The 1957 NASCAR Grand National Series saw driver Buck Baker win his second consecutive NASCARGrand National Series championship. Baker won the championship with 10,716 points over second place driver Marvin Panch (9,956), and Speedy Thompson (8,560). Baker was the first driver to win back-to-back NASCAR championships. Baker accumulated $30,764 for his efforts in the 1957 NASCAR season. Ken Rush was Rookie of the Year, and Fireball Roberts took home the Most Popular Driver Award.
In February 1957 the first '57 Chevy, affectionately known as the 'Black Widow' made its debut in NASCAR at the Daytona Beach and Road Course. Throughout the year drivers Buck Baker, Marvin Panch, Fireball Roberts, Larry Frank, Speedy Thompson, and Bob Welborn would pilot these now classic vehicles.[1]
Early in the 1957 season the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) stated that its members should become less involved in motor sports. After an incident in the May 20 Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway that injured five spectators, including a young boy, ended the race with 59 laps remaining, Ford, General Motors and Chrysler became less passionate about providing financial and administrative support for the teams.[2] On June 6 the auto manufactures withdrew their backing from the sport.[3] Late in the season at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a wheel from driver Tiny Lund's car was thrown into stands, and a spectator was killed. (There were no wheel tethers installed in NASCAR until a series of open wheel racing fatalities in the late 1990s at Michigan and Charlotte from wheels hurled into stands from crashes.)[2]
On November 27, 1957, construction began on a new race track now known as Daytona International Speedway after five years of negotiations. The ground-breaking ceremony takes place one month to the day after Buck Baker wins the final event of the season at Central Carolina Fairgrounds in Greensboro, N.C;[3] thus securing his second consecutive championship.[2]
On February 17 Pontiac gathered its first-ever NASCAR win at Daytona Beach with Cotton Owens at the wheel.[4] In May, a scheduled 500 lap race at Martinsville Speedway was halted after 441 circuits due to a crash. On June 6 all factory supported teams disbanded as American auto manufactures withdrew their support from NASCAR.[4]
During the Eighth Annual Southern 500 on September 2, driver Bobby Myers was killed in a crash on lap 28 at Darlington Raceway. Speedy Thompson went on to win that first race to average over 100 mph at the track. On October 12, 1957 Fireball Roberts won a 100-mile race at Newberry Speedway; and the event holds the dubious distinction of having the smallest crowd in NASCAR history as only 900 spectators looked on.[4]
When the season had ended, 18 drivers had won at least one Grand National event.[5]
The AMA: All in, and all out.edit
The 50s can be seen as the building blocks of NASCAR. Automobile speeds increased at a rapid rate, and an example of that can be seen in the events at the Daytona Beach road course. The inaugural 1952 event had a pole speed of 64.7 mph,[6] and by the final event 4 years later in 1956, the speed had risen to a blazing 81 mph.[7] The horsepower race was in full swing, but the leaders of the AMA had concerns. Rising speeds on the track meant higher speeds on the nation's highways; and the fatality rate of America's public was on the rise. NASCAR attempted to appease the AMA, and disallowed the use of superchargers and fuel injection in their sanctioned events. NASCAR also refused to allow the Detroit manufactures to use their race results with media advertisements. Still, the major auto manufactures continued to invest time and money in NASCAR. Detroit auto manufactures saw NASCAR as a big business opportunity, and by the beginning of the 1957 season , GM, Ford, Mercury, and Plymouth were all backing one team or another. Press agents were hired, and people worked to increase publicity through newspapers, radio, tv and other media venues. It all came to a halt on May 19, 1957, when a race accident injured not just drivers, but spectators as well. Included in the injuries was an 8 year old boy, Alvia Helsabeck.[8] Driver Billy Myers crashed his Mercury through the Martinsville Speedway fence during the Virginia 500, and landed in an area marked "off limits" to spectators, and young Helsabeck lost his life.[9] Myers had been trying to lap Tom Pistone when the two cars tangled on lap 441. Four other fans in the "No Spectators Allowed" area ages 19 to 44 were also injured. The race was red flagged, and Buck Baker was called the winner. As ambulances transported the injured to local hospitals, the weather turned to rain.[8] On June 6 the AMA leadership voted unanimously to withdraw all auto manufacture support, not just from the NASCAR Grand National series, but from all forms of auto racing. Factory sponsored teams were eliminated, and the equipment given to the individual owners and drivers.[10]
^"Welcome to the 57 Chevy Black Widow". 57chevyblackwidow.com. p. facts. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
^ abcFleischman, Bill; Pearce, Al (2004). "11. At A Glance; 1957". The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide; 2004 (10 ed.). Canton, MI: Checkered Flag Press; Visible Ink Press. pp. 145, 146 of 576. ISBN0-681-27587-1.
