Racing History Minute - June 29, 1952 - Langhorne

This Racing History Minute post is about a NASCAR race - but not a stock car race. Well, at least not about a stock body race.

NASCAR's short-lived, single-season Speedway Division ran what is believed to be its final race on June 29, 1952. (However, I've seen some references that the cars may have return for a race or two in 1953.)

But if indeed the June 29th race was the final one, at least it was a doozy. The cars ran at the legendary, one-mile, dirt Langhorne Speedway.

Some of the promoted southern drivers expected to race in the event included Buck Baker, Al Keller, Bill Miller and Buddy Shuman. Buck and Keller made the trip, but apparently Shuman did not. Racing-Reference seems to indicate Bill Miller made the trip - but may have withdrawn his Raymond Parks entry for reasons I don't yet know.

MIller's withdrawal made for an interesting turn of events as he was 2nd in the points to Baker with a mathematical chance of overtaking him - especially with a win.

Race previews

Tom Cherry won the pole in his stock Mercury engine powered roadster. Wally Campbell qualified alongside Cherry. The two of them then apparently put on a whale of a show for the fans.

Cherry, Keller, Campbell and Baker mixed up the lead for nearly the first 30 of the race's 100 laps. (Photos were included in Greg Fielden's Rumblin Ragtops book and shared by Genuine Jack at Randy Ayers Modeling Forum .)

Cherry took over for a 35-lap stretch in the mid portion of the race.

With about 40 laps to go, Campbell and Cherry swapped the lead on 3 consecutive laps before Cherry finally got solid positioning in front of Campbell. Wally hung near the tail of Cherry's car and tried to force him into a mistake.

But it was not to be for Campbell. He had to make a fuel stop late in the race. Cherry motored home to the win after leading the final 35 laps. Steve Yanigan - who didn't lead a lap - passed Campbell during his pit stop and claimed 2nd, one lap down to the winner. Campbell returned to the the track, but he had to settle for third place - 2 laps down to Cherry.

Race report from Reading Eagle

With the cessation of the Speedway Division series after seven races in 1952, Buck Baker was crowned as the points champion. Hmm, I don't recall that championship being mentioned in his accolades during his induction to the NASCAR Hall Of Fame.

Genuine Jack also posted a pic of Cherry's restored roadster with Mercury HP at Randy Ayers.

A bit more descriptive article about the June 29th race ran in the Eagle about a month later as a preview to an upcoming match race between Cherry and Campbell. Though the Speedway Division was terminated, the two agreed to race their same speedway cars in a race at the same track.Unfortunately, the July 28th edition of the Eagle just not include the results of the match race.

Cherry's NASCAR career didn't end with the Speedway Division series. He went to Daytona Beach in February 1953 and finished And would ya look at the brew advertised in the June 30, 1952 Reading Eagle as the nation began the countdown to the 4th of July! I may well have one myself this coming weekend as I attend what I still refer to as the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. Bill Blair Sr. won the race, and Cherry finished 9th out of 57 cars.

Fin	Driver	Car	Laps
1	Tom Cherry	Mercury	100
2	Steve Yanigan	Mercury	99
3	Wally Campbell	Ford	98
4	Tony Bonadies	Chrysler	97
5	Tex Keene	Mercury	94
6	Bob Halston	Nash	93
7	Gene Darragh	Ford	90
8	Mike Magill	GMC	88
9	Buck Baker	Cadillac	87
10	Lyle Scott	DeSoto	80
11	Charlie Miller	Ford	74
12	Pete Peterson	Oldsmobile	73
13	Mickey Fenn	Mercury	72
14	Budd Olsen	Oldsmobile	62
15	Frankie Schneider	Ford	61
16	Al Keller	Cadillac	60
17	Dutch Schaefer	Ford	59
18	Bob Johnson	Kaiser	56
19	Sam Waldrop	Ford	54
20	Steve McGrath	DeSoto	37
21	Jiggs Peters	Ford	26
22	Len Brown	Kaiser	5

--
Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 06/28/17 10:49:40PM

Chase,

There were indeed TWO Speedway Division races run in 1953. When all was said and done, Pete Allen had won the title over Ralph Liguori.

Here is a little more information on the 1953 Speedway Division. There were 4 events in 1953 for the Speedway Division of Nascar. The 1st event was just a measured mile run at Daytona Beach on February 12th. Buck Baker was the Daytona winner.The next event was at race at Fayetteville scheduled for June 7th, but because of rain was finally run on June 28th with Pete Allen winning. The next race was June 10th at Greensboro won by Wally Campbell. There wasa race was scheduled for Hickory on June 13th, but it was rained out. The final race was at Martinsville (not sure of the date) won by Wayne Alspaugh. The winners payout was half of what it was for the 1952 season races.

Bit more info about the Langhorne race from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

--
Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.