1957 Virginia 500


The 1957 Virginia 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on May 19, 1957, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia.
Barney Oldfield made his only NASCAR Cup Series appearance at this event. Months after this race, the Automobile Manufacturers Association decided to legally separate themselves from all forms of automobile racing that was being held in the United States; donating millions of dollars in machinery directly to the drivers.

Background

is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is long. The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.

Race report

It took nearly four hours to race 441 laps worth of stock car automobile racing. While originally scheduled for 500 laps, it was stopped prematurely due to a bad in-race crash. Tom Pistone and Billy Myers would end up getting involved in the collision on lap 441; making Buck Baker the automatic winner. Just before the accident took form, Pistone straightened his car and continued. Myers headed for the wall and then jumped it near where a crowd of folks was standing. The 24-driver starting lineup was made up of drivers who were all born in the United States of America. T.A. Toomes would take up the last-place position due to problems with his gasket on lap 121.
Paul Goldsmith, Tiny Lund and Buck Baker would dominate the laps prior to the accident. The victory of Buck Baker over second-place finisher Curtis Turner would demonstrate the power of the 1957 Chevrolet. Although its real-life counterpart had fuel injection, the NASCAR version had to use a carburetor. Fuel injection did not become legal in what is now known as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series until the 2012 season.
Individual race earnings for this event ranged from the winner's share of $3,170 to the last-place finisher's share of $125. A grand total of $12,240 was handed out by NASCAR officials for the explicit purpose of paying off the qualifying drivers. Jess Potter was the only notable crew chief to take part in the race, leading the pit road crew of Brownie King's Chevrolet.

Winning Car

Qualifying

Failed to qualify: Emanuel Zervakis, Bill Champion, Nace Mattingly, Frank Jamison

Timeline

Section reference:
Section reference:
  1. Buck Baker†
  2. Curtis Turner†
  3. Tom Pistone*
  4. Billy Myers*
  5. Lee Petty†
  6. Jack Smith†
  7. Paul Goldsmith
  8. Marvin Panch
  9. Fireball Roberts†
  10. Jim Paschal†
  11. Speedy Thompson†
  12. Brownie King
  13. Ralph Earnhardt†
  14. L.D. Austin
  15. George Green
  16. Johnny Allen*
  17. Bill Bowman
  18. Barney Oldfield
  19. Clarence DeZalia
  20. Tiny Lund*†
  21. Russ Hepler*
  22. Cotton Owens*†
  23. Eddie Skinner*
  24. T.A. Toomes*
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased
* Driver failed to finish race