Official name Old Dominion 400 | ||
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Date October 28, 1956 (1956-October-28) Course Permanent racing facility0.500 mi (0.804 km) Distance 400 laps, 200 mi (321 km) Weather Cold with temperatures approaching 60.1 °F (15.6 °C); winds reaching up to approximately 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) | ||
The 1956 Old Dominion 400 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) event that was held on October 28, 1956, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. As a NASCAR-sanctioned "Sweepstakes" race, sedan vehicles from the Grand National Series and stock convertibles from the NASCAR Convertible division raced side-by-side with other for the same amount of money and championship points.
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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.
Background
Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long. The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.
Summary
Four hundred laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km) for a grand total of 200.0 miles (321.9 km). The race took three hours, sixteen minutes, and seventeen seconds to complete thanks to four caution flags. During the late 1950s, the admirable traits concerning NASCAR stock car drivers who were successful included broadly-defined shoulders and arms that were relatively large. These drivers generally were tougher competitors in 1956 than they are today due to the lack of technology that was inside the vehicles. Forty vehicles would qualify to start this race; an incredible amount for the NASCAR Cup Series in its formative years.
Nine thousand and five hundred stock car racing fans attended the live race to see Jack Smith win the race in his 1956 Dodge vehicle (beating thirty-nine other drivers in the process). A Canadian named Norman Schihl participated in the race and finished in 23rd place; making his only Grand National appearance. Notable speeds were: 61.136 miles per hour (98.389 km/h) for the average speed and 67.643 miles per hour (108.861 km/h) for the pole position speed. While some multi-car teams were present in the race, the majority of drivers had an owner that wasn't incorporated into a team. Jack Smith officially became the fiftieth different driver to win what is now known as a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.
Total winnings for this race were $11,739 ($103,409.53 when considering inflation). The winner of the race (Jack Smith) would receive the majority of the winnings with $2,264 ($19,943.71 when considering inflation) being awarded to him while last place finisher Jimmie Lewallen would walk away with only $100 ($880.91 when considering inflation).
Larry Frank, Bill Lutz, Larry Odo, and Bill Poor would make their NASCAR debut in this racing event.
Finishing order
* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased