November 9, 1958 - Welborn is Champion's champ

The 1959 NASCAR Grand National season began on November 9, 1958. The 1/3-mile, paved Champion Speedway in Fayetteville, North Carolina hosted a 150-lap, 50-mile race to open the '59 season.

Source: The Robesonian via Google News Archive

February 1959 brought fans the first Daytona 500 with Lee Petty declared the winner after a multi-day dispute (and promotion). To get to Daytona, however, the GN regulars first had to begin the season a in Fayetteville on November 2nd.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

Mother Nature decided she'd control the opening of the 1959 season rather than Big Bill France. The race was rained out and rescheduled for a week later on November 9th.

When the cars returned the following Sunday, Bob Welborn won the pole in Julian Petty's Chevrolet. Rex White in another Chevy started second. Roy Tyner (whose mother later married Julian) timed third. NASCAR Hall of Famers Glen Wood and Buck Baker rounded out the top five starters.

Lee Petty started sixth in his customary #42 Oldsmobile, but his young son sported a number most commonly associated these days with Jeff Gordon. Richard Petty reversed his dad's number, qualified 13th, and raced #24 for the first and only time in his career.

Welborn led the first nine laps before Rex White muscled his Chevy out front. Welborn followed in the tire tracks of the leader, but he seemed content to follow Rex. Rex lost the lead on lap 42 when his Chevy began to overheat. White's problem allowed Welborn to re-take the lead which he held until the checkered flag.

The future King held the middle for the duration of the race. He qualified 13th for the 25-car field, led no laps, and finished right where he started - 13th.

After four Grand National races in the span of a 12-month period, the series did not return to the track. Champion also hosted four NASCAR convertible races - three before the first GN race and one after the final GN event. Coincidentally, Welborn won the first convertible race in 1956 to go along with his victory in the final GN race.

Though records indicate Welborn raced for Julian Petty, I'm not convinced. Julian sold his equipment to his son-in-law Roy Tyner after the 1958 season. I'm not sure if the transaction was made after the season ended or the year, but it may well have been right before the 1959 season officially began at Champion. Tyner raced a self-owned #49 Chevrolet at Fayetteville - Welborn's number throughout 1958 and for many of his previous seasons. Welborn won with #46 on the door of his Chevrolet. Julian may have held a car back to field for Welborn and simply inverted the 9 to a 6. If Julian indeed owned the car, Welborn's victory was his last with Julian as the owner.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

Thanks to fellow Petty fan Tim Leeming for info about Champion Speedway in Fayetteville and the 1958 GN race.

TMC

October 13, 1957 - Gwyn Staley Nabs Norfolk

North Wilkesboro's Gwyn Staley ran about half the NASCAR Grand National races in 1955 and 1956 - with pretty much all of them behind the wheel of Chevrolet's fielded by car owner Hubert Westmoreland. (Johnny Mantz won the first Southern 500 in a Plymouth fielded by Westmoreland.)

In 1956, Staley and Westmoreland ran about half the convertible division's races in addition to their GN schedule. In 1957, Staley and Westmoreland began their season focused only on the convertible races - perhaps in an effort to claim the division's championship that was won by Bob Welborn in 1956.

View image | gettyimages.com

For whatever reason, the duo parted ways about half-way through the season. Staley hired on with Julian Petty to run most of the remaining convertible races as well as a dozen GN events.

The new arrangement paid dividends early for Staley in the GN races as he won three times in Julian's cars. The convertible races were a different story though as Gwyn and Julian couldn't quite find their way to victory lane despite a number of top 5 finishes.

Then with three races to go in the 1957 season, the ragtops rolled into Virginia for a 250-lap race on the 4/10-mile, dirt Virginia Beach Speedway. (The track, built in 1947, seems to have gone through a a series of name changes over the years including Chinese Corner Speedway, Weatherly Speedway and Norfolk Speedway.)

Glen Wood won the pole in the Ford maintained by his brothers. Staley qualified on the front row alongside him in Julian's #38 Chevy. Lined up third was Welborn in his own #49 Chevy, and starting fourth was 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Joe Weatherly. Starting shotgun on the 14-car field was perhaps an unexpected entrant: Julian Petty. In addition to fielding Staley's car, Julian saddled up in the #88 Oldsmobile belonging to his older brother Lee. The race was Julian's one and only career convertible start - and his first race as a driver since June 1955.

