1952 Wilkes County 200
| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 4 of 34 in the 1952 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
| Date | March 30, 1952 | ||
| Official name | Delaware 500 | ||
| 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) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 70 °F (21 °C); wind speeds up to 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 58.597 miles per hour (94.303 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 10,000[3] | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Herb Thomas | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Herb Thomas | Herb Thomas | |
| Laps | 200 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 92 | Herb Thomas | Herb Thomas | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1952 Wilkes County 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on March 30, 1952 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.
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.[3] Only the first two starting positions, all of the finishing positions, and the racing numbers of the most notable drivers were kept.[3]
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).[3] The race took two hours and eight minutes to reach completion and twenty-four drivers competed.[3] Out of these twenty-four drivers, only seven managed to complete the race.[3][4] Herb Thomas managed to defeat Fonty Flock in the race by an unknown amount in front of ten thousand people.[3] 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).[3][2] 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.[3][5]
Total winnings for the race was $3,550 USD ($31,634.15 when considering inflation).
Finishing order
- Herb Thomas†
- Fonty Flock†
- Bill Blair†
- Donald Thomas
- Dave Terrell
- Neil Cole
- Buddy Shuman*†
- Jim Paschal*†
- Lee Petty*†
- Otis Martin
- Joe Eubanks*†
- Leonard Tippett*
- Shorty Gibbs*
- Charles Gattalia*
- Buck Baker*
- Marshall Teague*†
- Bobby Courtwright*
- Frankie Schneider*
- Perk Brown*
- Curtis Turner*†
- Tim Flock*†
- Jimmie Lewallen*†
- Dick Rathmann*†
- Harold Mays*
* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
References
- ↑ "1952 Wilkes County 200 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
- 1 2 "1952 Wilkes County 200 information (fifth reference)". Database Racing. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "1952 Wilkes County 200 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- 1 2 3 "1952 Wilkes County 200 information (third reference)". Save the Speedway. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
- ↑ "1952 Wilkes County 200 information (fourth reference)". Everything Stock Car. Retrieved 2011-02-20.