And coincidentally, Milt Marion entered the 1931 Indianapolis 500 in car number ... 43. He couldn't muster a fast enough time to qualify, however, and didn't start the race. (He also DNQ for the 32 500.) [ Source ]
Marion did return to the Brickyard, however, as a car owner in future years. So in a roundabout way, Marion had many similarities to King Richard.
Both Marion and Petty turned laps at the Brickyard - but neither took the green on a race day. You may recall the King turned a few laps at Indy's open tire test in 1993 - the year after he retired.
Both became car owners - including at the Brickyard.
Promotion of the 1936 race - before and after it - was apparent.
Doc McKenzie sat behind the Buick race car well before the race for some publicity photos. You'll have to look closely though to spot car and driver. whistle! - Getty Images
Milt Marion actually had a sponsor for the race - the company that made Permatex. In this pic, Marion's car doesn't have a number leading me to believe the photo was taken when Marion arrived and before he took the opportunity to have his number painted on the car. - Getty Images
Following his win, however, he DEFINITELY had another photo taken to use in advertisements going forward. - Getty Images
One publication in which Permatex used Marion's winning car in its ad was Popular Science - 37 years later in February 1973!
As a matter of fact, Marion's purpose for running in the Daytona beach race was to test Permatex's product under legitimately tough conditions. From a 2007 Hemming's article :
Maybe you knew that Milt Marion won the first stock car race run on Daytona Beach in 1936.
But what you might not have known was that Marion's winning '36 Ford was built purely as an experiment to test the durability of Permatex Form-A-Gasket.
Back then, the company sold two types of the now-legendary gasket in a tube: Form-A-Gasket 1, which was quick setting and became hard when it dried; and Form-A-Gasket 2, which dried slowly and remained pliable.
Form-A-Gasket 1 was the original product and was apparently so trusted by mechanics that when the company introduced Form-A-Gasket 2, it was a bit of a hard sell.
So, Permatex purchased a spanking-new 1936 Ford, completely disassembled it and then reassembled it, under Marion's watchful eye, replacing 28 of the original gaskets with beads of Form-A-Gasket 2. Only the head gaskets, the fuel-pump gaskets and the rear-end gaskets were retained in order to keep tolerances correct.
"The twenty-eight solid gaskets not used were made of paper, cork or composition and represented a value of $1.41, compared with 25 cents worth of Form-A-Gasket Number 2 that was used," Marion wrote in a Permatex promotional brochure produced shortly after his Daytona win.
On March 1, 1936, Marion, of Long Island, left New York and beelined for Florida where he joined the 27-car field in Daytona and finished more than three miles ahead of the 10 other cars that completed the grueling race.
After the history-making event, Marion drove west along the Gulf Coast into Texas, en route to Los Angeles. He then pointed the Ford north to San Francisco and headed back for New York by way of Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado and Illinois. Wanting to see how much more the Form-A-Gasketed car could take, Permatex directed Marion to continue driving and racing the Ford until late August.
In September of 1936, the car was torn down after traveling 20,297 miles. Marion's glowing review of Form-A-Gasket in this advertorial piece makes no mention of any problems with the product's performance whatsoever. Though, as most mechanics would probably agree, it is certainly possible that there just weren't any failures.
"The performance of the Form-A-Gasket Test Car in winning the Daytona Beach stock car race and covering better than 20,000 miles, mostly at high speeds and under very trying conditions... certainly proved the efficiency of Form-A-Gasket Number 2," Marion wrote.
The only Dodge in the field was raced by Bill Schindler. - Getty Images
Though I don't recognize a lot of the names who started the race, I do like the varied nicknames among the racers - including Goldie, Wild Bill and Doc. - Getty Images
As Tim mentioned, the turns were really tough to negotiate with so many ruts in the loosely packed sand. - Getty Images
I'm a day late getting it posted here after enjoying a big time at the 600 and then a long ride home to TN today.
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After driver Bob Welborn joined forces early in 1958 with owner Julian Petty, the duo was almost unstoppable in the spring races of NASCAR's convertible and Grand National divisions. Welborn won five races in a row followed by Top 5s and a sixth in the next three convertible races with another [ GN win by Welborn at Greensboro ] - though he wasn't driving for Julian in that one.
