Recent from talks
1959 Daytona 500
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
1959 Daytona 500
The 1959 First 500 Mile NASCAR International Sweepstakes at Daytona (now known as the 1959 Inaugural Daytona 500) was the second race of the 1959 NASCAR Grand National Series season. It was held on February 22, 1959, in front of 41,921 spectators. It was the first race held at the 2.5-mile (4.0 kilometer) Daytona International Speedway.
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida that was one of the first superspeedways to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Daytona is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track also features two other layouts that utilize portions of the primary high speed tri-oval, such as a 3.56-mile (5.73 km) sports car course and a 2.95-mile (4.75 km) motorcycle course.[anachronism][better source needed] The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd. The speedway is currently owned and operated by the International Speedway Corporation.
The track was built by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. to host racing that was being held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course and opened with the first Daytona 500 in 1959.
The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar. It is also the series' first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since 1995, U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500 which in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and international viewing. The 2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.
Cotton Owens had the fastest qualifying lap, at 143.198 miles per hour (230.455 km/h). The race had one qualifying race for Convertibles and one for the hardtop Grand National cars. Bob Welborn, winner of the 100-mile (160 km) Grand National qualifying race earlier in the week, started on the pole position. Shorty Rollins won the Convertible qualifying race and started second. Twenty of the 59 cars in the Daytona 500 were convertibles.
On February 21st, there was a Consolation race where the winner would be added to the field. Jack Smith was the winner.
There were no caution periods in the race; making it one of the few "clean races" in NASCAR history, though it would occur in three of the first four Daytona 500s, as the Daytona 500 also went caution-free in both 1961 and 1962. This would be repeated ten years later with the 1969 Motor Trend 500.
On the morning of the race, Bob Welborn's chief mechanic, Paul McDuffie discovered a rocker arm bolt off-center and knew the engine wouldn't last the entire race. McDuffie said, "We didn't have time to fix it because we would have had to install a new head. We didn't locate the trouble until we made a last minute check on the valves. That head was the only thing in the engine I didn't build. It was a factory head."
Hub AI
1959 Daytona 500 AI simulator
(@1959 Daytona 500_simulator)
1959 Daytona 500
The 1959 First 500 Mile NASCAR International Sweepstakes at Daytona (now known as the 1959 Inaugural Daytona 500) was the second race of the 1959 NASCAR Grand National Series season. It was held on February 22, 1959, in front of 41,921 spectators. It was the first race held at the 2.5-mile (4.0 kilometer) Daytona International Speedway.
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida that was one of the first superspeedways to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Daytona is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track also features two other layouts that utilize portions of the primary high speed tri-oval, such as a 3.56-mile (5.73 km) sports car course and a 2.95-mile (4.75 km) motorcycle course.[anachronism][better source needed] The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd. The speedway is currently owned and operated by the International Speedway Corporation.
The track was built by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. to host racing that was being held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course and opened with the first Daytona 500 in 1959.
The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar. It is also the series' first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since 1995, U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500 which in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and international viewing. The 2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.
Cotton Owens had the fastest qualifying lap, at 143.198 miles per hour (230.455 km/h). The race had one qualifying race for Convertibles and one for the hardtop Grand National cars. Bob Welborn, winner of the 100-mile (160 km) Grand National qualifying race earlier in the week, started on the pole position. Shorty Rollins won the Convertible qualifying race and started second. Twenty of the 59 cars in the Daytona 500 were convertibles.
On February 21st, there was a Consolation race where the winner would be added to the field. Jack Smith was the winner.
There were no caution periods in the race; making it one of the few "clean races" in NASCAR history, though it would occur in three of the first four Daytona 500s, as the Daytona 500 also went caution-free in both 1961 and 1962. This would be repeated ten years later with the 1969 Motor Trend 500.
On the morning of the race, Bob Welborn's chief mechanic, Paul McDuffie discovered a rocker arm bolt off-center and knew the engine wouldn't last the entire race. McDuffie said, "We didn't have time to fix it because we would have had to install a new head. We didn't locate the trouble until we made a last minute check on the valves. That head was the only thing in the engine I didn't build. It was a factory head."