He would lead the field to the green flag for 150 miles/200 laps of competition. In fact, when the green flag fell, so did Turner's right foot as he stormed into the lead he would hold for the entire 200 laps. This was the second consecutive race in which Turner led EVERY lap. Only two drivers, Bill Blair and Bill Rexford, were able to put the pressure on Turner in the early going, but Blair suffered a broken spindle in his Cadillac and had to park it to finish 16th in the final rundown. Rexford experienced engine failure in his Oldsmobile and was done for the day.
Lee Petty and Glenn Dunnaway, both driving Plymouths, were both running in the top five in the late stages of the race when both lost wheels and were done. Lee would be credited with 11th finishing position and Dunnaway with 12th.
Turner left the race with the lead in the National Championship points race for the year.
Top five finishers were:
1. Curtis Turner, Eanes Motor Company Oldsmobile, winniing $1,500.00
2. Chuck Mahoney, Brooks Motors Mercury, winning $750.00
3. Herb Thomas, Thomas Plymouth, winning $500.00
4. Jimmie Lewallen, Mercury, winning $400.00
5. Dick Burns, Oldsmobile, winning $300.00
Sixth through tenth were George Hartley, Donald Thomas, Frank Mundy, Tim Flock, and BillSnowden.Buck Baker finished 14th, Bill Blair 16th, Jim Paschal 20th and Gayle Warren in 26th and last position.
Makes of cars in this race included, Oldsmobile, Mercury, Plymouth, Ford, Lincoln, Nash, Chevrolet, Pontiac and Hudson.
One more historic note about this date, July 23, 1950. Jim Roper, who was declared the winner of NASCAR's first Strictly Stock Race after Glenn Dunnaway (12th place in today's rundown) was disqualified for beefed up springs in his car at that first race, was racing in a 20 lap event. The twenty lap "Strickly Stock" event was in Pratt, Kansas and was an "outlaw" event. In Kansas, Jim Roper would win the 20 lape event on the 1.6 mile paved oval at an average speed of 67.659 mph.
Oh, and one more "historical note" for today. It is my younger brother, Richard's birthday. Richard competed in NASCAR's Late Model Sportsman Division in the 70s throughout South Carolina and Georgia. Happy Birthday little brother.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future
updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
Racing History Minute - July 22, 1953
Stock Car Racing History
If I knew, before this morning, that NASCAR's Grand National division had raced in South Dakota, I have no recollection of such knowledge. Could be the age issue, not sure. In any event, on this date,in 1953, 15 cars would start a 100 mile/200 lap race on a half-mile dirt track known as Rapid Valley Speedway located in Rapid City, South Dakota. How appropriate is that?
The only starting position my reference resource (Greg Fielden's "Forty Years of Stock Car Racing") provides is the pole position. Herb Thomas won the pole with a qualifying speed of 55.727 mph.
Interesting stats on this race include the fact that it was the 8th win of the 1953 season for Thomas out of the 23 races to date. Also interesting, and we have addressed this issue before, it was the 11th time in the 1953 season that Dick Rathmann finished second. Dick had won the race on July 10th in Morristown, NJ with Herb in second, but the record of runner-up finishes by Rathmann is remarkable. Herb won July 12th in Atlanta, GA with Rathmann second. See what I mean?
One more point of interest here. A young driver, Johnny Beauchamp, would start his first ever Grand National race, but would finish 15th and last position. Beauchamp would come East for limited Grand National career and would play a huge part in the first Daytona 500 in 1959 in the photo finish with Lee Petty. In 1961, Beauchamp and Lee Petty would again make headlines in Daytona but it was for a spectacular accident which effectively ended Petty's career behind the wheel.
The average speed for the race was 57.270, faster than pole winning speed. This is not the first time we have encountered a faster average speed for the race than for the pole.
When the Rapid City race concluded, the drivers left South Dakota with Herb Thomas holding a 292 point lead over Rathmann in the season long points race.
I'll give you the entire list of finishing positions as there were only the 15 drivers.
1. Herb Thomas, FABULOUS Hudson Hornet, winning $1,000.00
2. Dick Rathmann, Walt Chapman Hudson, winning $700.00
3. Fonty Flock, Frank Christain Hudson, winning $450.00
4. Lee Petty, Petty Engineering Dodge, winning $350.00
5. Buck Baker, Griffin Motors Oldsmobile, winning $200.00
6. Bill Harrison, Hudson, winning $150.00
7. Eddie Skinner, Oldsmobile, winning $125.00
8. Leo Ray, Nash, winning $100.00
9. Dick Fellow, Plymouth, winning $75.00
10. C. H. Dingler, Studebaker, winning $50.00
11. Ray Springer, Ford, winning $25.00
12. Mel Krueger, Ford, winning $25.00
13. Ted Lee, Hudson, winning $25.00
14.Bob Caswell, Plymouth, winning $25.00
15.Johnny Beauchamp, Hudson, winning $25.00
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future
updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
Racing History Minute - July 21, 1956
Stock Car Racing History
On this date, 2013, the Nationwide Series will be running at Chicagoland Speedway, a big, paved, fast track with the latest in raceway fashions. On this date in 1956, 25 race cars lined up on the half-mile paved track in Chicago known as Soldier Field. You can't think of that facility without thinking of Tiger Tom Pistone and Fred Lorenzen. Both were entered in the 1956 event. The race was 200 laps/100 miles on the paved track.
Billy Myers would start on the pole in a Mercury with Herb Thomas starting in position two in a Chevrolet. Fireball Roberts would start third and Ralph Moody fourth, both in Pete DePaulo Fords. Tiger Tom Pistone would start sixth in a Chevrolet.
Brake issues are always a problem on a flat track with tight turns as was Soldier Field. That issue sidelined pole winner Myers after 140 of the 200 laps. Herb Thomas crashed on lap 189 when his brakes failed. A total of seven cars went "behind the wall" due to brake problems.
Meanwhile, back on the track, Fireball Roberts was working his way around and through puddles on the track as the race was plagued with off and on rain showers. At the checkered flag, it was Fireball taking the victory over Jim Paschal. Ralph Moodywould finish third. That was Ford first, Mercury second, Ford third which made the folks from Dearborn ecstatic as the Carl Kiehaefer Mopar teams had been dominating the circuit most of the season. Although Kiehaefer cars took positions four through six, the win had eluded the stern car owner not only that day, but for the fifth consecutive race. Kiehaefer was not the kind of competitor who took losing very well. It would not be long before he disappeared from the NASCAR scene but he would continue to fight for supremacy during the 1956 season and would prevail with the Championship, but that is another story.
Top five finishers were:
1. Fireball Robert, Depaulo Ford, winning $850.00
2. Jim Paschal, C U Later Alligator Mercury, winning $625.00
3. Ralph Moody, DePaulo Ford, winning $450.00
4. Speedy Thompson, Kiehaefer Dodge, winning $350.00
5. Frank Mundy, Kiehaefer Dodge, winning $310.00
Sixth through tenth were Buck Baker, Bill Champion, Paul Goldsmith, Joy Fair and Lee Petty. Billy Myers was credited with 17th position after the loss of his brakes. Herb Thomas received 18th place money although also out of the race due to brake issues. Fred Lorenzen listed as 20th, also out with brake problems. Brake issues relegated Tiger Tom Pistone to a 22nd place finish out of the twenty-five starters.
So, if you watch the Nationwide event from Chicagoland today, remember that, once upon a time, the pioneers of this sport fought it out on a half-mile tight oval for the 33rd race of the 1956 season. Were it not for what these pioneers gave, there would be no Chicagoland.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future
updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
This s the first NASCAR national series race of any kind to be held on dirt in more than forty years.
Current NASCAR
I am excited about Wednesday night. From all the hype NASCAR is providing for this race, someone would get the idea that it was totally the concept of NASCAR and involved no input from the fans. But I am pleased, for reasons deep within this old heart and soul, to see a return to the dirt. Let's see how it goes and hope that maybe, just maybe, this won't be a one time event.
Racing History Minute - July 20, 1952
Stock Car Racing History
Playland Park Speedway. Sounds sort of like a name for a go-kart track to me. But, in this instance, it is the name of a half-mile dirt track located in South Bend, Indiana, where the NASCAR Grand National Cars would race on July 20, 1952. The teams will be back in Indiana in a week or so but it won't be at Playland Speedway.
Nineteen cars would enter the race which was 200 laps/100 miles and was the 22nd race of the 1952 season. Herb Thomas put that FABULOUS Hudson Hornet on the pole with a speed of 58.120 mph. Tim Flock, in another Hudson, would start second.
Tommy Thompson lined up third, Buck Sager fourth, and Bub King fifth, giving Hudson all five top starting spots. How well I remember those Hudson Hornets seemingly "floating" around the track back in those days!
Herb Thomas would storm into the lead on the green, but he could not shake Tim Flock. Flock was on his bumper, then to the outside, then inside, working on Thomas' Hudson with determined effort. Finally, on lap 41, Thomas and Flock, banged together putting Thomas into a long slide which allowed Flock to go out front. By the time Herb regained complete control of his Hornet, Flock had a substantial lead, but not insurrmountable. He gave chase to Flock to retake the lead. On lap 64, while still chasing Flock, Herb lost control and his Hudson flipped, putting an end to the run in that car. Herb jumped out of the FABULOUS Hudson Hornet and stepped in to relief drive for Bub King. Herb would finish third in the substitute ride, 11 laps down, but in those days, drivers were given a percentage of the points earned by a car in which he relieved.
When the race was over, only 8 cars of the 19 starters were running. Three crashed out, including Herb Thomas as stated. Only the top two finished on the same lap.
Top five finishers were:
1. Tim Flock, Ted Chester Hudson, winning $1,000.00
2. Lee Petty, Petty Engineering Chrysler, winning $700.00
3. Bub King (with Herb Thomas in relief) King Hudson, winning $450.00
4. Herschell Buchanan, Air Lift Oldsmobile, winning$350.00
5. Dick Passwater, Fred Arford DeSoto, winning $200.00
I am listing the remainder of the field, along with the car makes for this race, to show some of the diversity in makes of cars racing in the event.
6. Gene Comstock, Hudson Hornet
7. Glen Larson, Ford
8. Joe Staton, Ford
9. Bucky Sager, Hudson
10. Red Duvall, Packard
11. Jim Clark, Ford
12. Paul Wensink, Willys
13. Marion Leach, Studebaker
14. Zane Howell, Studebaker
15.Fonty Flock, Oldsmobile
16. Ray Duhigg, Julian Petty Plymouth
17. Tommy Thompson, Hudson
18. Herb Thomas, Hudson
19. Gene Darrah, Ford
Chrysler and Ford are the only two makes still around these days. Looking through the makes in this race, I realize I have ridden in each one of these makes when I was a kid. Some like the Oldsmobile and Plymouth I actually got to drive but they have all faded away. Sort of brings home the fact of today's news where Detroit, the city, filed bankruptcy. Somehow that does seem right. But seeing those Hudson win races sure seemed right back in the day. Oh how I love those memories.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.
updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM