Over the past year, as we have done these History Minutes, other than the month of September devoted to Darlington and the month of February devoted to Daytona, I don't think we've done two Minutes at the same track back-to-back. However, today, we are returning to the Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia, where, in yesterday's Minute, we covered a three way fight for the win. What attracted me to return to Lakewood today is the winner of the race.
On February 22, 1959, Johnny Beauchamp and Lee Petty were involved in a photo finish to conclude the first Daytona 500. There was a race in Hillsboro, NC on March 1st and another in Concord, NC on March 8th, neither of which included Beauchamp in the field. Beauchamp did, however, enter the Lakewood event with advance publicity hyping the fact that he and Lee Petty would once again do battle on the track and the inference by the press was that there was a feud between the two because of Daytona and that "anything could happen". A crowd of 15,000 showed up to see how intense the feud would get.
Buck Baker would win the pole at a speed of 77.888 mph on the one mile dirt track. Buck was driving his own Chevrolet. Johnny Beauchamp qualified second in the Roy Burdick T-Bird. Jack Smith qualified the Bud Moore Chevrolet third, and Fireball Roberts in the Jim Stephens Chevrolet was fourth. Fifth place starter was Bob Welborn in his own Chevrolet. Lee Petty would start 7th in a 1957 Oldsmobile so with 21 cars on the track, fans were anticipating Petty catching Beauchamp early getting the fight underway.
The green flag dropped and Beauchamp immediately stormed into the lead he would hold, and lengthen throughout the race. No one could run with Beauchamp on this day. The race was his from the beginning as he led every lap and would finish more than a lap ahead of second place. His nemesis, Lee Petty, broke an axle on lap 39 and was out of the race to the disappointment of not only Lee but also many of the fans in attendance. This win was the third consecutive win for the T-Bird.
Finishing order:
1. Johnny Beauchamp, Roy Burdick T-Bird, $800.00
2.Buck Baker, Baker Chevrolet, $525.00 (1 lap down)
3. Tiger Tom Pistone, Rupert Safety Belt T-Bird, $350.00 (3 laps down)
4. Speedy Thompson, Steve Pierce Chevrolet, $250.00 (4 laps down)
5. Joe Eubanks, Don Every Ford, $225.00 (5 laps down)
6. Shorty Rollins
7. Billy Carden
8. Fireball Roberts
9. Tiny Lund
10. Bob Welborn
11.Jim McQuirk
12. Sam Massey
13. Roscoe Thompson
14. Cotton Owens
15. J. C. Hendrix
16. Charles Barron
17. Lee Petty
18. Johnny Allen
19. Pete Kelly
20. Charlie Griffin
21.Jack Smith
Average Speed for the race was 75.172 mph.
Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future
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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
