The 1951 Southern 500 was a NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on September 3, 1951 at Darlington Raceway in the American community of Darlington, South Carolina.[1]
Four hundred laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 1.250 miles (2.012 km) for a grand total of 500.0 miles (804.7 km).[1] Notable speeds for the race were: 76.906 miles per hour (123.768 km/h) and 84.173 miles per hour (135.463 km/h) for the pole position speed.[1] Four cautions were handed out by NASCAR official for a duration of twenty-six laps.[1] Herb Thomas defeated Jesse James Taylor by more than one lap in front of forty thousand people.[1]
This race would be Red Byron's final race in NASCAR. The race lasted for six hours and thirty minutes;[1] outside the time allotments for modern-day television programming. Eighty-two cars would race in this virtually unregulated "free-for-all."[1] Frank Mundy would become the worst driver in NASCAR Cup Series history by finishing eighty-two spots worse than he started.[1] This would be an impossibility in today's 43-car field. Lee Connell would also set a career record for having the worst career average finish in his 1951 Pontiac vehicle. However, this accomplishment would be impossible today due to the modern rules giving all races a 43-car maximum grid.
Total winnings for this race were $23,740 ($200,722.01 in today's money).[2] As it was with all races during this era, the 1951 Southern 500 was completely untelevised. The only way that a person could follow the action was to drive to the speedway (to watch it live) or catch it on local radio (if they were lucky to be in the Darlington area at the time).
| Preceded by 1950 |
Southern 500 races 1951 |
Succeeded by 1952 |