Welborn controlled the race as was often the case in the convertible races from 1956-1958. When he made a pit stop with 40 laps to go, however, Staley was able to take the lead from him. Staley was able to prevail over the remaining laps to finally secure the long-sought, ragtop win. Welborn soldiered on to finish second, and he all but secured his second consecutive convertible division title.

As an owner, Julian Petty had a fine day. As a driver, well... not so much. He apparently tooled around on a Sunday afternoon in a '57 Oldsmobile owned by his brother Lee. After all, he did have the top down. Though records indicate he was still running at the end of the race, Julian finished where he started - 14th and dead last - 195 laps down to the winner's car that he owned.

Source: Greensboro Daily News

The four victories in the two divisions in the back half of the schedules likely gave Gwyn Staley and Julian Petty the confidence greater things lay ahead for them in 1958. They returned the next season to run the full schedule in both series - including the beach race at Daytona.

View image | gettyimages.com

Fate had a different plan, though, and Staley was tragically killed in Julian's car on the first lap of of the convertible race at Richmond's fairgrounds raceway. His win at Norfolk in October 1957 turned out to be his final one.

TMC

October 12, 1958 - Wait another day kid

In September 1958, Lee Petty had a pretty comfortable points lead as he headed towards his second Grand National title.

Source: Wilmington News via Google News Archive

Bob Welborn had the same situation in NASCAR's convertible division. He was on pace to snag his third consecutive convertible title - but his first with car owner Julian Petty, Lee's brother.

Source: Free Lance-Star via Google News Archive 

Martinsville was scheduled to host a GN and convertible sweepstakes race on September 21, 1958.

Source: Motor Racing Programme Covers

Qualifying was held, and Glen Wood in a convertible edged out Lee Petty in his Oldsmobile hard top for the quickest time.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive 

Sunday's race was rained out, however, and rescheduled for October. Welborn had qualified Julian's convertible in September. His time along with those of the other qualifiers were carried forward to the rescheduled October date.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive 

When the teams returned in October, Welborn didn't race Julian’s #49 Chevy. Instead, he raced a #2 Petty Engineering Olds convertible.

Though the qualifying times carried over from September, the starting line-up was set by finishes in two 50-lap qualifying heats. Wood won his heat race for the convertibles, and Speedy Thompson won the hard top prelim. Those wins put the two of them on the front row. Joe Weatherly in his #1 Holman Moody Ford convertible lined up third for the big race, and Fireball Roberts started 4th in his #22 Chevrolet. Roy Tyner and #42 Lee Petty made up the third row.

Welborn's Julian Petty-owned ragtop truly got hot in the convertible heat. He wrecked the car, and the hit sparked a fire underneath the car. The damage was extensive enough to withdraw the Chevy. I'm all but certain Welborn could have missed the Martinsville race and remained in good shape to win the convertible title. But he had the experience, he had the points lead, and Martinsville promoter Clay Earles likely wanted Welborn in the show.

With Julian's Chevy smoldering, his brother came to the rescue with a replacement car. Lee Petty provided a #2 Olds convertible for Welborn to drive. But the generous offer of Lee to help his brother and a fellow driver came at a cost to another driver.

Lee moved aside the semi-regular driver of the #2 Olds - his son Richard - to give Welborn the ride. Richard raced the #2 1957 Olds as a hardtop at Hillsboro and Salisbury leading into Martinsville. The Martinsville sweepstakes race was originally scheduled the week before Hillsboro, and Richard qualified the car as a convertible.

After the Salisbury GN race, Lee and Richard unbolted the hard top for the make-up date at Martinsville. After Welborn's misfortune in Julian's car - and his second chance with Lee's offer - Richard got to channel a bit of Jerry Reed. Guess Uncle Julie trumped the Future King that day.

When the green flag dropped, Glen Wood let it be known he didn't care if they raced in September or October. Either way, he knew the quick way around the track that was just a bit more than a half-hour from his home. Wood led the race until almost the halfway mark.

Fireball stayed in the hunt with Wood. He took the lead from Wood, and he then became the rabbit for the day. Roberts did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.

Embed from Getty Images

The race was called because of darkness after only 350 of the scheduled 400 laps. If the race had gone off as scheduled a month earlier, it's likely the full distance could have been completed. Also, track and NASCAR officials lost about an hour trying to sort out who finished where in the heat races. The analysis and decisions were critical as only the top 20 cars in each 50-lap heat transferred to the main event. Because scoring efforts were so poor, a lot of time was lost dissecting who finished where. In the end, it cost the fans 50 laps of the big show.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive 

The two Petty cars had safe, title-preserving days. Lee finished seventh and Welborn finished eighth - each enough to clinch their respective titles. With his third GN title secured, Lee was free to go all-out in an effort to win his first race at North Wilkesboro the following week. (He didn't win though he did finally capture a Wilkesboro win in the spring of '59.)

Source: Star-News via Google News Archive

Richard returned to race at North Wilkesboro, Lakewood Speedway near Atlanta and Champion Speedway in Fayetteville, NC to wind down 1958. The driver and team then set about preparing for what had to have been a jaw-dropping experience - the inaugural Daytona 500 in February 1959.

Embed from Getty Images

TMC

September 15, 1957 - Gwyn Lassos Langhorne

Today's Cup schedule seems to run forever as it begins in February and finishes in November. The schedules of the 1950s and 60s, however, were a true grind for those who made a legit effort to race in all or the majority of the races.

The 45th race of the 53-event 1957 season was scheduled for September 15th at Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania. The 300-mile race was a NASCAR Sweepstakes event - a blended race of Grand National hard-top sedans and drivers from NASCAR's convertible division.

Paul Goldsmith won the pole in Smokey Yunick's #3 Ford convertible. Fireball Roberts qualified second in his hard-top sedan. Glen Wood and Lee Petty made up the second row. Bob Welborn rounded out the top 5 starters. The rest of the 48-car field was set with the quickest ragtops starting in the inside, odd-numbered positions and the sedans filling the outside, even-numbered slots.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Several starters were drivers from the northeast making their one and only or at least an infrequent GN start including:

• George Bumgardner - only start
• Bobby Abel - only start
• Roger Baldwin - 2nd of two career starts
• Jerry Benjamin - 4th of 5 career starts
• Art Binkley - 4th of 5 career starts
• Don Gray - 3rd of 5 career starts
• Dick Klank - 6th of 7 career starts
• Tommy Elliott - 6th of 7 career starts
• Ken Marriott - 4th of 5 career starts (4 at Langhorne and 5th in inaugural Daytona 500)
• Huck Spaulding - 6th of 9 career starts
• Dutch Hoag, modified ace of the northeast  - 4th and final GN race

Fans witnessed a great back and forth battle between Goldsmith and Fireball during the first third of the race. Each led a handful of laps before being passed.

Fireball was finally able to shake Goldsmith as the race neared the 100 lap mark. Two additional challengers then made their way to Roberts' bumper. First, Bill Amick of Portland, Oregon got by Roberts to lead 19 laps. Like Goldsmith, Amick's time up front was short-lived. Roberts re-took the lead, and Amick later lost an engine near the 200-lap mark.

After Fireball led for a 63-lap stint, he began having steering issues. Multi-time NASCAR Short Track Division champ Jim Reed went out front for 44 laps as Roberts fell further behind. Then Reed developed engines issues of his own, and he fell out of the race after only 220 laps.

As the race cleared the two-thirds mark, Gwyn Staley arrived. Staley was driving a Chevrolet convertible for owner Julian Petty and started the race deep in the field in 25th. He led the remaining 85 laps to take the win by a half-second or so ahead of unknown Whitey Norman. Though close at the time for the fans and drivers, a post-race scoring recheck revealed Norman was actually two laps down to Staley.

Johnny Allen came home third. The little bit of remaining drama involved the fourth and fifth place finishers. With four laps to go, Buck Baker eased by Rex White into fourth place. On the last lap, however, Baker's Chevy ran out of gas. He coasted helplessly to the finish, and White was able to pass the fading Baker to reclaim fourth.

Although Staley raced Julian's convertible, NASCAR records recognize his win as a Grand National victory. His car was the only convertible of the top five finishers.

The race also turned out to be the final Grand National race at Langhorne. Staley needed a shade over four hours to capture the win. It seems like that would have been like an eternity to wrestle the wheel around Langhorne's one-mile, dirt circle. Yet at the time, the mark was a race record.

Staley's win was also the last of three career Grand National victories. All were won in 1957, and all were at the wheel of Julian Petty's Chevrolets.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

TMC

September 14, 1958 - Welborn Stakes Salisbury

NASCAR scheduled races for two of its major series on September 14, 1958. The Grand National drivers raced at Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds for the Richmond 200. Speedy Thompson won the race, and Lee Petty finished second.

