Official name Wilkes County 160 | ||
 | ||
Date April 3, 1955 (1955-April-03) Course Permanent racing facility0.625 mi (1.00 km) Distance 160 laps, 100 mi (160 km) Weather Mild with temperatures approaching 75 °F (24 °C); wind speeds up to 18.1 miles per hour (29.1 km/h) | ||
The 1955 Wilkes County 160 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on April 3, 1955, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Contents
Summary
One hundred and sixty laps were done on a dirt track spanning .625 miles (1.006 km). The total duration of the race was one hour, twenty-two minutes, and three seconds with no cautions. Buck Baker defeated Dick Rathmann by three feet. Ten thousand people came out to see this race.
The pole speed that was accomplished by Dink Widenhouse was 77.720 miles per hour (125.078 km/h) while the average speed was 73.126 miles per hour (117.685 km/h). Other notable drivers who participated included Lee Petty, Herb Thomas, Dink Widenhouse, Fonty Flock, and Junior Johnson. All twenty-two drivers who qualified were American-born. Twelve drivers failed to finish the race due to axle, spindle, coil, wheel, frame, vapor lock, tire, gasket, and bearing problems.
The total winnings of the race was $3,800 USD ($33,973.42 when considering inflation). 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.
Finishing order
* denotes that the driver failed to finish the race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased