1957 Virginia 500

Last updated
1957 Virginia 500
Race details [1]
Race 17 of 53 in the 1957 NASCAR Grand National Series season
1957 Virginia 500 program cover.png
1957 Virginia 500 program cover
Date May 19, 1957 (1957-May-19)
Official name Virginia 500
Location Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.525 mi (0.844 km)
Distance 441 laps, 231 mi (372 km)
Scheduled Distance 500 laps, 262.5 mi (442.4 km)
Weather Temperatures of 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds of 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)
Average speed 57.318 miles per hour (92.244 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Smokey Yunick Racing
Most laps led
Driver Billy Myers Bill Strope
Laps 201
Winner
No. 87 Buck Baker Hugh Babb
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1957 Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 19, 1957, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.

Contents

Barney Oldfield made his only NASCAR Cup Series appearance at this event. [2] Months after this race, the Automobile Manufacturers Association decided to legally separate themselves from all forms of automobile racing that was being held in the United States; donating millions of dollars in machinery directly to the drivers. [3]

Background

A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway, the venue where the race was held. Martinsville Speedway track map.png
A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. [4] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long. [5] 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. [5]

Race report

It took nearly four hours to race 441 laps worth of stock car automobile racing. While originally scheduled for 500 laps, it was stopped prematurely due to a bad in-race crash. Tom Pistone and Billy Myers would end up getting involved in the collision on lap 441; making Buck Baker the automatic winner. Just before the accident took form, Pistone straightened his car and continued. Myers headed for the wall and then jumped it near where a crowd of folks was standing. The 24-driver starting lineup was made up of drivers who were all born in the United States of America. T.A. Toomes would take up the last-place position due to problems with his gasket on lap 121. [6]

Paul Goldsmith, Tiny Lund and Buck Baker would dominate the laps prior to the accident. The victory of Buck Baker over second-place finisher Curtis Turner would demonstrate the power of the 1957 Chevrolet. [6] Although its real-life counterpart had fuel injection, the NASCAR version had to use a carburetor. Fuel injection did not become legal in what is now known as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series until the 2012 season.

Individual race earnings for this event ranged from the winner's share of $3,170 ($30,584 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $125 ($1,206 when adjusted for inflation). A grand total of $12,240 was handed out by NASCAR officials for the explicit purpose of paying off the qualifying drivers ($118,093 when adjusted for inflation). [7] Jess Potter was the only notable crew chief to take part in the race, leading the pit road crew of Brownie King's Chevrolet. [8]

Qualifying

Grid [6] No.DriverManufacturerOwnerTimeAvg. Speed
13Paul Goldsmith'57 Ford Smokey Yunick27.40065.693
246Speedy Thompson'57 Chevrolet Hugh Babb27.44065.598
355Tiny Lund'57 Pontiac A.L. Bumgarner27.50065.454
450Tom Pistone'57 Chevrolet Hugh Babb27.52065.407
598Marvin Panch'57 Ford Pete DePaolo27.53065.383
614Billy Myers'57 Mercury Bill Stroppe27.62065.170
722Fireball Roberts'57 Ford Pete DePaolo27.71064.958
842Lee Petty'57 Oldsmobile Petty Enterprises27.72064.935
988Ralph Earnhardt'57 Oldsmobile Petty Enterprises27.89064.539
1099Curtis Turner'57 Ford Pete DePaolo27.95064.401
1164Johnny Allen'57 Plymouth Spook Crawford28.01064.263
1247Jack Smith'57 Chevrolet Hugh Babb28.07064.125
1329Russ Hepler'57 Pontiac Howard Coulter28.08064.102
1487Buck Baker'57 Chevrolet Hugh Babb28.28063.649
156Cotton Owens'57 Pontiac Ray Nichels28.45063.269
1632Brownie King'56 Chevrolet Jess Potter29.65060.708
17421T.A. Toomes'56 Dodge C.M. Julian29.75060.504
18881Jim Linke*OldsmobilePetty Enterprises30.09059.820
1976George Green'56 Chevrolet Lonnie Fish30.18059.642
2074L.D. Austin'56 Chevrolet L.D. Austin30.28059.445
2194Clarence DeZalia'56 Ford Clarence DeZalia0.0000.000
2228Eddie Skinner'57 Ford Eddie Skinner0.0000.000
2324Barney Oldfield'56 Ford Rat Garner0.0000.000
2417Jim Paschal'57 Mercury Bill Stroppe0.0000.000
2571Bill Bowman'56 Chevrolet Bill Bowman0.0000.000
Failed to qualify
11Emanuel ZervakisChevroletEmanuel Zervakis0.0000.000
35Bill ChampionFordBill Champion0.0000.000
80Frank JamisonChevroletFrank Jamison0.0000.000
154Nace MattinglyFordNace Mattingly0.0000.000

Failed to qualify: Emanuel Zervakis (#11), Bill Champion (#35), Nace Mattingly (#154), Frank Jamison (#80) [9]

*Withdrew.

Timeline

Section reference: [6]

Finishing order

Section reference: [6] [10]

FinSt#DriverMakeTeam/OwnerSponsorLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings
11487 Buck Baker '57 ChevroletHugh Babb441113running500$3,170
21099 Curtis Turner '57 FordPete DePaoloDePaolo Engineering4410running480$1,770
3450 Tom Pistone '57 ChevroletHugh Babb4410crash460$1,125
4614 Billy Myers '57 MercuryBill Stroppe441201crash440$980
5842 Lee Petty '57 OldsmobilePetty Enterprises4400running420$675
61247 Jack Smith '57 ChevroletHugh Babb4360running400$500
713 Paul Goldsmith '57 FordSmokey YunickSmokey's Best Damn Garage43254running380$475
8598 Marvin Panch '57 FordPete DePaoloDePaolo Engineering4310running360$400
9722 Fireball Roberts '57 FordPete DePaoloDePaolo Engineering4270running340$300
102317 Jim Paschal '57 MercuryBill Stroppe4160running320$300
11246 Speedy Thompson '57 ChevroletHugh Babb4090running300$275
121632 Brownie King '56 ChevroletJess Potter4040running280$200
13988 Ralph Earnhardt '57 OldsmobilePetty Enterprises3910running260$200
141974 L.D. Austin '56 ChevroletL.D. Austin3910running240$200
151876 George Green '56 ChevroletLonnie Fish3880running220$200
161164 Johnny Allen '57 PlymouthSpook Crawford3770clutch200$200
172471 Bill Bowman '56 ChevroletBill Bowman3630running180$175
182224 Barney Oldfield '56 FordRat Garner3560running160$150
192094 Clarence DeZalia '56 FordClarence DeZalia3510running140$150
20355 Tiny Lund '57 PontiacA.L. Bumgarner28173engine120$295
211329 Russ Hepler '57 PontiacHoward Coulter2700bearing100$125
22156 Cotton Owens '57 PontiacRay Nichels2110crash80$125
232128 Eddie Skinner '57 FordEddie Skinner1460rear end60$125
2417421 T.A. Toomes '56 DodgeC.M. Julian1210gasket40$125
Failed to qualify
11 Emanuel Zervakis ChevroletEmanuel Zervakis
35 Bill Champion FordBill Champion
80 Frank Jamison ChevroletFrank Jamison
154 Nace Mattingly FordNace Mattingly
WD881 Jim Linke OldsmobilePetty Enterprises

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References

  1. Weather information for the 1957 Virginia 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. Barney Oldfield's only NASCAR Cup Series race at Race Database
  3. 1957 NASCAR Grand National Recap at How Stuff Works
  4. "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  5. 1 2 "NASCAR Tracks—The Martinsville Speedway". Martinsville Speedway. Archived from the original on October 7, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 1957 Virginia 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  7. Winnings information for the 1957 Virginia 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  8. 1957 Virginia 500 crew chief information at Racing Reference
  9. Qualifying information for the 1957 Virginia 500 at Racing Reference
  10. "1957 Virginia 500 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
Preceded by Virginia 500 races
1957
Succeeded by