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Racing History Minute, June 17, 1955

Stock Car Racing History

Looking through the Greg Fielden Book, "Forty Years of Stock Car Racing", I came upon the "Northern Tour" from 1955 and was somewhat fascinated by such a tour in 1955, although the boys ran up north often it seems in the early days of NASCAR. That is nothing new for the sport and certainly most know the Grand Nationals raced in Canada in the 60s. So, looking back, the 1955 NorthernTour started on June 10th with Junior Johnson winning in New Oxford, PA on the half-mile dirt track.

Today, we are going to Monroe County Fairgrounds in Rochester, New York, where 21 cars showed up to race before a crowd of just over 6,000 folks. The track was a half-mile dirt track as it seems most of the tracks on the Northern Tour were in those days. Buck Baker would qualify his Oldsmobile on the pole with Lee Petty putting a Chrysler in second starting spot. Starting third was Tim Flock with his brother, Fonty, to his outside.

On the very first lap, Lee Petty, the current points leader, was involved in a crash with pole winner Baker, which resulted in parking his swift Chrysler for the evening. Baker would later depart on lap 116 with a blown engine. Tim Flock manuevered around the first lap accident to take the number spot and he would lead the remainder of the 200 laps to win by a full lap over his brother Fonty. Fonty drove the last 150 laps of the race with no brakes. Manhandling that big Chrysler around that dirt track!

The race was slowed by caution flags twice for a total of six laps which kept the average speed at 57.170 mph which is not that far off Bakers pole winning speed of 61.141 mph. This was the 20th race of the 1955 NASCAR season and was Tim Flock's seventh victory on the season.

Top five finishers were:

1. Tim Flock, Mercury Outboards Chrysler, winning $1,000.00

2. Fonty Flock, Mercury Outboards Chrysler, winning $650.00

3.Bob Welborn, Chevrolet, winning $450.00

4. Jimmie Lewallen, Ernest Woods Oldsmobile, winning $350.00

5. Harvey Henderson, Hudson Hornet, winning $300.00

Sixth through tenth were John Dodd, Jr., Eddie Skinner, Emory Mahon, Al Weber, and Gene Simpson. Junior Johnson finished 12th with Jim Reed 13th, Jim Paschal 15th and Buck Baker 16th. Lee Petty was credited with 20th finishing position out of the twenty-one cars.

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

Personal note to this post. My Daddy was raised in Rochester, NY and when he came south in January, 1942, to report to Ft. Jackson, he met my Mother who was a Columbia Southern Girl. After a courtship lasting from March 18th to September 19th, they were married by a Justice of the Peace in Chesterfield, SC, before my Dad went to the Pacific to fight the Imperial Forces of the Japan. My Mom went to live with his folks in Rochester and when he was discharged after the war, the plan was to stay in Rochester where he would work for Kodak. I was born in Rochester in October, 1946. Meanwhile, in late February, 1947, my Mother's mom in Columbia got very sick and my Dad and Mom decided to move back to Columbia so Mama could take care of my grandmother.

The story I wasalways told was that they loaded all they owned in a 1937 Plymouth coupe and my mom held me on her lap for the entire two day trip. She often reminded me I was car sick all the way from Rochester to Columbia. She would laugh so many times when I talked about driving race cars and never failed to mention the two day car sick episode. I finally convinced her it was my Daddy's driving that made me car sick. (not true, but my only defense).

Anyway, my parents built a house across the street from my grandparents and moved in on my first birthday in October, 1947. Although I was too young to know it at the time, my then 13 years old Uncle Bobby (my Mother's brother) would play a huge part in my life by introducing me to stock car racing just short of my sixth birthday. He would take me to races from that night in September, 1952, until I went in the Navy. When I started to drive in NASCAR in 1969, he was right there. Finished second in the very first race I drove (heat race) and my never emotional Uncle Bobby reached through the wire fence between the pits and infield and shook my hand and said "you did it boy". Even under those dim lights at Columbia Speedway I could detect the tear in his eye as he realized, I think for the first time, that it was because of him that I was in that race car.

I have often wondered what my life would have been like if I had grown up in Rochester and never gotten to be around Uncle Bobby. I'm sure I would know nothing about stock car racing and would not have known, nor cared, that there was a race track in Rochester, or that NASCAR raced there in the 50s.

updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM

Racing History Minute - June 16, 1951

Stock Car Racing History

Back in 1951, June 16th was a Saturday. In Columbia, South Carolina, it was a very cloudy Saturday, with dark thunderhead clouds which so often appear on those South Carolina summer afternoons. Nevertheless, some 7,750 folks would travel to a half-mile dirt track located just off Highway 321 in Cayce, South Carolina, for what would be the very first NASCAR Grand National (now Cup) race "under the lights". An unbelieveable 34 competitors would show up to race such cars as Plymouth, Ford, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Hudson, Henry J, and a Studebaker or two. Take note, there was not ONE Chevrolet entered in the race.

Frank Mundy would actually put his Perry Smith Studebaker on the pole, qualifying at just over 57.5 mph. Joe Eubanks in an Oldsmobile would start outside front row. Dick Rathmann would start third and Tim Flock fourth. An interesting note in my source reference is that Fonty Flock was the fastest qualifier in an Oldsmobile but started 12th. I have no additional information to explain this.

The clouds were so thick and low at race time there was no real indication of when the sun set but the lights around the speedway were turned on and racing started as scheduled. Having litterally grown up at Columbia Speedway, although too young to have attended this event, I can recall the lighting, while adequate to race and adequate for fans to see, was not exactly spectacular. In fact, when I began racing there myself in 1969, and was surprised at the "dark" areas of the track, but be that as it may, there was lighting enough for fans to be thrilled by 34 cars banging it around the track.

Columbia Speedway, as a dirt track, was somewhat unique in character. Usually by the time a race started, the track had been "smoothed out" or what we used to call "ironed out" to a smooth racing surface of South Carolina red clay. Usually by 20 or 30 laps into an event, the surface became akin to an asphalt track. You could actually hear the tires "squeal" in the turns above the roar of the engines at times. In later years, many drivers would use asphalt track tires in Columbia Speedway events.

On the green flag, Frank Mundy put that Studebaker out front and would stay there for the first 144 laps before Jim Paschal would move his Ford into position one. One lap 178, Mundy went back around Paschal to put the bullet-nosed Studebaker back out front. The lead would be his for the last 22 laps and he would win the event by a lap over second place finisher Bill Blair. This was Mundy's first Grand National win and the first Grand National win for Studebaker. It was an extremely popular win with the Columbia crowd as Perry Smith was well known in the area and well respected. Average speed for the 100 miles was 50.683 mph so although my source (Greg Fielden's "Forty Years of Stock Car Racing") does not indicate how many, if any, caution flags waved, it would seem that average speed would indicate few, if any, caution laps slowed the pace.

Top five finishers were:

1. Frank Mundy, Perry Smith Studebaker, winning $1,000.00

2. Bill Blair, Westmoreland Plymouth, winning $700.00

3. Marshall Teague, FABULOUS Hudson Hornet, winning $450.00

4. Herb Thomas, Thomas Plymouth, winning $350.00

5. Buck Baker, Baker Plymouth, winning $200.00

Jim Paschal finished sixth in his Julian Buesink Ford, Tim Flock, Bill Snowden, Weldon Adams and Jim Harris rounded out the top ten.

Fonty Flock finished 12th with brother Bob in 13th. Gober Sosebee was 15th and Lee Petty received $25.00 for 20th place. Red Byron finished 30th, Dick Rathmann 31st, Joe Eubanks 33rd, and Leland Colvin 34th.

Getting a little personal with this History Minute, please allow me to say that Columbia Speedway became such a part of my life beginning late in the 1952 season, that I was always there when the cars raced. I watched the exciting weekly races, all the time dreaming of becoming a race driver. I saw Richard Petty run his first race there in July 1958 and became an instant fan, more to compete with my Uncle Bobby and his favorite, Lee Petty, than any other reason. Well, I did meet Richard that night and thought he was really nice to the 11 year old kid who started a journey with the man who would become the King of Stock Car racing. I was there in 1959 when Richard won his first race ever, another convertible event and not included in his 200 wins. I finally got to realize by dream of driving a race car in August, 1969, when I started my first race in a 1959 Plymouth. My 1959 Plymouth was a two-door sedan rather than the convertible Richard Petty won in that night in 1959. But I was a "race driver".

I was at Columbia Speedway this past Friday night for a drive-in movie screening of the very first "Star Wars" movie. The track, now asphalt after it's paving for the 1971 season, is still there, though the asphalt be cracked and crumbled in places. The infield is now beautifully green, almost as a manicured golf course.The City of Cayce as designated the track as an "Event Facility". It was through the efforts of RacersReunion that the track was reclaimed from the wilderness it had become.

As the breeze rustled in the leaves of the trees surrounding the track, my mind was racing back over decades of spending my time there watching race cars perform spectacular racing. As the music began at the start of the movie, rumbling through the theater speakers, to me it suddenly became the rumbling of the hundreds of racing engines I had heard over the years. Hans Solo and Luke Skywalker became my hero race drivers of the past.

The movie ended and I was engaged in conversation with an entire family of folks who came out to the movie but all of whom are great race fans. We talked about the movie, we talked about racing, and we talked about families. As I walked to my van, parked on the start-finish line on the track, I was thinking how the script for the movie rolled up the screen at the beginning of the movie "A long time ago, in a Galaxy far, far away.....................". I turned to look around the dark track and instead of seeing Star Fighters blasting the Death Star, I was seeing racecar after racecar flying past me, silent now, but there nevertheless.

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

updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM

a quiz on columbia speedway

Stock Car Racing History

Please see the "Racing History Minute" for June 16th! Lol

Motor Week LIVE! Wins More Awards

Administrative

Congratulations to Patrick and Motorweek Live. Great Job. Now I just need to be able to afford to bribe some of those who present Awards!!! Seriously, Patrick, you rock Dude. What a wonderful asset to have you as a part of RacersReunion.

Racing History Minute - June 15, 1966

Stock Car Racing History

When the site started this Racing History Minute of April 5, 2013, I was sure there would be things to learn along the way and, for me at least, that has been the case. In preparing the minute for today, I came across an interesting piece of information I did not know. In the 1966 season, at least, NASCAR had what were called "General Guidelines" in addition to the infamous NASCAR Rule Book. Those "Guidelines" required that ONLY the top 22 finishers in any race were guaranteed, or more succintly, entitled to a part of the prize money. The race for our History Minute today had 31 entrants so 9 of the participants received NO prize money. Included in those 9 were Buck Baker, David Pearson, Tom Pistone and Wendell Scott.

The race for today was held at Beltsville Speedway, a half-mile paved facility located in Beltsville, MD.The race would run 100 miles/200 laps on the half-mile asphalt track. Richard Petty put the Petty Enterprises Plymouth on the pole with David Pearson, points leader at the time, in second place. Tiger Tom Pistone would start third and Bobby Allison fourth.

Richard Petty shot into the lead from the number one starting spot with David Pearson in close and hot pursuit. The first 33 laps were a nip and tuck battle between the two factory rides before Pearson's number 6 Dodge blew the rear end and he was forced to park his ride. This should have made it an easy run for the number 43 Plymouth but on lap 71, the engine blew in the blue rocket, and Petty joined Pearson in the pits.

Tiny Lund, in his Lyle Stelter Ford took over the lead upon Petty's departure and the hard charger kept that Ford in front but was challenged by a rookie Dodge driver, James Hylton. Bobby Allison was running third in a Chevrolet when he spun with 22 laps to go and this set up a sprint to the finish between the fish camp owner (Lund) and the rookie (Hylton). Going into the last lap, Lund appeared to have a clear victory when Hylton pulled up even with the Ford and the race to the line resulted in Lund winning by less than two feet over Hylton. Hylton, although in his rookie season, was holding a strong second in the seasonal point standings as well. This was Tiny's third career Grand National (now Cup) win. Tiny's win in the 1963 Daytona 500 in a Wood Brothers Ford was every bit as spectacular as Trevor Bayne winning in a Wood Brothers Ford all those years later.

Top five finishers were:

1. Tiny Lund, Lyle Stelter Ford, winning $1,000.00

2. James Hylton, Bud Hartie Dodge, winning $600.00

3. Hank Thomas, W.S.Jenkins Ford, winning $400.00

4. John Sears, L. G. DeWitt Ford, winning $300.00

5. G. C. Spencer, Henley Gray Ford, winning $275.00

Sixth through tenth were Blackie Watt, Johnny Wynn, Neil Castles, Don Isreal and Roy Tyner. Buddy Baker was 12th, J.D. McDuffie 13th, Bobby Allison 15th, Elmo Langley 16th , Clyde Lynn 18th,and Richard Petty 21st. Finishing 22nd and in the last "paying" position was Sonny Hutchins.

The drivers finishing 23rd through 31st, who receive NO money were Gene Black, Jimmy Helms, Henley Gray, Buck Baker, David Pearson, Bill Champion, Tom Pistone, Joe Holder, and Wendell Scott. Learning this information today adds an new dimension to my understanding of the "start and park" drivers of today.

Adding a personal note here, Lyle Stetler's garage was located in Columbia, SC, where I live, close to the small airport. I would go in and out of the modest building all the time and would often encounter Tiny just hanging out there. All the stories you hear (and Tiger Tom can back this up) about Tiny's penchant for fun are entirely true. Tiny had an unique appreciation for life that he shared with all who encountered him. Tiny's death in the August, 1975, event in Talladega took one of the world's true "bigger than life" (in many ways) from us far too early. His widow, Wanda, was a member of RacersReunion and we enjoyed many hours with her at events in Augusta, Columbia, Hillsborough and Mooresville. Ann and I attended Wanda's funeral on that January day(was that this year or last year, my mind can't keep up with time these days) and the kind things said about her that day barely scratched the surface of the wonderful person she was. Tiny's impact on NASCAR racing may not appear stellar in the overall record books, but for anyone who ever met him, he is an infinite part of what has made NASCAR the sport it is.

