1951 NASCAR Grand National Series

The 1951 NASCAR Grand National season was the third season of professional stock car racing in the United States. Beginning at the Daytona Beach Road Course on February 5, 1951, the season included forty-one races. The season concluded at New Mobile Speedway on November 25. Herb Thomas won the Drivers' Championship with a 21st-place finish at the final race of the season.

Season recap

Date	Event	Circuit	Winner
February 5, 1951	1951–01	Daytona Beach Road Course	Marshall Teague
April 1, 1951	1951–02	Charlotte Speedway	Curtis Turner
April 8, 1951	1951–03	Lakeview Speedway	Tim Flock
April 8, 1951	1951–04	Carrell Speedway	Marshall Teague
April 15, 1951	1951–05	Occoneechee Speedway	Fonty Flock
April 22, 1951	1951–06	Arizona State Fairgrounds	Marshall Teague
April 29, 1951	Wilkes County 150	North Wilkesboro Speedway	Fonty Flock
May 6, 1951	1951–08	Martinsville Speedway	Curtis Turner
May 30, 1951	Poor Man's 500	Canfield Speedway	Marshall Teague
June 10, 1951	1951–10	Columbus Speedway	Tim Flock
June 16, 1951	1951–11	Columbia Speedway	Frank Mundy
June 24, 1951	1951–12	Dayton Speedway	Curtis Turner
June 30, 1951	1951–13	Carrell Speedway	Lou Figaro
July 1, 1951	1951–14	Grand River Speedrome	Marshall Teague
July 8, 1951	1951–15	Bainbridge Speedway	Fonty Flock
July 15, 1951	1951–16	Heidelberg Raceway	Herb Thomas
July 29, 1951	1951–17	Asheville-Weaverville Speedway	Fonty Flock
July 31, 1951	1951–18	Monroe County Fairgrounds	Lee Petty
August 1, 1951	1951–19	Altamont-Schenectady Fairgrounds	Fonty Flock
August 12, 1951	Motor City 250	Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway	Tommy Thompson
August 19, 1951	1951–21	Fort Miami Speedway	Tim Flock
August 24, 1951	1951–22	Morristown Speedway	Tim Flock
August 25, 1951	1951–23	Air Base Speedway	Bob Flock
September 3, 1951	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway	Herb Thomas
September 7, 1951	1951–25	Columbia Speedway	Tim Flock
September 8, 1951	1951–26	Central City Speedway	Herb Thomas
September 15, 1951	1951–27	Langhorne Speedway	Herb Thomas
September 23, 1951	1951–28	Charlotte Speedway	Herb Thomas
September 23, 1951	1951–29	Dayton Speedway	Fonty Flock
September 30, 1951	1951–30	Wilson Speedway	Fonty Flock
October 7, 1951	1951–31	Occoneechee Speedway	Herb Thomas
October 12, 1951	1951–32	Thompson Speedway	Neil Cole
October 14, 1951	1951–33	Pine Grove Speedway	Tim Flock
October 14, 1951	1951–34	Martinsville Speedway	Frank Mundy
October 14, 1951	1951–35	Oakland Stadium	Marvin Burke
October 21, 1951	Wilkes 200	North Wilkesboro Speedway	Fonty Flock
October 28, 1951	1951–37	Marchbanks Speedway	Danny Weinberg
November 4, 1951	1951–38	Jacksonville Speedway Park	Herb Thomas
November 11, 1951	1951–39	Lakeview Speedway	Tim Flock
November 11, 1951	1951–40	Carrell Speedway	Bill Norton
November 25, 1951	1951–41	New Mobile Speedway	Frank Mundy

Race summaries

1951–01

The first race of the 1951 season was run on February 5 at the Daytona Beach Road Course in Daytona Beach, Florida. Tim Flock won the pole position.

