To follow up on my Uncle Bobby's observation, I recalled, after I got in bed last night, that someone told me once that when Fireball Roberts was being interviewed long AFTER he had signed with Ford, a press person asked him what the best race car was he ever drove and Fireball responded with the 1957 Chevrolet he drove. Guess that embarrassed the Blue Oval guys back then.,
Today we return to the half-mile dirt track in Cayce, South Carolina, known as Columbia Speedway. The 100 mile/200 lap race there on this date in 1957 did not have an "official" name as so many of the races to follow at the facility. But it did have 21 cars show up to make the show, although only 20 cars actually did start the race.
Buck Baker put his 1957 Chevrolet on the pole with a speed of 64.585 mph. Speedy Thompson in another '57 Chevy would start outside front row. Jack Smith would put his Chevy in 3rd and Lee Petty qualified his Oldsmobile fourth. Jim Paschal in a Mercury started 5th.
I would have been at this race with my Uncle Bobby, parked against the infield fence in turn four, but I have very little recollection of the details of the race. My source for these Minutes (Greg Fielden's "Forty Years of Stock Car Racing") does not provide much detail either, but I do remember the wreck that took out Fireball Roberts on the 71st lap. Something broke in his suspension and he slammed into the unforgiving walls at Columbia. My reference indicates it was an idler arm that broke.
I also remember that Tiny Lund, and Greg references this in his record, was having a great run that night but, as always seemed to befall Tiny, bad fortune struck. This time it was with 11 laps remaining when a tire blew and caused him to dance with the retaining wall. Lund had a legitimate shot at victory that night.
Most of what I was watching was Lee Petty as that was my Uncle's favorite and, by default, my favorite as well. He fell out of the race on lap 177 when an axle broke. He had been flirting with victory in the early stages of the race.
The final laps came down to a slam-fest between Buck Baker and Jack Smith with Jack barely edging out Buck at the line. The only other car on the lead lap with Smith and Baker was Marvin Panch.
Top five finishers were:
1. Jack Smith, Smith Chevrolet, winning $1,000.00
2. Buck Baker, Baker Chevrolet, winning $625.00
3. Marvin Panch, Panch Ford, winning $400.00
4. Jim Paschal, Paschal Mercury, winning $295.00
5. Speedy Thompson, Thompson Chevrolet, winning $255.00
Sixth through tenth were Darel Dieringer, Billy Myers, Tiny Lund, L.D. Austin, and Brownie King.
The remaining ten finishers, in order, were Huck Spaulding, Dick Beatty, Lee Petty, Clarence DeZalia, Johnny Allen, Fireball Roberts, Jimmy Lewallen,Neil Castles, Ken Rush and George Green. Bob Welborn is shown as an entry, but did not start the race.
The average speed for the winner was 58.045 mph so it was a fast race even with the obvious cautions for the Roberts accident as well as Lund's accident.
It may have been on the way home from the track that night when my Uncle Bobby made a statement about the '57 Chevy being about the most perfect race car ever build. I do remember I thought most of those models made really good looking race cars, even the number 8 Rory Calhoun drove in "Thunder in Carolina". They were pretty good looking street cars too. One of my best friends had one that I truly thought was awesome, but I would never tell him that, because I was a Mopar man and I wasn't supposed to like Chevys!.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.
While it had been my intention to carry through with the 1955 Northern Tour, I note that the race on that tour for this date was won by Lee Petty so I'm sure Chase will give us a full report on that one. In that case, I'm free to pursue the date of June 19, 1949.
Throughout the years of the existence of NASCAR, there are many dates of importance, but it was on this date in 1949, that the first "Strickly Stock" race was sanctioned by NASCAR. Or was it? History tells us that the boys raced for 150 miles on a 3/4 mile dirt track in Charlotte, NC, and that was the first Stickly Stock, to evolve into Grand National and eventually into Cup racing. This was NOT, however, the first race sanctioned by NASCAR to consist of the stock family sedans. That honor goes to a 5 lap/10 mile exhibition race staged at the Broward County Airport in Florida on February 27, 1949. The "stock car race" followed events for the NASCAR "roadsters" and one for the European sports car. The exhibition race was won by Benny Georgeeson of Ft. Lauderdale, FL in a Buick with Eddie Mitchell finishing second in a Mercury.
In 1949, NASCAR was competing with the National Stock Car Racing Association, the United Stock Car Racing Association, the National Auto Racing League, and the American Stock Car Racing Association for recognition in the field of stock car racing. All the aforementioned, with the exception of NASCAR, had programs in place for a National Points Champion. In the overall scheme of press reporting, NASCAR was given back-burner status most of the time because there was no stock car racing involving strickly stock cars. Bill France, of course, recognized the problem and decided to develop a division for the family sedan to race.
It was early in 1949 that NASCAR was being challenged successfully by the NSCRA, a newly organized stock car racing operation under the direction of one Olin Bruton Smith. Yep, same guy you're thinking of. As the two racing bodies fought for the same cars and drivers, Big Bill decided to stage a 150 stickly stock race in Charlotte on June 19th. Literally, the event was put together almost overnight as France determined no real advance notice would be needed as all cars would be stock and the drivers could "run what they brung" so to speak.