On May 24, 1958, the Grand National drivers traveled to Winston-Salem, NC to race at Bowman Gray Stadium. The track opened in 1949, but the May 1958 race was the first GN event at the Stadium.
The race was officially sanctioned as a Grand National event; however, many convertible division regulars joined the field. They didn't need a separate car - just a top. The drivers brought their regular ragtop cars and simply bolted on a roof piece to race in the GN event.
Rex White won the the pole. Lee Petty started 3rd, and Welborn timed 10th in Julian's #49 Chevy. Ken Rush started seventh in #44A in a second Julian Petty entry. White raced #44, and some records indicate he also raced for Julian Petty - though White insists he never drove for him.
White leveraged his top starting spot to lead the first two-thirds of the 150-lap race. Welborn then got by Rex and led the remaining 49 laps to match his car number. His victory was his 4th consecutive Grand National win in a series of four races entered.
Although Welborn won the race in a full-bodied sedan, he was not awarded GN points. Why? Despite having a roof over his head, Welborn's Chevy did not have rear glass in place. It's hard to see how the absence of the glass would have provided an aero advantage on the quarter-mile, Winston-Salem bull ring. But that was the ruling. As a GN part-timer, the trophy likely meant more to Welborn than "a good points day" anyway.
Remarkably, with the momentum Welborn and Julian had built, Welborn wouldn't win another GN race until late August - his fifth and final win of the 1958 season.
Though Welborn and many of the other drivers had the day off Sunday after Saturday night's race at Bowman Gray, others had no time to sit still. Trenton Speedway was to host its first Grand National race on Memorial Day, May 30th. Qualifying began a week earlier on Sunday May 25 meaning several had to hustle to travel overnight from Winston-Salem, NC to Trenton, NJ.
Drivers who raced at Bowman Gray and then trekked to Trenton for qualifying were Buck Baker, Cotton Owens, Eddie Pagan, Lee Petty, Jack Smith, Jim Reed, and 1958 rookie of the year candidate Shorty Rollins. With Lee's participation in both races, I'm curious if 19 year-old Richard was tasked to drive the car home from Bowman Gray - or take a car to Trenton. Hmm.
Paul Goldsmith won the pole in Smokey Yunick's Ford. Speedy Thompson lived up to his name by qualifying second. Good buddies Tiny Lund and Tiger Tom made up row 2. Marvin Panch and Billy Myers timed 5th and 6th.
Goldsmith and Speedy lead the field to the green flag. - Getty Images
The race was a good one. Several drivers led for significant "chunks" of laps. Goldsmith jumped out front at the start to lead the first 10 percent of the race. Tiny then went to the point in A.L. Bumgarner's Pontiac to lead for almost 75 laps. Buck Baker then got by Lund to lead for a stretch of 17 laps. At lap 145, Billy Myers took over and settled into a groove. He dragged the field around the half-mile for 88 consecutive laps. At lap 233 - perhaps during a pit stop sequence - Baker re-took the lead where HE rolled the corners well for almost 100 laps.
On lap 329, Myers found himself back out front and was trucking along for a series of 113 laps. His lead had become so dominant that he approached third place running Tiger Tom Pistone to lap him on lap 442. As he did so, a bad sequence of events happened.
One, The two cars came together as often happens on short tracks - especially when one is trying to avoid being lapped late in the race.
Two, a light rain began to fall on the track right at the time Myers was racing with Pistone.
Three, a gaggle of fans had gathered just outside of the wall and safety fence in an area marked "No Spectators". Track workers had run folks from the spot at least once during the day - but yet they returned to get a close-up view of the action.
Myers car skidded on the slick track after clanging off Pistone and headed for the wall. Pistone was able to get his Chevy back under control and motored away. Myers, however, plowed the wall, jumped its four feet height, tore out fencing, and spraying concrete and metal debris into the throng of folks who should never have been in the area. Yet they were.
Several dozen folks were hit with the flying debris - a few adults were taken to the hospital for more serious injuries. But the individual affected most was Alvin Helsabeck, an 8 year-old boy (some reports said 10). Apparently a chunk of concrete from the wall hit Helsabeck in the head. He was transported to the hospital with an extremely serious head injury - though non-lethal.