About 250 miles southwest of Richmond, Salisbury Super Speedway hosted a convertible division race, its first major NASCAR event.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

Despite what one of the preview articles said, the race was not 500 miles. It did, however, have an odd distance - 155 laps, 96.9 miles. Twenty-six cars started the race with Larry Frank on the pole. The Petty teams were quite busy that day. Papa Lee raced in Richmond, and he had two more cars in the convertible race. His brother, Julian Petty, fielded three cars at Salisbury.

Julian's three cars were driven by the soon-to-be-crowned season champion, Bob Welborn, as well as Ken Rush and Tiny Lund. Rush was returning after an early race tumble at Wilson Speedway a week earlier.

Petty Engineering's two Oldsmobiles were driven by Richard in car #2 and Fireball Roberts in Lee's traditional #42. The race was the one and only time Roberts raced in a car fielded by the Pettys. I'm sure a story exists for why Fireball piloted the Petty Olds. With both Lee and Fireball gone, the chances of learning it are slim.

For the most part, the Petty cars qualified well. Lund started on the front row in Julian's #48 Chevy alongside pole winner Frank. Fireball qualified the #42 Petty Olds third. Welborn lined up sixth, and Julian's third driver Ken Rush started 7th. Richard had to start from way back in 17th in the 26 car field, but he up his stock once the race got underway.

Lund got the jump on Frank as the green flag fell. Tiny went to the point in Julian's Chevy and stayed there for the first 78 laps. Bad racing luck hit Lund, and an issue with the engine knocked out his chances for a win. He did finish the race, but he ended up tenth and 15 laps down to the winner.

With Tiny having issues, Frank went from second to the lead. The pole-winner paced the field for the about the next thirty laps. On lap 111, however, Welborn let it be known he had not grown weary of winning. Welborn led the remaining 40+ laps to claim his eighth convertible division win of the season. The finish was pretty close as Welborn finished just a couple dozen yards ahead of second place finisher Frank.

#145021673 / gettyimages.com

Petty rallied from his deep starting spot to run with the leaders. Near the end of the race, however, he lost an engine. The future King was initially scored third - which would have been the best finish of his young career. After rechecking the score cards, however, Petty was placed fifth which matched his finish from a week earlier in the convertible race at Wilson Speedway.

Fireball didn't have much success in Lee Petty's car. He was the final car still running at the end of the race, but he was about 100 laps down to Welborn.

Source: Statesville Record and Landmark

And yes, the AP writer committed a double Petty faux pas by:

1. referring to Richard as Dick Petty and
2. stating he was a Jr.

Source: The Daily Times-News of Burlington, NC

Salisbury hosted only one other major race - a Grand National event on October 5, 1958, a race won by Lee Petty. After building and opening the track in 1958, the track's promoter chose to move on to bigger projects. The promoter? O. Bruton Smith. The project? A development effort with Curtis Turner that would become Charlotte Motor Speedway.

TMC

September 7, 1958 - Julian Petty's bookends day

The next to last race of the 1958 NASCAR convertible division season was a 150-lap race on the half-mile, dirt Wilson Speedway in Wilson, North Carolina.

Julian Petty's 1957 Chevrolets were fast - as was often the case in 1958 in the convertible and Grand National divisions. Ken Rush in Julian's #44 Chevy, and teammate Bob Welborn qualified on the front row with Rush.

Starting 11th was Richard Petty in his family team's #42 1957 Oldsmobile. The race was only his second convertible start and seventh NASCAR start overall.

Ken Rush's last name was appropriate - if he wanted to be the first one to leave the track. On the 12th lap, he lost the car coming out of turn four and rolled his convertible down the frontstretch. Rush remarkably suffered only a bruised shoulder and arm, and he returned to race the next week. Though I'm sure his wreck brought the crowd to their feet, Rush left Wilson with a 23rd and dead last finish.

All was not lost for Julian as an owner though. Welborn did what he'd been doing pretty much all season: winning. Though I haven't found any detail about lap leaders, Welborn did lead the lap that mattered most - the last one. With Welborn's win, Julian went home with bookend finishes - cars that finished first and last in the race.

Brownie King finished third, a career best finish for him in a combined 120 or so GN and convertible division starts.

Petty finished fifth - his first top 5 in NASCAR competition. The weekend was a pretty good one for the Petty clan as Lee finished third in in the Grand National race in Birmingham, AL the same day. Coincidentally, Richard's first top 5 in a Grand National race was also at Wilson Speedway. He finished third at Wilson in March 1959.