^Fleischman, Bill; Pearce, Al (2004). "15. Race Results 1949-2004". The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide; 2004 (10 ed.). Canton, MI: Checkered Flag Press; Visible Ink Press. p. 223. ISBN0-681-27587-1.
^"1957 Season Recap". nascar.com: Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. February 6, 2002. p. 1. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
Bibliographyedit
Fleischman, Bill; Pearce, Al (2004). "12. At A Glance; 1957". The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 2004 (10 ed.). Canton, MI: Checkered Flag Press; Visible Ink Press. ISBN0-681-27587-1.
Fielden, Greg (2015). Bryan Hallman (ed.). NASCAR the complete history (7th ed.). Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Ltd. p. 97. ISBN978-1-4508-9994-9.
Fielden, Greg (1993). "All". Forty Years of Stock Car Racing The Beginning 1949-1958 (Revised 3rd ed.). USA: Garfield Press. p. 336. ISBN0-9621580-2-X.
Sowers, Richard (2000). The Complete Statistical History of Stock-Car Racing. Phoenix, AZ: David Bull Publishing. p. 426. ISBN1-893618-06-4.
November 11, 2023
1957, nascar, grand, national, series, previous, 1956, next, 1958champions, seasons, driver, buck, baker, second, consecutive, nascar, grand, national, series, championship, baker, championship, with, points, over, second, place, driver, marvin, panch, speedy,. 1957 NASCAR Grand National Series Previous 1956 Next 1958Champions Seasons The 1957 NASCAR Grand National Series saw driver Buck Baker win his second consecutive NASCAR Grand National Series championship Baker won the championship with 10 716 points over second place driver Marvin Panch 9 956 and Speedy Thompson 8 560 Baker was the first driver to win back to back NASCAR championships Baker accumulated 30 764 for his efforts in the 1957 NASCAR season Ken Rush was Rookie of the Year and Fireball Roberts took home the Most Popular Driver Award This was the last season until the 1993 season without Richard Petty Contents 1 Overview 2 Season recap 3 The AMA All in and all out 4 1957 final standings 5 Race results 6 References 7 BibliographyOverview editIn February 1957 the first 57 Chevy affectionately known as the Black Widow made its debut in NASCAR at the Daytona Beach and Road Course Throughout the year drivers Buck Baker Marvin Panch Fireball Roberts Larry Frank Speedy Thompson and Bob Welborn would pilot these now classic vehicles 1 Early in the 1957 season the Automobile Manufacturers Association AMA stated that its members should become less involved in motor sports After an incident in the May 20 Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway that injured five spectators including a young boy ended the race with 59 laps remaining Ford General Motors and Chrysler became less passionate about providing financial and administrative support for the teams 2 On June 6 the auto manufactures withdrew their backing from the sport 3 Late in the season at the North Wilkesboro Speedway a wheel from driver Tiny Lund s car was thrown into stands and a spectator was killed There were no wheel tethers installed in NASCAR until a series of open wheel racing fatalities in the late 1990s at Michigan and Charlotte from wheels hurled into stands from crashes 2 On November 27 1957 construction began on a new race track now known as Daytona International Speedway after five years of negotiations The ground breaking ceremony takes place one month to the day after Buck Baker wins the final event of the season at Central Carolina Fairgrounds in Greensboro N C 3 thus securing his second consecutive championship 2 Season recap editThe 1957 season opened at the Willow Springs Speedway in Lancaster California Marvin Panch won the event and followed that with a second consecutive win at the following event at the Concord Speedway late in 1956 Fireball Roberts Cotton Owens Jack Smith and Ralph Moody all notched wins during the next four