1950 Southern 500

Last updated
1950 Southern Five-Hundred
Race details [1]
Race 13 of 19 in the 1950 NASCAR Grand National Series season
1950 Southern 500 program cover.jpg
Program promoting the 1950 Southern 500.
Date September 4, 1950 (1950-September-04)
Official name Southern Five-Hundred
Location Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.25 mi (2.012 km)
Distance 400 laps, 500 mi (800 km)
Weather Very hot with temperatures of 90 °F (32 °C); wind speeds of 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)
Average speed 82.766 mph (133.199 km/h)
Attendance 25,000
Pole position
Driver John Eanes
Time 43.884 seconds [2]
Most laps led
Driver Johnny Mantz Hubert Westmoreland
Laps 351
Winner
No. 98Johnny MantzHubert Westmoreland

The inaugural Southern Five-Hundred (Southern 500 since 1951) was an automobile race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina on September 4, 1950, as part of the 1950 NASCAR Grand National. While the 1950 race was co-sanctioned by NASCAR and its rival Central States Racing Association, all subsequent Southern 500 races were hosted exclusively by NASCAR. [3]

Contents

Layout of Darlington Raceway. Darlington raceway.svg
Layout of Darlington Raceway.

It is NASCAR's first 500-mile race, and still holds status as one of NASCAR's premier events. Since there had never been a 500-mile stock car race and Darlington was NASCAR's first superspeedway, drivers and teams came to the event with unique strategies. Darlington set the precedent for race strategies to come at tracks like the Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Background

The track at the time was a four-turn 1.25-mile (2.01 km) oval. [4] The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees. [4] The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the backstretch is banked at six degrees. [4]

Harold Brasington was a retired racer in 1948, who had gotten to know Bill France, Sr. while competing against France at the Daytona Beach Road Course and other dirt tracks in the Southeast and Midwestern United States. [5] He began planning a new speedway after he noticed the huge crowds while attending the 1948 Indianapolis 500 [5] and thought, "If Tony Hulman can do it here, I can do it back home." [5] Brasington bought 70 acres from farmer Sherman Ramsey and started making a race track from a cotton and peanut field. [5] However, he was forced to create an egg-shaped oval with one corner tighter, narrower, and more steeply banked because he promised Ramsey that the new track would not disturb Ramsey's minnow pond at the west side of the property. [5] Brasington was able to make the other turn at the east side of the property wide, sweeping, and flat as he wanted. [5] It took almost a year to build the track. [5]

Race report

Historical information

The Interstate Highway System would not begin construction until later in the decade; its heyday and prominence as an "American superhighway" for leisure and business travel did not kick in until the late 1960s when NASCAR first felt the need to expand outside its regional "shell" and into the national stage. [6]

Qualifying

More than 80 entrants showed up for the race. [5] Brasington used a two-week qualifying scheme and arranged the 75 cars in three rows of 25, similar to the Indianapolis 500. [7] During those two weeks of qualifications, locals could take their cars and try to qualify, unlike today where independent contract drivers used to run the races.

Drivers who failed to qualify for the race were Dorothy Shull, Bill Bennett, Lewis Hawkins, Pap White, Louise Smith, and Pat Sutton. The fastest qualifying speed was 82.034 miles per hour or 132.021 kilometres per hour by Wally Campbell, while the slowest was 74.637 miles per hour or 120.117 kilometres per hour by Bill Widenhouse. [2] Herb Thomas did qualify for the race beforehand; the car was on the grid until just before the race when it was repossessed, counting as an automatic withdrawal for Thomas. [2]

Pee Wee Martin and Bob Smith retired from professional stock car racing after this event. Byron Beatty, Walt Crawford, P.E. Godfrey, Bill Henson, Pete Keller, Jerry Kempf, Lee Morgan, Dick Soper, and Jack Yardley made their only NASCAR start in this event. Weldon Adams, Roy Bentley, Jack Carr, Gene Comstock, Gene Darragh, John DuBoise, Carson Dyer, Joe Eubanks, Johnny Grubb, J.E. Hardie, Tex Keene, Bub King, Virgil Livengood, Hub McBride, Hershel McGriff, Bill Osborne, Barney Smith, Rollin Smith, Jesse James Taylor, Charles Tidwell, Murrace Walker, Bill Widenhouse and Shorty York began their NASCAR career at this race and established the first generation of stock car drivers. [8]

Analysis

U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond was the official marshal for the 1950 Southern 500. [9] [10]

The top prize for the race was $10,510 ($127,835 when adjusted for inflation) while the lowest prize was $100 ($1,216 when adjusted for inflation) for 72nd-75th place. Seventy-five cars competed in this era of relatively unregulated racing for a total of $25,325 in winnings ($308,033 when adjusted for inflation). [11] It is pretty incredible, especially for this era to see more than 50 cars out of the 75 starters were still running on lap 300 of 400. [11]

Johnny Mantz's winning Plymouth with car owner Hubert Westmoreland Hubert Westmoreland at Darlington Museum.jpg
Johnny Mantz's winning Plymouth with car owner Hubert Westmoreland

Gober Sosebee led the first four laps. Curtis Turner, the polesitter, then led until lap 22 before being wrecked out of the race on lap 275 with a significant amount of roof damage. After Turner lost the lead, Cotton Owens lead for 23 laps. After that, Mantz led to the finish. Mantz had taken advantage of an offer from Firestone to test a tire designed for asphalt stock car racing. While some cars used over 60 tires to go the remainder of the race, Mantz kept increasing his lead and won by over nine laps. The total time of the race was 6 hours, 38 minutes, and 40 seconds. The average speed was 75.250 miles per hour (121.103 km/h) while the pole position speed was 82.034 miles per hour (132.021 km/h). Two cautions lasted thirteen laps. Four hundred laps were done spanning 1.250 miles (2.012 km). Most of the known DNFs in the race were caused by crashes, the worst of which involved drivers Tex Keene, Curtis Turner, and Jack Smith all rolling their cars over the course of the race. [11]

For the average car in the race, the tire load unleashed on the tires on the new, paved circuit was too much on the tires, whether it was a Firestone or a random dirt tire. A legend spread around that teams were so desperate to get new tires that they would steal the tires from parking lots and the infield from the spectators. The race is considered to be the first "tire disaster" in NASCAR history, with the next major tire disaster being the 1969 Talladega 500. [12]

Results

Finishing order

Section reference: [11]

POSST#DRIVERSPONSOR / OWNERCARLAPSMONEYSTATUSLED
14398  Johnny Mantz Hubert Westmoreland '50 Plymouth40010510running351
26782  Fireball Roberts Sam Rice'50 Oldsmobile3913500running0
3722  Red Byron Parks Novelty   (Raymond Parks)'50 Cadillac3902000running0
42359  Bill Rexford Julian Buesink '50 Oldsmobile3851500running0
51577  Chuck Mahoney Brooks Motors'50 Mercury3811000running0
63542  Lee Petty Petty Special   (Petty Enterprises)'49 Plymouth380800running0
73871  Cotton Owens F.J. Bland'50 Plymouth380930running23
8642  Bill Blair Sam Rice'49 Cadillac375600running0
94452  Hershel McGriff City of Roses   (Hershel McGriff)'50 Oldsmobile374500running0
102661  George HartleyJulian Buesink'50 Oldsmobile371450running0
11169  Tim Flock Buddy Elliott'50 Oldsmobile370400running0
125744  Johnny GrubbJohnny Grubb'50 Plymouth368350running0
136226  Dick Linder Don Rogala'50 Oldsmobile367300running0
146889  John DuBoiseJohn DuBoise'50 Ford367250running0
157272  Weldon AdamsHarold Mays'49 Plymouth367225running0
163299  Barney SmithBarney Smith'50 Oldsmobile366275running0
17351  Gober Sosebee Cherokee Garage   (Gober Sosebee)'50 Oldsmobile364290running4
185239  Elmer WilsonElmer Wilson'49 Plymouth360100running0
19214  Joe Eubanks Joe Eubanks'50 Mercury359running0
201943  Shorty YorkB.S. Beeson'50 Buick358running0
215164  Walt CrawfordSouth's Garden Spot / Carolina Motors   (Walt Crawford)'50 Buick358running0
2233  Murrace WalkerMurrace Walker'50 Oldsmobile358running0
2348  Gene Comstock Gene Comstock'50 Oldsmobile3550
242717  Jack White Dailey Moyer'50 Ford3540
257165  Byron BeattyByron Beatty'50 Ford3510
2653  Bill Widenhouse Bill Widenhouse'49 Plymouth3500
2747  Bob Flock Bob Flock Garage   (Frank Christian)'50 Oldsmobile348running0
281047  Fonty Flock Frank Christian'50 Oldsmobile3460
291319  Jack Smith R & W Auto Service'50 Oldsmobile345crash0
303034  Pee Wee MartinEanes Motor Co. / Firestone Tires   (John Eanes)'50 Oldsmobile344100overheating0
3155  Lee MorganLee Morgan'49 Oldsmobile342running0
328  Hub McBrideHub McBride'50 Mercury3410
3311  Slick Smith '50 Oldsmobile3400
341245  Ted ChamberlainTed Chamberlain'50 Plymouth338running0
35666  Virgil LivengoodVirgil Livengood'50 Oldsmobile338running0
369  Billy Carden '50 Ford338running0
371437  Bill Snowden Nash Motor Co.   (Nash Motor Co.)'50 Nash338running0
382221  Harold Kite Edmunds Motors   (Harold Kite)'49 Lincoln3340
392549  Glenn Dunaway Glenn Dunaway'50 Lincoln3330
40225  Jimmy ThompsonLeland Colvin'50 Lincoln332125engine0
416527  Jimmy Florian Euclid Motor Co.   (Jimmy Florian)'50 Ford331spindle0
422035  Bob Smith Central Chevrolet Corp. '50 Oldsmobile331running0
43240  Jimmie Lewallen Sam Rice'50 Oldsmobile3300
4475  Jesse James TaylorJesse James Taylor'50 Mercury3290
4529  Bub KingT.L. King'50 Mercury3290
463624  Gene Darragh'50 Hudson3230
4739  Roy BentleyRoy Bentley'50 Studebaker3190
4842  J.E. Hardie'50 Studebaker3170
4934  Jerry Kempf'50 Lincoln3150
504636  Bill Osborne'50 Mercury3111000
5137  Carson DyerCarson Dyer'50 Lincoln3100
526033  Wally Campbell Wally Marks'50 Oldsmobile3091000
534079  Jim Paschal Julian Buesink'50 Ford3070
544518  Charles Tidwell '49 Oldsmobile3001000
5541  Ruel Smith'50 Pontiac2890
5647  Al Keller W.O. Taylor'50 Oldsmobile2840
5750  Dick Soper'50 Kaiser2820
5854  Pete Keller'50 Studebaker2810
5956  P.E. Godfrey'49 Lincoln2780
60141  Curtis Turner Eanes Motor Co.   (John Eanes)'50 Oldsmobile275320crash22
6149  Bob AppersonBob Apperson'49 Oldsmobile2490
6255  Tommy ThompsonTommy Thompson'50 Hudson2380
63616  Marshall Teague Paul Cox'50 Lincoln2300
647014  Tex KeeneTex Keene'50 Plymouth229crash0
653138  Clyde Minter Clyde Minter'50 Lincoln2191000
6674  Rollin Smith'50 Hudson2080
671786  Bill Henson'49 Oldsmobile2001000
685048  Gayle WarrenEarl Blevins'49 Oldsmobile1881000
692887  Buck Baker Griffin Motors / Darlington Intl. Raceway   (Bob Griffin)'49 Oldsmobile176crash0
705846  Kenneth Wagner Moyer Co.   (Dailey Moyer)'49 Lincoln1551000
711862  Lloyd Moore Julian Buesink'50 Lincoln1121000
727348  Alton HaddockAlton Haddock'50 Ford981000
736954  Jack YardleySaverance Motors'50 Ford890
7466  Jack Carr'50 Mercury52engine0
7563  Roscoe Thompson Charles Venable'49 Oldsmobile24overheating0
Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver change
POSNAMENBRSPONSOROWNERCAR
Bill BennettBill BennettKaiser
Lewis HawkinsPlymouth
Dorothy ShullOldsmobile
Pap WhiteMercury
Pat Sutton54Saverance MotorsFord
Louise Smith 94Leslie Motor Co.Louise SmithNash
WD Herb Thomas 92Herb ThomasPlymouth

Timeline

Section reference: [11]

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References

  1. Complete weather information for the 1950 Southern 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 1950 Southern 500 qualifying information at Racing Reference
  3. NASCAR Off the Record at Google Books
  4. 1 2 3 "Darlington Raceway". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fleischman, Bill; Al Pearce (1999). The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide (1998-99) . Visible Ink Press. pp.  7.
  6. Darlington made stock car racing a modern sport at NASCAR.com
  7. Fleischman, page 8
  8. "1950 Southern 500 results: race-database.com". www.race-database.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  9. Information about the official marshal Archived 2012-08-05 at archive.today at 50 Things You May Not Know About NASCAR
  10. Paul Finkelman and Peter Wallenstein, eds. The Encyclopedia Of American Political History (CQ Press, 2001) pp. 124–126
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Race Graph". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
  12. Blood on the Asphalt: The NASCAR Tire Wars of 1988-89 & 1994, archived from the original on 2021-12-15, retrieved 2021-05-31
Preceded by
none
Southern 500 races
1950
Succeeded by