|| *Comments on the 1959 Music City 200:* View the most recent comment <#20> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Brian R. posted: 04.25.2007 - 11:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 12 cars?...should that even count as a race? LOL...guess that's why Rex White only got 900 dollars for winning, heh 2. Chris posted: 11.08.2010 - 3:26 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) The smallest starting field ever for a NASCAR Cup race. This also happened six other times; 1953 - Hickory 1956 - Oklahoma City 1961 - Richmond 1964 - Savannah (race 20) 1964 - Savannah (race 57) 1964 - Myrtle Beach 3. ii posted: 06.04.2011 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of course, because of their lack of...cars...points and money payout was very minimal. 4. ii posted: 06.04.2011 - 8:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was this also the first time everyone finished the race? 5. AnonymousEFR posted: 05.12.2013 - 8:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Don't think so. But still quite impressive to see everyone finish. 6. Scott B posted: 09.03.2015 - 5:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Average race speed was faster than the pole speed. 7. STATMAN posted: 09.03.2015 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) One of only 7 Sprint Cup races that everyone finished (No DNF's) 1959 Music City 200 (Nashville) 12 Cars 1995 Tyson Holly Farms 400 (North Wilkesboro) 37 Cars 1996 Tyson Holly Farms 400 (North Wilkesboro) 36 Cars 2007 Sylvania 300 (Loudon) 43 Cars 2008 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 (Richmond) 43 Cars 2013 Crown Royal Presents The Samuel Deeds 400 (Indianapolis) 43 Cars 2015 Auto Club 400 (Fontana) 43 Cars 8. nascar_vd / Racing-Reference.info posted: 05.20.2017 - 12:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) W1959-16 Driver standings after this race (top25): 1) Lee Petty = 5016 2) Cotton Owens = 4396 3) Tom Pistone = 3260 4) Junior Johnson = 3228 5) Speedy Thompson = 3004 6) Johnny Beauchamp = 2816 7) Joe Weatherly = 2628 8) Jim Reed = 2112 9) Curtis Turner = 2080 10) Jack Smith = 2072 11) Herman Beam = 1888 12) Bob Welborn = 1820 13) Buck Baker = 1736 14) Tiny Lund = 1684 15) Rex White = 1524 16) L.D. Austin = 1492 17) Johnny Allen = 1472 18) Tim Flock = 1464 19) Dick Freeman = 1352 20) Raul Cilloniz = 1272 21) Elmo Langley = 1196 22) Richard Petty = 1180 23) Harvey Hege = 1152 24) Jim McGuirk = 928 25) Roy Tyner = 896 9. Graham Clayton posted: 12.05.2018 - 10:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why only 12 starters? 10. Spen posted: 12.06.2018 - 7:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) My guess is only 12 guys showed up. Tennessee took a while to really become part of 'NASCAR country'. We didn't start racing there at all until '56, and until DW, most Tennessee drivers were stuck in underfunded rides. BTW, welcome back, Clayton! Haven't seen you here in years. 11. David posted: 12.06.2018 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The average speed of this (caution-free) race exceeded the pole-winning speed. You don't see that very often even in races where there are no cautions. 12. Leo posted: 12.07.2018 - 9:08 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Is there any video footage of this race? On paper it looks like quite an event. Caution free, dominant cars coming and going and a late race pass for the win. Has all the makings of an enjoyable race. And beyond this race specifically, can anyone recommend any race footage of short track events from this era? These are big, big cars and no doubt would have been hard work to manhandle around those tiny bullring style tracks. 13. RaceFanX posted: 12.07.2018 - 10:04 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I doubt there is any footage of this one. If I recall correctly no big television coverage is known to exist for any races prior to the 1962 Southern 500. There are some newsreels from the period (filmed to be shown in movie theaters) but those tended to focus on the bigger races (Daytona, Atlanta, Darlington, etc.) or ones with outside factors that would have brought in a film crew (races at state fairs, etc.). The rise of television coverage as NASCAR became common on "ABC Wide World of Sports" and programs like "Car and Track" made this less of an issue from about the mid-1960s onward but it wouldn't be until mid-1980s that every race had some form of coverage (1989 was the first year every race aired live, flag-to-flag). 14. RaceFanX posted: 12.07.2018 - 10:08 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Even into the 1980s I think Nashville was usually a track TV skipped. The Nashville Network (TNN) launched in 1983 and covered lots of motor sports, alongside its main focus on country music and its lifestyle, and once that occurred NASCAR at Nashville got regular coverage (it was their hometown after all). Ironically this change happened just in time for NASCAR to drop the track from the Cup schedule in 1984...but lower level racers like the All Pro series and its annual All American 400 got lots of coverage here as did the Busch Series, Trucks, and even the local weekly racers until TNN discontinued almost all its motorsports coverage in 2000 when they lost the rights to NASCAR's top-2 series...Nashville Speedway actually closed that same year. 15. Leo posted: 12.07.2018 - 10:33 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Thanks, RFX. I wasn't expecting to find footage, but had to ask regardless. Despite the Superspeedways appearing to be the greatest NASCAR spectacle on paper, I must admit that the early short track scene interests me considerably more. As someone that has long appreciated the racing of yesteryear across many vastly different disciplines, I have a real soft spot for big ugly stock cars on uncomfortably small short tracks. 16. Dan posted: 12.07.2018 - 6:10 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) #13 - "If I recall correctly no big television coverage is known to exist for any races prior to the 1962 Southern 500." Not true, CBS sent camera crews to Daytona in 1960 to cover several races. In fact, there was even a blog on this site not too long ago on that very subject. 17. Spen posted: 12.07.2018 - 9:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember coming across some footage from Occoneechee from '57. That's about it in terms of short track coverage from the era. 18. Hpdrifter posted: 12.12.2018 - 10:22 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) RaceFanX Nashville Speedway is still open. Runs a limited local schedule (7 or 8 dates a year) plus an Arca race. Also the AA 400 still runs. 19. RaceFanX posted: 12.13.2018 - 1:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @16 Some earlier coverages took place but they seem to be lost to time. Although there are other non-tv coverage sources of earlier races that exist like newsreels and promotional films. 20. AntonyBlalock posted: 06.21.2020 - 6:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) What Arca is trying to strive to be. :P ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: