1950 NASCAR Grand National Series

Race #1

The NASCAR Grand National Series made their 1st stop of 1950 in Daytona Beach, Florida at the Beach & Road Course.

A pack crowd of 9,500 fans were in attendance at the Daytona Beach Road Course as the newly renamed NASCAR Grand National Series entered their second season. Harold Kite led the field to the green flag but it would be Al Gross who would lead the first lap. Much like the previous year's event, battles for the lead happened nearly every lap, but this time cautions would fly and strategy would decide who would win. Many drivers decided to pit early in a attempt to make it a one stop race, while others decided to pit at the last second possible as the lead changed hands four times in the last eight laps.

Once Otis Martin made his trip to the pits, the lead was handed back to Kite, who would ride around at half speed, losing nearly a fifty second margin over Tim Flock who had fresh tires. By the white flag, Kite's lead had shrunk down to only ten seconds and thanks to lap traffic it would shrink some more, but Kite would hold on, scoring the win by over four seconds for the first win of his career in his very first start.

Other Noticeables:
Harold Kite scored his 1st win of the year,
Kite led 4 times for 12 laps, including the final 4 laps,
It was the 1st win of his career in the newly renamed NASCAR Grand National Series in his 2nd start,
Harold Kite(1st), Al Gross(3rd), Russ Lee(7th), June Cleveland(14th), J.C. Van Landingham(15th), Roscoe Thompson(17th), Dick Clothier(19th), Joe Harrison(21st), Alton Haddock(23rd), Herschel Buchanan(25th), Joe Jernigan(26th), Cotton Owens(29th), Tommy Thompson(31st), Frank Luptow(35th), Fireball Roberts(36th), Will Albright(39th) and Larry Shurter(41st) made their NASCAR Grand National Series debuts,
Harold Kite, who finished 1st, is the points leader, leading Tim Flock by 18 points

1.21-Harold Kite (12 laps led)
2.90-Tim Flock (1 lap led)
3.88-Al Gross (17 laps led)
4.41-Curtis Turner
5.12-Billy Carden
6.47-Fonty Flock-1 lap (4 laps led)
7.37-Russ Lee-1 lap
8.70-Buck Baker-1 lap
9.59-Lloyd Moore-1 lap (7 lap led)
10.7-Bob Flock-1 lap
11.22-Red Byron-1 lap (4 laps led)
12.4-Otis Martin-1 lap (2 laps led)
13.10-Jim Rathmann-1 lap
14.55-June Cleveland-2 laps (Tire) (1 lap led)
15.35-J.C. Van Landingham-2 laps
16.42-Lee Petty-2 laps
17.80-Roscoe Thompson-2 laps
18.44-Frank Mundy-2 laps
19.24-Dick Clothier-2 laps
20.72-Lee Schmidt-3 laps (Clutch)
21.67-Joe Harrison-3 laps
22.6-Marshall Teague-3 laps
23.32-Alton Haddock-3 laps
24.18-Jack White-3 laps
25.66-Herschel Buchanan-3 laps
26.56-Joe Jernigan-3 laps
27.25-Jack Smith-3 laps
28.3-Joe Littlejohn-4 laps (Engine)
29.5-Cotton Owens-4 laps
30.94-Louise Smith-4 laps
31.91-Tommy Thompson-4 laps
32.2-Bill Blair-5 laps
33.77-Slick Smith-5 laps
34.17-Bob Apperson-5 laps
35.9-Frank Luptow-8 laps (Header)
36.11-Fireball Roberts-8 laps (Accident)
37.60-Bill Rexford-9 laps (Gearbox)
38.89-Al Keller-22 laps (Rear End)
39.61-Will Albright-26 laps (Accident)
40.50-Gober Sosebee-27 laps (Accident)
41.48-Larry Shurter-28 laps (Engine)

Harold Kite-Pole
Al Gross-1
Harold Kite-2-4
Fonty Flock-5-6
Harold Kite-7-8
Al Gross-9
Red Byron-10
Lloyd Moore-11
Al Gross-12
Lloyd Moore-13
Harold Kite-14-16
Al Gross-17-20
Fonty Flock-21
Otis Martin-22
Red Byron-23
Fonty Flock-24
Lloyd Moore-25-29
Al Gross-30
Red Byron-31
Al Gross-32-40
June Cleveland-41
Tim Flock-42
Red Byron-43
Otis Martin-44
Harold Kite-45-48

23 Lead Changes among 8 drivers

Caution Flags: 2 for 11 laps
Lap 16 (Cars #48, 70, 80 and 90 Accident Backstretch),
Lap 23 (Cars #61 and 50 Accident Backstretch)

Margin of Victory: 4.904 Seconds

Time of Race: 2 Hours, 25 Minutes and 10 Seconds

The field has finished qualifying for the 2nd race of the season at the Charlotte Speedway.

Bob Flock won the pole with a time of 17.895 seconds, beating Tim Flock by 0.023 seconds.

