Racing History Minute - Darlington
Stock Car Racing History
Tying Darlington and August 30th together, here is a concise race report for the 150 mile Dash series race won by Larry Hoopaugh at Darlington on August 30, 1980.
Source: News And Courier
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Stock Car Racing History
Racing History Minute - Darlington
Stock Car Racing History
A couple of construction pics.
Alvin Hawkins - NASCAR starter/flagman - co-owner with Bill France Sr of Mantz's car in the 1st Southern 500.
Pace car for the 1st Southern 500
Think the Carolina crowd was ready for some big time, Southern racing?
Ribbon cutting ceremony ( Dargan Watts collection)
updated by @tmc-chase: 06/26/17 10:40:18AM
Racing History Minute - Darlington
Stock Car Racing History
It is interesting to reflect on just how much the Southern 500 dominated the stock car racing world for decades. The luster of it is all but gone now with the loss of the Labor Day weekend race and the rise of the Daytona 500 since 1979. But clearly Darlington was The Show for many, many years. In looking through racing history for August 30th, a Cup race wasn't held on this date until 1998 (Loudon). And even the Busch/NW series didn't race on August 30 until 1987 (Gresham Park).
I did find a few other races on this date in case anyone would like to post about them:
- 1958 - DuQuoin - USAC/ARCA
- 1959 - Dayton OH - ARCA
- 1964 - Winchester - ARCA
- 1964 - Illinois State Fairgrounds - USAC stock cars
- 1969 - Flat Rock Michigan - ARCA
- 1980 - Darlington - NASCAR Dash series
- 1980 - IRP - USAC stock cars
- 1980 - Hickory - NASCAR LMS
- 1980 - Quebec - NASCAR GN North
- 1981 - Minnesota State Fairgrounds - ASA
- 1981 - Riverside - NASCAR Winston West
- 1981 - Quebec - NASCAR GN North
August 29, 1959: Lee Petty Cruises in Columbia
Stock Car Racing History
August 29, 1959: Lee Petty wins a 200-lap, 100-mile Grand National race on the half-mile Columbia Speedway in South Carolina. The race line-up wasn't exactly a who's who of NASCAR as only thirteen cars started the race.
The race's line-up and start was affected by rain, a pit fire, the looming Southern 500 and even the flu.
Read on for more:
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2013/08/august-29-1959-lee-petty-cruises-in.html
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Lee Petty | Plymouth |
| 2 | Tiny Lund | Chevrolet |
| 3 | Fred Harb | Ford |
| 4 | Roy Tyner | Chevrolet |
| 5 | Glen Wood | Ford |
| 6 | George Green | Chevrolet |
| 7 | G.C. Spencer | Chevrolet |
| 8 | Ned Jarrett | Ford |
| 9 | Joe Eubanks | Ford |
| 10 | L.D. Austin | Ford |
| 11 | Tommy Irwin | Ford |
| 12 | Curtis Crider | Pontiac |
| 13 | Bobby Keck | Chevrolet |
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
August 29, 1954: Lee Petty Conquers Corbin Ky
Stock Car Racing History
On August 29, 1954, Lee Petty won a 200-lap, 100-mile race on the half-mile, dirt Corbin Speedway in Kentucky. Its believed to have been the only Grand National / Cup race in the Bluegrass State until NASCAR went to Kentucky Speedway in Sparta in 2011.
Two drivers who later drove Petty Enterprises cars had storylines in the race:
- Jim Paschal won the pole
- Hershel McGriff finished 2nd to Papa Lee - and was the only other car to finish on the lead lap
Big thanks to John Potts aka IndyBigJohn for giving me the green light to include a few photos from his collection. John is also a member here at RR.
Read on for more:
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2013/08/august-29-1954-lee-petty-conquers-corbin.html
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Lee Petty | Chrysler |
| 2 | Hershel McGriff | Oldsmobile |
| 3 | Buck Baker | Oldsmobile |
| 4 | Herb Thomas | Hudson |
| 5 | Donald Thomas | Hudson |
| 6 | Blackie Pitt | Oldsmobile |
| 7 | Joe Eubanks | Hudson |
| 8 | John Soares | Dodge |
| 9 | Marvin Panch | Plymouth |
| 10 | Floyd Curtis | Hudson |
| 11 | John Smith | Plymouth |
| 12 | Laird Bruner | Oldsmobile |
| 13 | Dick Rathman | Hudson |
| 14 | Dick Vermillion | Buick |
| 15 | Ken Taylor | Ford |
| 16 | Ralph Liguori | Dodge |
| 17 | Gober Sosebee | Oldsmobile |
| 18 | Bub King | Lincoln |
| 19 | Jim Paschal | Oldsmobile |
| 20 | Jimmie Lewallen | Dodge |
| 21 | Ray Duhigg | Oldsmobile |
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
Racing History Minute - August 29, 1953
Stock Car Racing History
Rats. Left out one. So 5 of 7 races with 12 starters have been covered on RR.
05/24/59 - Nashville (winner: Rex White)
Racing History Minute - August 29, 1953
Stock Car Racing History
As you mentioned Tim, Hickory set the record at the time with the smallest field in GN/Cup history. The record was later matched five other times. Looks like we've now got some coverage here at RR for 4 of the 6 races. I've mentioned this stat a couple of times already this year, but I thought I'd reference it again here.
GN/Cup races with fewest starters (12):
08/29/53 - Hickory (winner: Fonty Flock)
08/03/56 - Oklahoma City (winner: Jim Pachal)
- Tim Leeming post: http://stockcar.racersreunion.com/forum/topics/racing-history-minute-august-3-1956
04/23/61 - Richmond (winner: Richard Petty)
05/01/64 - Savannah (winner: LeeRoy Yarbrough)
- Tim Leeming post: http://stockcar.racersreunion.com/forum/topics/racing-history-minut...
08/07/64 - Myrtle Beach (winner: David Pearson)
10/09/64 - Savannah (winner: Ned Jarrett)
Racing History Minute - August 27, 1961
Stock Car Racing History
Found a few things in archives of The Danville Bee.
The race was originally scheduled for Saturday, August 19th, the day after the GN cars raced at Richmond.
Rain postponed the event, and it was initially rescheduled for September 9. The race would have been shoehorned into a 3-day stretch following the Southern 500 of Hickory-South Boston-Richmond.
Instead, the race was rescheduled for the following Sunday,August 27 - an open weekend before Darlington.
updated by @tmc-chase: 08/27/19 02:10:05PM
Racing History Minute - August 26, 1957
Stock Car Racing History
Tim - I borrowed liberally from your 2013 post to create a 2015 blog entry for Staley's win.
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2015/08/august-26-1957-gwyn-staley-wins-myrtle.html