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1957 Rebel 300

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1957 Rebel 300
Race details[1]
Race 14 of 36 in the 1957 NASCAR Convertible Series season
1957 Rebel 300 program cover
1957 Rebel 300 program cover
Date May 12, 1957 (1957-May-12)
Official name Rebel 300
Location Darlington Raceway (Darlington, South Carolina)
Course Permanent racing facility
1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance 219 laps, 301.3 mi (606.7 km)
Weather Temperatures of 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds of 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)
Average speed 107.921 miles per hour (173.682 km/h)
Attendance 17,000[2]
Pole position
Driver Slim Rominger
Most laps led
Driver Fireball Roberts Pete DePaolo
Laps 181
Winner
No. 22 Fireball Roberts Pete DePaolo

The 1957 Rebel 300 was a NASCAR Convertible Series race in Darlington, South Carolina on May 12, 1957. While the Rebel 300 was originally a convertible race, it eventually became absorbed into what is now known as the NASCAR Cup Series. From a lineal historical standpoint, this race is the first in the lineal history of the current Darlington Cup race since 2005, the Southern 500.

The race's name references the Confederate Memorial Day weekend of the race, which was held on the Saturday closest to Confederate Memorial Day from 1957 until 1965, and again from 1967 until 1969, and again from 2005 until 2013. After a Saturday rainout, track president Bob Colvin decided to race on the next clear day, in violation of South Carolina blue laws (the Southern 500 was held on Monday until 1984). Colvin was fined $58 for the violation by Sheriff Grover Bryant ($629 when adjusted for inflation). Tickets for this event sold from anywhere from $5 USD ($54 when adjusted for inflation) to $8 USD ($87 when adjusted for inflation). The 1957 Rebel 300 was also the first NASCAR convertible race to be run on a Sunday and on Mother's Day.[3]

Race report

[edit]

Among the cars that failed to qualify for this race included Cup Series race winners Darel Dieringer, Neil Castles, Tiny Lund and Ralph Moody. While Curtis Turner and Marvin Panch dominated the early portion of the race, a series of crashes would knock most of the 27-car grid out of the race. Most of the field would be driving vehicles from either Ford or Plymouth.[2] The 29th lap was marred by a nine-car wreck.[4] All the drivers were born in the United States of America. Ken Rush was the last-place finisher. In the end, the race was between Joe Weatherly, Fireball Roberts and Bobby Myers.[2]

Fireball Roberts would ultimately beat Tim Flock by two laps in front of 17,000 people. The time of the race was 2:47 with no caution laps.[2] Lap 95 was the only time that Roberts didn't lead the race because of a pit stop.[5] Art Binkley, Dick Beaty and Possum Jones would be the most notable drivers in the lap 29 crashes.[4] Beaty was later known as a NASCAR official and Bobby Myers' son Danny became a well-known mechanic in NASCAR, as a member of Richard Childress Racing's "Flying Aces" pit crew.

There was a red flag on lap 30 for 50 minutes for cleanup the track.[2] Jim Paschal #75 blew a tire and started the big nine-car accident.[2] Buck Baker relieved Bob Welborn on the 85th lap, Curtis Turner relieved Roger Baldwin on the 30th lap, Tiny Lund relieved Whitey Norman on the 30th lap, Jim Paschal relieved Ken Rush on the 1st lap, and Fonty Flock relieved Glen Wood on the 1st lap.

The concept of racing convertibles in NASCAR would last throughout the rest of the 1950s and into the year 1962 where the final Rebel 300 was raced before the regular Grand National cars took over in 1963. Cost-cutting measures ultimately became the reason behind the demise of the NASCAR Convertible Division.[6]

The Rebel 300 format was changed to a twin 150-mile race for the Grand National cars in 1963, with a switch to a single race of 400 miles in 1964, 500 miles in 1974, and 400 miles in 1994. From 2005 until 2013, the Rebel 500 ran on the traditional Mother's Day / Confederate Memorial Day weekend date of the first Rebel, with the 2007 race -- 50 years since the first Rebel 300 being rained out and racing on the Sunday itself. In 2014, the Rebel was held in April, and moved back to September in 2015.

Finishing order

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Source:[7][8]
Fin St # Driver Sponsor Make Laps Led Status Pts
1 4 22 Fireball Roberts '57 Ford 219 181 running
2 7 15 Tim Flock '57 Mercury 217 0 running
3 12 4 Bobby Myers '56 Mercury 216 7 running
4 13 49 Bob Welborn '57 Chevrolet 216 0 running
5 9 42 Lee Petty '57 Oldsmobile 213 0 running
6 18 46 Jack Smith '57 Chevrolet 212 0 running
7 24 10 Roger Baldwin '56 Ford 210 0 running
8 20 1A Whitey Norman '56 Ford 207 0 running
9 10 88 Johnny Dodson '57 Oldsmobile 206 0 running
10 23 76 Larry Frank '56 Chevrolet 204 0 running
11 25 44 Al Tasnady '57 Plymouth 199 0 running
12 15 34 Gwyn Staley '57 Plymouth 196 0 running
13 19 86 Don Oldenberg '57 Plymouth 192 0 running
14 22 33 Jimmy Massey '57 Plymouth 191 0 running
15 27 20 Jimmy Thompson '56 Ford 179 0 crash
16 26 41 Art Binkley '56 Plymouth 164 0 running
17 14 21 Glen Wood '57 Ford 121 0 engine
18 1 3 Paul Goldsmith '57 Ford 71 0 crash
19 5 14 Billy Myers '57 Mercury 35 0 crash
20 2 12 Joe Weatherly '57 Ford 35 2 crash
21 3 26 Curtis Turner '57 Ford 29 11 crash
22 6 98 Marvin Panch '57 Ford 29 18 crash
23 8 97 Bill Amick '57 Ford 29 0 crash
24 21 87 Buck Baker '57 Chevrolet 29 0 crash
25 16 48 Possum Jones '57 Chevrolet 29 0 crash
26 11 39 Dick Beaty '56 Ford 29 0 crash
27 17 75 Ken Rush '56 Mercury 26 0 crash
Failed to qualify
28 35 Darel Dieringer Ford
29 2 Ewell Weddle Chevrolet
30 9 Dave Terrell Chevrolet
31 18 Eddie Hughes Ford
32 50 Charlie Cregar Plymouth
33 55 Neil Castles Ford
34 71 Bill Poor Chevrolet
35 77 Bud Crothers Chevrolet
36 78 Shep Langdon Chevrolet
37 19 James Jones Ford
38 32 Raymond Carter Chevrolet
39 40 George Baumgardner Ford
40 47 Jimmie Lewallen Chevrolet
41 99 Bill Lutz Pontiac
42 55 Tiny Lund Pontiac
43 24 Ralph Moody Ford
44 7 Jim Reed Ford
45 5 Tom Pistone Plymouth

Timeline

[edit]
Fireball Roberts
1
11
21
31
41
51
61
71
81
91
101
111
121
131
141
151
161
171
181
191
201
211

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Weather information for the 1957 Rebel 300 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c d e f 1957 Rebel 300 at Racing Reference
  3. ^ Racing in convertibles — and on Sunday at SCNow.com
  4. ^ a b Pit 3 - Pre-Cup Days: 1957 Rebel 300 at Race Place
  5. ^ Please Take Your Top Off; the Rebel 300 at the Midwest Racing Archives
  6. ^ Next Rebel 300 Last for Rag Tops at Google News Archive
  7. ^ "1957 Rebel 300 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  8. ^ "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-14.