1959 Daytona 500 - NASCAR Race

Name of Race:	1959 Daytona 500
Name of Track:	Daytona International Speedway
Date:	N/A

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway is a superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is a 2.5 mile (4 km) tri-oval race track facility with a seating capacity of 168,000 spectators.

It hosts races of motor vehicles of various kinds, including go-karts, dirt bikes, motorcycles, sports cars, modified pickup trucks, and stock cars. The facility also includes a 3.56 mile (5.7 km) road course and a 180-acre infield, including the 29 acre Lake Lloyd.

NASCAR Begins At Daytona

NASCAR was founded by William France Sr. at Daytona Beach, Florida in 1947. The original premiere event in the series was held at the Daytona Beach Road Course. France began planning a new track for the premiere event in his fledgling series in 1953. On August 16, 1954 he signed a contract with city officials to create this new track that would become famous as the Daytona International Speedway. Ground was broken on November 25, 1957 The soil underneath the banked corners was dug from the infield of the track, and the large hole in the infield was filled with water and is now known as Lake Lloyd. The speedway opened on February 22, 1959 to a crowd of 41,000 people.

Daytona 500

The NASCAR Championship's most important race, the Daytona 500, is held annually at Daytona International Speedway. It is a 200-lap, 500 mile (805 km) stock car race. The list of Daytona 500 winners is very long dating back to the inaugural race in 1959, and includes "The King" Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt.

More Daytona Races

NASCAR, the premier stock car organization in the United States, holds some of its most important races on this track. These include competitions in its Craftsman Truck Series (where pickup trucks are raced), Busch Series (the stock car junior league), and Nextel Cup series. The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona is also held at Daytona.

The racing season begins at Daytona starting with the testing sessions. The year's racing begins with the 24 Hours of Daytona race in the Grand American Sports Car series. Then the racing begins for the Nextel Cup with the Budweiser Shootout and the Gatorade Duel. The Craftsman Truck Series begins with the GM Flex Fuel 250. The Busch Series begins with the Hershey's Kissables 300, and then it is back to the Nextel Cup in "The Great American Race," the Daytona 500. The Nextel Cup also features the Pepsi 400 in July at Daytona.

Daytona International Speedway Under The Lights

Lights were installed in 1998 so that the Pepsi 400 could be held at night. However, the race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires that summer. The Pepsi 400 has been held under lights ever since.

It also contains an attraction called Daytona USA The winning car from the Daytona 500 is placed in front of the attraction building each year.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

1959 Daytona 500 NASCAR Race Results

Below are the race results for 1959 Daytona 500, in order of finishing place.

Fin	Driver	Num	Start	Money	Laps	Status	Sponsor
1	Lee Petty	42	15	$19,050	200	running	Petty Enterprises
2	Johnny Beauchamp	73	21	$7,650	200	running	Roy Burdick
3	Charley Griffith	18	17	$4,600	199	running	Red Bank
4	Cotton Owens	6	11	$2,525	199	running	W.H. Watson
5	Joe Weatherly	48	7	$1,875	199	running	E.C. Wilson
6	Jim Reed	7	39	$1,075	196	running	Jim Reed
7	Jack Smith	47	41	$2,625	196	running	Jack Smith
8	Tom Pistone	59	5	$1,825	195	running	Rupert Safety Belt
9	Tim Flock	15	42	$800	193	running	Beau Morgan
10	Speedy Thompson	1	31	$600	193	running	Steve Pierce
11	Johnny Allen	8	59	$400	192	running
12	Raul Cilloniz	38	35	$500	192	running	Raul Cilloniz
13	Curtis Turner	41	43	$425	189	running	Delta Auto Sales
14	Junior Johnson	11	33	$250	189	running	Paul Spaulding
15	Dick Freeman	29	25	$250	188	running	Dick Freeman
16	Joe Lee Johnson	77	16	$975	187	running	Honest Charley
17	Marvin Panch	98	4	$775	185	running	Tom Vernon
21	Herman Beam	19	49	$165	182	running	Herman Beam
24	Larry Frank	76	12	$250	178	running	Carolina Plating
25	Elmo Langley	10	48	$175	175	running	Ratus Walters
26	Rex White	4	19	$100	174	engine	Idewild Homes
27	Ben Benz	55	30	$200	169	running	Bernard Friedland
28	Dick Joslin	71	27	$100	167	piston	Dick Joslin
32	Dick Foley	66	44	$150	157	running	Dick Foley
33	Brownie King	32	28	$150	152	engine	Jess Potter
34	Glen Wood	21	8	$100	149	clutch	Wood Brothers
36	Billy Carden	39	26	$100	140	running	Davis Brothers
37	Bernie Hentges	81	23	$100	138	engine	Bernie Hentges
38	Shorty Rollins	99	2	$100	115	engine	Shorty's
39	Joe Eubanks	82	22	$100	95	trans	Don Every
40	Tiny Lund	88	13	$100	92	timing	Buck Baker
41	Bob Welborn	49	1	$325	75	engine	W.J. Ridgeway
42	Buck Baker	87	54	$100	75	timing	Buck Baker
43	Ken Johnson	53	37	$100	67	push rod	Ken Johnson
44	L.D. Austin	74	58	$100	65	generator	L.D. Austin
45	Fireball Roberts	3	46	$650	56	fuel pump	Jim Stephens
46	Paul Bass	45	40	$100	52	engine
47	Bobby Johns	72	29	$100	46	heating	Shorty Johns
48	Eduardo Dibos	37	9	$100	44	suspension	Peru
49	Gober Sosebee	50	36	$100	44	trans	Cherokee Garage
51	Bob Duell	95	51	$100	38	distrib	Julian Buesink
52	Pete Kelly	36	32	$100	34	engine	Pete Kelly
55	George Green	33	34	$100	21	engine	City Motors
57	Richard Petty	43	6	$100	8	engine	Petty Enterprises