April 29, 1951
“Wilkes County 150”
Top 5 finishers…..
A record 38 drivers took to the track this day. Truman Fontell (“Fonty”) Flock won the pole with a qualifying speed of 72.184mph on the dirt surface. Fonty led all 150 laps in the race on his way to victory. Fonty Flock was also the winner in the very first stock car race at North Wilkesboro in May of 1947. His years of running moonshine honed his driving skills—and were a perfect fit when it came to Wilkes County, NC—the center of moonshine country. His average career finish of 5.8 at NWS was the best of anyone who started in more than 2 races at the speedway.
Younger brother Julius Tim Flock finished second in the race. The future 2 time NASCAR Champ ran his third race and posted his first top 5 finish at NWS. Tim, the youngest of the three Flock brothers, would go on to win 39 of the 187 NASCAR stock car races he entered—an amazing 20.8% of the time. Tim would also be known to have a “passenger” ride with him in several races in 1953.........
Pioneer Lee Petty finished 3rd. Petty would go on to race in 20 events at NWS, finishing first 3 times, and finishing in the top five 12 times and in the top ten 16 times. Surprisingly, it would take him 10 years to win a race at the speedway.
Bill Holland ran only 8 career NASCAR races, one of which was at NWS where he brought home a 4th place finish in this race. How does this sound for 4 straight finishes—2nd, 2nd, 1st, and 2nd? That’s what Holland did at Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1947 to 1950.
It’s only fitting that a NWS race from the 50’s have a “Thomas” finish in the top five. But it wasn’t Herb. It was Herb’s younger brother, 19 year old Donald Thomas who drove one of Herb’s cars to a fifth place finish. Older brother Herb finished 13th. Donald went on to win at Atlanta’s Lakewood Speedway later that year, with Herb as a relief driver. Donald Thomas was the youngest driver to be credited with winning a NASCAR stock car race, and remained the youngest until Kyle Busch claimed that title (by 4 days) in 2005.
The “hard charger award” was shared by Dale Williams and Dawson Lechlider. Each driver gained 25 spots from his starting position during the race. Williams started 34th and finished ninth and Lechlider started 37th and finished 12th.
A West Coast driver named Lou Figaro only managed a 36th place finish. It was his first of two attempts at NWS. Figaro was able to walk away on this day………….
And it would take 28 years for his name to be synonymous with NWS, but on this day approximately 75-80 miles from the speedway in the North Carolina town of Kannapolis, 23 year old Ralph and his wife Martha, celebrated the birth of their 3rd child and first son, Ralph Dale Earnhardt.