1957 Virginia 500
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| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 17 of 53 in the 1957 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 1957 Virginia 500 program cover | |||
| Date | May 19, 1957 | ||
| Official name | Virginia 500 | ||
| Location | Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.500 miles (0.805 km) | ||
| Distance | 441 laps, 220.500 mi (354.860 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 500 laps, 250.000 mi (402.336 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures of 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds of 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 57.318 miles per hour (92.244 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Smokey Yunick Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Billy Myers | Bill Strope | |
| Laps | 201 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 87 | Buck Baker | Hugh Babb | |
The 1957 Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 19, 1957, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.
Barney Oldfield made his only NASCAR Cup Series appearance at this event.[2] Months after this race, the Automobile Manufacturers Association decided to legally separate themselves from all forms of automobile racing that was being held in the United States; donating millions of dollars in machinery directly to the drivers.[3]
Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races.[4] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.[5] The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.[5]
Race report
It took nearly four hours to race 441 laps worth of stock car automobile racing. While originally scheduled for 500 laps, it was stopped prematurely due to a bad in-race crash. Tom Pistone and Billy Myers would end up getting involved in the collision on lap 441; making Buck Baker the automatic winner. Just before the accident took form, Pistone straightened his car and continued. Myers headed for the wall and then jumped it near where a crowd of folks was standing. The 24-driver starting lineup was made up of drivers who were all born in the United States of America. T.A. Toomes would take up the last-place position due to problems with his gasket on lap 121.[6]
Paul Goldsmith, Tiny Lund and Buck Baker would dominate the laps prior to the accident. The victory of Buck Baker over second-place finisher Curtis Turner would demonstrate the power of the 1957 Chevrolet.[6] Although its real-life counterpart had fuel injection, the NASCAR version had to use a carburetor. Fuel injection did not become legal in what is now known as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series until the 2012 season.
Individual race earnings for this event ranged from the winner's share of $3,170 ($35,490 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $125 ($1,399 when adjusted for inflation). A grand total of $12,240 was handed out by NASCAR officials for the explicit purpose of paying off the qualifying drivers ($137,033 when adjusted for inflation).[7] Jess Potter was the only notable crew chief to take part in the race, leading the pit road crew of Brownie King's Chevrolet.[8]
Qualifying
| Grid[6] | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Owner | Time | Avg. Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Paul Goldsmith | '57 Ford | Smokey Yunick | 27.400 | 65.693 |
| 2 | 46 | Speedy Thompson | '57 Chevrolet | Hugh Babb | 27.440 | 65.598 |
| 3 | 55 | Tiny Lund | '57 Pontiac | A.L. Bumgarner | 27.500 | 65.454 |
| 4 | 50 | Tom Pistone | '57 Chevrolet | Hugh Babb | 27.520 | 65.407 |
| 5 | 98 | Marvin Panch | '57 Ford | Pete DePaolo | 27.530 | 65.383 |
| 6 | 14 | Billy Myers | '57 Mercury | Bill Stroppe | 27.620 | 65.170 |
| 7 | 22 | Fireball Roberts | '57 Ford | Pete DePaolo | 27.710 | 64.958 |
| 8 | 42 | Lee Petty | '57 Oldsmobile | Petty Enterprises | 27.720 | 64.935 |
| 9 | 88 | Ralph Earnhardt | '57 Oldsmobile | Petty Enterprises | 27.890 | 64.539 |
| 10 | 99 | Curtis Turner | '57 Ford | Pete DePaolo | 27.950 | 64.401 |
| 11 | 64 | Johnny Allen | '57 Plymouth | Spook Crawford | 28.010 | 64.263 |
| 12 | 47 | Jack Smith | '57 Chevrolet | Hugh Babb | 28.070 | 64.125 |
| 13 | 29 | Russ Hepler | '57 Pontiac | Howard Coulter | 28.080 | 64.102 |
| 14 | 87 | Buck Baker | '57 Chevrolet | Hugh Babb | 28.280 | 63.649 |
| 15 | 6 | Cotton Owens | '57 Pontiac | Ray Nichels | 28.450 | 63.269 |
| 16 | 32 | Brownie King | '56 Chevrolet | Jess Potter | 29.650 | 60.708 |
| 17 | 421 | T.A. Toomes | '56 Dodge | C.M. Julian | 29.750 | 60.504 |
| 18 | 881 | Jim Linke* | Oldsmobile | Petty Enterprises | 30.090 | 59.820 |
| 19 | 76 | George Green | '56 Chevrolet | Lonnie Fish | 30.180 | 59.642 |
| 20 | 74 | L.D. Austin | '56 Chevrolet | L.D. Austin | 30.280 | 59.445 |
| 21 | 94 | Clarence DeZalia | '56 Ford | Clarence DeZalia | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| 22 | 28 | Eddie Skinner | '57 Ford | Eddie Skinner | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| 23 | 24 | Barney Oldfield | '56 Ford | Rat Garner | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| 24 | 17 | Jim Paschal | '57 Mercury | Bill Stroppe | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| 25 | 71 | Bill Bowman | '56 Chevrolet | Bill Bowman | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||
| 11 | Emanuel Zervakis | Chevrolet | Emanuel Zervakis | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 35 | Bill Champion | Ford | Bill Champion | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 80 | Frank Jamison | Chevrolet | Frank Jamison | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| 154 | Nace Mattingly | Ford | Nace Mattingly | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
Failed to qualify: Emanuel Zervakis (#11), Bill Champion (#35), Nace Mattingly (#154), Frank Jamison (#80)[9]
*Withdrew.