The 1956 Southern 500 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 race that took place at Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed the "Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition"...

 in Darlington

Darlington, South Carolina

Darlington is a city in and the county seat of Darlington County, in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is a center for tobacco farming. The population was 6,720 at the 2000 census and is part of the Florence Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 on September 3, 1956. This race was considered to be the "Labor Day Classic" for 1956; complete with a pre-race beauty pageant

Beauty contest

A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria...

 with a judging panel led by Fonty Flock and a parade down the front stretch of the race track.

Summary

There were 364 laps done on a paved track spanning 1.375 miles (2.2 km). It only took five hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty-three seconds for the race to reach its conclusion. Seven cautions were committed for seventy-eight laps and the margin of victory was more than two laps. Attendance was established at seventy thousand people; about the size of a typical modern day sporting event. The average speed of the race was 95.167 mi/h while the pole speed was 119.695 mi/h and was achieved by Speedy Thompson

Speedy Thompson

Alfred Bruce "Speedy" Thompson was a NASCAR pioneer and driver in the Grand National series from 1950 to 1971; capturing 20 wins along the way.-Racing career:...

. Seventy American

United States

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

 drivers competed as the race entries; there were no foreigners in that race. Other notable drivers in the race included future car owner Junior Johnson

Junior Johnson

Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...

, Joe Weatherly

Joe Weatherly

Joseph "Joe" Weatherly was a two-time NASCAR championship driver. Weatherly was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009 after winning NASCAR's Grand National championships in 1962 and 1963, three A.M.A...

, Fonty Flock

Fonty Flock

Truman Fontello "Fonty" Flock of Fort Payne, Alabama was an early NASCAR driver.-Flock family:He was the brother of NASCAR pioneers Tim Flock and Bob Flock, and the second female NASCAR driver Ethel Mobley...

, Gwyn Staley

Gwyn Staley

Gwyn Staley was a NASCAR Grand National driver from Burlington, North Carolina, USA.-Career:...

, Fireball Roberts

Fireball Roberts

Edward Glenn Roberts, Jr. , nicknamed "Fireball", was one of the pioneering race car drivers of NASCAR.-Background:...

, Tiny Lund

Tiny Lund

DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund was a NASCAR driver. He was ironically nicknamed "Tiny" due to his rather large and imposing size.-Background:...

 and Herb Thomas

Herb Thomas

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

.

Total winnings for the race was $35,365 ($ in today's money). Manufacturers involved in the event included Chevrolet

Chevrolet

Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...

 (active), Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

 (active), Dodge

Dodge

Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....

 (active), Mercury

Mercury (automobile)

Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...

 (defunct after 2010), Plymouth

Plymouth (automobile)

Plymouth was a marque of automobile based in the United States, produced by the Chrysler Corporation and its successor DaimlerChrysler.-Origins:...

 (defunct), Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

 (active), Pontiac

Pontiac

Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...

 (defunct), and Buick

Buick

Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...

 (active).

Finishing results

1. 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...
   
    (led 225 laps and won the race)
2. Speedy Thompson
   Speedy Thompson
   Alfred Bruce "Speedy" Thompson was a NASCAR pioneer and driver in the Grand National series from 1950 to 1971; capturing 20 wins along the way.-Racing career:...
   
    (led 14 laps)
3. Marvin Panch
   Marvin Panch
   Marvin Panch Marvin Panch Marvin Panch (born May 28, 1926, in Menomonie, Wisconsin, is a former NASCAR driver.-Early career:He started his racing career as a car owner in Oakland, California. One week, his driver did not show up, and he raced the car to a third place finish...
   
    (led 39 laps)
4. Jim Reed
   Jim Reed (racer)
   Jim Reed is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver.-Summary:From 1951 to 1963, Reed has raced 16299 laps - the equivalent of . His total career earnings is $16,299 . Reed's biggest win came in the 1959 Southern 500 driving a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air...
   
   
5. Paul Goldsmith
   Paul Goldsmith
   Paul Goldsmith is a motorcycle Hall of Famer, Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee and former USAC and NASCAR driver.- Motorcycle career :...
   
    (sponsored by Smokey Yunick
   Smokey Yunick
   Henry "Smokey" Yunick was an American mechanic and car designer associated with motorsports. Yunick was deeply involved in the early years of NASCAR, and he is probably most associated with that racing genre...
   
   's Best Damn Garage)
6. 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...
   
    (led 32 laps)
7. Bill Amick
   Bill Amick
   Bill Amick was a NASCAR Grand National and West Coast driver from Portland, Oregon. He has one win, nineteen top 5's, twenty-seven top 10's, and five poles in Grand National.-Driving career:...
   
   
8. Joe Weatherly
9. Bobby Johns
   Bobby Johns
   Bobby Johns is a retired American racecar driver.Johns raced in the NASCAR series in the 1956-1969 seasons, with 141 career starts. He had 2 wins among his 36 top ten finishes and finished the 1960 season 3rd in the points...
   
   
10. Pat Kirkwood
    Pat Kirkwood (NASCAR driver)
    Patrick "Pat" Kirkwoood was a NASCAR Grand National Driver from 1949 to 1957.-As a driver:...
    
    
11. Rex White
    Rex White
    Rex White is a retired American auto racer and NASCAR champion. White was one of the drivers who competed for the original Chevrolet racing team. He began racing in 1956, grabbing fourteen top-ten finishes. After a part-time run in 1957, White won twice in 1958...
    
    
12. Tim Flock
    Tim Flock
    Julius Timothy Flock was one of NASCAR's early pioneers, and a two time series champion. He was a brother to NASCAR's second female driver Ethel Mobley and NASCAR pioneers Bob Flock and Fonty Flock.- NASCAR career :...
    
     (led 16 laps)
13. Roz Howard
14. Johnny Patterson
15. Junior Johnson
    Junior Johnson
    Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...
    
    
16. Billy Myers
    Billy Myers
    William Harrison Myers was a shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1935 through 1941 for the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs . Listed at 5' 8", 168 lb., Myers batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Enola, Pennsylvania...
    
    
17. 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:...
    
    
18. Harold Hardesty
19. Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley
    Elmo Langley was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number "64" on his race cars during his NASCAR career.-Racing career:...
    
    
20. Shorty York
21. Bill Champion
    Bill Champion
    Buford Billy Champion , is a retired American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who played in 202 games in the Major Leagues from -. He would play for the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies.-External links:...
    
    
22. Possum Jones
    Possum Jones
    Possum Jones is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver.From 1952 to 1965, Jones managed to lead 28 out of the 8234 laps that he committed in his career. This would add up to raced in total. Total earnings for Possum Jones was $13,680 . On average, Jones started in 21st place and finished in 20th...
    
    
23. Emanuel Zervakis
    Emanuel Zervakis
    Emanuel Zervakis was a NASCAR driver and team owner. He won two NASCAR Grand National races in his career, both in 1961...
    
    
24. Tiny Lund
    Tiny Lund
    DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund was a NASCAR driver. He was ironically nicknamed "Tiny" due to his rather large and imposing size.-Background:...
    
    
25. Johnny Allen
26. Buck Baker
    Buck Baker
    Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. , better known as Buck Baker, was an American race car driver.-Racing career:...
    
    
27. Jack Smith
28. Billy Carden
    Billy Carden
    Billy Carden was a NASCAR Grand National driver from Mableton, Georgia, USA. He was a stock car racing pioneer and an early NASCAR competitor.-History:...
    
    
29. Bill Blair
30. Sherman Utsman
    Sherman Utsman
    Sherman Utsman is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver.From the age of 24 to the age of 31, Sherman has competed in and 5304 laps of racing. Most of his rides were with the 1962 Ford Galaxie bearing the #6 number. Sherman is related to fellow drivers Dub, John, Larry, and Layman Utsman...
    
    
31. Lou Spears
    Lou Spears
    Lou Spears is a retired NASCAR Grand National driver from Ardmore, Pennsylvania, USA. He competed in a two-year career that spanned from 1955 to 1957. Spears scored one position in the top ten and finished the race in 20th place on average. His average starts were in 31st place and spent in a...
    
    
32. Brownie King
33. 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...
    
    * (highest ranked driver not to finish the race - gasket
    Gasket
    thumb|sright|250px|Some seals and gaskets1. [[o-ring]]2. fiber [[Washer |washer]]3. paper gaskets4. [[cylinder head]] [[head gasket|gasket]]...
    
     issues)
34. Allen Adkins
35. Tom Lupo
36. Gene Bergin
37. 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...
    
    *
38. Frank Mundy
    Frank Mundy
    Frank "Rebel" Mundy was an American stock car racer. He competed in the American Automobile Association stock cars, winning the 1955 national championship, before the series changed to United States Auto Club sanction...
    
    *
39. Harvey Henderson
40. Dick Beaty*
41. Judge Rider
42. Wade Fields
43. Bill Brown
    Bill Brown
    Bill Brown may refer to:*Bill Brown , Australian cricketer*Bill Brown , Australian Senator*Bill Brown , Scottish football player...
    
    *
44. Larry Flynn
    Larry Flynn
    Larry Flynn of Holly Hill, Florida, USA was a retired NASCAR Grand National race car driver that competed in eight races from 1955 to 1961. As a competitor in the 1955 Southern 500, he had the fastest finishing Ford in the race. His win gave creditability to the Ford racing teams...
    
    *
45. Johnny Dodson*
46. 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:...
    
    *
47. Pat Grogan*
48. Clyde Palmer*
49. Herb Thomas
    Herb Thomas
    Herbert Watson Thomas was a NASCAR pioneer who was one of the series' most successful drivers in the 1950s.-Background:...
    
    *
50. Parnelli Jones
    Parnelli Jones
    Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones , is a retired American racing driver and racecar owner. He is most remembered for his 1963 Indianapolis 500 win, and almost winning the 1967 Indy 500 in a turbine car...
    
    *
51. Fireball Roberts
    Fireball Roberts
    Edward Glenn Roberts, Jr. , nicknamed "Fireball", was one of the pioneering race car drivers of NASCAR.-Background:...
    
    * (led 34 laps)
52. Ray Hendrick
    Ray Hendrick
    Ray Hendrick , was known as "Mr. Modified" during his 36-year career in motorsports mainly in the modified stock car racing class....
    
    *
53. Bill Widenhouse
    Bill Widenhouse
    Bill Widenhouse was a NASCAR Grand National driver from Midland, North Carolina, USA.During his 14-year NASCAR career, Widenhouse managed to earn two top-finishes, five top-ten finishes, completed 4131 laps for , and earned $3,275 in take-home pay...
    
    *
54. Dink Widenhouse
    Dink Widenhouse
    David "Dink" Widenhouse is a retired NASCAR Grand National Series driver. From the age of 22 to the age of 24, Widenhouse has competed in and 3097 laps of racing...
    
    *
55. Roy Bentley
    Roy Bentley
    Roy Thomas Frank Bentley is a retired English football player who played most notably for Chelsea and the England national side. He later became a manager...
    
    * (sponsored by Marion Cox
    Marion Cox
    Marion "Preacher" Cox was a NASCAR Grand National Series car owner. Cox has a widow named Mrs. Nina Cox whose birthday is January 25, 1930...
    
    )
56. Ken Love (lowest ranked driver to finish the race)
57. Ralph Moody
    Ralph Moody
    Ralph Moody was one of early drivers of NASCAR. However, he eventually became the most famous as team co-owner of Holman Moody.-Background:...
    
    *
58. Fonty Flock
    Fonty Flock
    Truman Fontello "Fonty" Flock of Fort Payne, Alabama was an early NASCAR driver.-Flock family:He was the brother of NASCAR pioneers Tim Flock and Bob Flock, and the second female NASCAR driver Ethel Mobley...
    
    *
59. Danny Letner*
60. Don Oldenberg*
61. Bobby Myers
    Bobby Myers
    Bobby Jermaine Myers is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers....
    
    *
62. Bob Duell* (sponsored by Police Special)
63. Nace Mattingly*
64. Pee Wee Jones*
65. Gwyn Staley
    Gwyn Staley
    Gwyn Staley was a NASCAR Grand National driver from Burlington, North Carolina, USA.-Career:...
    
    *
66. Doug Yates
    Doug Yates
    Doug Yates has been around the sound of revving engines for as long as he can remember. As the son of engine builder and team owner Robert Yates, Doug possesses a passion for stock car racing that is unmatched by others...
    
    *
67. Peck Peckham*
68. Russ Graham*
69. Jesse James Taylor*
70. 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...
    
    *

* Driver failed to finish race