1955 Mid-South 250

Coordinates: 35°8.31486′N 90°18.9617′W / 35.13858100°N 90.3160283°W / 35.13858100; -90.3160283

1955 Mid-South 250
Race details[1]
Race 33 of 45 in the 1955 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Date August 14, 1955 (1955-August-14)
Official name Mid-South 250
Location Memphis-Arkansas Speedway (LeHi, Arkansas)
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (3.000 km)
Distance 160 laps, 250.1 mi (402.8 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures approaching 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed 89.982 miles per hour (144.812 km/h)
Attendance 15,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Carl Keikhaefer
Most laps led
Driver Fonty Flock Carl Keikhaefer
Laps 88
Winner
No. 301 Fonty Flock Carl Keikhaefer

The 1955 Mid-South 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on August 14, 1955, at the Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in LeHi, Arkansas.

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 any more.

Background

The Memphis-Arkansas Speedway was a dirt oval track located just west of West Memphis, Arkansas, United States, in the community of LeHi.

This speedway had a total distance spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km).[3] Its elevation is 200 feet above sea level and all races used the Central Time Zone.[3] While the track opened on October 7, 1954, it soon ran out of money.[3] Paving the track cost $100,000 ($843,957.35 when adjusted for inflation) and the dirt surface was unmanageable after a certain number of years.[3] As a result, the track was closed permanently in 1957 when it was sold to a local farmer [3] named Clayton Eubanks Sr., who used the abandoned race track for catfish, rice, and soybeans for a number of years. The proposed Interstate highway that was being built near the abandoned rack track was not finished in time to save it.

Summary

One hundred and sixty-seven laps were done on a dirt oval track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km).[2][4] There were no cautions and the time of the race was two hours, forty-seven minutes, and twelve seconds.[2][4] The average speed was 89.982 miles per hour (144.812 km/h) while the pole position speed was 99.944 miles per hour (160.844 km/h).[2][4] Fifteen thousand people attended this live and completely untelevised race.[2] Total winnings for this race were $10,625 ($94,014.75 when adjusted for inflation) with the winner receiving $2,950 ($26,102.92 when adjusted for inflation).[4]

Fonty Flock managed to break his brother's eight-race pole streak. However, Tim Flock qualified in second place for this race.[4] Fonty would eventually win the race in his 1955 Chrysler C-300[2] but Tim would finish in third place (one position worse than he started in).[4] None of the speed records from qualifying portion of this race survive today. This is due NASCAR's tendency to throw away data during that era instead of tabulating it into a more permanent form at the end of each season. Records that survive from the earlier years of NASCAR are often spared from being burned or shredded. Lee Petty was knocked out of the race due to problem with his car's U joint and Jimmie Lewallen was forced out of the race due to a broken gas line.

Ted Cannady and Banks Simpson would make their NASCAR debuts at this racing event while Ken Johns and Jim McLain would end their NASCAR careers here.[4] No record pertaining to the points system used in NASCAR was recorded for this event.[5]

Finishing order

  1. Fonty Flock† (No. 301)
  2. Speedy Thompson† (No. 80)
  3. Tim Flock† (No. 300)
  4. Jim Paschal† (No. 78)
  5. Buck Baker† (No. 89)
  6. Bob Welborn† (No. 44)
  7. Junior Johnson (No. 55)
  8. Slick Smith (No. 14)
  9. Jimmy Ayers (No. 3)
  10. Ken Johns (No. 23)
  11. Dave Terrell (No. 98)
  12. Eddie Skinner (No. 28)
  13. Joe Guide (No. 52)
  14. Herb Thomas† (No. 92)
  15. Ted Cannady (No. 32)
  16. Banks Simpson (No. 20)
  17. Gene Simpson (No. 40)
  18. Al Watkins (No. 33)
  19. Lee Petty*† (No. 42)
  20. Roscoe Rann (No. 155)
  21. Jimmie Lewallen*† (No. 88)
  22. Jim McLain (No. 39)
  23. Hooker Hood* (No. 188)
  24. Jack Hubbard* (No. 51-X)
  25. Harold Kite*† (No. 71)
  26. Woodie Wilson* (No. 90)
  27. Billy Carden*† (No. 8)
  28. Gordon Smith* (No. 19)
  29. Gwyn Staley*† (No. 56)

* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

Timeline

References

  1. ↑ "Weather information for the 1955 Mid-South 250". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Basic information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Basic information". NA-Motorsports. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Advanced information". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  5. ↑ "Points scoring information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
Preceded by
1954 Mid-South 250		 Mid-South 250 races
1954-1955 		Succeeded by
none
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