From WSCC Racing
Jump to: navigation, search
1950 National Stock Car Series Season
NSCS.png
Season
Races 10
Start Date March 19
End Date November 12
Awards
Driver's Champion: USA.png Cameron Yost
Special Event Winners
Icebreaker Sweepstakes: USA.png Ben Rogers
The Turkey Bowl: USA.png Howard Joyce
Next: 1951


The 1950 National Stock Car season was the inaugural season of professional stock car racing in the United States. The season consisted of ten races, beginning at Thompson International Speedway and ending at Riverside Park Speedway. Ted Hansen won the Owners' Championship, while Cameron Yost won the Driver's title with a third-place finish at the Turkey Bowl.

Background[edit | edit source]

In late 1948, Elliott Crawford, a former racer turned promoter, arranged a meeting of a group of drivers, promoters, and mechanics from around the Northeastern United States to organize the first sanctioning body for professional stock car racing. Crawford saw the need for a sanctioning body after witnessing firsthand multiple incidences of unscrupulous promoters refusing to pay drivers their money for arbitrary reasons (or just leaving before the conclusion of the race). Crawford, understanding the sport would not survive unless there was a common set of rules and a sanctioning body to guarantee promoters paid their drivers, worked with the group to organize the National Stock-Car Championship Series, which would hold its first season in 1950.

Schedule[edit | edit source]

Rd Date Race Circuit Pole Owner (Car) Winner Owner (Car)
1 March 19 1950 Icebreaker Sweepstakes Thompson International Speedway Cameron Yost Ted Hansen (Studebaker) Ben Rogers Clarence Rogers (Chevrolet)
2 April 9 1950-02 Seekonk Speedway Peter Stafford Stafford Garage (Oldsmobile) Will Gordon Alfred Rose (Buick)
3 May 7 1950-03 Flemington Fair Speedway Cameron Yost Ted Hansen (Studebaker) James August Floyd Logan (Chevrolet)
4 May 28 1950-04 Langhorne Speedway Leroy Farmer Leroy Farmer (Ford) Peter Stafford Stafford Garage (Oldsmobile)
5 June 11 1950-05 Bowman Gray Stadium Charlie Hart Keith Clayton (Plymouth) Peter Stafford Stafford Garage (Oldsmobile)
6 July 4 1950-06 Daytona Beach Street Course Willard Summers Willard Summers (Packard) Glenn Barker Victor Sellers (Mercury)
7 August 6 1950-07 Monroe County Fairgrounds Jimmy Stafford Stafford Garage (Oldsmobile) Cameron Yost Ted Hansen (Studebaker)
8 September 10 1950-08 Columbus Motor Speedway Peter Stafford Stafford Garage (Oldsmobile) Jay Woodward Jay Woodward (Chevrolet)
9 October 15 1950-09 Warwick Fairgrounds Donna Buckley Homer Brennan (Lincoln) Amos Thompson Thompson Brothers Racing (Plymouth)
10 November 12 1950 Turkey Bowl Riverside Park Speedway Peter Stafford Stafford Garage (Oldsmobile) Howard Joyce Howard Joyce (Hudson)
Legend
# Paved Oval
# Dirt Oval
# Road/Street Course

Race Summaries[edit | edit source]

1950-01[edit | edit source]

Main article: 1950 Icebreaker Sweepstakes

The first National Stock Car Series race was the fifth running of The Icebreaker Sweepstakes, a stock car race held at Thompson Speedway, a 5/8-mile paved oval in Thompson, Connecticut. Cameron Yost won the pole and lead 259 of the 500 laps. Ben Rogers won the race following an intense duel with Will Gordon during the closing laps.

Top Ten Results

Position No. Driver
1 140 Ben Rogers
2 15 Will Gordon
3 72 Scott Duran
4 7 Howard Joyce
5 4 Jimmy Stafford
6 33 Donna Buckley
7 0 Alton Walker
8 96 Cameron Yost
9 13 John Haynes
10 62 Amos Thompson

1950-02[edit | edit source]

The second race of the season was held at the 1/3 mile Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts. Peter Stafford won the pole. Cameron Yost had another dominating race fall short due to mechanical failures. Will Gordon won the race by a full lap, with Donna Buckley finishing second and becoming the first woman to finish on the podium in professional motorsports. Lee Newman was involved in a severe crash just before the halfway point of the race; though he would survive the initial wreck, his injuries required a lengthy hospital stay, and he would later succumb to an infection while hospitalized.

Top Ten Results

Position No. Driver
1 15 Will Gordon
2 33 Donna Buckley
3 72 Scott Duran
4 0 Alton Walker
5 7 Howard Joyce
6 12 Roy Stephenson
7 29 James August
8 10A Rodney Sweeney
9 10 Joe Bartlett
10 777 Emmett Newton

1950-03[edit | edit source]

The third race of the season was held on an unseasonably warm day in Flemington, New Jersey at the Flemington Fair Speedway, a 5/8 dirt track. Cameron Yost sat on the pole and led 246 of 400 laps but, due to the engine in his Studebaker overheating, he retired from the race. James August lapped the field to take the win, while points leader Will Gordon retired early due to crash damage.

Top Ten Results

Position No. Driver
1 29 James August
2 5 Chuck Wilder
3 23 Ralph Stanton
4 44 Peter Stafford
5 33 Donna Buckley
6 12 Roy Stephenson
7 40 Henry French
8 72 Scott Duran
9 42 Eddie Durham
10 76 Bernard Morse

1950 - 04[edit | edit source]

The fourth race of the 1950 season was held at the one-mile dirt circle in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. A massive crash on the second lap of the race eliminated one-third of the field, including points leader Will Gordon and local favorite Henry French, who was substituting for the injured Lee Newman in this race. Leroy Farmer won the pole and lead 25 laps, while Cameron Yost lead the majority of the race but was passed with eight laps remaining by Peter Stafford, who went on to score the victory.

Top Ten Results

Position No. Driver
1 44 Peter Stafford
2 96 Cameron Yost
3 62 Amos Thompson
4 29 James August
5 8 Ben Rogers
6 23 Ralph Stanton
7 5 Chuck Wilder
8 9 Melvin Jones
9 12 Roy Stephenson
10 72 Scott Duran

1950 - 05[edit | edit source]

The fifth race of the 1950 season was held at the Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In contrast to the previous race, this race was relatively clean, with only a few cars involved in any incidents. Local driver Charlie Hart, substituting for an injured Lee Newman, won the pole and led for the first 15 laps. Despite an early race charge by Chuck Wilder, Peter Stafford dominated the race, leading 243 of the 300 laps en route to his second victory in a row.

Top Ten Results

Position No. Driver
1 44 Peter Stafford
2 5 Chuck Wilder
3 40 Leland Caldwell
4 7 Howard Joyce
5 15 Will Gordon
6 62 Amos Thompson
7 21 Charlie Hart
8 41 Billy Wheeler
9 17 Leroy Grimes
10 14 Charles Floyd

1950 - 06[edit | edit source]

The sixth race of the 1950 season was held on the streets and beachfront of Daytona Beach, Florida. The site of many high-speed record attempts, Daytona Beach proved to be a challenge for multiple drivers. Georgia's Willard Summers, who had attempted numerous speed records in the past, won the pole but was swept up in a four-car wreck with eleven laps remaining in the race. Glenn Barker would lead 23 of the 39 scheduled laps en route to his first career victory.

Top Ten Results

Position No. Driver
1 38 Glenn Barker
2 50 Leon Lara
3 96 Cameron Yost
4 62 Amos Thompson
5 19 Michael Atkinson
6 10 Joe Bartlett
7 44 Peter Stafford
8 14 Gordon Jacobson
9 26 Vernon Hood
10 31 Darrell Rhodes

1950-07[edit | edit source]

The seventh race of the 1950 National Stock Car Series took place on August 11, 1950 at the dirt track on the grounds of the Monroe County Fair in Rochester, New York. The race comprised 250 laps around a half-mile dirt oval. Jimmy Stafford won the pole; Cameron Yost was finally able to capitalize on a dominant performance, capturing the victory after leading 228 of 250 laps.

Top Ten Results

Position No. Driver
1 96 Cameron Yost
2 44 Peter Stafford
3 4 Jimmy Stafford
4 15 Will Gordon
5 65 Fred Davenport
6 12 Roy Stephenson
7 24 Ivan Nixon
8 0 Alton Walker
9 30 Sidney Griffin
10 33 Donna Buckley

1950-08[edit | edit source]

The eighth race of the 1950 National Stock Car Series took place on September 10, 1950 at the Columbus Motor Speedway in Obetz, Ohio. The race comprised 300 laps around a one-third-mile oval. Peter Stafford won his second pole of the season; Jay Woodward led 131 laps en route to the victory.

Top Ten Results

Position No. Driver
1 9 Jay Woodward
2 96 Cameron Yost
3 0 Alton Walker
4 428 Keith Clayton
5 15 Will Gordon
6 12 Roy Stephenson
7 29 James August
8 35 Arthur Hale
9 84 Doug Sanford
10 38 Glenn Barker

1950-09[edit | edit source]

The ninth race of the 1950 National Stock Car Series took place on October 15, 1950 at the Warwick Fairgrounds, a converted horse racing facility in Warwick, Rhode Island. The race comprised 300 laps around a fourth-tenths-mile dirt oval. Donna Buckley won her first career pole, becoming the first woman to qualify first in any motorsport event in America; Amos Thompson led 82 of the final 108 laps en route to the victory after Emmett Newton led nearly the first two-thirds of the race.

Top Ten Results

Position No. Driver
1 62 Amos Thompson
2 38 Glenn Barker
3 96 Cameron Yost
4 44 Peter Stafford
5 15 Will Gordon
6 4 Jimmy Stafford
7 7 Warren Clark
8 777 Emmett Newton
9 428 Keith Clayton
10 10 Joe Bartlett

1950-10[edit | edit source]

The tenth and final race of the 1950 National Stock Car Series season was the second running of the Turkey Bowl at Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Massachusetts. Three drivers - Peter Stafford, Cameron Yost, and Will Gordon - entered the race in championship contention. Stafford and Yost swept the front row, and Gordon began the race in sixth. Gordon dropped out after twenty laps due to a transmission failure, and Stafford would exit the race at the two-thirds mark; their early exits allowed Yost to secure the championship with a finish of seventh or greater, which he did with another third place finish. Howard Joyce and Hudson won the race, leading 273 of 400 laps.

Top Ten Results

Position No. Driver
1 9 Howard Joyce
2 62 Amos Thompson
3 96 Cameron Yost
4 777 Emmett Newton
5 4 Jimmy Stafford
6 73 Ollie Duncan
7 428 Keith Clayton
8 29 James August
9 12 Roy Stephenson
10 19 Elmer Lyons

Drivers[edit | edit source]

Fourteen drivers attempted to run the full ten race schedule in 1950. They were:

No. Driver Car Hometown Owner
0 Alton Walker 1950 Packard 250 Crofton, MD Carl Henry
4 Jimmy Stafford 1950 Oldsmobile 88 New York, NY Stafford Garage
5 Chuck Wilder 1950 Chevrolet Bel Air Corinna, ME Kent Decker
7 Howard Joyce 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan Tolland, CT Warren Clark
9 1951 Hudson Hornet Howard Joyce
10 Joe Bartlett 1950 Chevrolet Bel Air Johnstown, PA Joe Bartlett
12 Roy Stephenson 1950 Ford Victoria Standish, MA Roy Stephenson
15 Will Gordon 1949 Chevrolet Bel Air Woonsocket, RI Alfred Rose
29 James August 1949 Mercury Coupe Southfield, MI Floyd Logan
33 Donna Buckley 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan Danville, OH Homer Brennan
38 Glenn Barker 1950 Mercury Coupe Rochester, NY Victor Sellers
44 Peter Stafford 1950 Oldsmobile 88 New York, NY Stafford Garage
62 Amos Thompson 1950 Plymouth Belvedere Dorchester, MA Thompson Brothers Racing
84 Doug Sanford 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan Sampson, FL Ralph Mays
777 Emmett Newton 1950 Oldsmobile 88 Pelham, TN Lucky Hornick
1951 Hudson Hornet

Notes:

Final Points Standings[edit | edit source]

Driver's Championship[edit | edit source]

  • Note: only drivers who scored at least one point are displayed.
Pos Driver ICE SEK FLM LNG BGR DAY MON CMS WRF TRK Pts
1 Cameron Yost 8 12 20 2 3 1 2 3 3 1382
2 Peter Stafford 32 20 4 1 1 7 2 12 4 18 1283
3 Will Gordon 2 1 19 30 5 20 4 5 5 21 1145
4 Amos Thompson 10 14 22 3 6 4 30 24 1 2 958
5 James August 35 7 1 4 19 26 29 7 17 8 899
6 Ben Rogers 1 21 23 5 15 13 824
7 Howard Joyce 4 5 21 26 4 24 18 17 14 1 764
8 Scott Duran 3 3 8 10 695
9 Jimmy Stafford 5 18 24 20 17 15 3 19 6 5 683
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Other points position
Blue Other classified position
Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)