Other Noticeables:
Bob Flock won his 1st pole of the year,
Flock won his 3rd career pole in the NASCAR Grand National Series and his first since 1949 at North Wilkesboro; 2 races ago,
Jim Roper, who won this race one year ago, is not entered in this event,
Harold Kite, who is not entered in this race, has a 18 point lead over Tim Flock

1.7-Bob Flock
2.21-Tim Flock
3.22-Red Byron
4.Bill Snowden
5.19-Clyde Minter
6.92-Herb Thomas
7.Jack White
8.49-Glenn Dunaway
9.Frank Mundy
10.6-Bill Harrison
11.10-Fred Johnson
12.20-Bill Rexford
13.Huey Dunn
14.17-Bob Apperson
15.14-Lloyd Moore
16.55-June Cleveland
17.30-Cotton Owens
18.42-Lee Petty
19.47-Fonty Flock
20.2-Bill Blair
21.41-Curtis Turner
22.5-Ray Erickson
23.79-Jim Paschal
24.87-Buck Baker
25.28-Buddy Helms

Race #2

The NASCAR Grand National Series made their 2nd stop of 1950 in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Charlotte Speedway.

A pack crowd of 13,000 fans were in attendance as for the second time in series history, drivers raced at the dirt track in Charlotte. Bob Flock led the field to the green flag, but it would be his brother, Tim, who would go on to lead the first lap. Much like the first race at this track, cautions would be a common thing, keeping drivers close to each other, allowing for multiple lead changes. Tim Flock would dominate much of the day, leading 87 of the 200 laps but a late race caution closed the field up. Bob Flock would pulled away but with less then forty laps to go, he ran into lap traffic, allowing for Huey Dunn to drive past and take the lead.

With Flock falling back in the running order, Dunn was able to maintain the lead until a caution with five laps to go forced officials to restart the race with one lap to go. Bob Flock was able to get a great jump and quickly passed Bob Apperson, but he didn't have enough time, as Dunn would hold on to score a very unlikely win, perhaps the biggest in the brief history of NASCAR.

Other Noticeables:
Huey Dunn scored his 1st win of the year,
Dunn led 1 time for 35 laps, which were the final 35 laps,
It was the 1st win of his career in the NASCAR Grand National Series in his 1st start,
Huey Dunn, who finished 1st, made his NASCAR Grand National Series debut,
Huey Dunn, who finished 1st, is the points leader, leading Tim Flock by 1 point

1.Huey Dunn (35 laps led)
2.7-Bob Flock (39 laps led)
3.17-Bob Apperson (32 laps led)
4.20-Bill Rexford
5.Jack White (7 laps led)
6.6-Bill Harrison
7.Bill Snowden
8.21-Tim Flock (87 laps led)
9.49-Glenn Dunaway
10.14-Lloyd Moore
11.Frank Mundy
12.92-Herb Thomas-1 lap
13.79-Jim Paschal-1 lap
14.47-Fonty Flock-1 lap
15.5-Ray Erickson-3 laps
16.10-Fred Johnson-7 laps
17.42-Lee Petty-8 laps (Accident)
18.55-June Cleveland-8 laps
19.87-Buck Baker-72 laps (Piston)
20.19-Clyde Minter-113 laps (Accident)
21.22-Red Byron-114 laps (Accident)
22.30-Cotton Owens-114 laps (Accident)
23.2-Bill Blair-114 laps (Accident)
24.28-Buddy Helms-114 laps (Accident)
25.41-Curtis Turner-167 laps (Accident)

Bob Flock-Pole
Tim Flock-1-87
Bob Apperson-88-119
Jack White-120-122
Bob Flock-123-124
Jack White-125-128
Bob Flock-129-165
Huey Dunn-166-200

6 Lead Changes among 5 drivers

Caution Flags: 7 for 28 laps
Lap 35 (Car #41 Accident Backstretch),
Lap 45 (Car #55 Spin Turn 3),
Lap 85 (Car #5 Spin Turn 1),
Lap 91 (Car #19 Accident Backstretch),
Lap 133 (Car #55 Accident Turn 3),
Lap 138 (Cars 21 and 47 Spin Turn 4),
Lap 195 (Car #42 Accident Turn 1)

Margin of Victory: 0.696 Seconds

Time of Race: 1 Hour, 16 Minutes and 25 Seconds

The field has finished qualifying for the 3rd race of the season at the Langhorne Speedway.

Curtis Turner won the pole with a time of 31.982 seconds, beating Tim Flock by 0.127 seconds.

Other Noticeables:
Curtis Turner won his 1st pole of the year,
Turner won his 2nd career pole in the NASCAR Grand National Series and his first since 1949 at Charlotte; 10 races ago,
Turner, who won this race one year ago, will be starting 1st,
Huey Dunn, who is not entered in this event, has a 1 point lead over Tim Flock

1.41-Curtis Turner
2.21-Tim Flock
3.94-Louise Smith
4.59-Lloyd Moore
5.27-Jimmy Florian
6.42-Lee Petty
7.66-Pappy Hough
8.51-Fireball Roberts
9.2-Bill Blair
10.90-Frank Mundy
11.4-Baldy Wilson
12.8-Dick Linder
13.11-Bob Apperson
14.293-Bob Dickson
15.56-Joe Jernigan
16.89-Pepper Cunningham
17.9-Len Brown
18.N-5-Ray Erickson
19.18-Jack White
20.25-Kenneth Wagner
21.92-Herb Thomas
22.55-Russell Bennett
23.60-Bill Rexford
24.47-Paul Parks
25.7-Charles Muscatel
26.73-Al Tibbetts
27.24-Lyle Scott
28.10-Fred Johnson