The cars raced by Myers' wrecked Mercury, and the race was stopped. Heavy rains began to fall, and the race was called official 50+ laps shy of the advertised distance. Whether NASCAR called the race because of the accident and the multiple injuries or because of the rain is unknown. Either way, the right decision was made to end the race so the injured could be treated.
When Myers wrecked out of the race as the leader, others passed him to take the caution and checkers. Buck Baker was the first back to the line followed by Curtis Turner and Tiger. Myers was scored a 4th despite his DNF. Lee Petty finished 5th, one lap behind the top 4 finishers.
The race report from the Spartanburg Herald included key details about the way things unfolded including the "No Spectator" signage and the rains that arrived at the time of Myers' wreck.
Race reports published in other newspapers were much more concise. The condensed coverage such as the following wire service report didn't include those key details. A reader unfamiliar with the track, the drivers, NASCAR, the weather, the fans, etc. could have a completely different take on what happened and about racing in general. And I found more articles like the one below than I did like the one from the Herald.
Baker received the winner's trophy - and got the opportunity to pose with it along with Miss Martinsville. Judging by his clothes and the windows in the background, I'm guessing it was taken after things settled down following the treatment of the injured - and was taken indoors because of the rain. While any driver will take a win, I have to believe that one was a bit bittersweet not knowing at the time how the kid was going to fare after the accident and injuries. - Getty Images
Accidents including the death of Billy Vukovich in the Indy 500 in 1955, a tragic European sports car crash in early May, the life-altering but near-miss accident at Martinsville, and another instance of spectator deaths in a modified race in Clarion, PA a couple of weeks after Martinsville put a lot of pressure on the auto manufacturers.
Coincidentally, NASCAR's safety was touted in a Spartanburg Herald column THE DAY BEFORE the Martinsville race.
AAA withdrew its support of Indy car racing following Vukovich's death which led to the formation of USAC. And following the Clarion accident and fatalities, the manufacturers had seen enough. They withdrew their support from racing [ as noted in this 2013 Racing History Minute ]. Fortunately for the sport of course, the manufacturers did return over time and were a big part of NASCAR in particular through the 1960s.
The bit of light from the accident is that Alvin Helsabeck did slowly recover - albeit with life-altering effects. The Dispatch was good to include an update on his condition about 2-1/2 months after the accident.
Randy Myers [ added more ] to the story - at the time and down the road.
The accident at Martinsville involving daddy was due to NASCAR's failure to throw a caution flag when it began to rain. Daddy and "Tiger Tom" were racing for the lead and tangled on the wet track. The Helsabeck boy actually lived about five miles from us. They were standing in a restricted area and had been moved at least once but returned. The boy did NOT die but sustained a serious head injury and never fully recovered. Ironically later in life, I had to drive past his house on a daily basis to go to work. Many times he would be sitting on the front porch playing a trumpet. I thought about that wreck every time i drove past.
Generally speaking, there is such a thing as an "insurmountable lead" in football, basketball, hockey and baseball. I've been to events where folks head for the exits well before a game is officially over.
I've also seen folks leave races early with the belief that the winner is a foregone conclusion because of his dominance. I'm pretty sure I've only left one race before it was declared official - and that was because of rain. We rolled the dice the rain would continue, but it didn't. I want to see the official end of a race because too many times things have happened with the checkers in sight.
One such day - before my era as a race fan - was May 19, 1974 at Dover Downs International Raceway.
Future NASCAR Hall of Famers claimed the top 4 starting spots for the Mason-Dixon 500. David Pearson won the pole with Richard Petty alongside him in second. Cale Yarborough laid down the third quickest lap, and Bobby Allison timed fourth.
As an on-going goodwill gesture by NASCAR to acknowledge the country's energy crisis , 10 percent of the race was cut. The first 50 "laps" were not scored, and the 500-lap race (now 450) officially began on lap 51.
Pearson leveraged his top starting spot to lead the first 18 laps. Cale then asserted his dominance in the race by leading the next 179 laps. The next 100 laps was a back-and-forth effort between Cale and the King.
