1958 – Roberts Takes Southern 500

 

Fireball Roberts proudly hoist his trophy after winning the Southern 500 at Darlington. 

Darlington, S.C. (September 1, 1958) – Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, the pre-race favorite, led the for the final 200 laps ahead of the field at a record 102.590 miles per hour in the 9th annual Southern 500 at Darlington on Monday afternoon.

A record crowd of more than 80,000, sweltering in 90-plus heat, saw Curtis Turner of Roanoke, Va., the 1956 winner, forced out by mechanical trouble on lap 156.

Turner switched to the car driven by his teammate, Joe Weatherly of Norfolk, Va., but that car, too, gave out on the 232nd lap, when it was in second place.

The only remaining threat to the $11,450 prize money awaiting Roberts was Junior Johnson of Rhonda, N.C. But Johnson’s Ford started giving him trouble about 45 laps from the end of the race, and he dropped behind. The winning Daytona Beach, Fla., driver at the wheel of a Chevrolet, won and additional $2,000 in lap money.

The old record was set by last year’s winner, Speedy Thompson of Charlotte, N.C., at 110.10 miles per hour.

Rolling in second was 1953 winner Buck Baker of Spartanburg, S.C., in a Chevrolet. Baker’s god showing netted him $5,900 and gave him a firmer grip on second place in the Grand National point standings of the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).

Third place was taken by Shorty Rollins of Corpus Christi, Tex., in a Ford. He earned $3,475 and moved up in the point standings as well.

Marvin Panch of Daytona Beach, Fla., finished fourth in a Ford for $2,000. Finishing fifth was Jimmy Thompson of Monroe, N.C., in a Chevrolet driven through much of the race by Joe Eubanks of Spartanburg, S.C. Eubanks had led for several laps early in the contest, but his car conked out. Thompson collected $1,575.

Twenty-five of the 48 cars that started were still on the track when the checkered fell. Mechanical failures, along with blowouts, had sent three cars over the guardrail and took a heavy toll on cars.

Eddie Pagan of Lynwood, Calif., who started on the pole, blew a tire, and went through the rail and over the embankment of the second turn about a third of the way through the race. About 75 laps later, Jack Smith of Sandy Springs, Ga., duplicated Pagan’s trick, going through the same hole and even sailing over Pagan’s wrecked car, winding up against some scaffold some spectators were sitting on.

The caution flag waved six times for a total of 40 laps, but no drivers were injured.

The 2,000 Grand National points that Roberts earned were of no use to him as he isn’t even in the top 30 in points this season.


Results –

1. Glenn Roberts, Daytona Beach, Fla.
2. Buck Baker, Spartanburg, S.C.
3. Shorty Rollins, Corpus Christi, Tex.
4. Marvin Panch, Charlotte, N.C.
5. Jimmy Thompson, Monroe, N.C.
6. Bob Welborn, Greensboro, N.C.
7. Rex White, Silver Spring, Md.
8. Doug Cox, Greenville, S.C.
9. Bob Duell, Frewsburg, N.Y.
10.Herb Estes, Greenville, S.C.