1956 NASCAR Convertible Series

Race #21

It was a clear day in Wilson, North Carolina as the NASCAR Convertible Series made their 21st stop of the 1956 season at the Wilson Speedway.

Gwyn Staley led the field to the Green Flag and was looking to win back-to-back races, however his lead would last only two turns before Bob Welborn would take the lead. Right on Welborn's back bumper was Curtis Turner, who would follow Welborn for the first sixty three laps before making his own move for the lead. Out front, Turner showed the dominance of his Pete DePaolo Ford as he built up a ten second lead before the third caution came out as drivers made their final pit stops, setting up a final seventy lap shootout.

One driver who benefited from the pit stop was Turner's own teammate Joe Weatherly, as Weatherly stayed on Turner's bumper before passing him briefly before losing the lead back to Turner. When a caution with less then ten laps to go it set up a seven lap shootout as Weatherly would try everything he could to get around Turner but it was not enough as Turner would go on to score his third win of the season.

Other Noticeables:
Curtis Turner scored his 3rd win of the year,
Turner led 2 times for 133 laps, including the final 22 laps,
It was the 3rd win of his career in the NASCAR Convertible Series and his first since Starkey; 9 races ago,
Sonny Walters, who finished 6th, made his NASCAR Convertible Series debut,
Don Oldenberg, who finished 16th, kept his points lead, leading Bob Welborn by 10 points

1.26-Curtis Turner (133 laps led)
2.2-Joe Weatherly (4 laps led)
3.49-Bob Welborn (63 laps led)
4.48-Jimmie Lewallen
5.98-Allen Adkins
6.17-Sonny Walters
7.7A-Larry Odo
8.22-Glen Wood
9.504-Jimmy Thompson
10.4-Art Binkley
11.3-Norman Schihl-1 lap
12.25-Possum Jones-1 lap
13.503-Frank Mundy-1 lap
14.77-Jud Larson-1 lap
15.45-Bill Brown-1 lap
16.86-Don Oldenberg-2 laps
17.71-Dick Joslin-3 laps
18.33-Gwyn Staley-9 laps (Overheating)
19.55-Mel Larson-13 laps (Valve)

Gwyn Staley-Pole
Bob Welborn-1-63
Curtis Turner-64-174
Joe Weatherly-175-178
Curtis Turner-179-200

3 Lead Changes among 3 drivers

Caution Flags: 4 for 20 laps
Lap 43 (Car #86 Spin Backstretch),
Lap 49 (Cars #86, 98 and 55 Accident Turn 4; Cars #45, 3 and 77 Accident Turn 4),
Lap 114 (Car #55 Stalled Turn 2),
Lap 189 (Car #55 Stalled Turn 4)

Margin of Victory: 1.967 Seconds

Time of Race: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes and 58 Seconds

The field has finished qualifying for the 22nd race of the season at Soldier Field.

Curtis Turner won the pole with a time of 18.429 seconds, beating Don Oldenberg by 0.094 seconds.

Other Noticeables:
Curtis Turner won his 2nd pole of the year,
Turner won his 2nd career pole in the NASCAR Convertible Series and his first since Charlotte; 21 races ago,
Don Oldenberg, who will be starting 2nd, will be trying to improve on his 10 point lead over Bob Welborn

1.26-Curtis Turner
2.86-Don Oldenberg
3.76-Larry Frank
4.97-Danny Letner
5.12-Joe Weatherly
6.77-Possum Jones
7.99-Bob Pronger
8.4-Art Binkley
9.33-Jimmy Massey
10.2-Bill Lutz
11.98-Allen Adkins
12.49-Bob Welborn
13.5-Tom Pistone
14.22-Glen Wood
15.71-Dick Joslin
16.56-Pete Peterson
17.53-Bill Cornwall
18.25-Jud Larson
19.55-Mel Larson
20.45-Bill Brown
21.3-Norman Schihl
22.186-Gene Blair
23.7A-Larry Odo
24.48-Jimmie Lewallen

*Note for this race I used the Bowman Gray Stadium as a replacement since Soldier Field hasn't been made for NR2003.

Race #22

It was a clear night in Chicago, Illinois as the NASCAR Convertible Series made their 22nd stop of the 1956 season at Soldier Field.

Curtis Turner led the field to the Green Flag in front of a packed crowd of 38,000 and was looking to win back-to-back races, as he would quickly began to pull away from the field as drivers raced around the half mile track with a lack of cautions resulted in one chance of hitting the right setup as drivers pitted around the halfway mark but even after adjustments, no one could catch Turner as he would lead every single lap and scored his second win in a span of six days.

Other Noticeables:
Curtis Turner scored his 4th win of the year and second in a row,
Turner led 1 time for 200 laps, including all 200 laps,
It was the 4th win of his career in the NASCAR Convertible Series and his first since Wilson; 1 race ago,
Don Oldenberg, who finished 7th, kept his points lead, leading Bob Welborn by 41 points

1.26-Curtis Turner (200 laps led)
2.5-Tom Pistone
3.2-Bill Lutz
4.76-Larry Frank
5.33-Jimmy Massey
6.7A-Larry Odo
7.86-Don Oldenberg-1 lap
8.98-Allen Adkins-1 lap
9.99-Bob Pronger-1 lap
10.25-Jud Larson-1 lap
11.53-Bill Cornwall-1 lap
12.12-Joe Weatherly-1 lap
13.77-Possum Jones-1 lap
14.55-Mel Larson-1 lap
15.3-Norman Schihl-1 lap
16.49-Bob Welborn-1 lap
17.22-Glen Wood-1 lap
18.48-Jimmie Lewallen-1 lap
19.186-Gene Blair-1 lap
20.4-Art Binkley-1 lap
21.97-Danny Letner-1 lap
22.71-Dick Joslin-1 lap
23.45-Bill Brown-2 laps
24.56-Pete Peterson-200 laps (Transmission)

Curtis Turner-1-200

0 Lead Changes among 0 drivers

Caution Flags: 0 for 0 laps

Margin of Victory: 7.860 Seconds

Time of Race: 1 Hour, 10 Minutes and 16 Seconds

The field has finished qualifying for the 23rd race of the season at the Flat Rock Speedway.

Curtis Turner won the pole with a time of 16.295 seconds, beating Jimmie Lewallen by 0.029 seconds.

Other Noticeables:
Curtis Turner won his 3rd pole of the year and second in a row,
Turner won his 3rd career pole in the NASCAR Convertible Series and his first since Soldier Field; 1 race ago,
Don Oldenberg, who will be starting 23rd, will be trying to improve on his 41 point lead over Bob Welborn

1.22-Curtis Turner
2.48-Jimmie Lewallen
3.49-Bob Welborn
4.111-Bill Hassell
5.12-Joe Weatherly
6.333-Carmen Wilcutt
7.98-Allen Adkins
8.186-Gene Blair
9.3-Norman Schihl
10.77-Possum Jones
11.97-Danny Letner
12.5-Mel Larson
13.76-Larry Frank
14.2-Bill Lutz
15.33-Jimmy Massey
16.5-Tom Pistone
17.7A-Larry Odo
18.53-Bill Cornwall
19.25-Jud Larson
20.56-Cannonball Brown
21.71-Dick Joslin
22.4-Art Binkley
23.86-Don Oldenberg