1959 Richard and Lee

[pmossberg]

Couple quick pics from 1959.

Richard's first front row start, Hillsboro NC:



Jack Smith's #47 Chevrolet and Richard Petty's Plymouth start on the front row for the 99-mile NASCAR Grand National race at Hillsboro. It was the first career front-row start for the 22-year-old Petty. Smith led in the early stages, but fell out with a broken axle. Petty was running second in the final laps when he, too, broke an axle on the choppy dirt track. He still wound up third despite completing only 100 of the 110 laps. Guess who won? The future 1959 champ....

1959 Champion Lee Petty

[songsmith1950]

I do believe there is an Edsel on the second row? Man, these are a side trip that sure does make the world's conditions so much better.

[pmossberg]

The row two car behind Jack Smith's Chevy (on our right), does not have the horse-collar grill that an Edsel would have. It looks most like a Ford...but the rear quarter trim and spear don't look like any 58 Ford or Merc pics I can find.

I can't see the row two car behind Richard (on the left).

[songsmith1950]

The side of that car surely does scream either Oldsmobile or Edsel. Surely does look Edsel from that rear quarter panel.

[pmossberg]

The inset on the rear quarter looks Edsel. But the spear on a '59 Edsel Corsair does not connect to the "inset" section. There would be a gap of normal body color sheetmetal. And the front bumper on the Edsel does not span the full face of the car.

[pmossberg]

I took another look and think the two cars behind Richard in Rows 2 and 3 are both T-Birds.

Still trying to figure out the row 2 car behind Smith.

[pmossberg]

Here you go Tom...

I think the row 2 car behind Jack Smith is a 1958 Pontiac...

[songsmith1950]

I do believe you are right Paul.. In fact I am sure of it.
In the words of Hubert Humphrey. . . . I concede. . .

[revilo]

The car that caught my attention isn't on the track. Look above the roof of the 42. That is either an ambulance or a hearse, though in those days the same vehicle was often used for both purposes.

[ricklou]

Check out Nascar's early version of a safer barrier on the left side and the lack of any protection on the inside. What were they thinking about ?

[pmossberg]

Come on Rick...it's a dirt track! Let 'em hit (eat?) dirt. And the more the cars run, the more dirt they throw out on to the berm. So the track gets "safer" the longer they run. And there IS protection on the inside. They have a truck parked on the far side of the starter's stand to protect the stand from spinning cars.

And revilo, I figured out the cars in the second row for Tom. It's up to you to figure out the ambulance/hearse. At a glance, it looks to be early fifties to me. Good luck!

There is a a typo in my initial post. This track is in Hillsborough, North Carolina, not Hillsboro. I beleive it is Occoneechee Speedway. The oenmile dirt track track operated until 1968. And although closed, it is still there.

www.northcarolinatravels.com/hillsborough/index.htm

Occoneechee Speedway was one of the first two NASCAR tracks to open and is the only track remaining from that inaugural, 1949 season. The site is now heavily forested the grandstands which once held thousands of fans and the mile–long oval track is still visible. It was at Occoneechee Speedway where such legends as Fireball Roberts, Richard Petty, Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson once spent their Sundays. This site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and you can now walk the 44 acre site with 3 miles of trails. It is located at 320 Elizabeth Brady Road in Hillsborough, NC and is open to the public during daylight hours every day. It is free of charge.

And en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occoneechee_Speedway

[dodgehemi]

The car behined Jack Smith in the second row was a 1959 Oldsmobile

The Name of the track Was Occoneechee Speedway and was changed to Occoneechee Orange Speedway. The tracked was in NASCAR from 1948 to 1968.

I am not sure about this so I will say I am not sure but I don't remember an Edsel every racing in nascar. I was wrong Edsel did race in 1959

. Paul Bass drove an Edsel convertible in 1959, the only appearance of an Edsel in NASCAR competition.
www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080217/SPORTS/802170337/-1/rss02

Here is a link to The Speedway

www.historicspeedwaygroup.org/index.php?action=page&page_id=10

[pmossberg]

Thanks for the additional Occoneechee Speedway link.

Sorry to disagree dodgehemi. But that is no Oldsmobile, 1959 or 1958.

Compared to the car in the '59 race photo, the '59 face does not match and the 58 rear quarters do not match. Here are 1959 and 1958 Oldsmobiles for comparison.

1958


1959


Now compare it again to the 1958 Pontiac pictured in my previous post and you'll see the face and rear quarters match the car in the race photo.

[dodgehemi]

OK it is a Pontiac.

[revilo]

OK, Paul, i blew up the photo as much as I could given the resolution I have available. After reviewing pictures of the Cadillac line, it appears to be a 1950 or 1951 model. It was common practice in those days for the local funeral parlor to also provide ambulance service to the community. People would place a call to the funeral home (no 911 yet) or ring up the operator and ask for transport to the hospital emergency room, or dispensary. There were no EMT's or paramedics in those days, so the patient would be laid in the back of the hearse and hauled to the hospital for treatment. Of course if things didn't work out for the best, the funeral home operator got the business anyway, so they got you coming or going.