1951 Southern 500 - NASCAR Race

Name of Race:	1951 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.

1951 Southern 500 NASCAR Race Results

Below are the race results for 1951 Southern 500, in order of finishing place.

Fin	Driver	Num	Start	Money	Laps	Status	Sponsor
1	Herb Thomas	92	2	$8,800	400	running	FABULOUS
3	Buddy Shuman	17	19	$1,500	391	running	R.H. Yandell
4	Hershel McGriff	77	5	$1,210	390	running	Hershel McGriff
5	Fireball Roberts	11	7	$910	387	running	Saverance Motors
6	Harold Kite	1	38	$800	384	running	Julian Buesink
7	Leon Sales	46	27	$700	384	running	Hubert Westmoreland
8	Fonty Flock	14	4	$600	383	running	Red Devil
11	Tim Flock	91	45	$350	379	running	Black Phantom
13	Jack Goodwin	34	52	$300	378	running	Bill Caltrider
14	Billy Carden	8	15	$300	377	running	West Peachtree Motors
15	Lee Petty	42	24	$250	373	running	Petty Special
16	Gober Sosebee	51	51	$250	373	running	Cherokee Garage
17	Bud Farrell	70	47	$200	373	running	William Gundaker
18	Billy Myers	99	23	$200	373	running	Hubert Westmoreland
22	Freddie Farmer	95	30	$100	370	running	Tom's Grill
23	Cotton Owens	71	82	$100	370	running	F.J. Bland
24	Ed Benedict	56	60	$100	370	running	Ken Swihart
25	Red Byron	83	54	$100	368	crash	Dantone Racing Stable
27	Bob Flock	7	10	$50	368		Gray Ghost
28	Jimmie Lewallen	0	62	$50	367		Hubert Hamilton
33	Marshall Teague	6	47	$500	361	crash	FABULOUS
36	Jim Fiebelkorn	67	50	$50	360		Jim Fiebelkorn
37	Gene Comstock	37	21	$50	357		Gene Comstock
38	Oliver Dial	74	65	$50	355		Preston Jones
39	Jim Paschal	60	22	$50	353		Wheatley Motors
41	Ted Chamberlain	94	61	$50	340		Del Pearson
42	J.E. Hardie	96	73	$50	339		J.E. Hardie
43	Donald Thomas	93	0	$50	337		Herb Thomas
44	Iggy Katona	9	75	$50	337		Iggy Katona
46	Dave Anderson	33	76	$50	335		Bill Caltrider
48	Jack Smith	57	17	$50	323		Wally Marks
51	Gene Darragh	5	58	$50	309		Griffin Motors
52	Gwyn Staley	27	53	$50	303		The Wilkes Boys
53	Jim Delaney	21	72	$50	294		Bob Osiecki
54	Erick Erickson	15	33	$50	281		Packer
55	Bill Blair	2	68	$50	275		Bill Blair
56	Buck Baker	87	18	$50	275		Troy Motor Co.
57	Curtis Turner	41	26	$480	272	engine	Eanes Motor Co.
58	Wade Fields	72	40	$50	268		James Hinnant
59	Lloyd Dane	22	15	$50	263		Lloyd Dane
60	John Barker	48	64	$50	258		Leo Sigman
61	Buck Baity	44	77	$0	248		Buck Baity
62	Ray Chase	28	8	$0	237		Bill Sheldon
64	Jimmy Ayers	3	67	$0	225		Jimmy Ayers
65	Frank Gise	38	9	$0	215	wheel	B.R. Waller
66	Sandy Lynch	97	32	$0	215		Sandy Lynch
67	Bob Johnson	80	28	$0	214		I.D. Stenstrom
69	Bub King	55	37	$0	149		Bub King
70	Tommy Thompson	40	74	$0	148	rf hub	A.L. Miller
71	Bill Rexford	52	34	$0	143		George Hartley
73	Weldon Adams	26	46	$0	104		Leland Colvin
75	Joe Eubanks	82	72	$0	92		Oates Motor Co.
76	Johnny Mantz	98	35	$0	88	valve	Johnny Mantz
77	Rudy Hires	39	56	$0	82		Rudy Hires
78	Sonny Black	35	59	$0	73		Sonny Black
79	Lloyd Moore	59	13	$0	61		Julian Buesink
80	Lee Connell	19	42	$0	58	crash	Lee Connell
81	Bobby Booth	73	20	$0	53		Stanley Moore
82	Frank Mundy	23	1	$0	12	oil press	Perry Smith