The field would be limited to 33 drivers and most all the "hot shoes" of the day showed up to race. Four very prominent drivers,however, were denied entry under the NASCAR rule "actions detrimental to auto racing". Yes, I swear to you, that rule has been in the book since day one. In this case the four drivers were Marshall Teague who had campaigned for NASCAR for follow the lead of the AAA and place 40% of the gate receipts into the purse. That, of course, was not agreeable to Big Bill. The other three forbidden entry were Buddy Shuman, Speedy Thompson and Ed Samples. Their actions detrimental to auto racing was placing several hundred thumb tacks on a race track before a modified race a few weeks earlier. Jimmy Thompson had also been accused of the malicious thumb tack caper,but he was cleared, although placed on probation for a year.
Time trials were held on Saturday, June 18th and when the dust settled, Bob Flock had put a Hudson on the pole. Starting second would be Tim Flock in an Olds, with Buddy Elliott third in another Olds. Otis Martin was four and Fonty Flock was fifth, placing all three racing Flock brothers in the top five starters.
Twelfth place starter was Jim Roper in a Lincoln, who had learned of the event through the comic strip "Smilin' Jack" and brought his car to Charlotte from Kansas to race. Sara Christain, regarded at the time as the leading woman in stock car racing, qualified 13th in a Ford. The field also included Buck Baker, Jim Paschal, Jack Smith and Lee Petty, Bill Blair and Jimmie Lewallen.
Nine different makes of stock cars made up the field. Those makes were Lincoln, Hudson, Ford, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Buick, Kaiser and Mercury. It promised to be an exciting exhibition for stock cars.
On race day, the gates were to open at noon, but a long line of cars full of fans caused Big Bill to open the gates early. By the time the race started, the number of fans ranged from 13,000 (official figure by Big Bill) to 22,500 by Houston Lawton, NASCAR first Publicity Director.
The green flag waved and the cars disappeared into a cloud of dust as they entered turn one, wheel to wheel, door to door and bumper to bumper. The spectators were wild with enthusiasm! The first five laps were led by Bob Flock's speedy Hudson but then, low and behold, a big black Lincoln, driven by 5 foot 6 inch driver Bill Blair literally looking THROUGH the steering wheel to take the lead going down the back straight. Very soon thereafter, Bob Flock's Hudson would develop problems and ended up in a deeping pool of oil in the pits.
Bill Blair was unstoppable. He passed cars as he encountered them, lapping many as he showed the power of the Lincoln and the will with which he drove it. The the half way point more than a dozen of the stock cars were out of the race, most with overheating problems. On lap 107, Lee Petty, driving a big Buick, tumbled several times in a roll that took him outside the track. As the dust from the crash was settling, Lee walked back up onto the track and sat down on the turn in bewilderment at what had befallen him. This is a great story to hear directly from the mouth of Richard Petty if you ever have such an opportunity.
By now, Bill Blair was a lap ahead of his nearest challenger and was just 50 laps away from taking the win when his Lincoln gave it up. Steam poured from the big Lincoln as Blair parked it for the day,destined to be credited with a 12th place ending to his dominating run.
Upon Blair's departure, Glen Dunaway put his Hubert Westmoreland Ford in the lead. Dunaway and arrived at the track Sunday morning without a ride, but Westmoreland decided to put him in the Ford as clearly Dunaway was the experienced driver. Now, Jim Roper, the guy who learned of the race from the "funny papers' was in second, but his Lincoln was beginning to overheat as well. He back off and watched Dunaway put one.....two... then three laps on him as he kept his Lincoln slow and low on the track just trying to finish.
The checkered flag fell for Dunaway and the "borrowed" Ford. The fans were happy with the outcome and many congratulated Dunaway on their way out of the speedway. Newspaper reporters who did cover the race, got their stories and left the track to write for the morning edition on Monday. But, hold the phone.
Some of the officials (not to mention some drivers I would guess) questioned the way that Ford so effortlessly handled the bumpy track, especially the stability going through the turns. Major Al Crisler, the first NASCAR Techinical inspector was asked to closely inspect the car and that inspection revealed the rear springs in the Ford had been "altered" which was very much against the rules for strickly stock. No, and we mean absolutely NO modifications were allowed to the cars with the exception of reinforced right front wheels to handle the stress racing all left turns placed on the right front wheel. The actual determination for the ruling was that the rear springs were "spread" which was common in cars used to haul moonshine which, incidentally, the Westmoreland Ford was specifically designed to do!
NASCAR disqualified the Ford and ruled Jim Roper in the Lincoln would be declared the winner. This did not at all sit with with Mr. Westmoreland who was so angry he filed a lawsuit against NASCAR seeking $10,000.00 in damages for the disqualification. The ruling Judge threw out the case which meant NASCAR had successfully complete its first strickly stock race, a Lincoln had won, and now the sport could move on to bigger things with the "Strickly Stock Division". Big Bill would schedule seven more such races in 1949, and the next year the division would be known as Grand National and would become NASCAR's number one drawing card, displacing the modifies.
Top five finishers were:
1. Jim Roper, Mecklenburg Motors Lincoln, winning $2,000.00
2. Fonty Flock, Grady Cole-Bruce Griffin Hudson, winning $1,000.00
3. Red Byron, Parks Novelty Oldsmobile, winning $500.00
4. Sam Rice, Rice Racing Oldsmobile, winning $300.00
5. Tim Flock, Buddy Elliott Oldsmobile, winning $200.00
Sixth through tenth were Archie Smith in a Ford, Sterling Long in a Hudson, Slick Smith in an Olds, Curtis Turner in a Buick, and Jimmy Thompson in a Chrysler.
Buck Back was 11th, Bill Blair 12th, and Sara Christain credited with 14th after relief from Bob Flock. Jimmie Lewallen finished 16th, Lee Petty 17th, Jim Paschal 23rd with Herb Thomas 29th. Frank Mundy was 30th and Bob Flock (his car) was credited with 32nd.
So, we know that this day is a very important date in the history of NASCAR. We also know that the "actions detrimental to stock car racing" has been a rule forever in NASCAR and we are reminded that even the very first race in the strickly stock ended in controversy. But let us knew forget that what happened on that dusty track in Charlotte on this date in 1949, has given us all many years of great entertainment and involvement in a sport in which we all feel as though we contributed. We are the loyal fans NASCAR never fails to thank during their broadcasts of races and we are the loyal fans who still follow the sport today. Sometimes I am surprised at how many folks I encounter who were actually at that first race and the stories they have told me. I was too young to know what racing was in 1949, but I did discover it in 1952 and my life has been forever entwined with the sport. Let us never forget the men (and women) who build this sport from the ground up and who contributed so much to make it happen, many giving their very lives. The sport has grown, evolved and continues to grow. Having started on a dusty 3/4 mile track in Charlotte, NC appears to have been a fertile garden from which to bring forth what we have today.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.
Sounds like a really fun summer, Jimmy. Hope you come close to Columbia at some point. Haven't seen you in a long while! Take care and stay safe.
I was at this race but I do NOT remember a fiery crash but I do remember Johnson, Joe Weatherly and Richard Petty were all involved in a bad wreck which caused Joe to give his car to a relief driver. Perhaps the writer was being overly dramatic. All of my attempts to over-dramatize the History Minutes are quickly corrected by those with great memories, for which I am very happy. It was about a month after this race that the Convertibles came back to Columbia and some guy named Richard, driving a 1959 Plymouth convertible, would win his first ever race.
Special Legendtorial tonight. Nothing concerning D.W., or Princess Danica (or Princess Sparkle Pony as I am also hearing). Tonight the Legend says goodbye.
Hope to see you listening.
Tim
You have certainly gotten my curiosity running wild on the Julian Petty matter. Funny how I heard so many things about him back in the day, yet never really knew anything. I think I need to round up Bill Blair and see if he is the one who told me all the stories. I'm thinking it was Bill,but I'm not absolutely positive. Would also seem Billy Biscoe would have a lot of information.
Wow, Chase, very creative of you. Lol. I like that very much!!!!
Today we continue our Northern Tour of the 1955 season, which we began yesterday in Rochester, NY. Fonda Speedway, a half-mile dirt track located in the City of the same name, will host our 100 mile/200 lap event for today.
In one of those circumstances not likely to happen in the sport today, Fonty Flock qualified HIS Chrysler to start fourth and then jumped in brother Tim's Chrysler to qualify for a late arriving Tim. Fonty put his brother's car on the pole! Starting on the outside front row was Jim Reed's Chevrolet. Third was Lee Petty in his Chrysler.
The green flag waved and Tim Flock moved away from the field. The caution was thrown on lap 28 when Al Weber rolled his Ford in a spectacular accident but he wasn't injured and the green flag waved again after only four laps. Tim Flock maintained the lead but he was aware that ninth place starter, Junior Johnson in an Oldsmobile was working his way through the field at a steady pace. Suddenly, the mirror of Flock's Chrysler was filled by the Johnson Oldsmobile and on lap 96, Johnson took over the lead he would hold until the end of the race. In fact, he would stretch that lead to a full lap over second place and 9 laps over third place. This was Junior's third win in the past five races and was a very popular win with the Fonda crowd.
Top five finishers were:
1. Junior Johnson, B&L Motors Oldsmobile, winning $1,000.00
2. Tim Flock, Mercury Outboard Chrysler, winning $650.00
3. Lee Petty, Petty Engineering Chrysler, winning $450.00
4. Buck Baker, Griffin Motors Oldsmobile, winning $350.00
5. Bob Welborn, Chevrolet, winning $300.00
Sixth through tenth were Dave Terrell, Harvey Henderson, John McVitty, Dick Hallock, and Russ Truelove.
Fonty Flock was 11th, Jim Reed 12th, Jimmie Lewallen 14th and Gwyn Staley 18th. Only 19 cars started the race.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.
I'm guessing no one is interested in any race in Rochester! lol
