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1951 Icebreaker Sweepstakes
Race 1 of 22 in the 1951 National Stock Car Series season
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Thompson.png
National Stock Car Series Race
Date 18 March 1951
Location USA.png Thompson, Connecticut, United States
Venue Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
Course Permanent racing facility
Circuit Length 0.625 mi
Distance 500 Laps, 312.5 mi
Weather Cold and windy with maximum temperatures at 43°F (6.1°C) with wind speeds approaching 14 mph (22.5 kmh)
Average Speed 77.717 mph
Pole Position
Driver USA.png Cameron Yost Ted Hansen
Most Laps Lead
Driver USA.png Cameron Yost Ted Hansen
Laps 322
Podium
First USA.png Cameron Yost Ted Hansen
Second USA.png Peter Stafford Stafford Garage
Third USA.png Scott Duran Scott Duran


The 1951 Icebreaker Sweepstakes was the sixth running of The Icebreaker Sweepstakes, and the first race of the 1951 National Stock Car Series season. Held on March 18, 1951 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, the race comprised 500 laps around a 5/8 mile (1.005 km) paved oval. Cameron Yost won the race after winning the pole and leading the most laps.

Qualifying[edit | edit source]

Qualifying for The Icebreaker was scheduled for two days, Friday, March 16, and Saturday, March 17. Fifty-five drivers attempted to make the field, which was capped at 42 cars.

  • March 16: The top ten fastest cars were locked into the field; Cameron Yost won the pole with a new track record of 84.409 mph.
  • March 17: The remaining field was set through a series of heat races.
    • Drivers who qualified in an odd-numbered position ran in the first heat race to determine the odd-numbered positions from 11 to 39. The top fifteen advanced, with Howard Joyce taking the victory. Cliff West and John Allen crashed during the race and were unable to repair their cars in time for the B-Main.
    • Drivers who qualified in an even-numbered position ran the second heat race to determine even-numbered positions from 12 to 40. The top fifteen advanced, with Peter Stafford winning the race.
    • Drivers who failed to qualify during their heat race were entered into the B-Main event; of the fifteen eligible drivers, only 13 took the start. Warren Clark won the race to advance, and Alton Walker finished second to advance after Perry Dudley's engine failed with three laps remaining.

Race[edit | edit source]

Yost dominated much of the early portion of the race, and by the end of the first set of pit stops had lapped the entire field; however, just past lap 108 he clipped the spinning car of Dennis Park and had to pit for repairs. This handed the lead to Scott Duran; ironically, this incident saved Peter Stafford's race, as Stafford wound up off-cycle a few laps later due to a cut tire from debris. Duran and Yost would trade the lead back and forth over the remainder of the race, with Yost's superior speed only being bested at the end of the tire life. Duran, however, would develop a fuel line problem with 80 laps remaining and fell to third, losing three laps repairing the issue in the pits. Yost did not face a serious challenge from Stafford and pulled away to a commanding win.

Results[edit | edit source]

Position Start No. Driver Owner Car Laps Lead Time/Retired Points
1 1 1 Cameron Yost Ted Hansen Studebaker Champion 500 322 4:01:04 625
2 12 44 Peter Stafford Stafford Garage Oldsmobile 88 500 23 +12.87s 500
3 9 72 Scott Duran Scott Duran Oldsmobile 88 497 154 +3 Laps 435
4 21 5 Chuck Wilder Kent Decker Buick Roadmaster 497 0 +3 Laps 373
5 10 19 Dave Butler Dave Butler Hudson Hornet 497 0 +3 Laps 311
6 41 7 Warren Clark Warren Clark Hudson Hornet 495 0 +5 Laps 248
7 2 4 Jimmy Stafford Stafford Garage Oldsmobile 88 494 0 +6 Laps 186
8 20 17 Harry Schmidt Reggie Horton Ford Victoria 493 0 +7 Laps 124
9 5 62 Amos Thompson Thompson Brothers Racing Plymouth Belvedere 493 1 +7 Laps 62
10 14 47 Kelly Petersen Randy Petersen Kaiser Deluxe 493 0 +7 Laps 31

Post-Race Standings[edit | edit source]

Pos. Driver Points To Lead To Next
Rtarrow.png 1 Cameron Yost 625 - -
Rtarrow.png 2 Peter Stafford 500 125 125
Rtarrow.png 3 Scott Duran 435 190 65
Rtarrow.png 4 Chuck Wilder 373 252 62
Rtarrow.png 5 Dave Butler 311 314 62
Rtarrow.png 6 Warren Clark 248 377 63
Rtarrow.png 7 Jimmy Stafford 186 439 62
Rtarrow.png 8 Harry Schmidt 124 501 62
Rtarrow.png 9 Amos Thompson 62 563 62
Rtarrow.png 10 Kelly Petersen 31 594 31