1957 Rebel 300

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1957 Rebel 300
Race details
Race 14 of 36 in the 1957 NASCAR Convertible Series season

Darlington Raceway
Date May 12, 1957 (1957-May-12)
Location Darlington Raceway (Darlington, South Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance 219 laps, 301.3 mi (606.7 km)
WeatherTemperatures reaching up to 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds up to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)[1]
Average speed 107.921 miles per hour (173.682 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Paul Goldsmith Slim Rominger
Most laps led
Driver Fireball Roberts Pete DePaolo
Laps 181
Winner
No. 22
 Fireball Roberts
 Pete DePaolo
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1957 Rebel 300 was a NASCAR Convertible Series racing event that occurred in Darlington, South Carolina on May 12, 1957. While the Rebel 300 was originally a convertible racing event, it eventually became absorbed into what is now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

This race was held in violation of South Carolina blue laws; hence the "hidden" meaning of the Rebel 300 name. Track president Bob Colvin was fined $58 for the violation by Sheriff Grover Bryant (which equals to $482.07 in today's money). Tickets for this event sold from anywhere from $5 USD ($41.56 in today's money) to $8 USD ($66.49 in today's money); depending on how close to the action people wanted to sit. The 1957 Rebel 500 was also the first NASCAR convertible race to be run on a Sunday and on Mother's Day.[2]

Summary

Many cars failed to qualify for this race including Darel Dieringer, Neil Castles, Jimmie Lewallen, Tiny Lund and Ralph Moody. While Curtis Turner and Marvin Panch dominated the early portion of the race, a series of crashes would knock most of the 27-driver grid out of the race. Most of the field would be driving vehicles from either Ford or Plymouth.[3] The 29th lap would become infamous for the nine-car wreck that become a harbinger of doom in the days prior to the "modern" NASCAR Cup Series.[4] All the drivers were born in the United States of America. Ken Rush was the unfortunate last-place finisher at this racing event. In the end, the race became a struggle between Joe Weatherly, Fireball Roberts and Bobby Myers.[3]

Fireball Roberts would ultimately beat Tim Flock by more than two laps in front of 17,000 people. The actual time of the race was 167 minutes with no caution laps being recorded.[3] In fact, lap 95 was the only time that Roberts didn't dominate the race because he had to refuel his vehicle.[5] Art Binkley, Dick Beaty and Possum Jones would end up being the most notable drivers within the course of the lap 29 crashes.[4] In 1983, North Carolina finally waived the Blue Law for 250 mile (402 km) or longer automobile races. The NASCAR Convertible Series had already been folded by that year and focus was on the Winston Cup Series from that point onward.

The concept of racing convertibles in NASCAR would last throughout the rest of the 1950s and into the year 1962 where the final Rebel 300 was raced before the regular stock cars took over in 1963. Cost-cutting measures ultimately became the reason behind the demise of the NASCAR Convertible Division; drivers outside of the top ten either broke even or lost money.[6]

Finishing order

  1. Fireball Roberts†
  2. Tim Flock†
  3. Bobby Myers†
  4. Bob Welborn†
  5. Lee Petty†
  6. Jack Smith†
  7. Roger Baldwin
  8. Whitey Norman
  9. Johnny Dodson
  10. Larry Frank†
  11. Al Tasnady
  12. Gwyn Staley†
  13. Don Oldenburg
  14. Jimmy Massey
  15. Jimmy Thompson*
  16. Art Binkley
  17. Glen Wood*
  18. Paul Goldsmith*
  19. Bill Myers*
  20. Joe Weatherly*†
  21. Curtis Turner*†
  22. Marvin Panch*
  23. Bill Amick*†
  24. Buck Baker*†
  25. Possum Jones*
  26. Dick Beaty*
  27. Ken Rush*†

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

References

  1. ↑ Weather information for the 1957 Rebel 300 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ↑ Racing in convertibles — and on Sunday at SCNow.com
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 1957 Rebel 300 at Racing Reference
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pit 3 - Pre-Cup Days: 1957 Rebel 300 at Race Place
  5. ↑ Please Take Your Top Off; the Rebel 300 at the Midwest Racing Archives
  6. ↑ Next Rebel 300 Last for Rag Tops at Google News Archive
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