Official name Wilkes 160 | ||
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Date October 23, 1955 (1955-October-23) Location North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina Course Permanent racing facility
0.625 mi (1.00 km) Distance 160 laps, 100 mi (160 km) Weather Mild with temperatures approaching 70 °F (21 °C); wind speeds up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h) | ||
The 1955 Wilkes 160 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on October 23, 1955, at the North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Contents
Summary
One hundred and sixty laps were competed on a dirt oval track spanning .625 miles (1.006 km). There were three cautions delivered down by NASCAR officials and the race lasted exactly one hour, twenty-one minutes, and sixteen seconds. Buck Baker defeated Lee Petty by a time of three seconds. Ford would make its first Grand National Series win at this speedway; making it a viable competitor against Dodge, Chevrolet and Chrysler. The average speed was 72.347 miles per hour (116.431 km/h) while the pole position speed was 79.815 miles per hour (128.450 km/h). Ten thousand people attended this autumn race. This race would produce Joe Weatherly's first finish in the top five. Most of the drivers in this racing event were driver-owners who owned their own racing vehicle and drove their vehicle directly to the races instead of towing it from hundreds of miles away.
All the drivers in this event were racing for a prize purse that totalled $4,285 ($38,309.50 when adjusted for inflation). Only 20 of the 28 competing drivers would gain financially from this race; with individual earnings that ranged from $1,110 ($9,923.81 when adjusted for inflation) to a paltry $50 for the NASCAR drivers who finished in 13th place through 20th place ($447.02 when adjusted for inflation). No financial compensation was given to the participants who finished in the bottom 9 due to NASCAR's limited budget for prize winnings in an era prior to "big money" sponsors like Sprint Nextel and the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
By the 1990s, NASCAR's top-level series became a media circus that only races at facilities that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Finishing order
* denotes that the driver failed to finish the race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased