October 20, 1957
“Wilkes 160”
Top 5 finishers…..
Jack Smith drove his ’57 Chevy to victory. It was Chevy’s first Grand National victory at North Wilkesboro. Smith led 43 laps in the race. In the fall race in 1956 at Martinsville, Smith won the first “mixed” race in Grand National history. The race was considered mixed because it featured Grand National hardtops and convertibles running at the same time. This form of racing would later be known as "Sweepstakes." The inaugural mixed race was a decisive victory for hardtops as they captured the top five spots.
Running 2nd at the end of the race, his 14th NWS race with his 8th top 5 and fourth 2nd place finish—still looking for that first NWS win, was………..who else?.........Lee Petty. Petty’s successful career was immeasurable, but it didn’t start out that way. In NASCAR’s very first Strictly Stock race at Charlotte in 1949, Petty rolled the family Buick four times! Among his many "firsts" in the sport is the dubious distinction of bringing out the first caution flag in NASCAR history. He was credited with a 17th place finish at the end of the day. I think we’ll be hearing a more positive Petty story real soon……..
Edwin Keith Matthews finished 3rd in the race. He led 56 laps. In 3 NWS attempts, this would be his best finish. Matthews ran in 50 career NASCAR stock car races. He never saw victory lane, but he was feared in the modified ranks, as he won hundreds of races in his career. His first racing win was in a Ford Roadster at the age of 15, in 1947. Matthews’ claim to fame was as a car builder and owner. As an owner, some of his regular drivers included A.J. Foyt, Cale Yarborough, Fireball Roberts and Donnie Allison. His cars won 9 races and 14 poles in 160 starts. As a builder, cars built by Matthews won 262 of 362 NASCAR Winston Cup races from 1974-1985, including all 30 races in 1978, and four consecutive Winston Cup championships from 1975 to 1978. On many occasions, cars built by Matthews comprised over half the field. If you’re still having trouble with the name, would it be easier if he was referred to at “Banjo” Matthews? What to know where “Banjo” came from? Those big ol’ round glasses.
Speedy Thompson’s 4th place finish was his second top 5 finish at NWS—he won the fall race in 1953. Much of Thompson’s early success was considered the result of the equipment provided by Carl Kiekhafer, but to prove it wasn't just the power of the Kiekhaefer cars that made him successful, Thompson drove his own equipment to four of his 20 career victories in 1958. He finished third in points in each year from 1957 to 1959.
For the second time at NWS, Cotton Owens finished in the fifth position driving his ’57 Pontiac. He was a Pontiac man for the most part. But in the years to come, Owens made the jump to Chrysler. It was Owens who mentioned that Chrysler had a powerplant in the old Hemi engines of the 1950's and suggested that they convert them for modern racing. "I was more than a little surprised when he told me that if I was willing to come with Chrysler, they would build a completely new Hemi," recalls Cotton.
The fans saw a different speedway for the first time. A new paved surface was put in place after the spring race. It didn’t seem to make much of a difference in speeds though. The previous qualifying record was surpassed by just .04 seconds. That tells me that the drivers could really drive the wheels off the cars on dirt, or that the new surface wasn’t the best of quality—probably a little bit of both. The fastest qualifier was Fireball Roberts (81.640 mph). Roberts led the first 61 laps before crashing out of the race on lap 62. From there, it was Smith and Matthews exchanging the lead 4 times before the day ended. Seven drivers finished on the lead lap—the most at that time. There were 2 cautions periods and the margin of victory was 4 seconds.