|| *Comments on the 1953 Southern 500:* View the most recent comment <#30> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. SK posted: 05.19.2007 - 1:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Junior Johnson's Grand National debut. 2. DEIFan16 posted: 09.02.2007 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First race to feature over 20 and 30 lead changes :p 3. hyltonfan08 posted: 01.23.2009 - 3:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tyre Rakestraw's sponsor was Billy's Body Shop. 4. Haywood posted: 05.09.2009 - 10:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What changed that made the track bigger from the opening to this race? 5. Pacer posted: 09.13.2009 - 12:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Elmer Cooper's lone NASCAR race 6. WillG46 posted: 10.19.2009 - 2:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In previous years, the apron area in the turns was used as racing surface. From this race on, the track length was measured in the banking, thus making the track length longer. 7. Anonymous posted: 12.10.2010 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Other entries in this race included: Ralph Dutton (1953 Dodge) George Henderson (1953 Dodge) Ervin Blatt Lloyd Hulette's name has also been listed as Floyd Hulette. Johhny Bridges has also been listed as John Bridges. Mike Magill has also been listed as Mike McGill. 8. AnonymousEFR posted: 03.30.2011 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last start for Dick Passwater 9. Anonymous posted: 12.31.2011 - 1:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) There was a #29 car in this race 10. Anonymous posted: 12.31.2011 - 2:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, it was Donald Thomas who drove car #29. 11. Spen posted: 05.23.2012 - 2:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the first time Curtis Turner ever ran a number other than his usual #41. Thanks to his blown engine, Herb Thomas' string of 13 consecutive podium finishes comes to an end. But his top five streak keeps going. 12. Chives posted: 11.21.2012 - 3:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Herb Thomas blew an engine with about 10 laps to go, but was pushed around the track for the remaining few laps by #8 Gene Comstock. These laps were not counted if I remember correctly. 13. Anonymous posted: 12.28.2012 - 10:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There was a #03 car in this race. 14. NazRacePhan posted: 10.03.2013 - 11:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 2 drivers starting 50th 15. webmaster posted: 10.03.2013 - 11:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @14: That's what the source material says, along with the other errors (2 drivers starting 19th, for example) and NASCAR does not seem to have an official report of the race available. 16. Taylor posted: 02.06.2015 - 2:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Both Junior Johnson and Lacy Jackson flipped in this race 17. simonracer posted: 09.04.2015 - 10:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This must have been an impressive race back in the day when you consider that there were 35 lead changes, even though it was only between 4 drivers. 18. nascar_vd / racing-reference.info posted: 03.07.2016 - 9:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Note: Driver Standings after this race (top20): 1) Herb Thomas = 7144 2) Dick Rathman = 6422 3) Lee Petty = 6282 4) Buck Baker = 5417 5) Fonty Flock = 5178 6) Tim Flock = 4607 7) Dick Passwater = 3376 8) Jim Paschal = 3127 9) Joe Eubanks = 2723 10) Curtis Turner = 2565 11) Jimmy Lewallen = 2564 12) Slick Smith = 2450 13) Elton Hildreth = 2171 14) Bill Blair = 2065 15) Speedy Thompson = 1830 16) Ray Duhigg = 1802 17) Gober Sosebee = 1705 18) Fred Dove = 1561 19) Gene Comstock = 1487 20) Bub King = 1296 19. Eric posted: 08.04.2016 - 12:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Magill flipped over the wall. 20. Unknown posted: 02.18.2019 - 12:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A total of 7 drivers made their lone NASCAR Cup series start in this race: 1. Lloyd Hulette (17th place finisher) 2. Tyre Rakestraw (22nd place finisher) 3. Bob Weatherly (24th place finisher) 4. Lacy Jackson (25th place finisher) 5. Elmer Cooper (29th place finisher) 6. Bob Hunter (41st place finisher) 7. Lonnie Bragg (49th place finisher) I wonder where these drivers went after this race. Might have went to some unsanctioned races that are ¨outlaw¨ races possibly. There is footage of Lacy Jackson´s crash in this race. 21. possum posted: 02.18.2019 - 10:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @20 - I would guess most of them kept racing at their local tracks. Virtually every track in the southeast had a weekly racing series, and in the 50's the cars weren't so different from what NASCAR ran. I can tell you that Bob Weatherly was Cale Yarborough's car owner at the start of his career. 22. ScottB posted: 02.19.2019 - 7:35 am Rate this comment: (9) (9) Bob Weatherly also ran a Modified at Darlington on July 4, 1953. He was not from the same geographic area as Joe Weatherly, so probably no immediate family connection. 23. Joshua posted: 03.08.2019 - 9:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gene Comstock´s sponsor for this race was Mounts Hudson Sales: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYgBqX0stB8&t=169s 24. Joshua posted: 03.08.2019 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, Lacy Jackson´s lone NASCAR sponsor was Jackson Racing. 25. Unknown posted: 03.22.2019 - 9:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Who started last? Must have been Elmer Cooper, because we have 2 drivers that started 50th. 26. A.J. posted: 03.22.2019 - 10:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) There's no way to tell who "must have been" the 59th place starter unless you have a time machine or crystal ball, so don't make baseless assumptions. NASCAR doesn't have race reports from this long ago and so they rely on Greg Fielden's book for their "official" data. Unfortunately that book has a typo in it for this race, with two drivers listed as starting 50th. Very likely one of those two was miskeyed as 50 rather than 59, but unless someone finds another source we're stuck with the error. That's hardly desirable, but taking a wild guess isn't the answer even if it does (probably) have a 50-50 chance of being right. 27. gary24fan posted: 03.30.2019 - 11:46 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Interesting note on Lloyd Hulette: His car number was actually 7777 but since NASCAR didn't seem to allow three-digit numbers at Darlington, much less four, he was scored as 7. Pic of the car is on the NASCAR Grand National History Until 1972 Facebook group. 28. Matt posted: 07.06.2019 - 9:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Junior Johnson flipped in his Grand National debut when his #75 blew a tire and scraped the wall, then spun back into it hood first before flipping once, turning on the nose, and setting back down on the wheels. Junior got out and promptly tried to extinguish the ensuing engine fire with his shirt. 29. Jimmie4life posted: 07.17.2020 - 7:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 16 year old Emory Lewis races in his first NASCAR race, who started 19th and finished 46th. I find this impressive considering he barely was old enough to have a license, being eligible for just 11 months prior to this race. 30. Dion posted: 08.01.2020 - 7:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Emory turned 17 in October and scored his first top 10. Probably one of the youngest drivers in Cup to ever get a top 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: