1959 Southern 500 - NASCAR Race

Name of Race:	1959 Southern 500
Name of Track:	Darlington Raceway
Date:	N/A

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina.

Looks Like An Egg

It was the first superspeedway built with NASCAR racing in mind and is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

Largest Field of Racers

Darlington has an interesting history. When the 1.366 mile long track first opened over a half-century ago, it was not uncommon for there to be 80 or more entrants in a race; this was curtailed over the years as NASCAR adopted a more uniform set of guidelines with regard to the number of cars which could qualify for a race.

Flip-Flop

In recent years the track has been reconfigured; what was the front stretch is now the back stretch, and the turns have been renumbered accordingly. Seating has been increased to approximately 60,000; it has been limited by the proximity of a railroad track to the facility, a highway behind the back stretch, and the still-present pond.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

1959 Southern 500 NASCAR Race Results

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

Fin	Driver	Num	Start	Money	Laps	Status	Sponsor
1	Jim Reed	7	14	$17,250	364	running	Jim Reed
2	Bob Burdick	73	5	$7,760	362	running	Roy Burdick
3	Bobby Johns	72	22	$4,760	362	running	Shorty Johns
4	Richard Petty	43	6	$2,830	361	running	Petty Enterprises
5	Tommy Irwin	36	16	$2,010	358	running	Tommy Irwin
6	Jim Paschal	88	32	$1,460	356	running	Lynton Tyson
7	Fireball Roberts	3	1	$2,330	354	running	Jim Stephens
8	Larry Frank	76	20	$1,025	350	running	Carolina Plating
9	Buck Baker	87	15	$875	347	running	Lynton Tyson
11	Shep Langdon	64	28	$600	345	running	Shep Langdon
12	Bill Champion	27	25	$500	343	running
13	Joe Caspolich	2	12	$470	342	running	City of Florence
14	Speedy Thompson	22	3	$565	333	spring	Ogden-Ridgeway
15	Charlie Cregar	16	29	$300	331	running	Happy Steigel
16	Herman Beam	19	34	$250	328	running	Herman Beam
17	Rex White	4	4	$310	326	drive shft	Rex White
18	L.D. Austin	66	39	$225	326	running	L.D. Austin
19	Cotton Owens	6	19	$600	320	running	Thunder Chicken
20	Lee Petty	42	9	$300	319	running	Petty Enterprises
21	Bud Crothers	56	32	$150	318	running
24	Earl Balmer	13	30	$150	234	piston	Tommy Thompson
25	Dick Blackwell	26	27	$150	225	crash
26	Tiny Lund	20	24	$150	221	clutch	Spook Crawford
27	Cale Yarborough	30	33	$150	219	tires	Bob Weatherly
28	Jack Smith	47	10	$150	218	axle	Jack Smith
29	Marvin Panch	98	21	$150	194	camshaft	Tom Vernon
32	George Green	32	46	$150	175	engine	Jess Potter
34	Bob Duell	5	38	$150	151	pistons	Julian Buesink
35	Bob Welborn	49	11	$200	130	crash	Bob Welborn
36	Tom Pistone	59	17	$325	119	engine	Rupert Safety Belt
37	Neil Castles	91	41	$150	92	running
38	Possum Jones	92	13	$295	74	brakes	Gerald Duke
40	Buddy Baker	95	40	$150	64	engine	Julian Buesink
42	Joe Lee Johnson	44	49	$150	58	trans	Chester Barron
43	Joe Weatherly	12	8	$210	54	oil press	Coca-Cola
44	Dick Joslin	71	36	$150	46	h gasket	Dick Joslin
45	Elmo Langley	10	2	$180	41	engine	Ratus Walters
46	Joe Eubanks	61	26	$190	26	pistons	W.H. Watson
47	Marvin Porter	15	48	$150	19	h gasket	Marvin Porter
48	Elmo Henderson	82	45	$150	16	engine	Don Every
49	Larry Flynn	86	44	$150	11	rear end	Larry Flynn
50	Carl Burris	14	37	$150	2	engine