The inaugural Southern Five-Hundred (Southern 500 since 1951) was an automobile race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina on September 4, 1950, as part of the 1950 NASCAR Grand National. While the 1950 race was co-sanctioned by NASCAR and its rival Central States Racing Association, all subsequent Southern 500 races were hosted exclusively by NASCAR. [1]
It is NASCAR's first 500-mile race, and still holds status as one of NASCAR's premier events. Since there had never been a 500-mile stock car race and Darlington was NASCAR's first superspeedway, drivers and teams came to the event with unique strategies. Darlington set the precedent for race strategies to come at tracks like the Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
The track at the time was a four-turn 1.25miles oval.[2] The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees. The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the backstretch is banked at six degrees.
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.[3] He began planning a new speedway after he noticed the huge crowds while attending the 1948 Indianapolis 500 and thought, "If Tony Hulman can do it here, I can do it back home." Brasington bought 70 acres from farmer Sherman Ramsey and started making a race track from a cotton and peanut field. However, he was forced to create an egg-shaped oval with one corner tighter, narrower, and more steeply banked because he promised Ramsey that the new track would not disturb Ramsey's minnow pond at the west side of the property. Brasington was able to make the other turn at the east side of the property wide, sweeping, and flat as he wanted. It took almost a year to build the track.
The Interstate Highway System would not begin construction until later in the decade; its heyday and prominence as an "American superhighway" for leisure and business travel did not kick in until the late 1960s when NASCAR first felt the need to expand outside its regional "shell" and into the national stage.[4]
More than 80 entrants showed up for the race.[3] Brasington used a two-week qualifying scheme and arranged the 75 cars in three rows of 25, similar to the Indianapolis 500.[5] During those two weeks of qualifications, locals could take their cars and try to qualify, unlike today where independent contract drivers used to run the races.
Drivers who failed to qualify for the race were Dorothy Shull, Bill Bennett, Lewis Hawkins, Pap White, Louise Smith, and Pat Sutton. The fastest qualifying speed was 82.034mph by Wally Campbell, while the slowest was 74.637mph by Bill Widenhouse. Herb Thomas did qualify for the race beforehand; the car was on the grid until just before the race when it was repossessed, counting as an automatic withdrawal for Thomas.
Pee Wee Martin and Bob Smith retired from professional stock car racing after this event. Byron Beatty, Walt Crawford, P.E. Godfrey, Bill Henson, Pete Keller, Jerry Kempf, Lee Morgan, Dick Soper, and Jack Yardley made their only NASCAR start in this event. Weldon Adams, Roy Bentley, Jack Carr, Gene Comstock, Gene Darragh, John DuBoise, Carson Dyer, Joe Eubanks, Johnny Grubb, J.E. Hardie, Tex Keene, Bub King, Virgil Livengood, Hub McBride, Hershel McGriff, Bill Osborne, Barney Smith, Rollin Smith, Jesse James Taylor, Charles Tidwell, Murrace Walker, Bill Widenhouse and Shorty York began their NASCAR career at this race and established the first generation of stock car drivers.[6]
U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond was the official marshal for the 1950 Southern 500.[7] [8]
The top prize for the race was $10,510 ($ when adjusted for inflation) while the lowest prize was $100 ($ when adjusted for inflation) for 72nd-75th place. Seventy-five cars competed in this era of relatively unregulated racing for a total of $25,325 in winnings ($ when adjusted for inflation). It is pretty incredible, especially for this era to see more than 50 cars out of the 75 starters were still running on lap 300 of 400.
Gober Sosebee led the first four laps. Curtis Turner, the polesitter, then led until lap 22 before being wrecked out of the race on lap 275 with a significant amount of roof damage. After Turner lost the lead, Cotton Owens lead for 23 laps. After that, Mantz led to the finish. Mantz had taken advantage of an offer from Firestone to test a tire designed for asphalt stock car racing. While some cars used over 60 tires to go the remainder of the race, Mantz kept increasing his lead and won by over nine laps. The total time of the race was 6 hours, 38 minutes, and 40 seconds. The average speed was while the pole position speed was . Two cautions lasted thirteen laps. Four hundred laps were done spanning 1.25miles. Most of the known DNFs in the race were caused by crashes, the worst of which involved drivers Tex Keene, Curtis Turner, and Jack Smith all rolling their cars over the course of the race.[9]
For the average car in the race, the tire load unleashed on the tires on the new, paved circuit was too much on the tires, whether it was a Firestone or a random dirt tire. A legend spread around that teams were so desperate to get new tires that they would steal the tires from parking lots and the infield from the spectators. The race is considered to be the first "tire disaster" in NASCAR history, with the next major tire disaster being the 1969 Talladega 500.
Section reference:[9]
| POS | ST | DRIVER | SPONSOR / OWNER | CAR | LAPS | MONEY | STATUS | LED | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43 | 98 | Johnny Mantz | Hubert Westmoreland | '50 Plymouth | 400 | 10510 | running | 351 |
| 2 | 67 | 82 | Fireball Roberts | Sam Rice | '50 Oldsmobile | 391 | 3500 | running | 0 |
| 3 | 7 | 22 | Red Byron | Parks Novelty (Raymond Parks) | '50 Cadillac | 390 | 2000 | running | 0 |
| 4 | 23 | 59 | Bill Rexford | Julian Buesink | '50 Oldsmobile | 385 | 1500 | running | 0 |
| 5 | 15 | 77 | Chuck Mahoney | Brooks Motors | '50 Mercury | 381 | 1000 | running | 0 |
| 6 | 35 | 42 | Lee Petty | Petty Special (Petty Enterprises) | '49 Plymouth | 380 | 800 | running | 0 |
| 7 | 38 | 71 | Cotton Owens | F.J. Bland | '50 Plymouth | 380 | 930 | running | 23 |
| 8 | 64 | 2 | Bill Blair | Sam Rice | '49 Cadillac | 375 | 600 | running | 0 |
| 9 | 44 | 52 | Hershel McGriff | City of Roses (Hershel McGriff) | '50 Oldsmobile | 374 | 500 | running | 0 |
| 10 | 26 | 61 | George Hartley | Julian Buesink | '50 Oldsmobile | 371 | 450 | running | 0 |
| 11 | 16 | 9 | Tim Flock | Buddy Elliott | '50 Oldsmobile | 370 | 400 | running | 0 |
| 12 | 57 | 44 | Johnny Grubb | Johnny Grubb | '50 Plymouth | 368 | 350 | running | 0 |
| 13 | 62 | 26 | Dick Linder | Don Rogala | '50 Oldsmobile | 367 | 300 | running | 0 |
| 14 | 68 | 89 | John DuBoise | John DuBoise | '50 Ford | 367 | 250 | running | 0 |
| 15 | 72 | 72 | Weldon Adams | Harold Mays | '49 Plymouth | 367 | 225 | running | 0 |
| 16 | 32 | 99 | Barney Smith | Barney Smith | '50 Oldsmobile | 366 | 275 | running | 0 |
| 17 | 3 | 51 | Gober Sosebee | Cherokee Garage (Gober Sosebee) | '50 Oldsmobile | 364 | 290 | running | 4 |
| 18 | 52 | 39 | Elmer Wilson | Elmer Wilson | '49 Plymouth | 360 | 100 | running | 0 |
| 19 | 21 | 4 | Joe Eubanks | Joe Eubanks | '50 Mercury | 359 | running | 0 | |
| 20 | 19 | 43 | Shorty York | B.S. Beeson | '50 Buick | 358 | running | 0 | |
| 21 | 51 | 64 | Walt Crawford | South's Garden Spot / Carolina Motors (Walt Crawford) | '50 Buick | 358 | running | 0 | |
| 22 | 33 | Murrace Walker | Murrace Walker | '50 Oldsmobile | 358 | running | 0 | ||
| 23 | 48 | Gene Comstock | Gene Comstock | '50 Oldsmobile | 355 | 0 | |||
| 24 | 27 | 17 | Jack White | Dailey Moyer | '50 Ford | 354 | 0 | ||
| 25 | 71 | 65 | Byron Beatty | Byron Beatty | '50 Ford | 351 | 0 | ||
| 26 | 53 | Bill Widenhouse | Bill Widenhouse | '49 Plymouth | 350 | 0 | |||
| 27 | 4 | 7 | Bob Flock | Bob Flock Garage (Frank Christian) | '50 Oldsmobile | 348 | running | 0 | |
| 28 | 10 | 47 | Fonty Flock | Frank Christian | '50 Oldsmobile | 346 | 0 | ||
| 29 | 13 | 19 | Jack Smith | R & W Auto Service | '50 Oldsmobile | 345 | crash | 0 | |
| 30 | 30 | 34 | Pee Wee Martin | Eanes Motor Co. / Firestone Tires (John Eanes) | '50 Oldsmobile | 344 | 100 | overheating | 0 |
| 31 | 5 | 5 | Lee Morgan | Lee Morgan | '49 Oldsmobile | 342 | running | 0 | |
| 32 | 8 | Hub McBride | Hub McBride | '50 Mercury | 341 | 0 | |||
| 33 | 11 | Slick Smith | '50 Oldsmobile | 340 | 0 | ||||
| 34 | 12 | 45 | Ted Chamberlain | Ted Chamberlain | '50 Plymouth | 338 | running | 0 | |
| 35 | 6 | 66 | Virgil Livengood | Virgil Livengood | '50 Oldsmobile | 338 | running | 0 | |
| 36 | 9 | Billy Carden | '50 Ford | 338 | running | 0 | |||
| 37 | 14 | 37 | Bill Snowden | Nash Motor Co. (Nash Motor Co.) | '50 Nash | 338 | running | 0 | |
| 38 | 22 | 21 | Harold Kite | Edmunds Motors (Harold Kite) | '49 Lincoln | 334 | 0 | ||
| 39 | 25 | 49 | Glenn Dunaway | Glenn Dunaway | '50 Lincoln | 333 | 0 | ||
| 40 | 2 | 25 | Jimmy Thompson | Leland Colvin | '50 Lincoln | 332 | 125 | engine | 0 |
| 41 | 65 | 27 | Jimmy Florian | Euclid Motor Co. (Jimmy Florian) | '50 Ford | 331 | spindle | 0 | |
| 42 | 20 | 35 | Bob Smith | Central Chevrolet Corp. | '50 Oldsmobile | 331 | running | 0 | |
| 43 | 24 | 0 | Jimmie Lewallen | Sam Rice | '50 Oldsmobile | 330 | 0 | ||
| 44 | 75 | Jesse James Taylor | Jesse James Taylor | '50 Mercury | 329 | 0 | |||
| 45 | 29 | Bub King | T.L. King | '50 Mercury | 329 | 0 | |||
| 46 | 36 | 24 | Gene Darragh | '50 Hudson | 323 | 0 | |||
| 47 | 39 | Roy Bentley | Roy Bentley | '50 Studebaker | 319 | 0 | |||
| 48 | 42 | J.E. Hardie | '50 Studebaker | 317 | 0 | ||||
| 49 | 34 | Jerry Kempf | '50 Lincoln | 315 | 0 | ||||
| 50 | 46 | 36 | Bill Osborne | '50 Mercury | 311 | 100 | 0 | ||
| 51 | 37 | Carson Dyer | Carson Dyer | '50 Lincoln | 310 | 0 | |||
| 52 | 60 | 33 | Wally Campbell | Wally Marks | '50 Oldsmobile | 309 | 100 | 0 | |
| 53 | 40 | 79 | Jim Paschal | Julian Buesink | '50 Ford | 307 | 0 | ||
| 54 | 45 | 18 | Charles Tidwell | '49 Oldsmobile | 300 | 100 | 0 | ||
| 55 | 41 | Ruel Smith | '50 Pontiac | 289 | 0 | ||||
| 56 | 47 | Al Keller | W.O. Taylor | '50 Oldsmobile | 284 | 0 | |||
| 57 | 50 | Dick Soper | '50 Kaiser | 282 | 0 | ||||
| 58 | 54 | Pete Keller | '50 Studebaker | 281 | 0 | ||||
| 59 | 56 | P.E. Godfrey | '49 Lincoln | 278 | 0 | ||||
| 60 | 1 | 41 | Curtis Turner | Eanes Motor Co. (John Eanes) | '50 Oldsmobile | 275 | 320 | crash | 22 |
| 61 | 49 | Bob Apperson | Bob Apperson | '49 Oldsmobile | 249 | 0 | |||
| 62 | 55 | Tommy Thompson | Tommy Thompson | '50 Hudson | 238 | 0 | |||
| 63 | 61 | 6 | Marshall Teague | Paul Cox | '50 Lincoln | 230 | 0 | ||
| 64 | 70 | 14 | Tex Keene | Tex Keene | '50 Plymouth | 229 | crash | 0 | |
| 65 | 31 | 38 | Clyde Minter | Clyde Minter | '50 Lincoln | 219 | 100 | 0 | |
| 66 | 74 | Rollin Smith | '50 Hudson | 208 | 0 | ||||
| 67 | 17 | 86 | Bill Henson | '49 Oldsmobile | 200 | 100 | 0 | ||
| 68 | 50 | 48 | Gayle Warren | Earl Blevins | '49 Oldsmobile | 188 | 100 | 0 | |
| 69 | 28 | 87 | Buck Baker | Griffin Motors / Darlington Intl. Raceway (Bob Griffin) | '49 Oldsmobile | 176 | crash | 0 | |
| 70 | 58 | 46 | Kenneth Wagner | Moyer Co. (Dailey Moyer) | '49 Lincoln | 155 | 100 | 0 | |
| 71 | 18 | 62 | Lloyd Moore | Julian Buesink | '50 Lincoln | 112 | 100 | 0 | |
| 72 | 73 | 48 | Alton Haddock | Alton Haddock | '50 Ford | 98 | 100 | 0 | |
| 73 | 69 | 54 | Jack Yardley | Saverance Motors | '50 Ford | 89 | 0 | ||
| 74 | 66 | Jack Carr | '50 Mercury | 52 | engine | 0 | |||
| 75 | 63 | Roscoe Thompson | Charles Venable | '49 Oldsmobile | 24 | overheating | 0 | ||
| Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver change | |||||||||
| POS | NAME | NBR | SPONSOR | OWNER | CAR | ||||
| Bill Bennett | Bill Bennett | Kaiser | |||||||
| Lewis Hawkins | Plymouth | ||||||||
| Dorothy Shull | Oldsmobile | ||||||||
| Pap White | Mercury | ||||||||
| Pat Sutton | 54 | Saverance Motors | Ford | ||||||
| Louise Smith | 94 | Leslie Motor Co. | Louise Smith | Nash | |||||
| WD | Herb Thomas | 92 | Herb Thomas | Plymouth | |||||
Section reference:[9]