As the race hit about the two-thirds mark; however, the #43 STP Dodge Charger seized control. Petty re-took the lead on lap 341 and found his groove. Corner by corner, lap after lap, the King hit his marks and let everyone know the win was soon to be his. I have to believe many non-Petty fans headed for the parking lot to get headstart on the traffic.
But then...
With less than four laps to go and a comfortable lead, the Maurice Petty-built engine in Richard's Dodge went POOF. Cale slipped by to take the lead, and Pearson also passed the 43 to move into second. In a flash, it was Yarborough's #11 Junior Johnson Chevy claiming the trophy vs. Petty's Dodge that finished third despite not completing the final two laps.
Cale in victory lane...
Even Stock Car Racing magazine knew Cale inherited the win. Yet as is frequently the case in racing, the adage "It's better to be lucky than good" prevailed.
Jim was succinct - one name. Boom. And hard to argue with him.
But I am anyway. Gimme one of these three. I don't want ANY of them to win, but I'm thinking they may well do so:
Jimmie Johnson
Kasey Kahne
Kevin Harvick
I'll be there. Will likely be bored out of my skull by lap 200 as one of the Hendrick cars gets out front & makes laps. But hey, a day at the track is still better than a day just about anywhere else.
Starting 7th in an 18-car field, Richard Petty leads 181 of 267 laps - including the final 119 - and wins a 100-mile race at South Boston Speedway in Virginia.
Preview from the May 14, 1964 Gazette Virginian.
The win didn't come without some challenges for Petty - and for the other drivers as well. The race was the third in three consecutive days.
Ned Jarrett won the Tidewater 250 in Hampton, Virginia on Friday night. ( Tim Leeming's post )
The next day Jarrett won again in the Hickory 250 in North Carolina. ( Tim Leeming's post )
The teams then had to hump it back to Virginia to race at South Boston on Sunday afternoon.
Furthermore, Petty blew the engine in his 1964 Plymouth in practice - perhaps because of the wear and tear of the previous two days. Rather than change an engine - which probably wasn't that feasible at that time especially with limited time between practice, qualifying & the race - the team rolled a year-old '63 Plymouth off the truck to race instead.
Petty's win on the .375 paved oval was his 30th career victory. The victory was his third in a row at South Boston - a streak he stretched to four in 1968 when the NASCAR Grand National cars returned after a 4-year absence. Pole-winner Marvin Panch in the Wood Brothers Ford finished second and was the only other car on the lead lap with Petty.
In his book Forty Years of Stock Car Racing: Volume 2, Greg Fielden writes:
Petty credited tires with the difference in winning and losing. Lee Petty had brought a number of tires designed for the Atlanta International Raceway and decided to give them a tryout on the .375-mile paved track in South Boston. "I just figured they would be about right for this track," said Papa Lee. "Nobody else here had any like them -- not even the tire company people." ~ p. 260
Post-race pic and race report from the May 19, 1964 Gazette Virginian.
Fifty-five years ago as I type this, many of NASCAR's Grand National greats took off their tops for the Rebel 300 at Darlington. Though NASCAR's convertible division ended after 1959, Darlington continued to host the roofless wonders for its spring race in 1960 and 1961. [ Click here ] for Tim Leeming's post about the 1961 Rebel 300.
Qualifying got underway on May 6th. Curtis Turner and the Petty Engineering Plymouths were there of course. Richard's car was labeled Thumper I, and Lee's was tagged as Thumper II. - Getty Images
Backing up his quick practice times, Fireball Roberts nabbed the pole in his #22 Pontiac. Joe Weatherly qualified 2nd in his Holman Moody Ford, and Rex White nabbed the third spot. - Sunday Independent
As noted in the above article, Jim Reed wrecked his Pontiac during qualifying. At the time, it was expected the car couldn't be repaired or replaced. But the Bud Moore team thrashed all night and made sure the car was ready for another attempt the next day. Reed took over for Jack Smith. After Smith's wild ride out of Darlington in 1958...
... he wasn't too keen on the idea of racing the track without a roof. - Spartanburg Herald
But when Reed went out for another effort on May 6th, he got the same result - another wreck. Despite not logging an official qualifying lap, Reed was still allowed to make the show as NASCAR did not have enough entrants to fill the expected 36-car field. - Spartanburg Herald
I get the allure of the 3-wide start at the Indy 500. And I realize its influence on the promoters at Darlington to replicate that excitement. But I have to believe bulky, full-throated stock cars 3-wide on Darlington's narrow straightaway may well have been more breathtaking than Indy's much smaller roadsters of yesteryear or even today's sleek, high-pitched, low-slung champ cars. - Getty Images
The cars reading for the start. Viewed through the lens of today, the multiple safety risks in this photo are also too numerous to count. - Jim Wilmore
As we've already seen a few times this year in the Cup series, Mother Nature decided to groove a fast ball by Fireball and the other drivers. The field took the green and Fireball sprinted to the lead.
The drivers diced for 58 laps when rain arrived. The yellow was displayed, and the field then paced under caution for another 16 laps before NASCAR displayed the red flag - about 35 laps shy of half-way and an official race.
An interesting call by NASCAR - but actually a good one in my opinion - was to have the race restart at lap 58 when the rain caution originally was displayed rather than at lap 74 following many wasted laps. - Spartanburg Herald
Either race officials changed their mind immediately after the article went to press - or the writer misunderstood the plan. But rather than start the race at lap 58, NASCAR decided it would indeed recognize the 16 laps as legit & resume the race at lap 74. What WASN'T immediately decided was whether to immediately go green and begin clicking laps at #75 - or to run 5 scored laps under caution before a re-start. The decision was particularly important for 2 drivers. Weatherly and Lee Petty both hit road during the "rain" caution to re-load on fuel. No others did. Their heads-up decisions put them in a position to have an advantage when the race resumed. But with the thought of first running a few caution laps, others would be able to to make the same call - albeit a week later. . - Spartanburg Herald
Weatherly was fit to be tied - a driver normally thought of as good natured. Papa Lee's comments couldn't be found, and I'm guessing they were a bit more salty than Little Joe's. Not surprisingly, Cotton Owens and Rex White had a different perspective.
Bill France Sr. said he'd consider the multiple restart options and make a firm decision right away. But then another variable appeared. NASCAR icon Cannonball Baker suffered a heart attack in Indianapolis and passed away in the days following rainout. Because of France's need to attend Baker's funeral, the decision for Darlington remained unresolved. - Spartanburg Herald
By the time the re-scheduled race day arrived, France decided to run 5 scored yellow laps - which obviously didn't sit well at the time with Weatherly. Adding to what was already a Jayski-type week, Bob Welborn announced his retirement as a driver. Though he started the Rebel 300 on the 7th, he would seek a relief driver to race the remainder on the 14th. As it turned out, his retirement was short-lived. He returned five races later, and he drove almost 40 more races over the next 4 seasons. - Spartanburg Herald
The race resumed on the 14th. And as expected, five laps were burned off under caution. The field except for Weatherly and Lee Petty hit pit road. Weatherly said he'd run the race with good sportsmanship but "under protest" for France's decision.
Jim Paschal took over Welborn's #49 Chevy. Another driver rumored to be in the running to drive it was Jim Reed. Despite being granted a starting spot in the field, Bud Moore's team must not have been able to repair the Pontiac for the second time in two days. Reed is not shown in the finishing order as having even started the race.
As if the rain - and the confusing restart process - and Cannonball's death - and Welborn's "retirement" were enough, Johnny Allen had a wreck during the race for the ages.
Well before the race and the rain, he was calm, cool and collected. A clean car - and a cig in hand. - Getty
After he'd completed 148 laps, however, Allen woke anyone who might be napping within a 7 county range. He sailed off into the corner, lost the car, sailed over the wall and took out a corner of the scorers' stand!
Bill Rankin's pic of the accident scene.Fortunately, Allen nor any of the scorers were seriously injured.
After an hour or so delay, the race resumed ... again.
When the long eight-day period ended with the display of the checkered flag, the driver at the center of THE story all week claimed the trophy. Little Joe breezed by the flag stand, took the checkers, the check, the trophy and the kisses.
The future King, Richard Petty, had one of his better Darlington days - and early in his career. Richard finished second. Lee earned the team "double chicken money" by bringing home Thumper II in 4th place.
