|
1953 NASCAR Grand National Series
The 1953 NASCAR Grand National Series began on February 1 and ended on November 1. Future NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Herb Thomas, driving his own No. 92 Hudson Hornet, won the championship and became the first repeat champion of the series. It is also the season with the most one-off races. 9 of the 37 races took place on racetracks that only held a cup race in the 1953 season. Season recap * Races marked with * took place exclusively in the 1953 season. Race summaries 1953-01 The first race of the 1953 season was run on February 1 at the Palm Beach Speedway in West Palm Beach, Florida. Dick Rathmann won the pole position. Top ten results #42- Lee Petty #41- Jimmie Lewallen #91- Tim Flock #1- Herschel Buchanan #86- Don Oldenberg #55- Bub King #60- Dub Livingston #13- Pop McGinnis #9- Donald Thomas (racing driver), Donald Thomas #67- Sam DiRusso 1953-02 The second race of the 1953 season was run on February 15 at the Daytona Beach Road Course in Daytona Beach, Florida ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASCAR Hall Of Fame
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, honors drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning body. History and construction NASCAR committed to building a Hall of Fame and on March 6, 2006, the City of Charlotte was selected as the location. Ground was broken for the $160 million facility on January 26, 2007, and it officially opened on May 11, 2010, with the inaugural class inducted the day following the 2010 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. In addition to the Hall of Fame, the NASCAR Plaza, a 20-story office building, opened in May 2009. The structure serves as the home of Hall of Fame-related offices, NASCAR Digital Media, NASCAR's licensing division, as well as NASCAR video game licensee Dusenberry Martin Racing (now known as 704Games). Other tenants include the Charlotte Regional Partnership and Lauth Property Group. Richard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raleigh Speedway
Raleigh Speedway (officially Southland Speedway nicknamed Dixie Speedway by fans) was a one-mile (1.6 km) oval race track which opened in 1952 one mile (1.6 km) north of Raleigh, North Carolina in Wake County. It was the second superspeedway (according to the definition of the time) ever built (the first being the Darlington Raceway at Darlington, South Carolina). It was also the first lighted superspeedway and the first track on which NASCAR sanctioned night-time races. The track had a long and narrow shape, like a paper clip, with the front and back straights about apart and the straightaways about long. The turns were banked at 16° and the straightaways were flat. History The track opened in 1952 as Southland Speedway. Its first major event was a AAA sanctioned IndyCar race held on July 4, 1952. That race was won by Troy Ruttman in an Offy powered Kuzma. From 1953 the track was known as Raleigh Speedway. NASCAR races were held at the track from 1953 to 1958. On ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The population was 117,415 at the 2020 census. West Palm Beach is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,138,333 people in 2020. It is the oldest incorporated municipality in the South Florida area, incorporated as a city two years before Miami in November 1894. West Palm Beach is located approximately north of Downtown Miami. History The beginning of the historic period in south Florida is marked by Juan Ponce de León's first contact with native people in 1513. Europeans found a thriving native population, which they categorized into separate tribes: the Mayaimi in the Lake Okeechobee Basin and the Jaega and Ais people in the East Okeechobee area and on the east coast north of the Tequesta. When the Span ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palm Beach Speedway
Palm Beach Speedway was a motor sports racing venue located in West Palm Beach Florida. The speedway hosted a total of 7 NASCAR races between January 20, 1952 and December 11, 1956. Dick Rathman had the most poles at 3, and Herb Thomas captured the most wins with 4. The half mile dirt oval was built in 1949, paved in 1955 and torn down in 1984. Palm Beach Speedway's inaugural NASCAR race was also the season opener for the Grand National 1952 season. Six Thousand fans gathered for the 100 mile event, and looked on as Tim Flock started on the pole, and reached the checkered flag ahead of 26 other drivers. Flock captured his 9th career win driving a Hudson Hornet owned by Ted Chester. Lee Petty finished second and Tim's brother Fonty Flock finished third. Pancho Alverez was driving a 1951 Olds 88, but was catapulted into the air landing on the roof to flatten the car. Fans cheered when Alverez crawled out uninjured. The final NASCAR race at the track came on March 4, 1956 as Billy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Paschal
James Roy Paschal, Jr. (December 5, 1926 – July 5, 2004) was a Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. Career summary Paschal won twenty-five races and twelve poles over his career. Elected to the "Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame" in 1977, he won the World 600 in 1964 and 1967 at Charlotte Speedway. He competed in the first 18 Southern 500s (1950–1967) and won 16 of 73 Grand American races (1969–1972). Paschal's 1967 win in the World 600 established a race record of 335 laps led, which would not be broken until 2016 when Martin Truex Jr. led 392 laps. His strongest racing was found on short tracks where he would finish an average of 11th place. Paschal would find his weakness on road courses, where the sharp corners and the right turns would cause him to finish in an agonizing 27th place on average. He has the most wins in the Cup series among drivers who are not in the NASCAR Hall of Fame and are eligible. Retirement After retiring from racing in 1972, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speedy Thompson
Alfred Bruce "Speedy" Thompson (April 3, 1926, in Monroe, North Carolina – April 2, 1972, in Charlotte, North Carolina) was an American stock car racer in the NASCAR Grand National series from 1950 to 1971, capturing 20 wins along the way. Racing career He made his debut in 1950 and won two of the seven races he competed in 1953 in the #46 Buckshot Morris Oldsmobile (including the 1953 Wilkes 160). Thompson made 15 starts in 1955 and made a serious attack on the Championship the next year, competing in 42 races in Carl Kiekhaefer's factory-backed Chryslers and Dodges, winning eight times and finishing third in points. 1957 saw a switch to Hugh Babb's and his own Chevrolet's and another third-place result, capturing only two victories that year. Speedy drove his own Chevy for the entire 1958 season, and another third place was the reward for his four victories in 38 starts. In 1957, he set the 500-mile speed record for stock cars with an average speed of 100.1 mph. Thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darlington Raceway
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends. History 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; he quit racing in the late 1940s to concentrate on farming and his construction business. He began planning a new speedway after he noticed the huge crowds while a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curtis Turner
Curtis Morton Turner (April 12, 1924 – October 4, 1970) was an American stock car racer. Throughout his life, he developed a reputation for drinking and partying. In 1999, he was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. History He was born in Floyd, Virginia to Morton and Minnie Turner on April 12, 1924. Curtis grew up with a brother and two sisters. His father, Morton Turner, was into the moonshine business and had a productive still. Curtis was responsible for delivering his father's moonshine to the customers. From a very early age, long before he was old enough for a driver’s license, Curtis developed his driving talents by running moonshine through the mountains from the law. He was never caught by anyone. Locals spoke of how Curtis would drive away from the hot pursuit of revenuers and lawmen and his legendary ability to turn a car 180 degrees in a very small space. He began his racing career in 1946 when he finished 18th in a field of 18 contestants in a race ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Occoneechee Speedway
Occoneechee Speedway was one of the first two NASCAR tracks to open. It closed in 1968 and is the only dirt track remaining from the inaugural 1949 season. It is located just outside the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina. Site history Occoneechee Speedway / Orange Speedway The Occoneechee Farm occupied the land in the late 19th century. The farm was named after the Occaneechi Indians that lived in the area in the late 17th century and late 18th century. The landowner, Julian S. Carr, raced horses, and built a half mile horse racing track on the site. Bill France noticed the horse racing track and expanse of open land while piloting his airplane. On the site of the earlier horse track, he built a 0.9-mile dirt track in September 1947, two months before NASCAR was organized. In its earliest days, Fonty Flock and his brothers Bob and Tim dominated the track. Louise Smith became NASCAR's first female driver at the track in the fall of 1949. The Occoneechee Speedway hosted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Davenport Speedway
Davenport Speedway is a half-mile dirt race track located in Davenport, Iowa. In 1953, the track became the first track in Iowa to host a NASCAR sanctioned event, when it held a Grand National Series race. Fourteen cars participated in race. Buck Baker won the pole and Herb Thomas Herbert Watson Thomas (April 6, 1923 – August 9, 2000) was a stock car racer who was one of NASCAR's most successful drivers in the 1950s. Thomas was NASCAR's first multi-time Cup Champion. Background Born in the small town of Olivia ... was victorious in the race. References External linksTrack statistics at racing-reference.info Buildings and structures in Davenport, Iowa [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lakewood Speedway
Lakewood Speedway was a race track located south of Atlanta, Georgia, in Lakewood, just north of the eastern arm of Langford Parkway (formerly Lakewood Freeway). The track held many kinds of races between 1919 and 1979, including events sanctioned by AAA/ USAC, IMCA, and NASCAR. It was a one-mile (1.6 km) dirt track which was located adjacent to Lakewood Fairgrounds. Lakewood Speedway was considered the " Indianapolis of the South" as it was located in the largest city in the Southern United States and it held an annual race of the Indy cars. History In 1916, Atlanta officials chose the Lakewood Fairgrounds as the site for agricultural fairs. They built a one-mile (1.6 km) horse racing track around a lake at the fairgrounds. The first events were held at the track on July 4, 1917. The feature events were a horse race and motorcycle race, before 23,000 spectators. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
