Blast From The Past: 1949
Monday, September 18th, 2006 11:17am CDT
By Frank Morrison, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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[thumb:385:l:s=1:l=x]Well last week I did something different and I’ll do it again with some of the top news stories of 1949. I will also include a top ten from 1948 since due to technical difficulties the top ten didn’t make it into the story last week.
Twelve Countries sign the North Atlantic Treaty forming NATO, and the German Federal Republic (West Germany) is established. In other Sports news, the Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 4-1 in the World Series and Notre Dame wins the NCAA Football National Championship. In entertainment, the first Emmy Awards are handed out, and for you music fans, the 45 rpm record is introduced in the US and a literary classic is released; George Orwells 1984. In science, the first trans world flight is made by the USAF and the Soviet Union begins to test Nuclear Weapons.
To catch up from last week, the 1948 top ten in NASCAR were:
- Red Byron
- Fonty Flock
- Tim Flock
- Curtis Turner
- Buddy Shuman
- Bill Blair
- Bob Flock
- Marshall Teague
- Bill Snowden
- Buck Baker
On to 1949…
January (unk.):
NASCAR heavily promotes new Roadster division.
January 16:
Marshall Teague Wins the season opener in his Modified Ford.
January 23:
NASCAR runs a 100 mile race at the new 2 mile track in Miami; Fonty Flock wins the 50 lap race. Lloyd Christopher wins in a new series at this track called Strictly Stock Late Model (which in 1950 becomes the Grand National Series, and then in 1971 becomes Winston Cup).
February 27:
Benny Georgeson wins the second Strictly Stock race. This is the first Strictly Stock race that sells more tickets than either the Modified or Roadster Divisions.
March 27:
Fonty Flock wins 4th Modified race in a row, and Red Byron is sidelined with an illness.
May (unk.):
Bill France scales back the Roadster races and replaces them with the quickly growing Strictly Stock series.
May 15:
Red Byron wins Modified race at Charlotte with 10,000 fans watching from the stands.
June 19:
Glenn Dunnaway wins the Strictly Stock race at Charlotte, but is disqualified when unapproved springs were used. The win is given to Jim Roper, while 13,000 fans attended the race. 5,000 fans were turned away.
July 10:
Red Byron wins the first Strictly Stock race on the Daytona Road Course.
August 7:
NASCAR replaces a Modified race with a Strictly Stock race and 17,000 people attend as Bob Flock wins at Hillsboro.
September 11:
20,000 fans watch Curtis Turner win a Strictly Stock race at Langhorne Speedway.
October 2:
Lee Petty gets his first win in a Strictly Stock race at Heidelberg Speedway in Pittsburgh. Sara Christian finishes 5th (the highest finish by a female driver in a premier race).
October 16:
Bob Flock wins the last Strictly Stock race of the season; Red Byron wins the championship by 117.5 over Lee Petty.
November 28:
NASCAR announces a victory dinner will take place in Daytona on February 1.
December 5:
NASCAR turns down a chance to sanction a race at the new paved track at Darlington.
December 7:
NASCAR PR department announces the most popular driver award for the first time, the winner is Curtis Turner.
| DRIVER | POINTS | STARTS | WINS | TOP-5’s | TOP-10’s | WINNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Byron: | 842 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | $5,800 |
| Lee Petty: | 725 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 5 | $3,855 |
| Bob Flock: | 704 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | $4,870 |
| Bill Blair: | 567 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 | $1,180 |
| Fonty Flock: | 554 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | $2,015 |
| Curtis Turner: | 430 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $2,675 |
| Ray Erickson: | 422 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | $1,460 |
| Tim Flock: | 421 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | $1,510 |
| Glenn Dunnaway: | 384 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | $810 |
| Frank Munday: | 370 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | $1,160 |
Ok there it is, 1949 in a highlight. Up next: Wednesday with a highlight of Fonty Flock.
See Y’all Next Week With 1950!
All stats and dates compiled from NASCAR Chronicles by Greg Fielden.
(unk.) next to a date indicates that the particular day the event occurred is unknown.
Filed Under: Features, Frank Morrison, Guest Authors, Nascar, Nascar History
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