Editor’s Note: NASCAR is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023. SPEED SPORT was founded in 1934 and was already on its way to becoming America’s Motorsports Authority when NASCAR was formed. As a result, we will bring you a 75-part series on the history of NASCAR as told in the pages of National Speed Sport News and SPEED SPORT Magazine.
“Stock Car Craze on Increase,” proclaimed the headline in the April 26, 1950 issue of NSSN.
The bold, black letters referring to stock car racing’s explosion in popularity across the nation delivered the news and foretold what was to be NASCAR’s biggest season to date. With the 1949 contract with promoter Ed Otto in full effect, 153 events were added to the calendar, including races at New York ovals in Vernon and Rochester.
NASCAR-sanctioned races also appeared for the first time at Ohio speedplants in Canfield and Dayton. A late-season 100-miler in Winchester, Ind., was NASCAR’s first foray west of Ohio. Bill France reached north and west for additional tracks for his race circuit, but NASCAR’s newest track opened in the South.
Darlington Raceway Makes The Headlines
The 1.25-mile paved Darlington (S.C.) Raceway made news throughout 1950 as the two-year construction process culminated with the Southern 500 on Labor Day. At a cost of $250,000 to build, the track boasted concrete grandstands large enough to seat 10,000 spectators, each of whom would pay up to $10 to watch the race.
Curtis Turner’s 82.034-mph qualifying lap put him on the pole in front of a NASCAR-record 35,000 fans.
Yet, 500 miles later, eventual driver of the year Johnny Mantz, who started 40th, had outlasted the 75-car field for the inaugural Darlington crown and a record $10,510 victor’s purse. Mantz drove “a newly purchased 1950 Plymouth” to victory in the strictly stock Darlington marathon, according to the Sept. 6 issue of NSSN.
This fell within the Grand National division rules at the time, which stated that any 1949-’51 model American car driven by a person 21 years or older was eligible to qualify for a NASCAR-sanctioned strictly stock (Grand National) event as long as the driver registered with NASCAR. The $10 annual car registration fee also made the owner of the car a NASCAR member.
The same registration rules applied to the modified and sportsman classes, but steel-top cars from any year and any manufacturer were eligible, provided the vehicles were modified for safety.
Requirements for inside steel bracing, a fire wall between the gas tank and the driver and four-wheel brakes in good condition made it possible for NASCAR to secure group medical insurance, death benefits and disability payments totaling $2,250 for each driver per race.
While regulations off the track improved conditions for NASCAR drivers, fans were most interested in the action on the track.
The Story Of Curtis Turner
Curtis Turner (NASCAR photo)
Harold Kite opened the season with a victory at Daytona but the real story of the racing season was Curtis Turner. Turner drove his red 1950 Oldsmobile 88 to the checkered flag for the first time in the 100-mile race at Langhorne (Pa.) Speedway.
He followed that with a victory at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in May.
July triumphs in Rochester (N.Y.) and Charlotte (N.C.) brought the point leader’s victory total to four, with 10 of the 19 strictly-stock events remaining on the schedule.
Then, what the Nov. 1 issue of NSSN called Turner’s “jinx” altered his season and the championship race. In another Charlotte race, Turner led the first 70 laps before a broken kingpin ended his day.
At Darlington, he paced the first 48 circuits before tire problems forced him to pit. Three hundred miles later, he was challenging for the point until he rolled his car.
These and other difficulties pulled Turner, who led 1,110 of the laps in 12 of the 16 races he started, from the top spot in the points standings down to fifth by season’s end.
Turner’s fate gave Bill Rexford, who won at Canfield, Ohio, the opportunity to vault into the top spot in September. He held off Fireball Roberts and mechanic of the year Lee Petty, for the season crown. Rexford won the season title in the NASCAR Grand National division and his car owner, Julian Buesink, was the car owner of the year.
Charles Dyer won the modified division, which held 25 events during the season.
In the sportsman division, Mike Klapak emerged the champion by 10 points over Roscoe “Pappy” Hough.
Keyword: NASCAR In 1950 — The 75 Years Edition