1956 Buddy Shuman 250

1956 Buddy Shuman 250

Race details
Race 55 of 56 in the 1956 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date	November 11, 1956 (1956-11-11)
Official name	Buddy Shuman 250
Location	Hickory Speedway Hickory, U.S.
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.400 mi (0.644 km)
Distance	250 laps, 100 mi (150 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 64.9 °F (18.3 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
Average speed	66.420 miles per hour (106.893 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ralph Earnhardt	Pete DePaolo
Most laps led
Driver	Speedy Thompson	Carl Kiekhaefer
Laps	154
Winner
No. 300	Speedy Thompson	Carl Kiekhaefer
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1956 Buddy Shuman 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on November 11, 1956 at Hickory Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina.

Summary

Ralph Earnhardt would make his NASCAR Cup Series debut here; being the first member of the Earnhardt family to enter the organization. 250 laps took place on a dirt track that spanned 0.400 miles or 0.644 kilometres per lap; for a grand total of 100.0 miles or 160.9 kilometres. The race took one hour and thirty minutes to successfully conclude with Speedy Thompson defeating Earnhardt by four seconds in front of 3500 live spectators. The average speed of the race would be 66.420 miles per hour or 106.893 kilometres per hour while the pole position winner would dial in at a speed of 68.278 miles per hour or 109.883 kilometres per hour. All 22 racers on the starting grid were American-born males.

Other notable racers of the era like Tiny Lund, Lee Petty, and Buck Baker would make an appearance during this race. Billy Carden would be credited for making the race's last-place finish with a clutch problem on lap 9. DePaolo Engineering would sponsor four of the drivers in the race (Earnhardt, Ralph Moody, Bill Amick, and Carden). The combined prize purse for this race was $4,285; with the winner (Speedy Thompson) taking home $850 ($9,525.83 when adjusted for inflation) while Pete Yow would be the 20th place finisher bringing home a meager $50 ($560.34 when adjusted for inflation). Blackie Pitt and Billy Carden both failed to make a paycheck during this race; causing them to lose money for their hard efforts.

By the 1990s, NASCAR's top-level series became a media circus that only races at facilities that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Finishing order

1. Speedy Thompson†
2. Ralph Earnhardt†
3. Buck Baker†
4. Ralph Moody†
5. Doug Cox
6. Bill Amick†
7. Tiny Lund†
8. Johnny Dodson
9. Bill Champion†
10. Bill Blair†
11. Lee Petty*†
12. Pete Stewart
13. George Green
14. Johnny Allen
15. Junior Johnson*
16. Brownie King
17. Bobby Keck*†
18. Jack Smith*†
19. Bobby Myers*†
20. Pete Yow*
21. Blackie Pitt*†
22. Billy Carden*†

† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race

Timeline

• Start of race: Buck Baker starts off the race in the pole position
• Lap 9: Billy Carden's faulty vehicle clutch would render him the last-place finisher for this event
• Lap 39: Junior Johnson takes over the lead from Buck Baker
• Lap 63: Blackie Pett developed engine problems with his vehicle
• Lap 82: Ralph Earnhardt takes over the lead from Junior Johnson
• Lap 89: Pete Yow suddenly had a faulty transmission in his racing vehicle
• Lap 97: Speedy Thompson takes over the lead from Ralph Earnhardt
• Lap 105: Bobby Myers' radiator went haywire; forcing him out of the race
• Lap 126: Jack Smith's vehicle developed the same problem as Bobby Myers back on lap 105
• Lap 179: Bobby Keck had to leave the race due to a problem with his vehicle's bearings
• Lap 210: Junior Johnson's vapor lock developed issues; forcing him to exit the event
• Lap 232: The right rear axle of Lee Petty's vehicle became problematic; causing him to leave the race
• End of race: Speedy Thompson wins the race