1956 Old Dominion 400

Last updated
1956 Old Dominion 400
Race details [1]
Race 54 of 56 in the 1956 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Martinsville Speedway track map.png
A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway
Date October 28, 1956 (1956-October-28)
Official name Old Dominion 400
Location Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.500 mi (0.804 km)
Distance 400 laps, 200 mi (321 km)
Weather Cold with temperatures of 60.1 °F (15.6 °C); wind speeds of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
Average speed 61.136 miles per hour (98.389 km/h)
Attendance 9,500 [1]
Pole position
Driver
 Carl Kiekhaefer
Most laps led
DriverJack Smith Carl Kiekhaefer
Laps 185
Winner
No. 402Jack SmithCarl Kiekhaefer
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1956 Old Dominion 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on October 28, 1956, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. As a NASCAR-sanctioned "Sweepstakes" race, sedan vehicles from the Grand National Series and stock convertibles from the NASCAR Convertible division raced side-by-side with other for the same amount of money and championship points. [2]

Contents

Background

Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. [3] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long. [4] The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking. [4]

Race report

Four hundred laps were completed on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km) for a grand total of 200.0 miles (321.9 km). [1] The race took three hours, sixteen minutes, and seventeen seconds to complete with four caution flags. [1] Forty vehicles would qualify to start this race; a large amount for the NASCAR Cup Series in its formative years. [5]

Nine thousand and five hundred fans attended to see Jack Smith win the race in his 1956 Dodge vehicle (beating thirty-nine other drivers in the process). [1] A Canadian named Norman Schihl participated in the race and finished 23rd; making his only Grand National appearance. [1] Notable speeds were: 61.136 miles per hour (98.389 km/h) for the average speed and 67.643 miles per hour (108.861 km/h) for the pole position speed. [1] Bun Emery makes his only Cup start and comes home with a top-20 finish although he 36 laps down at the checkered flag. [1]

While some multi-car teams were present in the race, the majority of drivers had an owner that wasn't incorporated into a team. [6] Jack Smith officially became the fiftieth different driver to win what is now known as a Cup Series race. Total winnings for this race were $11,739 ($110,393 when considering inflation). The winner (Jack Smith) would receive $2,264 ($21,290 when considering inflation) being awarded to him while last place finisher Jimmie Lewallen would walk away with $100 ($940 when considering inflation). [1]

Larry Frank, Bill Lutz, Larry Odo, and Bill Poor would make their NASCAR debut in this race. [7] Carl Kiekhaefer was one of the notable crew chiefs for this race. [8]

Qualifying

Grid [1] No.DriverManufacturer
100Buck Baker'56 Chrysler
282Joe Eubanks'56 Ford
3300Speedy Thompson'56 Chrysler
426Curtis Turner'56 Ford
597Bill Amick'56 Ford
621Glen Wood'56 Ford
742Lee Petty'56 Dodge
886Don Oldenberg'55 Buick
995Don Duell'56 Ford
102Bill Lutz'56 Ford
1112Ralph Moody'56 Ford
1272Joe Weatherly'56 Ford
1364Johnny Allen'56 Plymouth
1449Bob Welborn'56 Chevrolet
154Billy Myers'56 Mercury
1634Gwyn Staley'56 Chevrolet
17XRex White'56 Ford
187Larry Odo'56 Chevrolet
1922Fireball Roberts'56 Ford
2033Jimmy Massey'56 Chevrolet
2198Marvin Panch'56 Ford
2248Jimmie Lewallen'56 Ford
23502Jack Smith'56 Dodge
2415Tom Pistone'56 Chevrolet
2529Billy Carden'56 Ford
2676Larry Frank'56 Chevrolet
2783Johnny Dodson'56 Chevrolet
2855Mel Larson'56 Ford
2950Frank Mundy'56 Dodge
3071Bill Poor'56 Chevrolet

Finishing order

Section reference: [1]

  1. Jack Smith† (No. 502)
  2. Marvin Panch (No. 98)
  3. Bill Amick† (No. 97)
  4. Speedy Thompson† (No. 300)
  5. Fireball Roberts† (No. 22)
  6. Joe Weatherly† (No. 72)
  7. Buck Baker† (No. 00)
  8. Bunk Moore (No. 35)
  9. Frank Mundy† (No. 50)
  10. Gwyn Staley† (No. 34)
  11. Jimmy Massey (No. 33)
  12. Paul Goldsmith (No. 3)
  13. Billy Myers (No. 4)
  14. Johnny Allen (No. 64)
  15. Bob Welborn† (No. 49)
  16. Don Oldenberg (No. 86)
  17. Bill Poor (No. 71)
  18. Bun Emery (No. 99)
  19. Larry Odo (No. 7)
  20. Tiny Lund† (No. 16)
  21. Lee Petty† (No. 42)
  22. Bobby Keck† (No. 14)
  23. Norman Schihl (No. 23)
  24. Art Brinkley (No. 44)
  25. Johnny Dodson (No. 83)
  26. Billy Rafter (No. 41)
  27. Bill Champion† (No. 31)
  28. Curtis Turner*† (No. 26)
  29. Bob Duell* (No. 95)
  30. Ralph Moody*† (No. 12)
  31. Jim Paschal*† (No. 75)
  32. Rex White* (No. X)
  33. Glen Wood*† (No. 21)
  34. Tom Pistone* (No. 15)
  35. Joe Eubanks*† (No. 82)
  36. Billy Carden*† (No. 29)
  37. Mel Carson* (No. 55)
  38. Larry Frank*† (No. 76)
  39. Bill Lutz* (No. 2)
  40. Jimmie Lewallen*† (No. 48)

* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

Timeline

Section reference: [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Racing results at Racing Reference
  2. ↑ Additional information about the 1956 Old Dominion 400 at Ultimate Racing History
  3. ↑ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "NASCAR Tracks—The Martinsville Speedway". Martinsville Speedway. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  5. ↑ Fantasy NASCAR Racing at Yolasite
  6. ↑ NASCAR stats for the 1956 Old Dominion 400 Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine at Driver Averages
  7. ↑ NASCAR Cup Series debuts at the 1956 Old Dominion 400 at Race-Database
  8. ↑ Crew chief information at Racing Reference
Preceded by
1956 untitled race at Cleveland County Fairgrounds 		NASCAR Grand National Series Season
1956		Succeeded by
1956 Buddy Shuman 250
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