April 5, 1959
“Gwyn Staley 160”
Top 5 finishers…..
Could it finally be??? Am I dreaming? Somebody pinch me! It’s true—Lee Petty finally takes the checkered flag at North Wilkesboro—finally, after 16 tries and 13 top ten’s. It was Petty’s 39th career Grand National victory. He led 53 laps. Did it mean much more than “a victory” to him at the time? I don’t know—never met the man. But having the ability to look back in time—the history, Lee Petty, North Wilkesboro Speedway—one could easily compare it to Earnhardt’s victory at the Daytona 500 in 1998. Maybe it was just “another victory” to Petty……just another reward for another hard day’s work. But for those who appreciate history, it was a very special day for a very special man at a very special track. Congratulations Mr. Petty! But can you do it again……..??????
Jack Smith finished second for the third time in his career at NWS. Although he wasn’t able to lead any laps, Smith still finished on the lead lap. In his first six races at the track, Smith’s average finish was 5.0—and that includes an 18th place finish in the spring race of 1957.
Everett “Cotton” Owens notched his 4th straight top 6 finish. It would be the last time as a driver that Owens finished in the top 5. In his first 6 NWS races, Owens average finish was 7.4. Did you know......in 1953 at a Grand National race at the ¼ mile McCormick Field (baseball field) in Ashville, NC, Owens “nudged” Lee Petty and Petty ended up crashing into the third base dugout!
Running in his fifth race at NWS, DeWayne “Tiny” Lund brought his ’57 Chevy home in 4th place. Along with Owens, he finished one lap off the leader’s pace. Having run one Grand National race in 1955 and becoming a regular in 1956, Lund did not see victory lane until 1963. On February 14, 1963, (10 days before the Daytona 500) Marvin Panch was driving a Maserati experimental car in practice at Daytona International Speedway when the car became airborne, slid on its top and caught fire. Tiny was the first man to reach Panch and pulled him from the fire. Because of his burns, Panch was not able to compete in the Daytona 500. Panch suggested to the Wood Brothers that they let Lund drive their Ford in the Daytona 500. Tiny won the biggest Winston Cup race of his career, the Daytona 500, and was subsequently awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism for the actions he took in saving Panch’s life.
Fred Harb was the fifth place finisher in the race. It was his only top 5 finish in 6 Grand National races at NWS. In October of 1958, rookie driver Harb was running a race at the old Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia. On the 110th lap of the race, a car ahead of him lost control, hit the wall and began flipping violently down the straightaway. As the car was flipping, the rookie driver saw the driver of the wrecking car ahead ejected from his seat, landing on the dirt, and the mangled car falling on top of him. Harb looked in the mirror and saw the speeding race cars coming towards the accident scene. He pulled his car up to the accident scene, stopped and blocked the wreck from the approaching cars. Harb, from High Point, North Carolina, saved his friend Bill Morton’s life that day. Because Harb put his own life in danger to save Morton’s life in such an honorable fashion, he was given the John Naughton Sportsmanship Award.
A reported 10,000 were on hand to see the race. Speedy Thompson started from the pole. His qualifying speed was 85.746 mph. Thompson led the first 88 laps before engine problems placed him 17th in the 23 car field. Curtis Turner led 19 laps and also had engine problems. Turner finished in 11th. There were 4 cautions for 9 laps. It takes almost nine laps to clear up ONE caution in today’s racing!
There was a change in the race's name in 1959. Formerly known as the Wilkes County 160, it was changed to the Gwyn Staley 160 in memory of track owner Enoch Staley's younger brother, Gwyn, who was killed in a convertible race at Richmond just 12 days earlier. The race remained in Staley's name thru 1978.