St. Patrick's Day 1957 was a busy one for racers.
- The Grand National cars raced at Wilson Speedway where Fireball Roberts started from the pole and Ralph Moody won the race - both in Pete DePaolo's Ford.
- Bill Widenhouse won a 100-lap feature for modifieds at Concord Speedway - one that also featured Ned Jarrett, Banjo Matthews, Bunk Moore and George Dunn, Jr.
- And NASCAR's convertible division raced a 150-lap, 50-mile feature at Greensboro's Fairgrounds Speedway.
Just as Fireball did in the GN race at Wilson, a DePaolo Ford claimed the top spot in qualifying. Curtis Turner laid down the quickest time to win his first of five poles during the 1957 convertible season. Bob Welborn timed second in his #49 Chevy - though records seem to indicate the car was entered under Hugh Babb's name as the owner vs. his own. Possum Jones started third in a second #48 Babb Chevy with recent NASCAR HOF entrant, Joe Weatherly, in 4th in another DePaolo Ford.
After laying down the top speed in qualifying, Turner won his 25-lap heat race which I suppose secured his top starting spot. As he and Welborn lined up to take the green, Pop barreled down into turn 1. He braked late, pushed too far, and carried Welborn to the high side of the dirt track. Little Joe pounced on Pop's mistake, crossed over from his 4th starting spot to slip under both of them and took the lead for the first two laps.
Turner cleared Welborn and drew a bead on Weatherly. After the first two laps, he passed his racing rival and partying pal to take the lead. It didn't take long before Curtis asserted his dominance in the race. Within just a few laps, he caught up to the back end of the field. Here is shown pursuing Al Tasnady in a #44 Plymouth with Possum Jones in #48 trailing Turner. Tasnady only lasted 10 laps in the race. - Getty Images
Lee Petty had his hands full over at Wilson with two cars - #42 driven by himself and a second #188 Oldsmobile driven by Tiny Lund. But the Petty Engineering team was also represented in the ragtop race as Bill Lutz raced a white #88 Oldsmobile. - Getty Images
I do wonder who crewed Lutz' car - Red Myler perhaps?
Another racing legend - Glen Wood - had a decent day in his family's Ford. He started 9th, battled door handle to door handle, and claimed a 5th place finish. He is shown here wrestling with Bobby Myers as they hang tough with Lutz in the Petty car. - Getty Images
The race was slowed by only two cautions - both resulting from a single driver - and within the first 50+ laps. Dick Beaty, who later became a key NASCAR official, spun early and later whacked the wooden fence a second time to end his day.
In the end though, it was Turner's day. After getting the lead on lap 3, he set sail and wasn't passed again the rest of the day. Though Weatherly was in a "matching" DePaolo Ford, he was no match for his buddy's efforts. Turner lapped the field multiple times - including second place finisher Weatherly twice.
I was unable to to find any archived newspaper articles about the race - at least free ones. Thanks to Russ Thompson for advancing me some info about it from Greg Fielden's Rumblin' Ragtops book.
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Curtis Turner | '57 Ford |
| 2 | Joe Weatherly | '57 Ford |
| 3 | Possum Jones | '57 Chevrolet |
| 4 | Bill Amick | '56 Ford |
| 5 | Glen Wood | '56 Ford |
| 6 | Bob Welborn | '57 Chevrolet |
| 7 | Don Oldenberg | '57 Plymouth |
| 8 | Jimmy Massey | '57 Plymouth |
| 9 | Whitey Norman | '56 Ford |
| 10 | Raymond Carter | '56 Chevrolet |
| 11 | Bill Lutz | '57 Oldsmobile |
| 12 | Bobby Myers | '56 Mercury |
| 13 | Eddie Hughes | '56 Ford |
| 14 | Neil Castles | '56 Ford |
| 15 | James Jones | '56 Ford |
| 16 | Larry Frank | '56 Chevrolet |
| 17 | Dick Beaty | '56 Ford |
| 18 | Bill Poor | '56 Chevrolet |
| 19 | Al Tasnady | '57 Plymouth |
| 20 | Gwyn Staley | '57 Plymouth |
| 21 | Darel Dieringer | '57 Ford |
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
