1954 Mid-South 250
35°8.31486′N 90°18.9617′W / 35.13858100°N 90.3160283°W
| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 35 of 37 in the 1954 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
| Date | October 10, 1954 | ||
| Official name | Wilkes County 160 | ||
| Location | Memphis-Arkansas Speedway (LeHi, Arkansas) | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi (2.414 km) | ||
| Distance | 167 laps, 250.5 mi (403.1 km) | ||
| Weather | Very hot with temperatures approaching 88 °F (31 °C); wind speeds up to 15.9 miles per hour (25.6 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 89.013 miles per hour (143.253 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 12,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Paul Whiteman | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Lee Petty | Petty Enterprises | |
| Laps | 150 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 87 | Buck Baker | Bob Griffith | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1954 Mid-South 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on October 10, 1954, at 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 anymore.
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 ($1,084,834.12 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 raced on a dirt track spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km).[2] Twelve thousand people would attend this live untelevised race where Buck Baker would win in his 1954 Oldsmobile vehicle.[2] Other notable competitors included Lee Petty (who led 150 laps which was considered to be the most laps), Marvin Panch, Jimmie Lewallen, Arden Mounts, and Junior Johnson.[2] The average speed of the race was 89.013 miles per hour (143.253 km/h) and the race took two hours, forty-eight minutes, and fifty-one seconds to complete.[2] There was no record of the pole speed, the number of cautions, or even the margin of victory that Buck Baker had over Dick Rathmann.[2] This event was the 35th race out of 37 in the 1954 Grand National season.[2] Even though it was advertised as a 250-mile race, the actual distance of the race was 250.5 miles (403.1 km).
One of the major sponsors of the race was for the gasoline brand Pure;[2] which is now a defunct oil company that services ten Southern states as a cooperative.[4] Vapor lock from the fuels being used in the NASCAR Cup Series back then led to the elimination of three drivers from the race (John Erickson, Bud Harless, and Charles Brinkley).[2] Ever since NASCAR has made the use of fuel injection mandatory in all of their Cup Series vehicles, the vapor lock problem has been solved permanently.
Richard Jones achieved the race's last place finish due to a crash on the first lap of the race.[2][5] Lloyd Chick, Bo Fields, Hooker Hood, Jim McLain, Dutch Munsinger, Roscoe Rann, Leland Sewell and Robert Slensby would make their NASCAR Grand National Series debut at this event. Charles Brinkley, Laird Bruner, Herschel Buchanan and Frank Smith would depart from professional stock car racing after this event. Bud Chaddock, John Erickson, Charles Hardiman, Richard Jones, Harold Lutz, Charles Merrill and Lucky Walters would make their NASCAR appearance at this race.[6]
Robert Foster was responsible for maintaining Junior Johnson's vehicle during the race while Lee Petty his own crew chief during the race.[7]
Timeline
Section reference: [2]
- Start: Junior Johnson starts the race with the pole position
- Lap 1: Lee Petty took over the lead from Junior Johnson; Richard Jones got himself involved in a terminal crash and had to leave the race
- Lap 10: Junior Johnson's vehicle had a piston that stopped working, ending his race weekend
- Lap 11: Harold Lutz' vehicle had a piston that stopped working, ending his race weekend
- Lap 18: Dave Terrell did something bad to his engine; Lucky Walters would lose the frame of his vehicle at roughly the same time
- Lap 27: A piston stopped working on Jim Paschal's vehicle, ending his chances at a respectable finish
- Lap 31: A gasket problem forced Jim Reed into the proverbial sidelines
- Lap 33: A tie rod problem managed to bring Rosco Rann behind the wall for the remainder of the race
- Lap 43: Steering issues caused Ray Duhigg to end his racing weekend a bit too soon
- Lap 46: Dutch Munsinger had to leave the race due to a faulty transmission
- Lap 51: Charles Brinkley developed vapor lock problems with his vehicle
- Lap 55: Bud Harless had the same vapor lock issues that Brinkley had on lap 51
- Lap 61: Arden Mounts' suffered from a problematic gasket
- Lap 62: Transmission problems brought Laird Brunner's race to a premature halt
- Lap 66: A spindle issue ended Bud Chaddock's day on the track
- Lap 68: Jimmy Ayers had a problem with his vehicle's gasket, ending his day on the track
- Lap 74: Johnny Patterson's fuel line became faulty
- Lap 84: Leland Sewell was involved in a terminal crash and had to leave the race
- Lap 92: The rear end of Joel Million's vehicle came off, forcing him to finish in a mediocre 34th place
- Lap 99: Joe Eubanks' vehicle ended up with a faulty fuel line, ending his day on the track
- Lap 137: John Erickson's vehicle suddenly had vapor lock issues
- Lap 147: Eric Erickson had piston troubles, forcing him out of the race
- Lap 151: Buck Baker took over the lead from Lee Petty
- Lap 161: Lee Petty's vehicle developed a problematic axle
- Finish: Buck Baker was officially declared the winner of the event
References
- ^ "Weather information for the 1954 Mid-South 250". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-11-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Basic information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
- ^ a b c d e "Basic information". NA-Motorsports. Retrieved 2010-05-04.
- ^ "Official fuel provider information". Pure Marketers. Archived from the original on 2011-02-01. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "1954 Mid-South 250 last place driver information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ Notable names at Race Database
- ^ "Crew chief information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-06-14.