1958 Wilkes 160

1958 Wilkes 160
Race details[1]
Race 50 of 51 in the 1958 NASCAR Grand National Series season

North Wilkesboro Speedway
Date October 19, 1958 (1958-October-19)
Official name Wilkes 160
Location North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
0.625 mi (1.00 km)
Distance 160 laps, 100 mi (160 km)
Weather Chilly with temperatures approaching 64 °F (18 °C); wind speeds up to 24.1 miles per hour (38.8 km/h)
Average speed 84.906 miles per hour (136.643 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver unknown unknown
Laps unknown
Winner
No. 11 Junior Johnson Paul Spalding
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1958 Wilkes 160 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on October 19, 1958, 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

Junior Johnson managed to defeat Glen Wood and 23 other American-born drivers after more than an hour (160 laps) of racing action.[2] Wood would end up qualifying for the pole position with a then-rapid speed of 86.805 miles per hour (139.699 km/h).[2] Clarence DeZalia ran out of gas while Barney Shore finished in last place on the 26th lap due to a problem with his radiator.[2]

While the winner earned $800 in total prize winnings ($6,572.55 when adjusted for inflation), the last-place finisher walked away with a meager $50 paycheck ($410.78 when adjusted for inflation).[2] Officials at North Wilkesboro Speedway approved a grand total of $3,885 in monetary winnings to be given out at this event ($31,917.94 when adjusted for inflation).[3]

Most of the car owners for this race were individuals who had the money and the knowledge to guide their chosen drivers through a typical season of NASCAR Grand National Series racing. Petty Enterprises, Holman Moody and Wood Brothers Racing were the three multi-car teams that would go on to be successful in NASCAR during the subsequent decades.[4] Richard Petty would never race using the #2 ever again after this race; he would eventually race in a single-digit number again by 1986. Every number that Richard would have from the remainder of 1958 to 1986 would be a variation on his father's No. 42.

Top ten finishers

Pos[2] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Winnings
1 2 11 Junior Johnson Ford 160 $800
2 1 21 Glen Wood Ford 159 $525
3 4 46 Speedy Thompson Chevrolet 158 $350
4 3 3 Cotton Owens Pontiac 158 $250
5 11 86 Jack Smith Chevrolet 155 $225
6 5 55 Jimmy Massey Pontiac 154 $200
7 14 14A Wilbur Rakestraw Chevrolet 154 $165
8 16 32 Brownie King Chevrolet 154 $150
9 7 42 Lee Petty Oldsmobile 150 $140
10 8 87 Buck Baker Chevrolet 150 $130

Timeline

References

  1. ↑ "1958 Wilkes 160 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 1958 Wilkes 160 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. ↑ Prize winnings information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  4. ↑ Team information at Driver Averages


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.