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	Paul Goldsmith	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	3	Paul Goldsmith	'57 Ford	Smokey Yunick
2	46	Speedy Thompson	'57 Chevrolet	Hugh Babb
3	55	Tiny Lund	'57 Pontiac	A.L. Bumgarner
4	50	Tom Pistone	'57 Chevrolet	Hugh Babb
5	98	Marvin Panch	'57 Ford	Pete DePaolo
6	14	Billy Myers	'57 Mercury	Bill Stroppe
7	22	Fireball Roberts	'57 Ford	Pete DePaolo
8	42	Lee Petty	'57 Oldsmobile	Petty Enterprises
9	88	Ralph Earnhardt	'57 Oldsmobile	Petty Enterprises
10	99	Curtis Turner	'57 Ford	Pete DePaolo
11	64	Johnny Allen	'57 Plymouth	Spook Crawford
12	47	Jack Smith	'57 Chevrolet	Hugh Babb
13	29	Russ Hepler	'57 Pontiac	Howard Coulter
14	87	Buck Baker	'57 Chevrolet	Hugh Babb
15	6	Cotton Owens	'57 Pontiac	Ray Nichels
16	32	Brownie King	'56 Chevrolet	Jess Potter
17	421	T.A. Toomes	'56 Dodge	C.M. Julian
18	76	George Green	'56 Chevrolet	Lonnie Fish
19	74	L.D. Austin	'56 Chevrolet	L.D. Austin
20	94	Clarence DeZalia	'56 Ford	Clarence DeZalia
21	28	Eddie Skinner	'57 Ford	Eddie Skinner
22	24	Barney Oldfield	'56 Ford	Rat Garner
23	17	Jim Paschal	'57 Mercury	Bill Stroppe
24	71	Bill Bowman	'56 Chevrolet	Bill 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

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