1950 Southern 500
The inaugural Southern Five-Hundred (Southern 500 since 1951) was an automobile race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina on September 4, 1950, as part of the 1950 NASCAR Grand National. While the 1950 race was co-sanctioned by NASCAR and its rival Central States Racing Association, all subsequent Southern 500 races were hosted exclusively by NASCAR.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 13 of 19 in the 1950 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
|
Program promoting the 1950 Southern 500. | |||
| Date | September 4, 1950 | ||
| Official name | Southern Five-Hundred | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.25 mi (2.012 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 500 mi (800 km) | ||
| Weather | Very hot with temperatures of 90 °F (32 °C); wind speeds of 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 82.766 mph (133.199 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 25,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | John Eanes | ||
| Time | 43.884 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Johnny Mantz | Hubert Westmoreland | |
| Laps | 351 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 98 | Johnny Mantz | Hubert Westmoreland | |
It is NASCAR's first 500-mile race, and still holds status as one of NASCAR's premier events. Since there had never been a 500-mile stock car race and Darlington was NASCAR's first superspeedway, drivers and teams came to the event with unique strategies. Darlington set the precedent for race strategies to come at tracks like the Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.