The 1954 Wilkes County 160 was a NASCAR

NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

 Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) racing event that took place on April 4, 1954 at North Wilkesboro Speedway

North Wilkesboro Speedway

North Wilkesboro Speedway was a short track that held races in NASCAR's top three series from NASCAR's inception in 1949 until its closure in 1996...

 (North Wilkesboro

North Wilkesboro, North Carolina

North Wilkesboro is a town in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was approximately 4,116 at the 2000 census and is now 4,245 as of the 2010 census. North Wilkesboro is the birthplace and original home of Lowe's Home Improvement, which continues to have a major presence in...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

).

Summary

It took one hour and twenty-seven minutes for the race to reach its full conclusion; Dick Rathmann

Dick Rathmann

Dick Rathmann was an American racecar driver....

 beat Herb Thomas

Herb Thomas

Herbert Watson Thomas was a NASCAR pioneer who was one of the series' most successful drivers in the 1950s.-Background:...

 by a margin of twenty seconds in front of five thousand and five hundred people. Notable speeds were: 68.454 mi/h as the average speed and 78.698 mi/h as the pole position

Pole position

The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...

 speed. John Ditz

John Ditz

John Ditz is a former NASCAR Grand National Series car owner whose career spanned from 1954 to 1955.-Summary:He managed to employ Arden Mounts, Dick Rathmann, and Donald Thomas for his 52-race career as a NASCAR owner...

 would win his first race as an owner during this event. Total winnings for this race were $3,825 ($ in today's money).

Finishers

1. Dick Rathmann
   Dick Rathmann
   Dick Rathmann was an American racecar driver....
   
   
2. Herb Thomas
3. Joe Eubanks
   Joe Eubanks
   Joe Eubanks was a NASCAR Grand National driver from Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA. Eubanks raced from 1950 to 1961 collecting one win, thirty-seven finishes in the top five, and eighty-one finishes in the top ten along the way. His total career earnings were $35,338 and he successfully...
   
    (the third and final driver to end the race on the lead lap)
4. Curtis Turner
   Curtis Turner
   Curtis Turner was an early NASCAR driver. In addition to his success in racing, he made a fortune, lost it, and remade it buying and selling timberlands. Throughout his life he developed a reputation for drinking and partying...
   
   
5. Lee Petty
   Lee Petty
   Lee Arnold Petty was an American stock car driver in the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the pioneers of NASCAR, and one of its first superstars. He was born near Randleman, North Carolina.-Career:...
   
   
6. Ralph Liguori
   Ralph Liguori
   Ralph Liguori is a former American racing driver from New York City.-Indycar career:He competed in the USAC Championship Car series from 1957 to 1971 making 61 starts. His best finish was 2nd place at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Speedway in 1970. 1966 was his most active year, when he made 7...
   
   
7. Al Keller
   Al Keller
   Al Keller was an American racecar driver.Keller participated in the NASCAR "Strictly Stock"/"Grand National" series from 1949 to 1956 with 29 career starts...
   
   
8. Andy Winfree
9. Jim Paschal
   Jim Paschal
   James Roy "Jim" Paschal, Jr. was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup driver. He won twenty-five races and twelve poles over his career. Elected to the "Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame" in 1977, he won the World 600 in 1964 and the 1967 Charlotte Motor Speedway...
   
   
10. Jimmie Lewallen
    Jimmie Lewallen
    Jimmie Lewallen was an American racecar driver from High Point, North Carolina, USA. He competed in NASCAR's Strictly Stock/Grand National division from its first race at Charlotte Speedway in 1949 until 1960.-Racing career:Lewallen began his racing career in motorcycles in 1934...
    
    
11. Bob Welborn
    Bob Welborn
    Robert "Bob" Joe Welborn of Denton, North Carolina, USA is a former NASCAR Grand National driver. He was named to NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers list in 1998...
    
    
12. Gober Sosebee
    Gober Sosebee
    Gober Sosebee was an American racecar driver. He won on the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1949, 1950 and 1951. He was born in Dawson County, Georgia, and began his career in 1940 at Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway....
    
    
13. Fred Dove
    Fred Dove
    Fred Dove was a NASCAR Grand National driver from Martinsville, Virginia, USA.He competed in 47 races from with one finish in the top-five, 12 top-ten finishes, and 3919 laps of racing experience - the equivalent of . In his entire four-year career, Dove never won a race, led a lap, or started...
    
    
14. Billy Irvin
15. Buck Baker
    Buck Baker
    Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. , better known as Buck Baker, was an American race car driver.-Racing career:...
    
    
16. Eddie Skinner (last driver to complete the entire race - 21 laps behind)
17. Bud Harless
    Bud Harless
    Bud Harless was a NASCAR Grand National Series driver. He raced for six years and in 28 races . Harless' average starting position was 23rd while his average finishing position was 22nd. The number of laps that Harless raced in his career was 4074 - the equivalent of...
    
    * (involved in the only crash of the race)
18. Ralph Dutton
    Ralph Dutton
    The Hon. Ralph Heneage Dutton , was a British Conservative politician.-Background:Dutton was a younger son of John Dutton, 2nd Baron Sherborne, and the Hon...
    
    *
19. Elton Hildreth* (drove a Nash
    Nash Motors
    Also see: Kelvinator and American Motors CorporationNash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the United States from 1916 to 1938. From 1938 to 1954, Nash was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation...
    
     vehicle)
20. Ted Rambo* (drove a Lincoln
    Lincoln (automobile)
    Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...
    
     vehicle - also involved in the crash with Bud Harless)
21. Arden Mounts
    Arden Mounts
    Enoch Arden Mounts was an American NASCAR Grand National Series driver from Gilbert, Mingo County, West Virginia. His primary vehicle was the #18 self-owned Pontiac machine; although he would occasionaly drive a Hudson vehicle on the race track.-Summary:He raced in the NASCAR Grand National Series...
    
    *
22. Dave Terrell
    Dave Terrell
    Dave Terrell is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver/owner who participated from 1952 to 1957....
    
    *
23. Stan Kross*
24. Blackie Pitt
    Blackie Pitt
    William H. "Blackie" Pitt is a NASCAR Grand National Series born in the American town of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. He is best known as the 1954 NASCAR Rookie of the Year.-Career:...
    
    *

* Driver failed to finish race