Official name Buddy Shuman 250 | ||
Date November 11, 1956; 60 years ago (1956-11-11) Location Hickory Speedway
Hickory, North Carolina, U.S. Course Permanent racing facility
0.400 mi (0.644 km) Distance 250 laps, 100 mi (150 km) Weather Chilly with temperatures approaching 64.9 °F (18.3 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) | ||
The 1956 Buddy Shuman 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on November 11, 1956, at Hickory Speedway in Hickory, North Carolina.
Contents
Background
Hickory Motor Speedway is a short track located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is one of stock car racing's most storied venues, and is often referred to as the "World's Most Famous Short Track" and the "Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars".
The track first opened in 1951 as a 1⁄2-mile (0.80 km) dirt track. Gwyn Staley won the first race at the speedway and later became the first track champion. Drivers such as Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, and Ralph Earnhardt also became track champions in the 1950s, with Earnhardt winning five of them.
In 1953, NASCAR's Grand National Series (later the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) visited the track for the first time. Tim Flock won the first race at the speedway, which became a regular part of the Grand National schedule. After winning his track championship in 1952, Junior Johnson became the most successful Grand National driver at Hickory, winning there seven times.
The track has been re-configured three times in its history. The track became a 0.4-mile (644 meters) dirt track in 1955, which was paved for the first time during the 1967 season.
Summary
Ralph Earnhardt would make his NASCAR Cup Series debut here; being the first member of the Earnhardt family to enter the organization. 250 laps took place on a dirt track that spanned 0.400 miles or 0.644 kilometres per lap; for a grand total of 100.0 miles or 160.9 kilometres. The race took one hour and thirty minutes to successfully conclude with Speedy Thompson defeating Earnhardt by four seconds in front of 3500 live spectators. The average speed of the race would be 66.420 miles per hour or 106.893 kilometres per hour while the pole position winner would dial in at a speed of 68.278 miles per hour or 109.883 kilometres per hour. All 22 racers on the starting grid were American-born males.
Other notable racers of the era like Tiny Lund, Lee Petty, and Buck Baker would make an appearance during this race. Billy Carden would be credited for making the race's last-place finish with a clutch problem on lap 9. DePaolo Engineering would sponsor four of the drivers in the race (Earnhardt, Ralph Moody, Bill Amick, and Carden). The combined prize purse for this race was $4,285; with the winner (Speedy Thompson) taking home $850 ($7,487.70 when adjusted for inflation) while Pete Yow would be the 20th-place finisher bringing home a meager $50 ($440.45 when adjusted for inflation). Blackie Pitt and Billy Carden both failed to make a paycheck during this race; causing them to lose money for their hard efforts.
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
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race