September 2, 1957 was one of the darker days in NASCAR history. Bobby Myers was killed and Fonty Flock was critically injured during the Southern 500. [ Tim Leeming's RHM ]
Yet, the racers did what racers somehow always manage to do following a tragedy: they soldiered onward to the next race.
Three days after Darlington, the GN drivers arrived in Syracuse NY for a 100-mile race at the New York State Fairgrounds.
Today, I posted a blog about the race:
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2015/09/september-5-1957-gwyn-staley-scores.html
I'll excerpt part of it here.
Gwyn Staley won the pole in Julian Petty's #38 1957 Chevrolet. Short-track ace Jim Reed qualified alongside him. Twenty-two other cars trailed behind the two front-row starters.
Staley took control of the race early. He led the first 62 laps from his top starting spot though Reed hounded him lap after lap. As the race neared its two-thirds mark, Reed decided it was time to go to the front. He made the pass and led the next 10 laps. In a true That's Racin' moment, Reed then blew a tire, pounded the guardrail and saw his chances for a win disappear. His crew changed the tire and did what they could to make repairs to the car. When the checkers fell, however, Reed found himself in 12th place, 26 laps behind the winner.
With Reed out of the picture, Staley re-took the lead and ran a moderate pace to get the win. Lee Petty in a 1957 Oldsmobile finished second, one lap down to his brother's car.
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Gwyn Staley | '57 Chevrolet |
| 2 | Lee Petty | '57 Oldsmobile |
| 3 | Bill Walker | '57 Ford |
| 4 | Dean Layfield | '56 Ford |
| 5 | Fireball Roberts | '57 Ford |
| 6 | Lennie Page | '56 Ford |
| 7 | Bill Benson | '56 Mercury |
| 8 | Buzz Woodward | '56 Ford |
| 9 | Ted Chamberlain | '56 Plymouth |
| 10 | Dick Walters | '56 Plymouth |
| 11 | Ray Campbell | '56 Ford |
| 12 | Jim Reed | '57 Ford |
| 13 | Ed Jackson | '56 Dodge |
| 14 | Jake Jacobs | '56 Plymouth |
| 15 | Al Stearns | '56 Chevrolet |
| 16 | Ted Houser | '56 Chevrolet |
| 17 | Jack Smith | '57 Chevrolet |
| 18 | Fred Knapp | '56 Chevrolet |
| 19 | Peck Peckham | '56 Chevrolet |
| 20 | Bob Duell | '57 Ford |
| 21 | Joe Saunders | '56 Ford |
| 22 | Art Anderson | '56 Chevrolet |
| 23 | Emory Mahan | '56 Chevrolet |
| 24 | Billy Rafter | '56 Plymouth |
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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 02/22/17 01:25:08PM