The Early Years: the growing pains of the beginner

Welcome back race fans, to part III of this incredible ride through the history of Nascar in my words. I hope you enjoyed the first two legs of this story and continue to follow me through time. I was originally going to make this a 5 part series, but that is not possible and it would not do justice to the sport and all the great people involved in its history. I will try to give everyone the credit they deserve, but that will probably be impossible as well. We will cover from 1949-1959 in this episode. So let's continue on this journey, and join me on this ride.

In the beginning, wait another great story start's that way. How about two score and 19 years ago? That is already taken too, Ok folks just kidding. The new Organization had combined the best talents of the drivers throughout the Southeast, Northeast, and Midwest. Some of these folks were racing in jalopy, modified, and or open wheel races. Mostly unsanctioned and sometimes without promised payouts. Then Bill France Sr. had another great idea. It was to race the same cars that people could buy at the Dealerships. You could race a car with minimal investment as nothing except minor engine tweaking was allowed in the early years. All glass was still intact and ropes or plane harnesses were used as seat belts. These cars were either driven or flat towed to the track. In some cases rental cars were used by drivers who did not have a guaranteed ride.

The Year is 1949, and Car racing was never as popular as it was right now. The First Grand National Race (currently known as Sprint Cup) was held on June 19, 1949 at the Charlotte Fairgrounds. The Winner was Jim Roper, of Great Bend, Kansas. There was an extremely large crowd watching cars with the appearance of a street car racing side by side.  There were Nine manufacturers entered in that first event (Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford, Hudson, Kaiser, Lincoln, Mercury, and Oldsmobile). The new series (officially named Grand National Series at the start of the 1950 Season) was up and running and was a major success. It was no surprise that the first car to win a Championship was owned by Raymond Parks, driven by Red Byron, and the Crew Chief/Mechanic was Red Vogt. They were after all the original Super team that got this all going. But even Parks didn't last past 1950, as the cost of running a multiple team operation was greater than the rewards.

Plans were made to bring bigger faster races to even larger and hungrier crowds. And in 1950, the first asphalt speedway was opened at Darlington, South Carolina. The excitement of these races kept fans on the edge of their seats. These were wild times in this new developed series of racing. For the distant future most of the races are being run on the dirt ovals. During the early years there were as many as 60 races a season, and the points were based almost solely on who could afford to get to the most races. The Drivers were nuts and often suffered great injuries and even deaths as these cars did not have many safety features at the time.

To say that a "Flock" of characters were involved in the beginning is an understatement.  The Three Flock Brothers Bob, Fonty, and Tim were definitely some Characters.  Those three will have to be a blog all by itself.  The Flocks were just one group that started at the birth of this great sport.  In 1950, Bill Rexford was the Grand National Champion. The second place finisher was a Legend in the sport, Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, Jr. Many who believe was the greatest driver never to win the championship. And the third place finisher was Lee Petty. There were also 5 different Manufactures Champions in those first 11 years (Olds 1949-51, Hudson 1952-54, Chrysler 1955-56, Ford 1957, and Chevrolet 1958-59).

Don't get me wrong there were many great drivers in that first decade. There were also many great owners and mechanics as well, for instance Red Vogt, Smokey Yunick, Bud Moore, and Carl Kiekhafer. The Champions of the next 8 years were (Herb Thomas 1951 and 1953, Tim Flock 1952 and 1955, Lee Petty 1954, 1958, and 1959, and Buck Baker 1956 and 1957). And they also pretty much filled in most of the top 5 in each of those years.  Other greats from the decade, Buddy Shuman, Joe Eubanks, Junior Johnson, Curtis Turner, Cotton Owens, Rex White, and many more. Another gentleman named Speedy Thompson came in third in Series Points four consecutive years from 1956-59. The First Rookie of the Year award was presented in 1958 to Spook Crawford, and in 1959 the award was awarded to Richard Petty son of the Grand National Series Champion Lee Petty.

There were also so many other modifications made throughout the 1950's that helped propel the sport in an extremely fast direction forward. It started out with tire, wheel, and suspension problems. Roll cages were mandated in 1952, starting the initial phases of safety innovations. And racing tires were available for the first time that same year, by a company called Pure Oil, who manufactured and distributed them. In 1953 a "severe usage" kit was added to Lincoln, Hudson, and Oldsmobile, in response to all the failures of hubs, spindles, axels, and other suspension pieces. In 1955 came maybe the greatest innovation into the sport, the introduction of the Chevrolet 355 cubic inch "small block" V-8. Some folks used the heavier truck axels and beefier suspensions in the mid 1950's. Marshall Teague was one of the Innovators credited with some of these ideas. In 1957 Buick unveiled an aluminum finned brake drums which dissipated heat more efficiently. And GM made another major change in 1958, when they debut an '"X" frame with a coil rear suspension, replacing the box frame with a leaf suspension. Very few 1958 Chevy's were run as drivers and mechanics were not comfortable with the new design. One particular Mechanic figured it out and his car a 1958 Pontiac won the final beach/road course race at Daytona. His name was Henry "Smokey" Yunick. And in 1959 Ford Motor Company abandoned its favored Galaxy model and started running the Thunderbird, since it fell into the dimensional parameters set forth by the governing body.

Then in 1954 a decision was made that would put Nascar on the map for good. That was the year they decided to build the first Superspeedway at Daytona. Construction began in 1957. This new Superspeedway "paved" the way for Nascar to get us to where we are today. They had some of the greats leave the sport and many of the Greats coming on board. Each and every year the sport was more and more popular. 1959 may have been the greatest year in the 11 year history of the sport, but what would the 1960's have in store for us. As you can see the 1950's played as much of a significant role as any other decade in the sport. I am sorry if I missed any facts or any people. Well Race Fans, take care and I will see you for the next leg of our journey.

.