|| *Comments on the 1950 Southern 500:* View the most recent comment <#62> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. HomeDepotKid posted: 01.17.2005 - 5:54 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was the first Southern 500. Looking at the depth of the field is amazing. 75 cars started, and to think, this isn't the deepest field in NASCAR history! The next year at Darlington, 82 cars started. Check out the 9th place finisher, Hershel McGriff. He retired in 2002. That's right. He was racing for THAT long! 2. Anonymous posted: 02.13.2005 - 5:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mantz was driving a Plymouth partially owned by Bill France, Alvin Hawkins and Hubert Westmoreland. Seeing before anyone else that tires would be a problem, he mounted truck-originated tires, rubber vastly harder than what anyone else was running. By halfway, he was laps ahead of everyone else. 3. JJ Lehto posted: 04.03.2005 - 7:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mantz was slow in time, but as everyone tore up their tires he rode around with his and won the first race at Darlington. 4. Dave posted: 05.08.2005 - 7:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) So since the track was the assumed length of 1.25 miles, and has since been updated to 1.366 miles, This race was actually 546 miles long. 46 more miles than the advertised distance. Perhaps that threw off fuel calculations on those critical final pit stops ;) 5. Jr. Fan posted: 10.19.2005 - 2:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The racetrack was actualy inlarged in 1953 to 1.375 miles, (whitch was actualy 1.366 miles). 6. DaleJrfan14 posted: 03.22.2006 - 8:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) why were cars lapped so fast back then? 7. J. Kircher posted: 04.05.2006 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Fans in attendance of this race also fell victim to tire woes. As teams would run short of tires, they started searching the infield parking lot and found their extra tires on the cars in there. Crew members took the tires and left behind some apologetic and I'm sure creative notes for the owners. 8. Don Winchester posted: 12.02.2006 - 5:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regarding the tire situation on the winning entry, Johnny Mantz was primarly an Indy car driver. In those days the Indy cars were heavy, long roadsters. The Darlington event was originally scheduled to be an Indy car race but when that fell through it became a "Stock Car" race sanctioned by a NASCAR rival. However France and his group were called in at the last minute to bolster the field since the promoters were unsure that many of the stock cars of the period would be able to make it 500 miles. NASCAR Grand National rules required "stock" tires but there may have been some disparity in the two organization's rules. According to legendary driver and mechanic Cotton Owens, who finished seventh, Mantz showed up with several sets of Indy car tires -- which were fitted to his little Plymouth despite protestations from others in the field and worked very well, indeed. Mantz' car did not run without tire problems of their own but it was less of a problem than others experienced. 9. 3fan4eva posted: 05.21.2007 - 11:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anybody need tires???, but anyway the first race of a great NASCAR tradition. 10. Chevy posted: 11.12.2007 - 1:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Points for this race: 1. Johnny Mantz 1250 2. Fireball Roberts 1125 3. Red Byron 1000 4. Bill Rexford 875 5. Chuck Mahoney 750 6. Lee Petty 625 7. Cotton Owens 500 8. Bill Blair 375 9. Hershel McGriff 250 (no points?) In the end he doesn't make the top-50. May be stripped of points after the end of the season for taking part in non-NASCAR race. 10. George Hartley 125 11. Tim Flock 100 12. Johnny Grubb 75 13. Dick Linder 50 14. John DuBoise 25 ... ? Good result in Southern 500 was crucial to win the championship. Bill Rexford took the lead for the first time with his 4th place finish while Fireball Roberts was close 2nd after taking part in just 5 of 13 races. Previous championship leader and Darlington pole sitter Curtis "Pops" Turner got no points after crashing out and finishing 60th and slipped to 3rd place in overall standings. Lloyd Moore and Jimmy Florian lost 5 and 7 positions after not scoring in Darlington. 1175 points were still available in last 6 races (two 200 point races took place in the same day and it was virtually impossible to attend both). Top-20 after 13 of 19 races: 1. Bill Rexford 1609 2. Fireball Roberts 1505 -104 3. Curtis Turner 1373.5 -235.5 4. Red Byron 1315 -294 5. Johnny Mantz 1282 -327 6. Chuck Mahoney 1177.5 -431.5 7. Lloyd Moore 1032 -577 8. Dick Linder 913 -696 9. Lee Petty 845 -764 10. Jimmy Florian 721 -888 11. Cotton Owens 500 -1109 ------------------------- Mathematically eliminated ------------------------- 12. Clyde Minter 420 -1189 13. Bill Blair 395 -1214 14. Dick Burns 341.5 -1267.5 15. Art Lamey 320 -1289 16. Frank Mundy 295.5 -1313.5 17. Bob Flock 272.5 -1336.5 18. George Hartley 257.5 -1351.5 19. Herb Thomas 220 -1389 20. Jack White 211.5 -1397.5 11. RaceFanX posted: 12.12.2007 - 8:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was Hershel McGriff's first race, as said earlier he ran until 2002 winning 4 Cup races along the way 12. tkbkg posted: 02.23.2008 - 10:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW TO OBTAIN COPIES OF THESE OLD RACES?? 13. Patrick posted: 05.27.2008 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hershel Mcgriff's first Winston Cup/Grand National start. 14. RaceFanX posted: 03.20.2009 - 1:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Henson's only NASCAR race 15. Me posted: 06.26.2009 - 12:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hershel attempted the 2009 Camping World West Series race at Sonoma but failed to qualify. He's still going at 82 years old. 16. jr88fan posted: 07.16.2009 - 10:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Weldon Adams' first start. 17. Madison posted: 12.20.2009 - 4:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The ninth place finisher is still racing today. 18. Anonymous posted: 11.11.2010 - 2:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Virgil Livengood's car number was #66. 19. Anonymous posted: 07.22.2011 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rod McLean was Buck Baker's crew chief for this race. He was also sponsored by Darlington International Raceway. 20. Dan393 posted: 06.20.2012 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Actually, Hershel McGriff is still racing! At least as of 2011, only in a diffrent series. 21. Dan393 posted: 06.20.2012 - 4:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Anonymous you got his Car number just by scrolling down and finding the guy. It's already posted on the page! 22. Spen posted: 09.20.2012 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) It wasn't until he posted that. 23. Anonymous posted: 10.05.2012 - 5:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dorothy Shull of West Columbia, SC attempted to qualify her Olds, but she spun three times in the 2nd turn on the 15 day of time trials, so she didn't make the field. Herb Thomas, Bill Bennett, Louis Hawkins and Pap White all qualified but withdrew. 24. Dan Jackett posted: 01.08.2013 - 11:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race would've been the cut-off for The Chase if it was run under that format (18 race dates -there were 2 races on Oct.15- and this is the 13th)...I cut the 2000 points from the system adopted in 2011 to 1000 since it's half the races...A special note, I also didn't take the points away from those stripped of points before the Hillsboro race...Lee Petty would've been the regular season champion by a 456-435 margin (2011 system points) over Bill Rexford...The Chase seedings were: 1. Curtis Turner (4 wins), 2nd (2); Dick Linder, 3-6 (1 win each) Rexford, Bill Blair, Jimmy Florian, and Tim Flock...Seeds 7-10 were Petty, Lloyd Moore, Chuck Mahoney, and Herb Thomas...The Wild cards were Fireball Roberts (1 win, 14th in points) and Dick Burns (11th in points) 25. Anonymous posted: 02.07.2013 - 4:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bud Moore was the crew chief for Joe Eubanks. 26. jabber1990 posted: 07.27.2013 - 7:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) wow, Jonny Mantz won $10,000 in this race? that's a lot of money In case you were wondering, how does that translate into todays money? simple, add a zero 27. Breaker posted: 09.22.2013 - 1:12 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Some additional background information on how this race came to be. After going to the 1948 Indy 500, Harold Brasington decided he wanted to build a track that could hold a 500 mile stock car race, and therefore built Darlington Raceway. In December 1949, a rival sanctioning body who held Midwestern short track races called the CSRA (Central States Racing Association), announced they would sanction a 500 mile stock car race at Darlington in 1950. Bill France initially thought that a 500 mile stock car race would be bad because he didn't know if the Strictly Stock cars could go the full distance, and if they did not then it would be embarrassing to stock car racing. In July of 1950, promoter Sam Nunis announced that *he* would hold the first 500 mile stock car race, right before Labor Day, at the 1 mile dirt track at Lakewood Speedway, and it would be open to American and foreign cars. Because of the national publicity surrounding the two races battling to be the first 500 mile stock car race, Bill France decided he had to get involved. After meeting with Harold Brasington, Bill France learned the CSRA was having a hard time getting entry blanks sent in, so France called the president of the CSRA, Mason Brenner, and told him that he could get enough drivers to fill the 75 car field and that NASCAR would co-sanction the Southern 500 with the CSRA. After this co-sanctioning was made official, Sam Nunis decided to cancel his 500 mile race. A few more interesting facts, there were 15 days of qualifying. Even though Johnny Mantz started 43rd, he had the slowest qualifying speed in the field (though technically Jesse James Taylor in 75th is listed as "No Time.") Also, Wally Campbell had the fastest speed (82.400 MPH) but started 60th due to the qualifying procedures. Also, I read that the banked part of the track was supposed to be the "apron" for slow cars to ride around on and that the fast cars were intended to drive around the bottom of the track. This is probably why the track was "smaller" when it first opened, because it was measured at a lower part around the track. 28. Graham Clayton posted: 10.27.2013 - 1:48 am Rate this comment: (5) (0) In an attempt to keep hydrated during the race, Buck Baker had a bottle of cold tomato juice inside his car. When he crashed out of the race, the bottle broke loose and poured the juice all over his head. He wasn't seriously injured, but the crash crew feared for the worst when they saw all of this red liquid, assuming it was blood. 29. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 04.12.2014 - 1:18 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I know tires were a B*tch in this race and all, but...HOW IN THE FLYING LEGENDS OF LEGENDS DO YOU GO FROM 43 STARTING SPOT TO 1st in just 50 laps!?!?!?!?!?!? 30. Anonymous posted: 01.18.2015 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lee Morgan's car was #5. There was a car #58 in the race. 31. A posted: 02.11.2015 - 11:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Fireball Roberts started 67th and finished 2nd! But he was still lapped nine times by Mantz. Crazy stuff from the early era. The race had guys named Roscoe, Tex, Slick, Hub, Pee Wee, Fonty, Shorty and Gober. 32. Scott B posted: 04.16.2015 - 5:35 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Six hours and thirty eight minutes of racing. Hope the fans brought sunscreen. 33. most1305 posted: 06.23.2016 - 7:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Haven't done much research but I am thinking Hershel McGriff might be the last living driver from this event. 34. RaceFanX posted: 09.02.2016 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hershel McGriff drove 3,500 miles across the country to be part of this race. The young Oregon driver raced in the exact same Oldsmobile he drove from one side of the North American continent to the other in. 35. RaceFanX posted: 09.02.2016 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Buck Baker said drivers came into this race with a number of different and weird strategies since no one had ever run a 500-mile stock car race before. Some drivers even put black paint under their eyes like football players before the green flag dropped. George Hartley finishes second to claim his second and final top-10 finish. 36. Truexfan78 posted: 02.22.2017 - 8:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anyone besides McGriff in this race still alive today? 37. Keith Ivy posted: 03.26.2017 - 7:15 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Will ask my dad for some more details. He grew up in Timmonsville, SC not far from Darlington, and bought a new 1950 Plymouth. Just like the one that won the race. Apparently, during those two weeks of qualifying locals could take their cars and try to qualify. Not sure how that worked. Said he was fast enough to race but not willing to risk his car. His name isn't on the list, might have something to do with the two weeks of qualifying. His brother, Marion, double leg amputee from spinal bifida, owned a bar a few black cow from the track. Movie stars in town for the race would go there. John Wayne, several others but remember specifically. Dad 86 and his brother, Herbert 92 were talking about Cale Yarborough who is also from Timmonsville. Cale, his older brother were always thrill seekers. They got ahold of a parachute and were going up in an airplane and jumping. They had no idea how to pack it, so just strapped it on and let it go. They started paying others to try it. A recruiter started helping them pack it and tried talking them into signing up for the parajumpers. 38. Eric posted: 05.05.2017 - 10:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Curtis Turner flipped on lap 275 39. Dan Jackett posted: 07.24.2017 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Had NASCAR limited the field to the 2016-17 limit of 40 cars, 3rd place finisher Red Byron would have been the winner 40. Jim Davis posted: 07.24.2017 - 5:38 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Had NASCAR limited the field to the 2016-17 limit of 40 cars, 3rd place finisher Red Byron would have been the winner" Nonsense. The race wouldn't have played out the same way. 41. Eric posted: 08.25.2017 - 6:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I imagine most of the crowd walked away with a nice tan. 6 and a half hours in the September sun, that'll get to ya. 42. John Lee Pettimore III posted: 09.15.2017 - 7:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Hey 40 Jim - No, common sense. If field was only 40 cars, Mantz and Fireball would have never started the race. Am I being Mr. Obvious here, oh... sorry. 43. Dan Jackett posted: 09.24.2017 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Using the 1953-1969 measurement of 1.375 miles, the race would have been 550 miles, and the average speed would have been 82.776mph 44. Spen posted: 03.29.2018 - 11:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And also, under the normal measurement, the pole speed would actually be 112.056. 45. Spen posted: 03.29.2018 - 11:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Unless of course our recorded time is incorrect. Ultimateracinghistory claims that the pole time was 54.86 seconds, which comes much closer to the recorded pole speed. Even adjusting for inaccurate track length, it comes out to 89.639. 46. Anthony posted: 04.25.2018 - 7:32 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) Hershel McGriff was in this race. Unbelievably he's going to be in a K&N event at Tuscon in 2018. 47. Eric posted: 05.29.2018 - 5:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jerry Kemp found his way upside down in the late stages of the race 48. Seibaru posted: 07.05.2018 - 7:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @47 He actually flipped in qualifying but yes Kemp did flip during the "weekend". 49. Joshua posted: 03.04.2019 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) A total of 13 drivers made their lone NASCAR Cup Series start in this race: 1. Walt Crawford (21st place finisher) 2. Byron Beatty (25th place finisher) 3. Lee Morgan (31st place finisher) 4. Jerry Kemp (49th place finisher) 5. Dick Soper (57th place finisher) 6. Pete Keller (58th place finisher) 7. P.E. Godfrey (59th place finisher) 8. Bill Henson (67th place finisher) 9. Jack Yardley (73rd place finisher) 10. Bill Bennett (made 1 start in 1949, but DNQ´d in this race) 11. Lewis Hawkins (made 1 start in 1949, but DNQ´d in this race) 12. Dorothy Shull (only start, but DNQ´d) 13. Pat Sutton (only start but DNQ´d) Any other information, please contact me as soon as possible! 50. TJ posted: 03.26.2019 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jack Smith suffered minor injuries when his car turned over according to the September 5, 1950 edition of the Kannapolis Daily Independent. Never seen a picture of Jack's flip before. 51. Mile501 posted: 09.01.2019 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I hadn't noticed this before, but it is pretty incredible, especially for this era: More than 50 cars out of the 75 starters were still running on lap 300 of 400. 52. Eric posted: 04.20.2020 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Looks like Curtis Turner had in fact suffered mechanical issues rather than wrecked. 53. JSPorts posted: 04.20.2020 - 8:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Where do you see that? 54. Eric posted: 04.21.2020 - 9:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @53 -- https://i.imgur.com/DA0aTe2.jpg 55. Eric posted: 04.23.2020 - 11:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Disregard above posts, I found a picture of Curtis Turner's ride with roof damage. 56. MSportRev posted: 09.04.2020 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Based on this article nascarman posted, Herb Thomas qualified and then had his car repossessed. Would that mean he is technically a WD and not a DNQ? https://twitter.com/nascarman_rr/status/1302035355735134208?s=21 57. Danish_Pie posted: 09.04.2020 - 9:33 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The article states the he did qualify for the race beforehand. Apparently, the car was on the grid 'til just before the race. So Herb Thomas should indeed be listed as a withdrawal. (Surprised he wasn't listed as a did not start. They did exist back then, there were three the following race at Langhorne.) 58. Seibaru posted: 09.22.2020 - 6:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) The best 18 finishers and some guys who did really well in qualifying were the only drivers who won any money at all. 19th place Joe Eubanks pocketed zero dollars and zero cents. 59. possum posted: 09.22.2020 - 6:55 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) @58 - I don't think we know that, and given how fragmented records from that era are, I doubt we can ever know. None the less, given that the guy who qual'd 73rd and finished 72nd got 100 bucks, my guess is everyone who started got $100 gas money. 60. Corey posted: 10.11.2020 - 2:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) According to nascarman via The Dale Jr Download's Odd History segment. Herb Thomas withdrew from the race as his car was repossessed while it sat on the starting grid. At the time many drivers would under pay for a car, run the race, and use the winnings to pay off the car. The financiers disagreed with this plan and took the car back before the race started. 61. RaceFanX posted: 12.09.2020 - 5:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Plymouth Mantz drove to victory here was still well and truly stock. It even still had the factory dashboard and front bench seat with cushions. 62. possum posted: 12.09.2020 - 7:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @61 - that would have been the norm for 1950. Many cars would have had the back seat removed for the obvious reason (i.e. for hauling shine), but the front would stay stock. I don't think replacing the factory seat with bucket seats became common until around 1960, and I think factory dashes stayed until the Feds required automakers to replace the metal dash with something softer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: