|| *Comments on the 1951 unnamed race (1951-16):* View the most recent comment <#24> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Harold Sears posted: 05.26.2011 - 11:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was there for this race with Lucky Sawyer car #96 a 49 Ford. and for some unknown reason I have not been able to see any results, showing were he competed. I was only 15 at the time and that is where we met Ralph Liguori. Ralph rolled over his car in practice. A young fellow offered for Ralph to start the race and was suppose to park it after 25 laps. But, Ralph rolled over this car also. And it didnot belong to the young fellow. His mother was the correct owner ( Newly purchased Dark Blue '50 Ford 2 dr.). Lucky towed it back to a Cumberland Md. Ford dealership for repairs. Ralph followed us to Cumberland. If you can picture a Gray #96 towing damaged Blue#00 followed by a damaged black#00. People must have though we were a bunch of crazy people. I don't know what ever happen to the young fellow when confronted by his mother. As it has been documented Ralph started racing openwheel cars that ended by his death. I heard Lucky died in the early eighties with TB. 2. Harold Sears posted: 06.18.2011 - 5:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry! It was June 15, 1951 for the above comment. 3. Ultimate Twang posted: 07.19.2011 - 11:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) From what I can gather, I think Ralph is still alive, actually. According to Wiki, he even won a race in 2000 at 73 years old. He's best known amongst open wheel fans for his bad luck of trying to make the Indy 500, which he never did. I do remember hearing that at the 1st Indy 500, following the IRL/CART split, that he had actually taken the driver's physical & was thinking about giving it one more try at what would have been 69 years old. I recall, too, in '76 or '77, the Indy 500 yearbook had a whole article about his hapless attempts at making the race. 4. Anonymous posted: 06.30.2014 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Holy shit! I met Ralph in the last couple of years! 5. Anonymous posted: 10.22.2014 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) Webmaster, please delete comment #4 as it is entirely inappropriate. 6. BiffreyIndiana posted: 12.18.2014 - 3:32 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) All the atrocities in the world today and you're worried about a little four letter word? Really? 7. Anonymous posted: 04.04.2015 - 10:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Is Harry Scott who finished ninth in this race the father of Harry Scott Jr. who owns the #46 and #51 cup cars today? Also if any comment should be deleted it is #5 for being a little pussy. 8. Graham Clayton posted: 06.21.2015 - 6:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tom Jerris records a Top-5 finish in his only NASCAR top level race. 9. Breaker posted: 05.14.2016 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In Greg Fielden's book, "NASCAR The Complete History", it is stated that only 5 cars finished this race. I think this may be an error though based on assuming that all the drivers who don't have a status DNF'd. In Fielden's book, Forty Years of Stock Car Racing, it is mentioned that 24 of the 42 finishers were "beset" by "spills and mechanical ills." Also, I've seen that the first Bristol race in 1966 has been stated to the be the race with the fewest finishers (7 out of 32), so if this had only 5 finishers I feel like it would have been brought up more often. While the 7 is the lowest that we know officially, it is possibly, though unlikely, that some of these early races with incomplete results had less finishers. 10. Brian Showers posted: 09.23.2016 - 12:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Per the article in the 16-Jul-1951 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 14 cars finished the race, but it also states only 40 cars started the race. Per the article Tim Flock qualified 3rd. 11. Eric posted: 03.26.2017 - 2:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ralph Liguori becomes the first NASCAR driver to enter a double-digit number starting with a 0. He finished P40 driving a #00 car. 12. Eric posted: 01.08.2018 - 12:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In mention to my above comment, Ralph also flipped on two separate occasions during the race weekend 13. Anonymous posted: 09.01.2018 - 7:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) maybe Ralph used the #00 so when he flipped it would look the same upside down as right side up?? 14. Joshua posted: 03.07.2019 - 8:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Herb Thomasīs car number in this race should be 41.5 according to a picture I found in the NASCAR Complete History book I have at home, so yes, Herb Thomasīs number for this race should be 41.5. 15. thog posted: 06.12.2020 - 12:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) WD Ralph Liguori - 00 - Ford - flipped his primary car in practice. Also appears Lucky Sawyer competed in this race in a #96. 16. Anonymous posted: 01.02.2021 - 7:38 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) A photo of the race shows Herb winning in car number "41―". The photo can be seen here: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ec7KMI3XsAAa6n5?format=jpg&name=small 17. Mile501 posted: 01.02.2021 - 8:19 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Is this the only race in NASCAR history won by a car with a non-integer number? I know we've had some race winners with a letter after the number, but I'm not aware of any other fractional numbers. 18. Spen posted: 01.02.2021 - 10:12 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Yes, although we didn't know the number until a couple of years ago. It was listed as a win for the #2 for years. 19. Mile501 posted: 01.02.2021 - 10:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I find that so interesting. I wonder if anyone knows the story behind why 41 1/2 was chosen. Did it symbolize something? Was it someone's #41 backup car that was borrowed? I'm sure there's some story behind it. 20. Canadianfan posted: 01.02.2021 - 12:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @18 Actually that photo is in NASCAR Chronicle as well as NASCAR The Complete History. I just never personally looked at it very closely. Chronicle goes back to 2003 for publication. 21. thog posted: 01.02.2021 - 7:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Besides the big lap 21 accident, the only other noticeable accident of the race was when Sam Thompson went for a bit of a roll. 22. possum posted: 01.02.2021 - 7:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @19 - the #41 1/2 was Bill Blair's car (owner and usual driver), he ran it for a couple of years before reverting to the #2. I suspect the number was his age. 23. MSportRev posted: 01.03.2021 - 2:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Shouldn't the margin of victory be 1 lap + since Herb Thomas was a lap ahead of 2nd? 24. possum posted: 01.03.2021 - 7:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @23 - it might mean the race finished under caution (in which case margin of victory is irrelevant). Not that we're ever likely to have caution data for this race, unless it's in the newspaper article mentioned in post 10. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: