1956 Virginia 500

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1956 Virginia 500
Race details[1]
Race 18 of 56 in the 1956 NASCAR Grand National Series season
A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway
A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway
Date April 25, 1956 (1956-April-25)
Official name Virginia 500
Location Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, Virginia)
Course Permanent racing facility
0.525 mi (0.844 km)
Distance 500 laps, 262.5 mi (442.4 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching an average of 67.7 °F (19.8 °C); wind speeds reaching an average of 11.16 miles per hour (17.96 km/h)
Average speed 60.824 miles per hour (97.887 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Carl Kiekhaefer
Most laps led
Driver Speedy Thompson Carl Kiekhaefer
Laps 259
Winner
No. 502 Buck Baker Carl Kiekhaefer
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1956 Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on May 20, 1956 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.[2] As the inaugural event for the NASCAR Grand National Series in Martinsville, this race would set a precedent for all other 500-lap races to follow on this newly-paved short track.[3]

By the 1990s, NASCAR's top-level series became a media circus that only races at facilities that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Summary

Five hundred laps took place on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km) for a grand total of 250 miles (400 km).[2] The time of the race was four hours and three minutes while there were seven cautions for twenty laps.[2] The average speed was 60.824 miles per hour (97.887 km/h) while the pole position speed was 66.103 miles per hour (106.382 km/h).[2][4]

Compared to the top speed of today's passenger vehicles which is considered to be 99 miles per hour (159 km/h) in most makes and models, these stock cars were considered to be slow. Buck Baker defeated Speedy Thompson by half a lap.[2] Other notable drivers who participated in the race included Arden Mounts, Cotton Owens, Fireball Roberts, Tiny Lund, Paul Goldsmith, and Lee Petty.[2] The winning vehicle was a 1956 Dodge Coronet. Thirty-five American drivers dueled each other with no foreign-born competitors either in qualifying or the race itself.[2]

Most of the stock car owners were independent and had no formal ties to the multi-car teams that would start to form in the 1960s and 1970s. A vehicle made by the Packard Motor Car Company even qualified for the race; eventually finishing in 34th place due to a tire problem.[5] Years later, the Packard Motor Company would be victimized by the "Big Three" automobile manufacturers and would close due to lack of sales.

Twenty thousands fans were on hand to watch the race live.[2] The total winnings of the race was $10,275 ($89,431.49 when considering inflation).[4] Buck Baker received most of the day's earnings with a grand total of $3,100 ($26,981.76 when considering inflation).[2][4]

Timeline

  • Start of race: Speedy Thompson started the race with the pole position
  • Lap 8: Piston issues caused Ralph Liguori to become the last-place finisher
  • Lap 25: Jim Rhoades' "road to success" came to a dead end with tire problems
  • Lap 29: Bob Duell had a terminal crash; forcing him out of the race
  • Lap 37: Joe Bill O'Dell had a terminal crash; he was forced to exit the race
  • Lap 69: Tim Flock had a terminal crash, forcing him to exit the race
  • Lap 149: A non-functioning piston crushed Darvin Randhal's hopes of winning the race
  • Lap 156: Transmission issues brought down Ted Cannady
  • Lap 216: Buck Baker took over the lead from Speedy Thompson
  • Lap 222: Herb Thomas takes over the lead from Buck Baker
  • Lap 243: Cotton Owen's race weekend was devastated by a troublesome right front hub
  • Lap 252: Blackie Pitt's vehicle had a faulty right front hub
  • Lap 293: Bearing issues caused Jim Paschal to exit the event early
  • Lap 304: Lug bolt problems ended Don Carr's weekend on the track
  • Lap 338: Speedy Thompson took over the lead from Herb Thomas
  • Lap 356: Pete Stewart's vehicle had a faulty right rear axle
  • Lap 377: Herb Thomas's vehicle had a problematic engine that kept him from finishing the race
  • Lap 382: Buck Baker takes over the lead from Speedy Thompson
  • Lap 436: Bobby Myers developed a faulty right front hub in his vehicle
  • Lap 441: Reitzel Darner developed a faulty right front hub in his vehicle
  • End of race: Buck Baker wins the race

Results

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  1. Buck Baker†
  2. Speedy Thompson†
  3. Lee Petty†
  4. Paul Goldsmith
  5. Gwyn Staley†
  6. Rex White
  7. Sherman Utsman
  8. Billy Myers
  9. Jack Smith†
  10. Ralph Moody†
  11. Harvey Henderson
  12. Tiny Lund†
  13. Bobby Johns
  14. Reitzel Darner*
  15. Bobby Myers*†
  16. Fireball Roberts†
  17. Ray Chaike
  18. Pee Wee Jones
  19. George Cork
  20. Herb Thomas*†
  21. Pete Stewart*
  22. Arden Mounts†
  23. Don Carr*
  24. Fred Lorenzen (lowest finishing car to complete the race)
  25. Jim Paschal*†
  26. Blackie Pitt*†
  27. Cotton Owens*†
  28. Ted Cannady*
  29. Darvin Randahl*
  30. Tim Flock*†
  31. Johnny Allen*
  32. Joe Bill O'Dell*
  33. Bob Duell*
  34. Jim Rhoades*
  35. Ralph Liguori*

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

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Preceded by Virginia 500 races
1956		 Succeeded by
1957
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