1950 Wilkes 200

1950 Wilkes 200

Race details[1]
Race 15 of 19 in the 1950 NASCAR Grand National Series season
North Wilkesboro Speedway
Date	October 16, 1950 (1950-October-16)
Official name	Wilkes 200
Location	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.625 mi (1.006 km)
Distance	200 laps, 100 mi (150 km)
Weather	Mild with temperatures approaching 70 °F (21 °C); with winds being sustained up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed	not recorded
Pole position
Driver	Fireball Roberts	Sam Rice
Most laps led
Driver	Fonty Flock	Frank Christian
Laps	104
Winner
No. 11	Leon Sales	Hubert Westmoreland
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1950 Wilkes 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) event that was held on October 16, 1950, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Due to the mostly informal nature of the NASCAR organization during the early 1950s, certain records like the number of laps completed under a caution flag and the amount of time it took to complete the race were never placed in the league's archives.^[2] Lee Petty, Lloyd Moore and Dick Linder mathematically eliminated themselves from the championship by not taking part in this race.

Summary

Fireball Roberts acquired the pole position while driving speeds up to 73.266 miles per hour (117.910 km/h) during the qualifying sessions.^[2] No records of the race's average speed was captured during the early formative years of NASCAR racing history.^[2] Five lead changes were made in the race; the lead switched between Red Byron, Fonty Flock, Jack Smith and eventually to Leon Sales who recorded his only victory at this event.^[2][3] He would defeat Jack Smith by an unknown margin of victory.^[2] Sales would qualify in eleventh place for this racing event.^[4] NASCAR, however, did record the number of spectators who watched the race live.^[2] Seven thousand people would watch this race that took place on a dirt track spanning 0.625 miles or 1.006 kilometres.^[2]

Tex Keene was the last-place finisher in this race due to unknown reasons.^[2] All 26 drivers on the starting grid were born in the United States of America; no foreign drivers made the grid.^[2] Most of the DNFs in the race were caused by wheel and engine problems; although two drivers were taken out the race due to a crash and a troublesome spindle.^[4] Other notable drivers in this race were Billy Carden, future 1955 Southern 500 winner Herb Thomas and Curtis Turner.^[2]

The lowest paid driver got $50 in winnings ($492.60 when adjusted for inflation) while the winner received $1,000 in total prize money ($9,852.01 when adjusted for inflation).^[2] NASCAR would offer a total purse of $3,900 for this racing event ($38,422.82 when adjusted for inflation).^[4] The oldest car in the race was a 1947 Buick which was one of the models manufactured shortly after the end of World War II.^[2] Most of drivers on the field were driving 1950 model year vehicles with no entries from the Chevrolet manufacturer until later in the decade.^[2] Even a Cadillac vehicle made an entry in the race.^[2] Oldsmobile drivers would use the Oldsmobile 88 as their vehicle for this event.^[3]

Debuts and retirements

Herbert Burns, Leon Sales, Ewell Weddle, and Jerry Wimbish would introduce themselves to the NASCAR scene during this race while Jack Carr and Tex Keene would retire from NASCAR after this race.^[3]

Top ten finishers

Timeline

References