One confusing point about the race is its distance. Some materials I've referenced indicate the race was 150 laps and 75 miles. The wire service report I found in several newspapers, however, states the race was 200 laps and 100 miles. Either way, the constant between them all is Welborn again took the top prize in a 1958 convertible race.

Source: Greensboro Daily News

TMC

September 5, 1957 - Gwyn Staley Scores Syracuse

NASCAR's Grand National drivers arrived at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse on Thursday, September 5, 1957. They readied to compete for 100 laps on Syracuse's legendary one-mile dirt oval.

Gwyn Staley won the pole in Julian Petty's #38 1957 Chevrolet. Short-track ace Jim Reed qualified alongside him. Twenty-two other cars trailed behind the two front-row starters.

Staley took control of the race early. He led the first 62 laps from his top starting spot though Reed hounded him lap after lap. As the race neared its two-thirds mark, Reed decided it was time to go to the front. He made the pass and led the next 10 laps. In a true That's Racin' moment, Reed then blew a tire, pounded the guardrail and saw his chances for a win disappear. His crew changed the tire and did what they could to make repairs to the car. When the checkers fell, however, Reed found himself in 12th place, 26 laps behind the winner.

With Reed out of the picture, Staley re-took the lead and ran a moderate pace to get the win. Lee Petty in a 1957 Oldsmobile finished second, one lap down to his brother's car.

Source: Syracuse NY's The Post Standard

Source: Syracuse NY's The Post Standard

Staley shared victory lane, such that it was, with Julian. His victory was the second of only three career Grand National wins. The race was also the fifth and final NASCAR Grand National and Convertible division races at Syracuse.

Source: Syracuse NY's The Post Standard

About 20 years later, the historic Syracuse track became home to one of the premier dirt modified races in the nation. The Schaefer 100 (and later 200) ran at Syracuse from the 1970s through early 1980s. Scha-LOOT!

TMC

August 26, 1957 - Gwyn Staley Wins Myrtle Beach

From the late 1980s through 2000, NASCAR's Busch Series (now Xfinity) raced at Myrtle Beach Speedway in South Carolina. Prior to its branding as Myrtle Beach Speedway, the track was known as Rambi Speedway. Rambi hosted Grand National (later Cup) races from 1958 through 1965.

Rambi replaced another Myrtle Beach track - Coastal Speedway. Coastal was just a couple of blocks from the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean and hosted two GN races. Fireball Roberts won the first one in 1956, and the drivers were back for the second and final 200-lap race at Coastal on Saturday night, August 24, 1957. Because of South Carolina's blue laws, the race was moved to Monday evening vs. running it on Sunday.

Source: The Robesonian via Google News Archive

Johnny Allen surprised the other drivers and the fans by putting his Plymouth on the pole on the half-mile dirt track. His top spot was the first of only three career poles for Allen. Fireball started second in a Ford. Gwyn Staley qualified third in Julian Petty's Chevrolet. Lee Petty and Jack Smith rounded out the top 5 starters.

Allen's fast lap in qualifying did nothing for him in the race. He didn't lead so much as one lap, and he was the first to depart the race when the fan assembly on the Plymouth failed after ten laps. His DNF relegated him to 15th and last in the field - a true case of going from the penthouse to the outhouse.

Fireball got the jump on the field and began his domination of the race. His plan was to go the distance without making a pit stop. One thing about Fireball though. His M.O. was pretty straightforward: go fast. It's likely he used more gas than was needed simply because he was leading - and likely trying to pull away.

Roberts' strategy almost worked, but almost doesn't get it in racing. With 15 laps to go, Fireball ran dry. He coasted into the pits, got him a splash to go, and returned to the track. Instead of a trophy, Roberts went home with a third place finish and two laps down to the winner.

Staley took advantage of Fireball's miscue. He put his Julian Petty-owned Chevy out front, led the remaining laps, and scored the win. The win was Staley's first of three career GN victories. All three were won in 1957 and in Julian's '57 Chevrolet.

Staley did not, however, receive any GN points for the race. Julian had bolted a hardtop on the Chevy following Staley's second-place finish in a convertible race at Charlotte Fairgrounds three days earlier. The car had no rear window, however, which made him ineligible for points. Because Staley was a full-time convertible division driver and raced only part-time in a few GN races, the points loss was of little concern to him or Julian.

