May 19, 1957 was a tough day.
- For Billy Myers and Tiger Tom Pistone
- For NASCAR fans
- For NASCAR management
- For racing in general
- and specifically for Alvin Helsabeck and his family
The second annual Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway was scheduled for Sunday, May 19, 1957.
From Motor Racing Programme Covers :
Paul Goldsmith won the pole in Smokey Yunick's Ford. Speedy Thompson lived up to his name by qualifying second. Good buddies Tiny Lund and Tiger Tom made up row 2. Marvin Panch and Billy Myers timed 5th and 6th.
Goldsmith and Speedy lead the field to the green flag. - Getty Images
The race was a good one. Several drivers led for significant "chunks" of laps. Goldsmith jumped out front at the start to lead the first 10 percent of the race. Tiny then went to the point in A.L. Bumgarner's Pontiac to lead for almost 75 laps. Buck Baker then got by Lund to lead for a stretch of 17 laps. At lap 145, Billy Myers took over and settled into a groove. He dragged the field around the half-mile for 88 consecutive laps. At lap 233 - perhaps during a pit stop sequence - Baker re-took the lead where HE rolled the corners well for almost 100 laps.
On lap 329, Myers found himself back out front and was trucking along for a series of 113 laps. His lead had become so dominant that he approached third place running Tiger Tom Pistone to lap him on lap 442. As he did so, a bad sequence of events happened.
- One, The two cars came together as often happens on short tracks - especially when one is trying to avoid being lapped late in the race.
- Two, a light rain began to fall on the track right at the time Myers was racing with Pistone.
- Three, a gaggle of fans had gathered just outside of the wall and safety fence in an area marked "No Spectators". Track workers had run folks from the spot at least once during the day - but yet they returned to get a close-up view of the action.
Myers car skidded on the slick track after clanging off Pistone and headed for the wall. Pistone was able to get his Chevy back under control and motored away. Myers, however, plowed the wall, jumped its four feet height, tore out fencing, and spraying concrete and metal debris into the throng of folks who should never have been in the area. Yet they were.
Several dozen folks were hit with the flying debris - a few adults were taken to the hospital for more serious injuries. But the individual affected most was Alvin Helsabeck, an 8 year-old boy (some reports said 10). Apparently a chunk of concrete from the wall hit Helsabeck in the head. He was transported to the hospital with an extremely serious head injury - though non-lethal.
The cars raced by Myers' wrecked Mercury, and the race was stopped. Heavy rains began to fall, and the race was called official 50+ laps shy of the advertised distance. Whether NASCAR called the race because of the accident and the multiple injuries or because of the rain is unknown. Either way, the right decision was made to end the race so the injured could be treated.
When Myers wrecked out of the race as the leader, others passed him to take the caution and checkers. Buck Baker was the first back to the line followed by Curtis Turner and Tiger. Myers was scored a 4th despite his DNF. Lee Petty finished 5th, one lap behind the top 4 finishers.
The race report from the Spartanburg Herald included key details about the way things unfolded including the "No Spectator" signage and the rains that arrived at the time of Myers' wreck.
Race reports published in other newspapers were much more concise. The condensed coverage such as the following wire service report didn't include those key details. A reader unfamiliar with the track, the drivers, NASCAR, the weather, the fans, etc. could have a completely different take on what happened and about racing in general. And I found more articles like the one below than I did like the one from the Herald.
Baker received the winner's trophy - and got the opportunity to pose with it along with Miss Martinsville. Judging by his clothes and the windows in the background, I'm guessing it was taken after things settled down following the treatment of the injured - and was taken indoors because of the rain. While any driver will take a win, I have to believe that one was a bit bittersweet not knowing at the time how the kid was going to fare after the accident and injuries. - Getty Images
Accidents including the death of Billy Vukovich in the Indy 500 in 1955, a tragic European sports car crash in early May, the life-altering but near-miss accident at Martinsville, and another instance of spectator deaths in a modified race in Clarion, PA a couple of weeks after Martinsville put a lot of pressure on the auto manufacturers.
Coincidentally, NASCAR's safety was touted in a Spartanburg Herald column THE DAY BEFORE the Martinsville race.
AAA withdrew its support of Indy car racing following Vukovich's death which led to the formation of USAC. And following the Clarion accident and fatalities, the manufacturers had seen enough. They withdrew their support from racing [ as noted in this 2013 Racing History Minute ]. Fortunately for the sport of course, the manufacturers did return over time and were a big part of NASCAR in particular through the 1960s.
The bit of light from the accident is that Alvin Helsabeck did slowly recover - albeit with life-altering effects. The Dispatch was good to include an update on his condition about 2-1/2 months after the accident.
Randy Myers [ added more ] to the story - at the time and down the road.
The accident at Martinsville involving daddy was due to NASCAR's failure to throw a caution flag when it began to rain. Daddy and "Tiger Tom" were racing for the lead and tangled on the wet track. The Helsabeck boy actually lived about five miles from us. They were standing in a restricted area and had been moved at least once but returned. The boy did NOT die but sustained a serious head injury and never fully recovered. Ironically later in life, I had to drive past his house on a daily basis to go to work. Many times he would be sitting on the front porch playing a trumpet. I thought about that wreck every time i drove past.
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Buck Baker | '57 Chevrolet |
| 2 | Curtis Turner | '57 Ford |
| 3 | Tom Pistone | '57 Chevrolet |
| 4 | Billy Myers | '57 Mercury |
| 5 | Lee Petty | '57 Oldsmobile |
| 6 | Jack Smith | '57 Chevrolet |
| 7 | Paul Goldsmith | '57 Ford |
| 8 | Marvin Panch | '57 Ford |
| 9 | Fireball Roberts | '57 Ford |
| 10 | Jim Paschal | '57 Mercury |
| 11 | Speedy Thompson | '57 Chevrolet |
| 12 | Brownie King | '56 Chevrolet |
| 13 | Ralph Earnhardt | '57 Oldsmobile |
| 14 | L.D. Austin | '56 Chevrolet |
| 15 | George Green | '56 Chevrolet |
| 16 | Johnny Allen | '57 Plymouth |
| 17 | Bill Bowman | '56 Chevrolet |
| 18 | Barney Oldfield | '56 Ford |
| 19 | Clarence DeZalia | '56 Ford |
| 20 | Tiny Lund | '57 Pontiac |
| 21 | Russ Hepler | '57 Pontiac |
| 22 | Cotton Owens | '57 Pontiac |
| 23 | Eddie Skinner | '57 Ford |
| 24 | T.A. Toomes | '56 Dodge |
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
