Most race fans who can remember North Wilkesboro, remember a .625 mile track, paved and fast, located in the Brushy Mountains of North Carolina. A beautiful drive from Charlotte to the track down highway 421. Races there were usually 400 laps with the cars running uphill on one straightaway and downhill on the other. Many race fans will remember that the track was around from the beginning of NASCAR's Grand National debut but for today, the guys are racing on a .625 mile dirt track and the race there in 1953 was to be 100 miles/160 laps on the fast dirt track.
Thirty-one cars would show up to race, but, unfortunately, only 2,000 fans ventured out to the track that day to see what turned out to be an exciting race. Buck Baker put his Griffin Motors Oldsmobile on the pole with a speed of 78.288 mph. Remaining qualifying positions are missing from my reference material but we can assume Curtis Turner started somewhere in the first four positions because he would take the lead on lap one. Turner led 6 laps, then it was Baker for a lap, then Turner for a lap. For the first 70 laps Turner and Baker traded the lead every few laps In fact, the lead changed hands 5 times in the first 11 laps. Fonty Flock took the lead on lap 70 but could only hold off Baker for 18 laps. Flock went back into the lead on lap 104 for ONE lap, then it was Turner again for 3 laps. Flock and Turner traded the lead position (and a little paint) back and forth until 25 laps from the end when Speedy Thompson, who had been bideing his time, watching the fierce battle for the lead, litterally "hammered" his Oldsmobile around then leader Flock, and Thompson would take the checkers. This was Thompson's second win of the season now driving for the Buckshot Morris Oldsmobile team.
Amazingly, Ray Duhigg, driving a Julian Petty Plymouth, making his first start since breaking his neck in an accident at Langhorne Speedway on June 21st, finished third.
Top five finishers:
1. Speedy Thompson, Buckshot Morris Oldsmobile, winning $1,000.00
2. Fonty Flock, Vogt Special Hudson, winning $700.00 (1 lap down)
3. Ray Duhigg, Julian Petty Plymouth, winning $400.00 (4 laps down)
4. Bob Welborn, J. O.Goode Plymouth, winning $350.00 (4 laps down)
5. Lee Petty, Petty Engineering Dodge, winning $200.00 (5 laps down)
Sixth through tenth were Buck Baker, Bill Blair, Joe Eubanks, Jimmie Lewallen and Bub King. Tim Flock was 12th, Gober Sosebee 14th, Curtis Turner 22nd, Jim Paschal 23rd, Dick Rathmann 24th, and Elton Hildreth 28th. Ralph Dutton would finish 31st (last) in a Dodge.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future
--
What a change! It's been awhile since I've checked in and I'm quite surprised. It may take me awhile to figure it our but first look it's really great.
updated by @tim-leeming: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