Top ten results

1951–02

The second race of the 1951 season was held on April 1 at the Charlotte Speedway. Fonty Flock won the pole

Top ten results

1951–03

The third race of the 1951 season was held on April 8 at the Lakeview Speedway in Mobile, Alabama. Red Harrelson won the pole

Top ten results

1951–04

The fourth race of the 1951 season was held on April 8 at the Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California. It was the first NASCAR race ever staged west of the Mississippi River. Andy Pierce won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–05

The fifth race of the 1951 season was held on April 15 at the Occoneechee Speedway. Fonty Flock won the pole. The race ended after 95 laps due to rain.

Top ten results

1951–06

The sixth race of the 1951 season was held on April 22 at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. Fonty Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

Wilkes County 150

The seventh race of the 1951 season was held on April 29 at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. Fonty Flock won the pole

Top ten results

1951–08

The eight race of the 1951 season was held on May 6 at the Martinsville Speedway. Tim Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

Poor Man's 500

The ninth race of the 1951 season was held on May 30 at the Canfield Speedway. Bill Rexford won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–10

The tenth race of the 1951 season was held on June 10 at the Columbus Speedway in Columbus, Georgia. Gober Sosebee won the pole. During the first caution, Marshall Teague suffered a leg injury when his car was hit in the side near the back straightaway by Fireball Roberts.

Top ten results

1951–11

The eleventh race of the 1951 season was held on June 16 at the Columbia Speedway in Columbia, South Carolina. Frank Mundy won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–12

The twelfth race of the 1951 season was held on June 24 at the Dayton Speedway. Tim Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–13

The thirteenth race of the 1951 season was held on June 30 at the Carrell Speedway. Lou Figaro won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–14

The fourteenth race of the 1951 season was held on July 1 at the Grand River Speedrome in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Marshall Teague won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–15

The fifteenth race of the 1951 season was held on July 8 at the Bainbridge Speedway in Bainbridge, Ohio. Fonty Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–16

The sixteenth race of the 1951 season was held on July 15 at the Heidelberg Raceway. Fonty Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–17

The seventeenth race of the 1951 season was held on July 29 at the Asheville-Weaverville Speedway. Fonty Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–18

The eighteenth race of the 1951 season was held on July 31 at the Monroe County Fairgrounds in Rochester, New York. Fonty Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–19

The nineteenth race of the 1951 season was held on August 1 at the Altamont-Schenectady Fairgrounds. Fonty Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

Motor City 250

The twentieth race of the 1951 season was held on August 12 at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway. Marshall Teague won the pole. This race had five cautions including nine cars with mechanical problems and a 10-car wreck on lap 130. The race ended with 21 cars on the lead lap. Late in the race leaders Curtis Turner and Tommy Thompson tangled. Thompson went on to win while Turner finished ninth.

Top ten results

1951–21

The twenty-first race of the 1951 season was held on August 19 at the newly-surfaced Fort Miami Speedway in Toledo, Ohio. Fonty Flock won the pole. This was the first NASCAR Grand National race held at this .500 mile dirt track. The track was removed from the schedule until at least 1952.

Top ten results

1951–22

The twenty-second race of the 1951 season was held on August 24 at the Morristown Speedway. Tim Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–23

The twenty-third race of the 1951 season was held on August 25 at the Air Base Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina, not at the Greenville-Pickens Speedway as originally reported.^[1] Tim Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

Southern 500

The second running of this race and the twenty-fourth race of the 1951 season was held on September 3 at the Darlington Raceway. Frank Mundy won the pole. The race featured an 82-car field. This was Red Byron's last career start.

Top ten results

1951–25

The twenty-fifth race of the 1951 season was held on September 7 at the Columbia Speedway. Tim Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–26

The twenty-sixth race of the 1951 season was held on September 8 at the Central City Speedway. Bob Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–27

The twenty-seventh race of the 1951 season was held on September 15 at the Langhorne Speedway. Fonty Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–28

The twenty-eight race of the 1951 season was held on September 23 at the Charlotte Speedway. Billy Carden won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–29

The twenty-ninth race of the 1951 season was held on September 23 at the Dayton Speedway. Fonty Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–30

The thirtieth race of the 1951 season was held on September 30 at the newly .500 mile dirt track Wilson Speedway. Fonty Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–31

The thirty-first race of the 1951 season was held on October 7 at the one-mile dirt Occoneechee Speedway. Herb Thomas won his first career pole.

Top ten results

1951–32

The thirty-second race of the 1951 season was held on October 12 at the half-mile paved Thompson Speedway in Connecticut. Neil Cole won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–33

The thirty-third race of the 1951 season was held on October 14 at the half-mile dirt Pine Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania.

Top ten results

1951–34

The thirty-fourth race of the 1951 season was held on October 14 at the half-mile dirt Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. Herb Thomas won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–35

The thirty-fifth race of the 1951 season was held on October 14 at the .625 mile dirt Oakland Stadium in California. Dick Rathman won the pole.

Top ten results

18-Marvin Burke
84-Robert Caswell
Woody Brown
55-Sam Hawks
9-Dick Meyer
56-Marvin Panch
33-Lou Figaro
Bill Norton
John Soares
Walt Davis

Burke remains the only driver in NASCAR history to win in his only start.

Wilkes 200

The third running of this race and the thirty-sixth race of the 1951 season was held on October 21 at the .625 mile dirt North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina. Herb Thomas won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–37

The thirty-seventh race of the 1951 season was held on October 28 at the half-mile dirt Marchbanks Speedway in California. Dick Rathman won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–38

The thirty-eighth race of the 1951 season was held on November 4 at the half-mile dirt Jacksonville Speedway Park in Florida. Herb Thomas won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–39

The thirty-ninth race of the 1951 season was held on November 11 at the one-mile dirt Lakeview Speedway in Georgia. Frank Mundy won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–40

The fortieth race of the 1951 season was held on November 11 at the half-mile dirt Carrell Speedway in California. Fonty Flock won the pole.

Top ten results

1951–41

The forty-first and last race of the 1951 season was held on November 25 at the .750 mile dirt New Mobile Speedway. Frank Mundy won the pole. Herb Thomas finished 21st and went home as 1951 NASCAR Grand National champion. Fonty and Tim Flock finished fourth and second respectively to eventually finish second and third in the championship, and their brother Bob Flock got in a massive accident and broke his neck when his roof collapsed. Mundy's win at New Mobile propelled him to fifth in the final standings, while Lee Petty, winner of just one race, at the Monroe County Fairgrounds, finished 16th in the race to claim fourth in the standings.

Top ten results

Final points standings

Pos	Driver	Starts	Win	Top 5s	Top 10s	Pole	Laps led	Earnings	Pts	+\-
1	Herb Thomas	35	7	16	18	4	1186	$21,025	4208.45
2	Fonty Flock	34	8	20	22	13	1708	$15,535	4062.25	–146.2
3	Tim Flock	30	7	19	21	7	841	$15,155	3722.5	–485.95
4	Lee Petty	32	1	11	19	0	99	$7,340	2392.25	–1,816.2
5	Frank Mundy	26	3	9	12	4	445	$7,095	1963.5	–2,244.95
6	Buddy Shuman	7	0	1	7	0	0	$2,755	1368.75	–2,839.7
7	Jesse James Taylor	10	0	1	3	0	104	$3,700	1214	–2,994.45
8	Dick Rathman	15	0	4	7	1	30	$3,480	1040	–3,168.45
9	Bill Snowden	13	0	3	9	0	0	$2,365	1009.25	–3,199.2
10	Joe Eubanks	12	0	3	3	0	7	$3,350	1005.5	–3,202.95
Source: ^[2]

References

^ Page 12 of January 2015 SPEED SPORT magazine article entitled NASCAR's Forgotten Race.
^ "NASCAR Grand National standings for 1951". Racing-reference.info. Retrieved June 22, 2017.

Racing Reference

[1] Page 12 of January 2015 SPEED SPORT magazine article entitled NASCAR's Forgotten Race.

[2] "NASCAR Grand National standings for 1951". Racing-reference.info. Retrieved June 22, 2017.

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