|| *Comments on the 1959 Southern 500:* View the most recent comment <#32> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. dalejrfan14 posted: 05.28.2006 - 8:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The king leads his first laps 2. tgav95 posted: 08.14.2008 - 10:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Goodyears first win since re-entering racing! 3. Billy Kingsley posted: 08.21.2008 - 8:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jim Reed actually won in a 1959 Chevrolet Impala, not a 1957 Chevrolet as listed. The car has been "restored" but it does not look like the car looked in 1959. It resides in the Darlington museum. Jim Reed is a hometown hero-my family is from Peekskill NY, and every time we return to visit family we pass Jim Reed's GMC Truck Sales. This was the final of his seven career wins, which coincidentally matched his usual car number. He had much success in NASCAR but it was spread out through all the series, not just the Grand National series. He is still racing, but now is racing high-speed airplanes instead of cars! (as of 2008) 4. RaceFanX posted: 11.26.2009 - 11:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Caspolich was not just sponsored by the City of Florence, SC...They OWNED the car. According to the 1996 edition of the Stock Car Racing Encyclopedia the city bought Lee Petty's Daytona 500-winning Oldsmobile to field it with Caspolich at the wheel in the Southern 500. 5. Anonymous posted: 02.20.2010 - 5:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dick Blackwell's owner was Tommy Irwin. 6. David posted: 06.12.2012 - 1:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Final start for Bud Crothers. 7. spinpsychle posted: 11.04.2012 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the only race for Bill Champion, who scored 1120 points for 12th, and Joe Caspolich who scored 1040 for 13th. If you keep the 80-point drop throughout, then 1st was worth 2,000 on down to 80 for 25th. This is my only clue as to what the 59 point system was. Lee Petty has 11 wins but 11,792 points so they couldn't all be worth 2,000. 8. Ed posted: 01.07.2013 - 4:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) A set of photos from some slides I purchased. I think these are from the opening ceremony of this race. http://www.flickr.com/photos/zzazazz/sets/72157624248718228/ 9. rob posted: 08.09.2013 - 12:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Five years later , it's still a fact. Reed drove a 59 Chevy. 10. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 03.13.2015 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update #47 Open Nov. 22 Atlanta International Raceway http://hostingbytes.us/images/3/5758575.jpg 11. simonracer posted: 04.22.2015 - 2:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Junior Johnson put #11 over the wall after rolling several times in practice and withdrew. 12. shiftysteve posted: 09.09.2016 - 2:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) A previous comment mentioned that this was Bill Champion's only race. Not true. Bill Champion raced from '51 to '76 and while never winning a race had 4 top 5's. He is best known for driving the #10 Sunny King Ford. He was also Ricky Rudd's uncle. Although there were several '57 Chevys in the race including the 3rd place Bobby Johns car, Jim Reed WAS in a '59. I got to interview Rex White for a radio show and he told me a funny story about his '59 Chevy. He picked the car up in Michigan and picked up a hitch-hiker on his way back south. It was his first 4sp car and was trying it out. The hitch-hiker baled at the first gas stop! 13. spinpsychle posted: 12.30.2016 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) at comment 12: I was only thinking of 1959. Trying figure out what each race was worth by picking out the people who ran 1 or 2 races that year. Somebody did it for another year: I think if you look at the last race of '63 or '64 they posted about it there. I could've done that for 1959 but it takes a lot of time. I remember learning to drive a stick. I would've probably bailed on that trip, too. 14. Rob posted: 01.14.2017 - 3:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nine years later and it's still the truth. Reed drove a 1959 Chevy that day. 15. Dennis Garrett posted: 03.16.2018 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 8. Ed posted: 01.07.2013 - 4:53 pm Rate this comment: Like this comment (1) Dislike this comment (0) A set of photos from some slides I purchased. I think these are from the opening ceremony of this race. http://www.flickr.com/photos/zzazazz/sets/72157624248718228/ The above is 1956 Southern 500 photos NASCAR Grand National race number 44 of 56 Monday, September 3, 1956 at Darlington Raceway, Darlington, SC 364 laps on a 1.375 mile paved track (500.5 miles) Fin 48 St 47 #30 driver:Clyde Palmer owner:Jack Chatenay '56 Plymouth Fin 40 St 61 #34 driver:Dick Beaty owner:Ike Kiser '56 Ford Fin 17 St 68 #35 driver:Lee Petty Sponsor:Mullen Special owner:(Fred Frazier) '56 Ford 16. Eric posted: 07.01.2019 - 11:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) How in the world was the #91 car 275 laps down 17. Tarheel posted: 07.01.2019 - 11:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 16, must have had a problem early in the race, spent most of the day fixing it, and then came back out and was on track at the finish. That use to happen quite frequently if the team thought they could pick up a few points. 18. possum posted: 07.01.2019 - 6:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @17 - it actually is a good question @16 asked. Points didn't count for anything back then - teams didn't start going back out for points until the Winston Cup days. And he clearly didn't get any extra money for going back out, since he's shown as getting the same $150 as all the DNFs. Three possibilities that occur to me are: he just wanted to run a few more laps for fun; or, he wanted to finish ahead of one of the other cars that was out of the race due to a personal rivalry; or, he was pissed at someone still running, and planned to show them his displeasure (if he could catch up to them). I doubt we will ever know. 19. Anthony posted: 07.01.2019 - 6:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The #91 was 272 laps down. 20. Tarheel posted: 07.01.2019 - 9:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 18, I didn't suggest that 16 wasn't a good question, I merely gave my thoughts on a possible explanation. 