|| *Comments on the 1951 Southern 500:* View the most recent comment <#34> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. STbastien posted: 11.24.2005 - 6:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) this is Inaugural Nascar Stock-Car Champion Red Byron's last race. 2. Jim Riley posted: 12.20.2005 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How do you think FOX would feel about an 8-car race that lasted six and a half hours? 3. Jim Riley posted: 12.20.2005 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 82 cars, sorry 4. DaleJrfan14 posted: 03.22.2006 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ......awesome thats what btw how many points did the winner get 5. jpharis53 posted: 07.21.2006 - 7:45 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Herb got money, no points. At the end of the year, the driver with the most earnings won the championship. You got more money for winning at the big races, and since there were 41 races, you could afford to miss some of the smaller races that might payout only a couple hundred bucks per win. Kind of complicated, and after the championship format we've come to accept since the 70's, seems kind of ridiculous. But that's how they did 'em! 6. Altamonteric posted: 11.20.2006 - 8:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) LAst race for Red Byron 7. JR posted: 05.26.2008 - 9:22 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Frank Mundy no doubt sets a NASCAR record by finishing 81 places worse than where he started 8. Aldo posted: 02.20.2009 - 7:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I think this was the largest field in NASCAR history with 82 starters. 9. Kevin Nauta posted: 04.05.2009 - 12:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) For those who are good at picking out car types from the 1950s, the missing 12th place qualifier is pictured here: http://www.studebakerracing.com/biography.html#Frank Gise You can't see a number, but you can see the front of the car, which might give you a clue what make it is and help solve the mystery of who that should be. 10. Spen posted: 08.29.2009 - 1:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lee Connell sets a Nascar record by having the worst career average finish in history. 11. Anonymous posted: 12.10.2010 - 5:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Couple of things: Buck Baker started 14th. Billy Carden started 12th. Johhny Yountz started 43rd. Donald Thomas started 41st. Bud Farrell started 44th. Joe Eubanks started 71st. Jack Smith's car was qualified by Wally Campbell. George Hartley qualified Bill Rexford's car. Julian (J.H) Petty (Lee's Brother) qualified the car finished by Pap White. Fred Moore's car was originally qualified 15th by Bill Osborne. Osborne was not allowed to start when he tried qualify a second car for a different owner. Owens and Widenhouse originally did not qualify, but Joe Weatherly withdrew from 44th. 12. Anonymous posted: 04.18.2011 - 1:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ewell Weddle was originally entered in a 1950 Ford, but he crashed it. However he qualified fastest with that car on the 4th day of qualifying. 13. Fredbrillo posted: 01.08.2012 - 9:00 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) The first and only Tucker Torpedo to compete in a NASCAR race ran 1 lap and broke an axle...my dad was driving... 14. Spen posted: 05.11.2012 - 3:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was at Canfield a year and a half earlier. 15. Dan Jackett posted: 01.23.2013 - 10:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 3 races remaining before what would've been the 1951 Chase begins...Marshall Teague clinches the 6th spot in The Chase...As for the scoring of the race by the system adopted in 2011, all drivers except Curtis Turner (who led the race at one point) finishing 43rd-82nd received 1 point Point Standings 1. Fonty Flock (5) 772 2. Herb Thomas (2) 746 3. Tim Flock (4) 735 4. Lee Petty (1) 718 5. Frank Mundy (1) 502 6. Marshall Teague (5) 447 7. Lloyd Moore 410 8. Jim Fiebelkorn 396 9. Curtis Turner (3) 309 10. Dick Rathman 303 (DNR) 11. Bob Flock (1) 276 12. Lou Figaro (1) 269 (DNR) Bob Flock and Figaro still hold the Wild Card positions, but Flock passes Figaro in the standings 16. Anonymous posted: 06.23.2013 - 5:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Herb got 1250 points for this race. 17. A posted: 03.05.2014 - 10:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eight different car companies that no longer exist ran in this race-Hudson, Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Nash, Studebaker, Henry J, Kaiser and Mercury. Also had Ford, Cadillac, Lincoln and Buick. That's a lot of different kinds of cars! 18. simonracer posted: 08.20.2014 - 3:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Weatherly's first known appearence in the top division ends with a DNQ. 19. Evan posted: 08.30.2014 - 11:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pole sitter, Frank Mundy finishes dead-last in his old Studebaker. 20. RaceFanX posted: 01.07.2015 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jesse James Taylor's second was his best NASCAR finish. 21. Graham Clayton posted: 02.22.2015 - 9:52 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) A young 11 year old Cale Yarborough gets in for free to the race by crawling through a hole in the fence. 22. Anonymous posted: 04.04.2015 - 9:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The race just before this one only had 15 cars in it, 67 car difference between that and this race which had 82 cars. The only driver that raced the one before this but not this race was Dick Rathmann. 23. Graham Clayton posted: 06.21.2015 - 7:08 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) In an era where early retirements were common, over two-thirds of the field were still circulating at the halfway point of the race. 24. Cornys posted: 07.21.2015 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qualifying was an 8 lap run? 25. StenhouseFan17 posted: 07.17.2016 - 10:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gotta be the biggest discrepancy between starting position and finishing position ever. Polesitter Frank Mundy finished 81 spots worse than he started! 26. JSPorts posted: 07.18.2016 - 10:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Weatherly withdrew from this race. It was the first appearance for a driver who would go on to be a 2-time champion, but tragically lost his life the next season. 27. Bill Ennis posted: 02.04.2017 - 8:49 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) According to these records, Marshal Teague passed 46 cars in 13 laps to take the lead. Must be a record! 28. Dan Jackett posted: 09.24.2017 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Using the 1953-69 measurement of 1.375 miles, the average speed would be 84.597mph 29. Mile501 posted: 09.01.2019 - 6:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Widenhouse gained 61 positions (started 80th, finished 19th). Cotton Owens gained 59 positions (started 82nd, finished 23rd). Crazy stuff. Neither driver, though, beat the record set by Fireball Roberts the year before, when he gained 65 positions (started 67th, finished 2nd). Also, unlike 1950 when only 1 of the top 10 starters finished in the top 10, 6 drivers did so this time. Everyone who started in the top 7 finished in the top 10, except the polesitter who finished last. 30. A posted: 09.24.2019 - 10:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's incredible to me that Hershel McGriff was in this race 31. MSportRev posted: 10.07.2019 - 8:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Driver Changes: #58 Bill Osborne $57 Wally Campbell #52 George Hartley #24 Julian Petty Source: Ultimate Racing History 32. MSportRev posted: 10.07.2019 - 8:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Each of those ^^ drivers were replaced after qualifying. 33. Mile501 posted: 11.08.2019 - 11:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) For a 6 1/2 hour race in the early days of NASCAR, it blows my mind how 67 cars ran more than half the distance, and 52 cars ran more than 3/4 of the distance. 34. Eric posted: 02.20.2020 - 9:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crazy how much times have changed man. If you started 36th in this race, you were 46 spots ahead of last place. If you started 36th in a recent NASCAR race, you're probably a backmarker. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: