1952 Wilkes County 200

1952 Wilkes County 200
Race details
Race 4 of 34 in the 1952 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date March 30, 1952 (1952-March-30)
Location North Wilkesboro Speedway (North Wilkesboro, North Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
0.625 mi (1.005 km)
Distance 200 laps, 200.0 mi (321.8 km)
Avg Speed 58.597 miles per hour (94.303 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Herb Thomas Herb Thomas
Most laps led
Driver Herb Thomas Herb Thomas
Laps 200
Winner
92
 Herb Thomas
 Herb Thomas
Television
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1952 Wilkes County 200 was a NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) race that took place on March 30, 1952 at the North Wilkesboro Speedway in the American community of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.[1][2][3]

Summary

Due to lax scoring and preservations methods used by NASCAR in the 1950s, only the most vital information of the race was not thrown away after the racing event was over.[1] Only the first two starting positions, all of the finishing positions, and the racing numbers of the most notable drivers were kept.[1]

Two hundred laps were done on a dirt oval track spanning 0.625 miles (1.006 km); making a grand total of 125 miles (201 km).[1][2] The race took two hours and eight minutes to reach completion and twenty-four drivers competed.[1][2] Out of these twenty-four drivers, only seven managed to complete the race.[1][2][4] Herb Thomas managed to defeat Fonty Flock in the race by an unknown amount in front of ten thousand people.[1][2] A Hudson Hornet was used in order to win the race.[4] The pole speed was 75.075 miles per hour (120.822 km/h) while the average speed was 58.597 miles per hour (94.303 km/h).[1][2][3] Marshall Teague would run his only race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway; losing his life at a practice session for the 1959 Daytona 500 around seven years later.[4] However, he would only run for 57 laps before withdrawing himself from the race due to reasons unknown.[1][5]

Total winnings for the race was $3,550 USD ($29,373.46 in today's money).[2]

Results

  1. Herb Thomas†
  2. Fonty Flock†
  3. Bill Blair†
  4. Donald Thomas
  5. Dave Terrell
  6. Neil Cole
  7. Buddy Shuman*†
  8. Jim Paschal*†
  9. Lee Petty*†
  10. Otis Martin
  11. Joe Eubanks*†
  12. Leonard Tippett*
  13. Shorty Gibbs*
  14. Charles Gattalia*
  15. Buck Baker*
  16. Marshall Teague*†
  17. Bobby Courtwright*
  18. Frankie Schneider*
  19. Perk Brown*
  20. Curtis Turner*†
  21. Tim Flock*†
  22. Jimmie Lewallen*†
  23. Dick Rathmann*†
  24. Harold Mays*

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

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "1952 Wilkes County 200 information". Racing Reference. http://www.racing-reference.info/race/1952-04/W. Retrieved 2010-12-02. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "1952 Wilkes County 200 information (second reference)". Stat Sheet. http://statsheet.com/nascar/races/1952-03-30-wilkes-county-200. Retrieved 2010-12-02. 
  3. ^ a b "1952 Wilkes County 200 information (fifth reference)". Database Racing. http://www.databaseracing.com/races/raceinfo.htm?rid=72. Retrieved 2012-02-20. 
  4. ^ a b c "1952 Wilkes County 200 information (third reference)". Save the Speedway. http://www.savethespeedway.net/52wilkesco.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-20. 
  5. ^ "1952 Wilkes County 200 information (fourth reference)". Everything Stock Car. http://www.everythingstockcar.com/2985r-1952-wilkes-county-200-nascar-race.html. Retrieved 2011-02-20.