21. ScottB posted: 07.02.2019 - 12:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It may have been the unknown car owner's call to get back on the track, not the driver's. Castles only ran 5 GN division races this season, so he wouldn't have cared much about driver's points. With little known about the car owner, though, we can assume it was a small time operation. I could see being on the track at the finish for the 500 being a matter of pride in that case, even if it didn't matter as far as points or money. 22. possum posted: 07.02.2019 - 7:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @20 - sorry, didn't mean to imply that you did. Just that the answer to the question wasn't as obvious one might think from your answer. @21 - well, again, back then no-one gave a damn about drivers points, regardless of how many races they ran. It wasn't until Winston came on the scene that the driver's championship amounted to much more than a nice trophy. There's a pretty good chance Castles was his own car owner, with the car renumbered from his usual #86 because there was another #86 in the race. But you're right, it could have been simply a matter of pride. Or even "I spent the last 3 hours fixing this thing, I'm damn well going to get some laps in". 23. BOBO83329521 posted: 11.07.2019 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was Cale Yarborough still racing illegallly in this race like he was in ?57? 24. MSportRev posted: 11.07.2019 - 5:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Driver Change Update: Ben Benz qualified the No. 55 before Johnny Patterson took over prior to the start of the race. 25. Matthew posted: 11.26.2019 - 10:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Probably one of, if not the only time ever that a race track advertised its grand opening by sponsoring a car in one of NASCAR's biggest races. Atlanta International Raceway sponsored Jack Smith's car with their opening date, November 22. Interestingly, though, there weren't any races scheduled at the track until July 1960. 26. Wil posted: 11.26.2019 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't understand how a race where the 2nd place finisher is 2 laps down is exciting. I think NASCAR of old was a fad, supported by the sounds and smells of old stock cars and oil and rubber. Quite simply I think the world today is less about good ol American muscle and more about futuristic technology, which doesn't play in Nascar's hands. 27. GiveMajeskiAChance posted: 11.27.2019 - 7:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) That "futuristic technology" has made it even worse. F1, for example, is a complete shitshow. 28. Leo posted: 11.27.2019 - 7:37 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) #26 - it's about the journey, not the destination. The great thing about motorsport is there is so much more to appreciate than just the end result. 29. MasonShell24 posted: 12.02.2019 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first time Coca-Cola sponsored a car, Joe Weatherly, who finished 43rd. 30. Rob posted: 10.15.2020 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So at what point was Reed finally credited with a 59 Chevy LOL ? Oh yeah, note the Cotton Owens sponsor...Thunder Chicken ! 31. ScottB posted: 10.16.2020 - 7:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't know where the confusion comes from. Reed is listed correctly as being in a 1959 Impala on the initial entry list, and there are photos to confirm that was in fact what he drove that day. 32. ScottB posted: 10.19.2020 - 6:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Looking at the entry list printed in the event program, there are a bunch of drivers listed that don't show up on this page. Take it with a grain of salt, since these sources are not always accurate do to being sent to the printers in advance of race day. But, some POSSIBLE withdrawls or DNQ's as follows: Ken Rush, High Point NC, 58 Ford Gene White, Marietta GA, 59 Impala Gerald Duke, College Park GA, 59 T-Bird Doug Cox, Greenville. SC, 57 Ford Larry Frank, Greenville SC 57, Chevy Shorty Rollins, Corpus Christie TX, 58 Ford Buck Brigance, Charlotte NC, 57 Chevy Whitey Norman, Winston-Salem NC, 57 Chevy Glen Wood, Stuart VA, 58 Ford Ned Jarrett, Newton NC, 57 Ford Pat Moore, Clymer NY, 59 Ford Dick Getty, Van Nuys CA, 59 Impala Jim Cook, Norwalk CA, 57 Chevy Dave White, Laurel MD, 58 Chevy M.B. Wright, Lake Worth FL, 58 Ford Ben Benz, Far Rockaway NY, 57 Chevy Harlan Richardson, Texas City TX, 58 Ford Dom Persicketti, Trenton NJ, 57 Ford Aubrey Bales, High Point NC, 58 Plymouth Johnny Dollar, Bay Shore NY, 58 Ford Harry Baker, Sumter SC, 59 Dodge Bill Scott, Winston-Salem NC, 57 Chevy Scott Cain/Eddie Pagan, Los Angeles CA, 59 T-Bird A few notes: The Cain/Pagan listing makes it look like a single entry, but they were both very capable West Coast racers. If they were planning on making the trip, maybe they intended to bring 2 cars, but travel together to cut costs? The M.B. Wright listing is in parenthesis. There's no explanation of what that means. Possibly an owner, with the driver TBA? There was a driver Millard Wright active in this era, but his hometown was different. Not only are many drivers on this entry list not shown in the results, the opposite is also true. Roy Tyner and some others ran the race, but don't show up on the published list (possibly late entries). Billy Cash, who is tagged as a WD here, is not listed in the program's entry list. Junior Johnson is, driving a 59 Dodge, and his WD is due to a wreck in practice. Lastly, Joe Lee Johnson is listed as having a 1957 Chevy in the program, but drove a 1959 Chevy in the race. This one is possibly explained by Joe Lee doing a start for owner Chester Barron here, instead of his usual self-owned entry. Just bringing it up due to the Jim Reed misunderstanding. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: