The ''1955

Richmond 200 The Toyota Owners 400 is a 400 lap NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. From 2007 to 2011, former race title sponsor Crown Royal named the race after the winner of an essay contest during Dayton ...

'' 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 May 22, 1955, at Richmond Fairgrounds (now Richmond Raceway) in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. Two hundred laps took place on a dirt track spanning . The exact time of the race was one hour, fifty minutes, and thirty seconds. Qualifying was rained out so a draw for the pole position was held. All twenty-eight competitors were Americans. Individual race earnings for each driver ranged from $1,000 ($ when considering inflation) to $50 ($ when considering inflation); the total prize given to competitors was $4,085 ($ when considering inflation).

Background

In 1953, Richmond International Raceway began hosting the

with

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 ...

winning that first race in Richmond. The original track was paved in 1968. In 1988, the track was re-designed into its present ''D''-shaped configuration The name for the raceway complex was "Strawberry Hill" until the Virginia State Fairgrounds site was bought out in 1999 and renamed the "Richmond International Raceway". The Strawberry Hill Races, which are a series of steeplechase horse races were formerly held the third Saturday of April at the Richmond Raceway Complex. In 2000, the races were moved to

Colonial Downs Colonial Downs is a Race track, racetrack located in New Kent County, Virginia adjacent to Interstate 64, halfway between Richmond, Virginia, Richmond and Williamsburg, Virginia, Williamsburg. The track conducted Thoroughbred flat racing and Standa ...

in New Kent County, Virginia's first Thoroughbred racetrack.

Race report

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 ...

won the race; beating his brother Fonty. Flock would acquire his third consecutive win. They both were driving 1955

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

300 __NOTOC__ Year 300 (Roman numerals, CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, ...

s. Flock would lead the most laps with 123 out of 200. Jim Paschal would score his 100th career NASCAR Grand National Series start in this event. Sonny Hutchins would make his NASCAR Cup Series debut in this race. Notable crew chiefs for this race were E.K. Adkins. Local NASCAR owners like

Junie Donlavey Wesley Christian "Junie" Donlavey Jr. (April 8, 1924June 9, 2014), a native of Richmond, Virginia, was the owner of Donlavey Racing; he began fielding the team in 1950. He drove for his team at first, but soon gave way to other drivers. Donlavey e ...

and

Emanuel Zervakis Emanuel Zervakis (January 23, 1930 – June 25, 2003) was a NASCAR driver and team owner. He won two NASCAR Grand National Series races in his career, both in 1961 ( Greenville 200 and Yankee 500). He later went on to own a part-time Cup tea ...

would refine Hutchins' stock car driving skills shortly after the conclusion of this race.

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 ...

(driving the 1955 model year

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...

88 machine) finished in last place (his record listed the reason as being stuck in the

mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

). The number 88 designation may or may not have been an indirect promotion to the Oldsmobile 88 vehicle; one of the hottest selling vehicles during the mid-1950s.

Arden Mounts Enoch Arden Mounts (July 9, 1917 – March 4, 2003) was an American NASCAR Grand National Series driver from Gilbert, Mingo County, West Virginia. His primary vehicle was the #18 self-owned Pontiac machine; although he would occasionally drive a ...

gained the pole from a draw. Henry Ford (no relation to

the founder ''The Founder'' is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Robert Siegel. Starring Michael Keaton as businessman Ray Kroc, the film portrays the story of his creation of the McDonald's fast-food resta ...

of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

) would compete in the second-to-last race of his one-season career. Other notable racers included:

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

, and

Billy Carden Billy Carden (April 1, 1924 – October 25, 2004) was an American stock car racing driver from Mableton, Georgia. He was a stock car racing pioneer and an early NASCAR competitor. He made over 50 NASCAR Grand National (now Cup) starts and also d ...

. The average speed of the race is . Most drivers owned their own vehicle. Local gas stations would often have stock cars ready for that day's NASCAR Cup Series racing event. Since the race took place on a dirt track, speeds were generally lower than the races that took place on paved oval courses.

Qualifying

Finishing order

# Tim Flock† (No. 300) # Fonty Flock† (No. 301) # Lee Petty† (No. 42) #

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. 78) # Junior Johnson (No. 55) #

Bob Welborn Robert "Bob" Joe Welborn (May 5, 1928 – August 10, 1997) of Denton was a NASCAR Grand National Series driver. He was named to NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers list in 1998. He won the final three NASCAR Convertible Division championships in 1956, ...

(No. 44) # Gene Simpson (No. 460) #

Elmo Langley Elmo Harold Langley (August 21, 1928 – November 21, 1996) was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number 64 on his race cars during his NASCAR career. Racing career Langley began his racing career racing modified cars in Vir ...

† (No. 53) # Volney Schulze (No. 69) # George Parrish (No. 11) #

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. 98) # Slim Brown (No. 43) #

Nace Mattingly Bernard Ignatius "Nace" Mattingly (January 21, 1921 – November 29, 2000) was a NASCAR Grand National Cup Series driver from Leonardtown, Maryland, Leonardtown, Maryland. Summary He raced in NASCAR from 1955 in NASCAR, 1955 to 1960 in NASCAR, 1 ...

(No. 54) # Johnny Roberts* (No. 900) # Arden Mounts† (#18) #

Eddie Skinner Frank Edward Skinner (August 19, 1908 – March 1, 1987) was an American stock car racing racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Grand National Series during the 1950s. Career Skinner raced out of Yerington, Nevada, where he lived for 35 yea ...

* (No. 28) #

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) # Harvey Henderson* (No. 121) # Henry Ford* (No. 303) # Mack Hanbury (No. 140) # Billy Carden*† (No. 8) #

Carl Krueger Carl may refer to: * Carl, Georgia, city in USA * Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name * Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of ...

* (No. 302) #

Ken Fisher Kenneth Lawrence Fisher (born November 29, 1950) is an American billionaire investment analyst, author, and the founder and chairman of Fisher Investments, a fee-only financial adviser. Fisher's ''Forbes'' "Portfolio Strategy" column ran from 1 ...

* (No. 4) # Dick Rathmann*† (No. 3) #

Fred Dove Fred Dove (September 7, 1927 – January 5, 1990) was a NASCAR Grand National driver from Martinsville, Virginia, USA. Career He competed in 47 races from (1952 to 1955) with one finish in the top-five, 12 top-ten finishes, and 3919 laps of ...

*† (No. 71) #

Sonny Hutchins Ernest Lloyd "Sonny" Hutchins (May 17, 1929 – November 21, 2005) was a stock car driver who raced in NASCAR's Grand National/Winston Cup Series from 1955 to 1974. He died in 2005. Motorsports career results NASCAR ( key) (Bold – Pole p ...

*† (No. 97-A) # Chick Dawson* (No. 444) # Jimmie Lewallen*† (No. 88) ''† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased''
''* Driver failed to finish race''

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Jim Paschal starts the race in the pole position. * Lap 3: Jimmie Lewallen's vehicle somehow managed to get into the mud and could not get out. * Lap 11: The fuel line in Chick Dawson's vehicle became severed. * Lap 15: Sonny Hutchins' vehicle managed to overheat itself. * Lap 59: Dick Rathman takes over the lead from Jim Paschal. * Lap 64: The pistons on Fred Dove's vehicle came to a screeching halt. * Lap 66: The driveshaft on Dick Rathmann's vehicle stopped working properly. * Lap 67: Jim Paschal takes over the lead from Dick Rathman. * Lap 78: Tim Flock takes over the lead from Jim Paschal. * Lap 95: The tie rod came loose off Ken Fisher's vehicle. * Lap 99: Carl Krueger's vehicle managed to lose its spindle. * Lap 109: Billy Carden managed to overheat his vehicle. * Lap 115: Both Harvey Henderson and Henry Ford had problems with their vehicle, forcing them not to finish the race. * Lap 133: Buck Baker's wheel fell off his vehicle, causing him to leave the event. * Lap 141: Eddie Skinner's vehicle bearings became problematic, ending his day on the track. * Lap 145: Johnny Roberts' car overheated, ending his weekend on the track. * Lap 172: Dave Terrell developed a problem with his car's piston, forcing him out of the race. * Finish: Tim Flock was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

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Richmond 500 The Toyota Owners 400 is a 400 lap NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. From 2007 to 2011, former race title sponsor Crown Royal named the race after the winner of an essay contest during Daytona ...

NASCAR races at Richmond Raceway