1956 Southern 500

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1956 Southern 500
Race details
Race 44 of 56 in the 1956 NASCAR Grand National Series season

Curtis Turner wins the 1956 Southern 500
Date September 3, 1956 (1956-September-03)
Location Darlington Raceway (Darlington, South Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
1.375 mi (2.221 km)
Distance 400 laps, 500 mi (800 km)
WeatherTemperatures reaching up to 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speed up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)[1]
Average speed 95.167 miles per hour (153.156 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Speedy Thompson Carl Kiekhaefer
Most laps led
Driver Curtis Turner Charlie Schwam
Laps 225
Winner
No. 99
 Curtis Turner
 Charlie Schwam
Television in the United States
Network WJMX (local AM radio)
Announcers Local radio announcers

The 1956 Southern 500 was a NASCAR Grand National race that took place at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina on September 3, 1956.[2][3] This race was considered to be the "Labor Day Classic" for 1956; complete with a pre-race beauty pageant with a judging panel led by Fonty Flock and a parade down the front stretch of the race track.

There were 364 laps done on a paved track spanning 1.375 miles (2.213 km).[2][3] It only took five hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty-three seconds for the race to reach its conclusion.[2][3] Seven cautions were committed for seventy-eight laps and the margin of victory was more than two laps.[2][3] Attendance was established at seventy thousand people; about the size of a typical modern day sporting event.[2][3] The average speed of the race was 95.167 miles per hour (153.156 km/h) while the pole speed was 119.695 miles per hour (192.630 km/h) and was achieved by Speedy Thompson.[2][3] Seventy American drivers competed as the race entries; there were no foreigners in that race.[2][3] Other notable drivers in the race included future car owner Junior Johnson, Joe Weatherly, Fonty Flock, Gwyn Staley, Fireball Roberts, Tiny Lund and Herb Thomas.[2][3]

Total winnings for the race was $35,365 ($303,654.19 in today's money). Manufacturers involved in the event included Chevrolet (active), Ford (active), Dodge (active), Mercury (defunct after 2010), Plymouth (defunct), Chrysler (active), Pontiac (defunct), and Buick (active).[2][3]

Finishing results

  1. Curtis Turner (led 225 laps and won the race)
  2. Speedy Thompson (led 14 laps)
  3. Marvin Panch (led 39 laps)
  4. Jim Reed
  5. Paul Goldsmith (sponsored by Smokey Yunick's Best Damn Garage)
  6. Jim Paschal (led 32 laps)
  7. Bill Amick
  8. Joe Weatherly
  9. Bobby Johns
  10. Pat Kirkwood
  11. Rex White
  12. Tim Flock (led 16 laps)
  13. Roz Howard
  14. Johnny Patterson
  15. Junior Johnson
  16. Billy Myers
  17. Lee Petty
  18. Harold Hardesty
  19. Elmo Langley
  20. Shorty York
  21. Bill Champion
  22. Possum Jones
  23. Emanuel Zervakis
  24. Tiny Lund
  25. Johnny Allen
  26. Buck Baker
  27. Jack Smith
  28. Billy Carden
  29. Bill Blair
  30. Sherman Utsman
  31. Lou Spears
  32. Brownie King
  33. Joe Eubanks* (highest ranked driver not to finish the race - gasket issues)
  34. Allen Adkins
  35. Tom Lupo
  36. Gene Bergin
  37. Ralph Liguori*
  38. Frank Mundy*
  39. Harvey Henderson
  40. Dick Beaty*
  41. Judge Rider
  42. Wade Fields
  43. Bill Brown*
  44. Larry Flynn*
  45. Johnny Dodson*
  46. Blackie Pitt*
  47. Pat Grogan*
  48. Clyde Palmer*
  49. Herb Thomas*
  50. Parnelli Jones*
  51. Fireball Roberts* (led 34 laps)
  52. Ray Hendrick*
  53. Bill Widenhouse*
  54. Dink Widenhouse*
  55. Roy Bentley* (sponsored by Marion Cox)
  56. Ken Love (lowest ranked driver to finish the race)
  57. Ralph Moody*
  58. Fonty Flock*
  59. Danny Letner*
  60. Don Oldenberg*
  61. Bobby Myers*
  62. Bob Duell* (sponsored by Police Special)
  63. Nace Mattingly*
  64. Pee Wee Jones*
  65. Gwyn Staley*
  66. Doug Yates*
  67. Peck Peckham*
  68. Russ Graham*
  69. Jesse James Taylor*
  70. Arden Mounts*

* Driver failed to finish race

References

  1. ↑ "1956 Southern 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2011-03-03. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "1956 Southern 500 racing results". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-01-18. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 "1956 Southern 500 racing results (second reference)". Legends of NASCAR. Retrieved 2011-08-26. 
Preceded by
1955		 Southern 500 races
1957 		Succeeded by
1957
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