1957 Virginia 500

The 1957 Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 19, 1957, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.

1957 Virginia 500
Race details[1]
Race 17 of 53 in the 1957 NASCAR Grand National Series season
A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway
Date May 19, 1957 (1957-May-19)
Official name Virginia 500
Location Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.525 mi (0.844 km)
Distance 441 laps, 231 mi (372 km)
Scheduled Distance 500 laps, 262.5 mi (442.4 km)
Weather Temperatures of 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds of 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)
Average speed 57.318 miles per hour (92.244 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Smokey Yunick Racing
Most laps led
Driver Billy Myers Bill Strope
Laps 201
Winner
No. 87 Buck Baker Hugh Babb
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

Barney Oldfield made his only NASCAR Cup Series appearance at this event.[2] Months after this race, the Automobile Manufacturers Association decided to legally separate themselves from all forms of automobile racing that was being held in the United States; donating millions of dollars in machinery directly to the drivers.[3]

Background

Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races.[4] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.[5] The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.[5]

Race report

It took nearly four hours to race 441 laps worth of stock car automobile racing. While originally scheduled for 500 laps, it was stopped prematurely due to a bad in-race crash. Tom Pistone and Billy Myers would end up getting involved in the collision on lap 441; making Buck Baker the automatic winner. Just before the accident took form, Pistone straightened his car and continued. Myers headed for the wall and then jumped it near where a crowd of folks was standing. The 24-driver starting lineup was made up of drivers who were all born in the United States of America. T.A. Toomes would take up the last-place position due to problems with his gasket on lap 121.[6]

Paul Goldsmith, Tiny Lund and Buck Baker would dominate the laps prior to the accident. The victory of Buck Baker over second-place finisher Curtis Turner would demonstrate the power of the 1957 Chevrolet.[6] Although its real-life counterpart had fuel injection, the NASCAR version had to use a carburetor. Fuel injection did not become legal in what is now known as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series until the 2012 season.

Individual race earnings for this event ranged from the winner's share of $3,170 ($28,857 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $125 ($1,138 when adjusted for inflation). A grand total of $12,240 was handed out by NASCAR officials for the explicit purpose of paying off the qualifying drivers ($111,422 when adjusted for inflation).[7] Jess Potter was the only notable crew chief to take part in the race, leading the pit road crew of Brownie King's Chevrolet.[8]

Winning Car

| 87 || Buck Baker Driver || '57 Chevrolet 150 sedan black widow || Hugh Babb prepared |-

Qualifying
Grid[6] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 3Paul Goldsmith'57 FordSmokey Yunick
2 46Speedy Thompson'57 ChevroletHugh Babb
3 55Tiny Lund'57 PontiacA.L. Bumgarner
4 50Tom Pistone'57 ChevroletHugh Babb
5 98Marvin Panch'57 FordPete DePaolo
6 14Billy Myers'57 MercuryBill Stroppe
7 22Fireball Roberts'57 FordPete DePaolo
8 42Lee Petty'57 OldsmobilePetty Enterprises
9 88Ralph Earnhardt'57 OldsmobilePetty Enterprises
10 99Curtis Turner'57 FordPete DePaolo
11 64Johnny Allen'57 PlymouthSpook Crawford
12 47Jack Smith'57 ChevroletHugh Babb
13 29Russ Hepler'57 PontiacHoward Coulter
14 87Buck Baker'57 ChevroletHugh Babb
15 6Cotton Owens'57 PontiacRay Nichels
16 32Brownie King'56 ChevroletJess Potter
17 421T.A. Toomes'56 DodgeC.M. Julian
18 76George Green'56 ChevroletLonnie Fish
19 74L.D. Austin'56 ChevroletL.D. Austin
20 94Clarence DeZalia'56 FordClarence DeZalia
21 28Eddie Skinner'57 FordEddie Skinner
22 24Barney Oldfield'56 FordRat Garner
23 17Jim Paschal'57 MercuryBill Stroppe
24 71Bill Bowman'56 ChevroletBill Bowman

Failed to qualify: Emanuel Zervakis (#11), Bill Champion (#35), Nace Mattingly (#154), Frank Jamison (#80)[9]

Timeline

Section reference: [6]

  • Start of race: Paul Goldsmith started the race with the pole position.
  • Lap 55: Tiny Lund takes over the lead from Paul Goldsmith.
  • Lap 121: Problems with the vehicle's head gasket made T.A. Toomes into the last-place finisher.
  • Lap 128: Buck Baker takes over the lead from Tiny Lund.
  • Lap 145: Billy Myers takes over the lead from Buck Baker.
  • Lap 146: The rear end of Eddie Skinner's vehicle became problematic, forcing him to quit the race.
  • Lap 211: Cotton Owens had a terminal crash; causing him to withdraw from the event.
  • Lap 233: Buck Baker takes over the lead from Billy Myers.
  • Lap 281: Tiny Lund's engine developed problems, forcing him to make an early exit from the race.
  • Lap 329: Billy Myers takes over the lead from Buck Baker.
  • Lap 377: Johnny Allen noticed that his vehicle's clutch had some issues, causing him to pull over and end his hopes of winning the race.
  • Lap 441: Tom Pistone and Billy Myers crashed into each other, jointly ending their chances of winning the race.
  • Finish: Buck Baker was declared the winner after starting the event in 14th place.

Finishing order

Section reference: [6]

  1. Buck Baker† (No. 87)
  2. Curtis Turner† (No. 99)
  3. Tom Pistone* (No. 50)
  4. Billy Myers* (No. 14)
  5. Lee Petty† (No. 42)
  6. Jack Smith† (No. 47)
  7. Paul Goldsmith (No. 3)
  8. Marvin Panch (No. 98)
  9. Fireball Roberts† (No. 22)
  10. Jim Paschal† (No. 17)
  11. Speedy Thompson† (No. 46)
  12. Brownie King (No. 32)
  13. Ralph Earnhardt† (No. 88)
  14. L.D. Austin (No. 74)
  15. George Green (No. 76)
  16. Johnny Allen* (No. 64)
  17. Bill Bowman (No. 71)
  18. Barney Oldfield (No. 24)
  19. Clarence DeZalia (No. 94)
  20. Tiny Lund*† (No. 55)
  21. Russ Hepler* (No. 29)
  22. Cotton Owens*† (No. 6)
  23. Eddie Skinner* (No. 28)
  24. T.A. Toomes* (No. 421)

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

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References
  1. Weather information for the 1957 Virginia 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. Barney Oldfield's only NASCAR Cup Series race at Race Database
  3. 1957 NASCAR Grand National Recap at How Stuff Works
  4. "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on October 12, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  5. "NASCAR Tracks—The Martinsville Speedway". Martinsville Speedway. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  6. 1957 Virginia 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  7. Winnings information for the 1957 Virginia 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  8. 1957 Virginia 500 crew chief information at Racing Reference
  9. Qualifying information for the 1957 Virginia 500 at Racing Reference
Preceded by
1956		 Virginia 500 races
1957		 Succeeded by
1958
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