The 1952 Wilkes County 200 was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 to 1970, then the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand Nation ...

event that was held on March 30, 1952, at

North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill fr ...

North Wilkesboro, North Carolina North Wilkesboro is a town in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States, approximately 80 miles north of Charlotte. The population was 4,131 at the 2020 US Census. North Wilkesboro is the birthplace and original home of Lowe's Home Improveme ...

. The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of

homologation Homologation (Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work fr ...

(and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.

Race report

Due to the lack of precision and accuracy of the NASCAR record keepers of the 1950s, only the most vital information of the race was not thrown away after the racing event was over. Only the first two starting positions, all of the finishing positions, and the racing numbers of the most notable drivers were kept. Dave Terrell would score his first of four top-5 finishes at this race. Herb Thomas would lead the race from green flag to checkered flag while this race become the first of four top 5s finishes for Dave Terrell. Harold Mays inflicted terminal vehicle damage on lap 1 while Dick Rathman's vehicle had a busted radiator on lap 20. A tie rod became a major problem for Jimmie Lewallen's vehicle on lap 26 along with Tim Flock's gasket. Curtis Turner's vehicle also had problems with its radiator on lap 35 while an accident took Perk Brown out of the race on lap 39. Frankie Schneider's vehicle would be rendered unworthy to race due to a crash on lap 40. A problem with the vehicle's battery forced Bobby Courtright out of the race on lap 47. Buck Baker would be forced out of the race due to radiator problems on lap 67. Charles Gattalia would overheat his vehicle on lap 69. Braking issues forced Shorty Gibbs out of the race on lap 76 while a missing rear end caused Leonard Tippett to go to the sidelines on lap 108. Joe Eubanks noticed that his vehicle's clutch stopped working on lap 122; forcing him out of the race. Problems with the vehicle's handling took Lee Petty out of the race on lap 142. An over-exhausted battery took Jim Paschal out of the contention on lap 164. The final DNF of the race came when Buddy Shuman noticed that his vehicle's shocks are acting abnormally on lap 175. Two hundred laps were done on a dirt

oval track Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffic ...

spanning ; making a grand total of . The race took two hours and eight minutes to reach completion and twenty-four drivers competed. Out of these twenty-four drivers, only seven managed to complete the race.

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 Olivi ...

managed to defeat

Fonty Flock Truman Fontell "Fonty" Flock (March 21, 1920 – July 15, 1972) was an American stock car racer. Flock family He was the brother of NASCAR pioneers Tim Flock and Bob Flock, and the second female NASCAR driver Ethel Mobley. The four race ...

in the race by at least one lap in front of ten thousand people. A

Hudson Hornet The Hudson Hornet is a full-sized automobile that was manufactured by Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan from 1951 until 1954, when Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson merged to form American Motors Corporation (AMC). Hudson automobiles ...

was used in order to win the race. The pole speed was while the average speed was . Marshall Teague would run his only race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway; losing his life at a practice session for the

1959 Daytona 500 The 1959 First 500 Mile NASCAR International Sweepstakes at Daytona (now known as the 1959 Inaugural Daytona 500) was the second race of the 1959 NASCAR Grand National Series season. It was held on February 22, 1959, in front of 41,921 spectator ...

around seven years later. However, he would only run for 57 laps before withdrawing himself from the race due to reasons unknown.

Julian Buesink Julian E. Buesink (September 24, 1921 – September 23, 1998) was the car owner and crew chief during Bill Rexford's 1950 NASCAR Grand National Series championship run and his teammate Lloyd Moore. Buesink's cars competed in 156 NASCAR race ...

, Doug Meeks and

B.B. Blackburn BB, Bb, or similar, may refer to: In arts and entertainment *BB, abbreviation for a catalogue of works by Béla Bartók * ''BB'' (album), by Mod Sun (2017) *"BB Talk", 2015 song by Miley Cyrus * BB (Transformers), a character in the franch ...

were three of the most notable crew chiefs to participate in this event. Total winnings for the race was $3,550 USD ($ when considering inflation).

Finishing order

# Herb Thomas† (No. 92) # Fonty Flock† (No. 14) # Bill Blair† (No. 2) # Donald Thomas (No. 72) #

Dave Terrell Dave Terrell (born February 21, 1931 in Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA) is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver/owner who participated from 1952 to 1957.

(No. 126) #

Neil Cole Neil Cole (born 1 March 1972) is an English television presenter, comedian, radio broadcaster and actor. Early life Cole was born in Bristol in 1972, and attended King Edward Grammar School in Chelmsford. He studied English and French Liter ...

(No. 53) #

Buddy Shuman Buddy Shuman (September 8, 1915 – November 13, 1955) was a stock car driver who competed in the NASCAR Grand National Series. He raced between 1951 until 1955, achieving one victory, four top 5s, and 16 top 10s. Shuman is best known for winni ...

*† (No. 17) #

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 1 ...

*† (No. 60) #

Lee Petty Lee Arnold Petty (March 14, 1914 – April 5, 2000) was an American stock car racing driver who competed during the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the pioneers of NASCAR and one of its first superstars. He was NASCAR's first three-time Cup ch ...

*† (No. 42) #

Otis Martin Otis Mason Martin (March 1, 1918 – November 21, 1955) was an American stock car racing driver. One of the pioneers of the NASCAR Grand National Series, he competed in 23 races over the first six years of the sport, with a best finish of sixt ...

(unknown number) #

Joe Eubanks ''Joseph "Joe" Eubanks'' (August 9, 1925 – June 21, 1971) was a ''NASCAR Grand National'' driver from Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA.

*† (No. 82) # Leonard Tippett* (No.199) # Shorty Gibbs* (unknown number) # Charles Gattalia* (No. 128) #

Buck Baker Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. (March 4, 1919 – April 14, 2002), better known as Buck Baker, was an American stock car racer. Born in Richburg, South Carolina, Baker began his NASCAR career in 1949 and won his first race three years later at Columbia ...

* (No. 89) # Marshall Teague*† (No. 6) # Bobby Courtwright* (unknown number) #

Frankie Schneider Frank E. Schneider (August 11, 1926 – November 11, 2018) was a stock car, modified, midget, and sprint car racer. He had one NASCAR Grand National Series victory at Old Dominion Speedway in 1958 driving a 1957 Chevrolet. He also won the 1952 NA ...

* (No. 88) # Perk Brown* (No. 22) #

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 ...

*† (No. 41) #

Tim Flock Julius Timothy Flock (May 11, 1924 – March 31, 1998) was an American stock car racer. He was a two-time NASCAR series champion. He was a brother to NASCAR's second female driver Ethel Mobley and Bob and Fonty Flock. NASCAR career Tim Flo ...

*† (No. 91) #

Jimmie Lewallen Jimmie Lewallen (August 22, 1919 – October 16, 1995) was an American stock car racing driver from High Point, North Carolina, USA. He competed in NASCAR's Strictly Stock/Grand National division (now called the NASCAR Cup Series) from its fi ...

*† (No. 24) #

Dick Rathmann Dick Rathmann (born James Rathmann; January 6, 1924February 1, 2000) was an American race car driver. He drove in the American Automobile Association, AAA Championship Car series in the 1949 and 1950 seasons with 4 starts, including the 1950 In ...

*† (No. 120) # Harold Mays* (unknown number) ''* Driver failed to finish race''
''† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased''

References

{{reflist Wilkes County 200 Wilkes County 200 NASCAR races at North Wilkesboro Speedway