Eddie Pagan finished second, one lap down to Staley. Pagan had traveled across the country to race in the Southern 500 at Darlington. He also entered the Myrtle Beach race while he was in the neighborhood. As was often the case back in the day, a win generally didn't happen without a corresponding protest. Someone (it's unknown who) filed a protest saying Staley made a pass under caution. The protest was either withdrawn or rejected by NASCAR officials because Staley was allowed to keep his win.

Source: Greensboro Record

Thanks to fellow Petty fan Tim Leeming (web | Twitter) for the assist with this post. 

TMC

August 23, 1958 - Bob Welborn Wins Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach Speedway hosted several Busch Series races from the late 1980s through 2000. Drivers including the Green brothers - Jeff and David, Randy LaJoie, Jeff Burton and late Rob Moroso won races at the track.

The half-mile speedway also hosted annual Grand National / Cup races from 1958 through 1965 when it was a dirt track known as Rambi Raceway. Soon after the track opened in 1958, NASCAR ran a convertible division event on July 23rd. The race was won by Bob Welborn in Julian Petty's ragtop Chevy.

Welborn and Petty returned on August 23, 1958 with a hard top bolted to the convertible to run Rambi's inaugural Grand National race. Twenty-one cars qualified for the 200-lap, 100-mile race.

Speedy Thompson in a Chevy won the pole. Rookie Shorty Rollins timed second. Junior Johnson and Joe Weatherly made up the second row, and Buck Baker and Lee Petty started fifth and sixth, respectively. Welborn was eighth quickest in Julian's Chevrolet, and Julian's nephew Richard Petty lined up ninth for his sixth career racing start.

Weatherly got tangled up with traffic on the start, was credited for completing just one lap and finished dead stinkin' last. Richard Petty was running in the top ten when his #2 Oldsmobile sailed off turn three and into one of the ponds off the turn.  Richard was thoroughly soaked, and he had to settle for a 16th place DNF as his Olds was fished from the pond. That turn would later become known as "alligator alley", but the future King did not report an encounter with a gator in that particular race.

Thompson broke an axle and parked his Chevy on lap 166. Welborn, in contention as was generally the case in 1958, took the lead. He held off a hard-charging Baker and Rollins for the win and a sweep of NASCAR's two big races held in Rambi's first year.

Source: Greenwood SC Index-Journal

Welborn's fifth Grand National win of the season came in only his fourteenth start of 1958. The GN win was also the first for Welborn and Julian Petty since May 24th at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Thanks to fellow Petty fan Tim Leeming for the assist in noting information about Rambi and this race.

TMC

August 8, 1958 - Ken Rush Inherits Southern States

Prior to the opening of Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1960, NASCAR's Grand National and Convertible divisions raced on other tracks in the Charlotte - Concord area. One of those races was a 200-lap, 100-mile ragtop race on Sunday, August 3, 1958 at the dirt, half-mile Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

As the cars readied for qualifying, a summer shower arrived and gave the track and the fans a good soaking. Bob Welborn and Soapy Castles had already made their laps, and Fred Harb was on the track when the rain began to fall. Promoter Bruton Smith and his crew tried to run cars on the muddy surface to help pack it and ready it for racing.

What followed was a comedy of errors. A few cars and a tow truck toured laps around the banked dirt oval. After while, however, they started sliding from the high muddy side to the low loose dirt. Even the wrecker had to winch a cable and pull itself out - only to slide back down to where it initially had become stuck. Finally, the decision was made to postpone the race about a half-hour before the scheduled start. Not long after the announcement was made, however, the sun returned. The track was soon ready for racing, but the decision to postpone had already been made. No make up date was initially announced, but Bruton and NASCAR soon decided to try again on Friday the 8th.

Source: The Statesville Record and Landmark

Curtis Turner, who would lead the effort to build Charlotte Motor Speedway, won the pole for the Southern States race when the drivers returned five days later. Two-time Grand National champion, Buck Baker lined up alongside Pops. Lee Petty timed third in one of his infrequent convertible division starts, and Joe Weatherly started on the outside of the second row.

Lee Petty's son, Richard, planned to run what would have been his second convertible start and fifth overall career start after racing in Grand National events at the Canadian National Exposition in Toronto, Civic Stadium in Buffalo, and Wall Stadium in New Jersey.

The day before the original date of the Charlotte convertible race, Lee raced in the first Grand National race on Bridgehampton, New York's road course. After the convertible race was postponed, Papa Lee returned home and likely told his 21 year-old son "I got this." As a result, Richard went back to servicing his dad's car in the pits. About a 1-1/2 years later, though, the future King captured his first of 200 career GN / Cup wins at the Southern States Fairgrounds.

The race was not a good one for the #42 Petty Plymouth. Problems with the rear-end relegated Lee to a 15th place DNF. The car was likely the same one (minus the hard top roof) Lee raced 24 hours earlier in a 200-lap GN race in Columbia, SC.

Turner apparently was unable to leverage his top qualifying spot. Buck Baker got by him right away and proceeded to dominate the race. After leading 183 laps and with victory in sight, Baker broke a ball joint and lost one of his front wheels.

Ken Rush, NASCAR's 1957 Grand National Rookie of the Year, had been tooling behind Baker. Rush was driving a #44 1957 Chevrolet fielded by Julian Petty as a teammate to Bob Welborn. When Baker broke, Rush assumed the lead and led the remaining 17 laps.

Source: Rumblin' Ragtops - The History of NASCAR's Fabulous
Convertible Division by Greg Fielden

I suppose Rush's win was a bit of an upset considering how dominant Bob Welborn and Curtis Turner had been in the convertible series that year. Rush's victory was his only one in 106 combined starts in NASCAR's GN and convertible series.

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

Rush's career as a NASCAR convertible division driver ended after 1959 when the series was disbanded. He continued to run a Grand National race or two each year from the early 1960s through his final one in 1972.

He found perhaps his greatest success in NASCAR's Grand American division - a support series from the late 1960s through the early 1970s. He had the distinction of being the first winner at Talladega, Michigan and Dover - all in 1969 - when the GA races were held the day before the Grand National races.

View image | gettyimages.com

Rush passed away at the age of 80 in October 2011.

TMC

August 6, 1961 - Paschal Nabs Nashville

NASCAR brought its Grand National division to Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway for the first time in 1958. Joe Weatherly won the inaugural 200-lap race. Rex White and Joe Lee Johnson split the two GN races in 1959, and Johnny Beauchamp captured the only one in 1960 (his second and final career GN victory).

The race distance was increased 100 laps each year, and the 1961 race was billed as the Nashville 500. Rex White, one of the track's race winners in 1959, captured the pole for the 1961 race. Starting up front at Nashville was nothing new to Rex. He had won the pole for the fifth consecutive race at the track (four Grand National races and one GN - convertibles "sweepstakes" race).

Source: The Tennessean

Any smiles Rex may have sported after qualifying quickest again likely faded quickly. He couldn't leverage his top starting spot to lead any early laps, and his day came to a sudden end on lap 15. White blew a right front tire, hooked right, popped the guardrail, and nearly launched through the the track's outer-ring billboards.

Source: The Tennessean

I had the opportunity to mention the wreck to White when I met him in October 2014. He laughed as he recalled it and noted some of the other drivers suggested he may have hit the billboard on purpose in an effort to meet "that purty girl" on it.

Source: Russ Thompson 

Richard Petty started on the front row alongside Rex, and he dominated the race from its beginning. A scenario then developed that seemed to mirror what has frequently been seen in the 2015 Cup season: rain. Showers began to fall around lap 220. NASCAR opted to let the cars ride around under yellow for eighty laps before finally displaying the red flag at lap 302.

After a delay of about 45 minutes, the cars were put back under the yellow where they rolled around for another 50 laps or so. When the green flag was finally displayed again at lap 351, the fans had endured approximately 130 consecutive caution laps plus a 45-minute halt in racing action.

Petty dominated the first 220 laps and paced the field through the extended rain delay. When the race went back to green, however, the engine in Petty's #43 Plymouth wasn't up to the challenge. The engine raced at optimal temps under green. When the rains fell and the engine cooled off substantially, however, the Mopar power plant wasn't ready to return to full song. The future King led 10 more laps when the race returned to green, but he then had to watch the rest of the race from a different vantage point than from behind the steering wheel.

With White and Petty sidelined, Jim Paschal went to the front in his #44 Julian Petty-owned Pontiac.

Source: Russ Thompson

Paschal led the next 41 laps before rain returned. Officials then called the race after 403 laps, and Paschal was declared the winner.

Source: Russ Thompson

Paschal's win was the last victory for a #44 Petty car until Kyle Petty won Daytona's ARCA 200 to begin his driving career in February 1979.

