1956 Wilkes County 160
The 1956 Wilkes County 160 was a 160-lap race in the NASCAR Grand National Series that was held on April 8, 1956 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.[1] The attendance at the race reached 7500 people[1] and the race was held in a matter of one hour, 24 minutes, and 28 seconds.[1] There were 160 laps done on a .625 mile dirt track with the total distance of the race being 100 miles[1]. The average speed being 71.034 miles per hour[1] and the pole position speed was considered to be 78.37 miles per hour.[1] Top ten finishers of the race were: Tim Flock,[1] Billy Myers,[1] Jim Paschal,[1] Herb Thomas,[1] Ralph Moody,[1] Dink Widenhouse,[1] Allen Adkins,[1] Lee Petty,[1] Bill Blair,[1] and Whitey Norman.[1] Other notable racers included: Fireball Roberts,[1] Buck Baker,[1] Gwyn Staley,[1] Junior Johnson,[1] and Tiny Lund.[1] Dick Beaty (who finished twelfth place in the race) would go on to become the "top cop" in NASCAR decades later; passing a rule requiring vehicles to "pass to the right" on the restart.[2]
The three major corporate sponsors of that time were: C U Later Alligator,[1] Southeastern Dealers,[1] and Satcher Motors.[1] Out of the 29 competitors for this race, there were 13 race car drivers that failed to finish - leaving 16 drivers that ended up competing the entire 160 laps (100 miles) of the race.[1] The most common problem was the piston (which occurred in two different drivers).[1] After racing, the top prize was $1,100 ($12,327.54 in today's money) and the prize for last place was $0.[1] Due to the niche status of the sport at that time, this event was completely untelevised and could only be seen either live or through local radio. NASCAR's then-current prize structure only gave out monetary rewards from first place to twentieth place; all other finishers did not receive any prize winnings at all[1] (compared to today where everybody gets at least $100,000+ for being in the race).
Several models of automobile participated in the race including: Ford (active), Chevrolet (active), Pontiac (defunct), Dodge (active), Mercury (active), and Plymouth (defunct).[1] This was the only race for North Wilkesboro Speedway in the entire 1956 season.[2]
Results
Tim Flock (first victory for Chrysler at this track[2])- Billy Myers (less than 1 lap behind - highest winning Mercury)
- Jim Paschal (less than 1 lap behind)
- Herb Thomas (less than 1 lap behind - highest winning Chevrolet)
- Ralph Moody (1 lap behind - highest winning Ford)
- Dink Widenhouse (2 laps behind)
- Allen Adkins (2 laps behind)
- Lee Petty (2 laps behind - highest finishing Dodge)
- Bill Blair (9 laps behind)
- Whitey Norman (10 laps behind)
- Buck Baker (12 laps behind)
- Dick Beaty (13 laps behind)
- Ed Cole (15 laps behind)
- Tiny Lund (18 laps behind - highest finishing Pontiac)
- Gwyn Staley* (26 laps behind)
- Ken Milligan (26 laps behind)
- Joe Eubanks* (27 laps behind)
- Speedy Thompson* (33 laps behind - also led the most laps)
- Rex White* (48 laps behind)
- John McVitty* (58 laps behind)
- Dick Blackwell (58 laps behind)
- Jimmie Lewallen* (67 laps behind)
- Lou Spears* (77 laps behind)
- Ralph Liguori* (115 laps behind)
- Fireball Roberts* (122 laps behind)
- Johnny Allen* (138 laps behind)
- Bobby Keck* (138 laps behind)
- Junior Johnson* (143 laps behind)
- Harvey Henderson* (147 laps behind)
Note: * denotes that the driver failed to finish the race.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac "1956 Wilkes County 160 information". Racing Reference. Archived from the original on 2009-10-08. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "Additional 1956 Wilkes County 160 information". Save the Speedway. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
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