Post by Blaise Zebrataur on Feb 6, 2017 20:11:13 GMT -5
Race #13
It was a cloudy night in Roanoke, Virginia as the NASCAR Convertible Series made their 13th stop of the 1956 season at the Starkey Speedway.
Jimmie Lewallen led the field to the Green Flag in only his second career start, but his stay up front lasted only six laps before he was passed by his car owner Bob Welborn who quickly began to pull away from the rest of the field. With a cool night and temps, the racing surface was just perfect for drivers to use both the high and low lanes to execute passes and put on a great a show in front of the a crowd of 6,500 people in attendance. Bob Welborn would lead until just past halfway as pit stops were made as several drivers would lead during pit stops, but once completed Welborn retook the lead until the lone caution of the day came out, bunching up the field.
When the green came back out something was off in Welborn's car as he began to fade, allowing pole sitter Jimmie Lewallen to reclaim the lead and he appeared on his way to victory in only his second start before the racing gods struck. With less then five to go, Lewallen's car wiggled on the Backstretch before making a sharp turn into the pits, a victim of a flat tire handing the lead back to his car owner Bob Welborn but hot on his bumper was Curtis Turner, who would pass Welborn one lap later and would go on to score his second win of the season.
Other Noticeables:
Curtis Turner scored his 2nd win of the year,
Turner led 2 times for 3 laps, including the final 2 laps,
It was the 2nd win of his career in the NASCAR Convertible Series and his first since Daytona Beach; 13 races ago,
Don Oldenberg, who finished 18th, kept his points lead, leading Curtis Turner by 93 points
1.26-Curtis Turner (3 laps led)
2.49-Bob Welborn (142 laps led)
3.98-Allen Adkins
4.7-Jimmy Thompson
5.33-Jimmy Massey
6.77-Dave Hirschfield
7.25-Possum Jones
8.55-Mel Larson (2 laps led)
9.7A-Larry Odo
10.48-Jimmie Lewallen (52 laps led)
11.97-Danny Letner
12.90-Gene Blair-1 lap (1 lap led)
13.45-Bill Brown-1 lap
14.86-Bob Pronger-1 lap
15.10-Don Gray-1 lap
16.4-Art Binkley-1 lap
17.6-Ray Atkinson-2 laps
18.186-Don Oldenberg-154 laps (Valve)
Jimmie Lewallen-1-6
Bob Welborn-7-111
Curtis Turner-112
Mel Larson-113-114
Gene Blair-115
Bob Welborn-116-150
Jimmie Lewallen-151-196
Bob Welborn-197-198
Curtis Turner-199-200
8 Lead Changes among 5 drivers
Caution Flags: 1 for 5 laps
Lap 144 (Car #6 Spin Backstretch)
Margin of Victory: 0.484 Seconds
Time of Race: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes and 4 Seconds
It was a cloudy night in Roanoke, Virginia as the NASCAR Convertible Series made their 13th stop of the 1956 season at the Starkey Speedway.
Jimmie Lewallen led the field to the Green Flag in only his second career start, but his stay up front lasted only six laps before he was passed by his car owner Bob Welborn who quickly began to pull away from the rest of the field. With a cool night and temps, the racing surface was just perfect for drivers to use both the high and low lanes to execute passes and put on a great a show in front of the a crowd of 6,500 people in attendance. Bob Welborn would lead until just past halfway as pit stops were made as several drivers would lead during pit stops, but once completed Welborn retook the lead until the lone caution of the day came out, bunching up the field.
When the green came back out something was off in Welborn's car as he began to fade, allowing pole sitter Jimmie Lewallen to reclaim the lead and he appeared on his way to victory in only his second start before the racing gods struck. With less then five to go, Lewallen's car wiggled on the Backstretch before making a sharp turn into the pits, a victim of a flat tire handing the lead back to his car owner Bob Welborn but hot on his bumper was Curtis Turner, who would pass Welborn one lap later and would go on to score his second win of the season.
Other Noticeables:
Curtis Turner scored his 2nd win of the year,
Turner led 2 times for 3 laps, including the final 2 laps,
It was the 2nd win of his career in the NASCAR Convertible Series and his first since Daytona Beach; 13 races ago,
Don Oldenberg, who finished 18th, kept his points lead, leading Curtis Turner by 93 points
1.26-Curtis Turner (3 laps led)
2.49-Bob Welborn (142 laps led)
3.98-Allen Adkins
4.7-Jimmy Thompson
5.33-Jimmy Massey
6.77-Dave Hirschfield
7.25-Possum Jones
8.55-Mel Larson (2 laps led)
9.7A-Larry Odo
10.48-Jimmie Lewallen (52 laps led)
11.97-Danny Letner
12.90-Gene Blair-1 lap (1 lap led)
13.45-Bill Brown-1 lap
14.86-Bob Pronger-1 lap
15.10-Don Gray-1 lap
16.4-Art Binkley-1 lap
17.6-Ray Atkinson-2 laps
18.186-Don Oldenberg-154 laps (Valve)
Jimmie Lewallen-1-6
Bob Welborn-7-111
Curtis Turner-112
Mel Larson-113-114
Gene Blair-115
Bob Welborn-116-150
Jimmie Lewallen-151-196
Bob Welborn-197-198
Curtis Turner-199-200
8 Lead Changes among 5 drivers
Caution Flags: 1 for 5 laps
Lap 144 (Car #6 Spin Backstretch)
Margin of Victory: 0.484 Seconds
Time of Race: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes and 4 Seconds