By 1961, Richard had already built a solid fan following. Many were disappointed to see such a dominant run end prematurely. And of course, most were disappointed when the last 20 percent of the race was cancelled because of summer showers and especially with 172 of 403 laps run under caution.

Source: The Tennessean

Ned Jarrett finished second to Paschal, and Jarrett eventually won the 1961 GN championship title - his first of two. Johnny Allen finished third in a Chevrolet owned by one of the 1959 Nashville winners, Joe Lee Johnson.

Source: The Tennessean

Paschal and Julian Petty parted ways at the end of 1961. Paschal began the 1962 as the driver for Cliff Stewart's Pontiac team. About half-way through the season, Paschal then moved to the other Petty team - Petty Enterprises. The pairing gelled immediately as Paschal won three consecutive races in the #42 Plymouth - including a second consecutive win at Nashville. With Lee Petty as his crew chief, Paschal kept his Music City mojo working and won a third consecutive time at Nashville.

TMC

July 26, 1958 - Bob Welborn Wins Myrtle Beach

In 1961, Bill France, Sr. banned driver and fan favorite Curtis Turner from NASCAR "for life". Turner had been kicked to the curb by the board of Charlotte Motor Speedway after he'd worked to build it. CMS was completed only after Turner joined forces with businessman Bruton Smith (a France competitor) after Smith's own plans to build a superspeedway fell on hard times. After his ouster, Pop met with leadership of the Teamsters Union to help secure a financing arrangement so he could buy his way back in to the track. In exchange, Turner was alleged to have agreed to help organize a drivers' union.

Which sin was biggest in the eyes of France - the deal with Bruton, the Teamsters financing plan, or a proposed drivers' union - isn't truly known. Either way, the lifetime ban went into effect though it lasted only until 1965.

Turner was more, however, than just a driver in NASCAR-sanctioned races or a thorn in France's side. He was also a businessman away from the track - as well as within the sport. In 1958 for instance, he and France worked together to promote races at Starkey Speedway in Roanoke, VA. However, as Greg Fielden notes in his book, Rumblin' Ragtops: The History of NASCAR's Fabulous Convertible Division:

The event at Roanoke was scrapped when Curtis Turner, who was co-promoting the event with Bill France and Alvin Hawkins, was seriously injured in a crash at the Charlotte Fairgrounds. While attempting to qualify for a July 6 Modified-Sportsman race, the throttle on Turner's Ford coupe hung open and he crashed through the guard rail. The popular driver suffered seven broken ribs in the mishap. While he was confined to his bed, Turner felt it would be best to cancel the Roanoke race. ~ p. 103

Source: Spartanburg Herald via Google News Archive

The cancellation at Starkey became an opportunity for the owners of a new track in Myrtle Beach, SC. Rambi Speedway was built in 1958 as a replacement for Coastal Speedway. The owners gleefully seized the opportunity to have Rambi's debut be a NASCAR convertible event to replace Turner's cancelled one.

A 200-lap race was slated for Saturday night, July 26th.

Source: Wilmington Morning Star via Google News Archive

Tootle Estes from Knoxville, TN started from the pole in his second of four career NASCAR convertible races - all in 1958.

View image | gettyimages.com

Tiny Lund started on the front row with Estes. Larry Frank and Bob Welborn in Julian Petty's #49 Chevy comprised the second row. Ken Rush started 16th in the 19-car field in a second #44 Julian Petty Chevrolet. Starting shotgun on the field was a driver with one of the most unfortunate names not just in racing but life in general: Richard Spittle.

As was so often the case in 1958, Welborn was first to receive the checkered flag. The victory was Welborn's sixth convertible division win of the season and third in a row - all in Julian Petty's cars. Rush rallied from his poor starting spot to finish 4th in Julian's second car behind Lund and Frank. And poor Mr. Spittle? He finished where he started: 19th and dead last in car #0.

Most records indicate the date of the race as July 27, 1958. Because of its blue laws, NASCAR didn't race on Sundays in South Carolina. The race was held on Saturday night. It's likely the race ended a bit after midnight. NASCAR's scoring officials likely dated the race based on its conclusion rather than its beginning.

Rambi's debut set itself up for a successful run. Though the convertible division did not return after its one and only race, the track was host to many NASCAR-sanctioned races in the decades to follow - including nine Grand National races from 1958-1965. The track was sold to a new owner in 1968, converted from dirt to asphalt in 1974 and re-branded as Myrtle Beach Speedway.

TMC