Blast From The Past: 1951
Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 10:23am CDT
By Frank Morrison, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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[thumb:385:l:s=1:l=x]In World News, Japanese Peace Treaty signed in San Francisco and Libya gains it’s independence form Italy. In US news, the 22nd Amendment is ratified which limits the terms of the President and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are sentenced to death for treason. In other sports, the Yankees win their 3rd straight World Series by beating the NY Giants 4-2 and Tennessee wins the College Football Championship. In entertainment, color TV is introduced in the US and disc jockey Alan Freed coins the term “rock ‘n’ roll on a Cleveland radio station. (So that is why Cleveland is the Heart of Rock N Roll!) In science, UNIVAC introduces the first business computer to handle numbers and letters. Now onto NASCAR, 1951, when Nash Ambassadors and Hudson Hornets fought to be the best.
January (???):
Bill France says NASCAR will go west (Birth of the NASCAR West series).
January 22:
Winner of the 1949 Indy 500 (Bill Holland) is kicked out of AAA racing.
February 11:
Marshall Teague wins in his Hudson Hornet at Daytona Road Course, and Bill Holland has mechanical problems and finishes 47th.
April 1:
Curtis Turner drives a Nash Ambassador to victory at Charlotte, Bill Holland tumbles down the backstretch on lap 132.
April 11:
Marshall Teague wins the first race on the west coast at Gardena, CA.
April 16:
AAA racing schedules an event at Darlington for July 4th the Grand National event for July 3rd is canceled because AAA refused to run an Indy race in conjunction with NASCAR.
May 6:
Curtis Turner wins in his Oldsmobile at Martinsville after parking his Nash for overheating problems.
May (???):
NASCAR and the City of Detroit join forces to stage an event for the 250th anniversary of the motor city.
June 16:
A day that has a few firsts: Frank Mundy wins his first Grand National race at Columbia, this race is the first ran under the lights, and it is the first win for the Studebaker nameplate
July 8:
A date that makes any race at Thunder Valley look tame: Fonty Flock wins the race at Bainbridge, there are so many wrecks that only five cars finish.
August 12:
Rookie Tommy Thompson outruns Curtis Turner to win the Motor City 250 it is the first victory for the Chrysler name plate.
September 3:
82 cars start the southern 500 with Herb Thomas and Jesse James Taylor finishing 1-2.
September 3:
Bobby Courtwright wins in Buffalo. This race is to promote the new NASCAR Short Track Division.
November 11:
Tim Flock wins the 100 mile race at Lakewood Speedway.
November 25:
Frank Mundy wins the season closer in Mobile, Alabama. Herb Thompson clinches the title.
| DRIVER | POINTS | STARTS | WINS | TOP-5’s | TOP-10’s | WINNINGS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herb Thomas: | 4208.45 | 35 | 7 | 16 | 18 | $21,050 |
| Fonty Flock: | 4062.25 | 34 | 8 | 20 | 22 | $15,535 |
| Tim Flock: | 3722.50 | 30 | 7 | 19 | 21 | $15,155 |
| Lee Petty: | 2392.25 | 32 | 1 | 11 | 19 | $7,340 |
| Frank Mundy: | 1963.50 | 27 | 3 | 8 | 11 | $7,095 |
| Buddy Shuman: | 1368.75 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | $2,755 |
| Jesse James Taylor: | 1214.00 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 3 | $3,700 |
| Dick Rathman: | 1040.00 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 3 | $3,480 |
| Bill Snowden: | 1009.25 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 9 | $2,365 |
| Joe Eubanks: | 1005.50 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | $3,350 |
Ok there it is, the highlights of 1951 at a glance. See you Wednesday with a look at Harold Brasington the man who brought us the Southern 500.
See Y’all Next Week With 1951!
All stats and dates compiled from NASCAR Chronicles by Greg Fielden.
(???) 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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