events before Buck Baker took his first trip to victory lane at Hillsboro North Carolina in March 1957 4 On February 17 Pontiac gathered its first ever NASCAR win at Daytona Beach with Cotton Owens at the wheel 4 In May a scheduled 500 lap race at Martinsville Speedway was halted after 441 circuits due to a crash On June 6 all factory supported teams disbanded as American auto manufactures withdrew their support from NASCAR 4 During the Eighth Annual Southern 500 on September 2 driver Bobby Myers was killed in a crash on lap 28 at Darlington Raceway Speedy Thompson went on to win that first race to average over 100 mph at the track On October 12 1957 Fireball Roberts won a 100 mile race at Newberry Speedway and the event holds the dubious distinction of having the smallest crowd in NASCAR history as only 900 spectators looked on 4 When the season had ended 18 drivers had won at least one Grand National event 5 The AMA All in and all out editThe 50s can be seen as the building blocks of NASCAR Automobile speeds increased at a rapid rate and an example of that can be seen in the events at the Daytona Beach road course The inaugural 1952 event had a pole speed of 64 7 mph 6 and by the final event 4 years later in 1956 the speed had risen to a blazing 81 mph 7 The horsepower race was in full swing but the leaders of the AMA had concerns Rising speeds on the track meant higher speeds on the nation s highways and the fatality rate of America s public was on the rise NASCAR attempted to appease the AMA and disallowed the use of superchargers and fuel injection in their sanctioned events NASCAR also refused to allow the Detroit manufactures to use their race results with media advertisements Still the major auto manufactures continued to invest time and money in NASCAR Detroit auto manufactures saw NASCAR as a big business opportunity and by the beginning of the 1957 season GM Ford Mercury and Plymouth were all backing one team or another Press agents were hired and people worked to increase publicity through newspapers radio tv and other media venues It all came to a halt on May 19 1957 when a race accident injured not just drivers but spectators as well Included in the injuries was an 8 year old boy Alvia Helsabeck 8 Driver Billy Myers crashed his Mercury through the Martinsville Speedway fence during the Virginia 500 and landed in an area marked off limits to spectators and young Helsabeck lost his life 9 Myers had been trying to lap Tom Pistone when the two cars tangled on lap 441 Four other fans in the No Spectators Allowed area ages 19 to 44 were also injured The race was red flagged and Buck Baker was called the winner As ambulances transported the injured to local hospitals the weather turned to rain 8 On June 6 the AMA leadership voted unanimously to withdraw all auto manufacture support not just from the NASCAR Grand National series but from all forms of auto racing Factory sponsored teams were eliminated and the equipment given to the individual owners and drivers 10 1957 final standings editFurther information List of NASCAR points scoring systems references 11 12 Finish Driver Races Wins Poles Points Earnings1 Buck Baker 40 10 6 10 716 30 7632 Marvin Panch 42 6 4 9956 24 3073 Speedy Thompson 38 2 4 8580 26 8414 Lee Petty 38 2 4 8528 18 3255 Jack Smith 40 4 2 8464 14 5616 Fireball Roberts 42 8 4 8268 19 8287 Johnny Allen 42 0 1 7068 9 8148 L D Austin 40 0 0 6532 6 4859 Brownie King 36 0 0 5740 5 58910 Jim Paschal 35 0 0 5136 4 999Race results editPosition Date Site Winner1 11 11 1956 Willow Springs Raceway Marvin Panch2 12 2 1956 Concord Motor Speedway Marvin Panch3 12 30 1956 Titusville Cocoa Airport Fireball Roberts4 2 17 1957 Daytona Beach Road Course Cotton Owens5 3 3 1957 Concord Motor Speedway Jack Smith6 3 17 1957 Wilson Speedway Ralph Moody7 3 24 1957 Occoneechee Speedway Buck Baker8 3 31 1957 Asheville Weaverville Speedway Buck Baker9 4 7 1957 North Wilkesboro Speedway Fireball Roberts10 4 14 1957 Langhorne Speedway Fireball Roberts11 4 19 1957 Southern States Fairgrounds Fireball Roberts12 4 27 1957 Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds Marvin Panch13 4 28 1957 Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds Paul Goldsmith14 4 28 1957 Portland Speedway Art Watts15 5 4 1957 Cleveland County Fairgrounds Fireball Roberts16 5 5 1957 Richmond International Raceway Paul Goldsmith17 5 19 1957 Martinsville Speedway Buck Baker18 5 26 1957 Portland Speedway Eddie Pagan19 5 30 1957 Eureka Speedway Lloyd Dane20 5 30 1957 Oxford Plains Speedway Buck Baker21 6 1 1957 Lancaster Speedway Paul Goldsmith22 6 8 1957 Ascot Park Eddie Pagan23 6 15 1957 Tennessee Carolina Speedway Fireball Roberts24 6 20 1957 Columbia Jack Smith25 6 22 1957 Sacramento Bill Amick26 6 29 1957 Spartanburg Lee Petty27 6 30 1957 Jacksonville Buck Baker28 7 4 1957 Raleigh Paul Goldsmith29 7 12 1957 Southern States Fairgrounds Marvin Panch30 7 14 1957 LeHi Marvin Panch31 7 14 1957 Portland Eddie Pagan32 7 20 1957 Hickory Jack Smith33 7 24 1957 Norfolk Buck Baker34 7 30 1957 Lancaster Speedy Thompson35 8 4 1957 Watkins Glen Buck Baker36 8 4 1957 Bremerton Parnelli Jones37 8 10 1957 New Oxford Marvin Panch38 8 16 1957 Old Bridge Lee Petty39 8 26 1957 Myrtle Beach Gwyn Staley40 9 2 1957 Darlington Speedy Thompson41 9 5 1957 Syracuse Gwyn Staley42 9 8 1957 Weaverville Lee Petty43 9 8 1957 Sacramento Danny Graves44 9 15 1957 San Jose Marvin Porter45 9 15 1957 Langhorne Gwyn Staley46 9 19 1957 Columbia Buck Baker47 9 21 1957 Shelby Buck Baker48 10 5 1957 Southern States Fairgrounds Lee Petty49 10 6 1957 Martinsville Speedway Bob Welborn50 10 12 1957 Newberry Speedway Fireball Roberts51 10 13 1957 Concord Motor Speedway Fireball Roberts52 10 20 1957 North Wilkesboro Speedway Jack Smith53 10 27 1957 Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds Buck BakerReferences edit Welcome to the 57 Chevy Black Widow 57chevyblackwidow com p facts Retrieved 17 April 2011 a b c Fleischman Bill Pearce Al 2004 11 At A Glance 1957 The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 2004 10 ed Canton MI Checkered Flag Press Visible Ink Press pp 145 146 of 576 ISBN 0 681 27587 1 a b Auto Editors of Consumer Guide 1957 NASCAR Grand National Recap HowStuffWorks Inc c 2006 2009 Publications International Ltd Retrieved 2009 08 04 a b c d Auto Editors of Consumer Guide 1957 NASCAR Grand National Results HowStuffWorks Publications International Archived from the original on 2011 04 23 Retrieved 2009 08 04 Sowers 2000 p 78 staff 1952 01 Racing Reference Info NASCAR Digital Media LLC Retrieved 24 September 2019 staff 1956 07 Racing Reference Info NASCAR Digital Media LLC Retrieved 24 September 2019 a b Fielden 1993 p 255 258 Sowers 2000 p 76 Fielden 2015 p 102 Fleischman Bill Pearce Al 2004 15 Race Results 1949 2004 The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 2004 10 ed Canton MI Checkered Flag Press Visible Ink Press p 223 ISBN 0 681 27587 1 1957 Season Recap nascar com Turner Sports Interactive Inc February 6 2002 p 1 Retrieved 17 April 2011 Bibliography editFleischman Bill Pearce Al 2004 12 At A Glance 1957 The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide 2004 10 ed Canton MI Checkered Flag Press Visible Ink Press ISBN 0 681 27587 1 Fielden Greg 2015 Bryan Hallman ed NASCAR the complete history 7th ed Lincolnwood IL Publications International Ltd p 97 ISBN 978 1 4508 9994 9 Fielden Greg 1993 All Forty Years of Stock Car Racing The Beginning 1949 1958 Revised 3rd ed USA Garfield Press p 336 ISBN 0 9621580 2 X Sowers Richard 2000 The Complete Statistical History of Stock Car Racing Phoenix AZ David Bull Publishing p 426 ISBN 1 893618 06 4 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1957 NASCAR Grand National Series amp oldid 1183165253, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