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

updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM

Fire Up Heater, Snuggle, Watch Marty & Tiny

Stock Car Racing History

Thanks, Dave. Fins to the right of me, Fins to the left!!! Love those fins. I also loved that "Six Days on the Road" too. The opening of the Tiny Lund movie was one of my favorite parts of that movie but the reason it is so special is because my Daddy, the guy who always was in the background and so shy he could never speak in public, was in that movie carrying our Plymouth 43 flag (which I still have by the way) across the infield at Augusta. He was so proud of that. After that "movie debut" he was a changed man in my opinion. I don't recall any time after that when he was as shy. Quite a life changer for him.

One other note on that flag, Richard autographed it when he won his 19th race in a season to break Tim Flock's record and he autographed it again when he won his 55th race at Darlington to break his Dad's record. Also, when he won the Rebel 400 to break his Dad's record, the convertible pace car was taking him to the press box and Johnny Reb was on the hood with the Stars and Bars flying in the wind, and I was on the trunk (Richard was in the back seat) with the Plymouth 43 flag flying. That picture made Stock Car Racing Magazine with the Rebel 400 report.

Racing History Minute - June 14, 1953

Stock Car Racing History

It seems it has rained in Columbia, SC, every two or three days since January. Finally, our local weather people have stopped telling us what the deficit in rainfall is because there is no longer a deficit. However, once the surplus reached an inch about a month ago, they quit telling us what the surplus is. They don't want us to know the good news, rather only the negative reports that we needed to conserve water. I have seem places in this area flooded that I've never seen even with high water in my 67 years here.

What does all that have to do with the Racing History Minute for today? Well, how about 18 inches of rain in a five day period in Pensacola, FL where today's History Minute takes us. The race we will cover today was originally scheduled for May 31st, but those 18 inches of liquid Florida sunshine caused a postponement for two weeks.

There were 18 cars entered (one for every inch of rain maybe?)in the 100 mile/200 lap event on the half-mile dirt track known as Five Flags Speedway. Records from my source are sketchy, at best, with only the pole position listed in the starting order. The man on the pole was Dick Rathman in a Hudson.

The record does note that it was a very overcast afternoon when the race started and I am guessing Herb Thomas started on the outside front row as it is indicated that he jumped into the lead early with Rathmann and Tim Flock running right with him. Tim had an extended pit stop which dropped him off the lead lap but Rathmann continued to pressure Thomas.

On lap 140 of the 200, NASCAR determined that the track was just too wet and muddy to safely continue. It had started to rain again at that point but apparently only enough to muddy the track substanially. Whatever the reasoning, the race was red flagged and declared "official" at the end of 140 laps with Herb Thomas out front. Interestingly, the average speed for the race was 61.80 mph which I think is pretty good for 140 laps on a half-mile dirt track.

Top five finishers were:

1. Herb Thomas, FABULOUS Hudon Hornet, winning $1,000.00

2. Dick Rathmann, Walt Chapman Hudson, winning $900.00

3. Lee Petty, Petty Engineering Dodge, winning $450.00

4. Buck Baker, Griffin Motors Oldsmobile, winning $350.00

5. Tim Flock, Ted Chester Hudson, winning $200.00

Sixth through tenth were Dick Passwater, Joe Eubanks, Slick Smith, Gober Sosebee, and Fred Moore. Remaining finishers, in order, were, Lamar Crabtree, Frank Arford, Elbert Allen, Gordon Bracken, Leonard Lawrence, Gene Tapia, Jim Paschal and Gwyn Staley.

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

updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM

June 14, 1959 - (A) Petty wins Lakewood

Stock Car Racing History

I was just reviewing the races from this date for the History Minute when I came across this one. I laughed to myself thinking "I'm not going to touch this one because I know Chase is going to do a great job presenting it. As always, great job. I will have to reserve the Richard Petty first race in the convertibles for my History Minute that day in July as that was the night I first met The King and in which he indicates I got his first autograph as a race driver. I still have vivid memories of that race, some I'm sure from all the other stories and accounts I heard from others, but for me that night was special. But Richard only finished sixth so I should be good to go without interfering with you! lol.

Jason Leffler Killed in Racing Accident

Current NASCAR

Prayers from the Lair going up.

Racing History Minute - June 13, 1954

Stock Car Racing History

P.S. This History Minute added early due to appointments I have tomorrow. Hope you all enjoy.