Southern 500 winner Jim Reed is greeted in
victory lane by Miss Southern 500, Carolyn Melton.
Darlington, S.C. (September 7, 1959) – Jim Reed of Peekskill, N. Y., five-time national short track champion, picked up the biggest victory of his racing career here yesterday as he shattered the previous records in the 10th running of the famed Southern 500 classic at Darlington International Raceway.
Reed covered the 364-lap distance over the mile and three-eighths asphalt oval in four hours, 28 minutes, and 31.87 seconds to set a new all-time speed record at Darlington at 111.836 miles per hour in the Southern 500.
The winning speed was nearly 10 miles an hour faster than the previous record of 102.590 set last year by Glen “Fireball” Roberts of Daytona Beach, Fla.
A crowd of 78,000, the largest ever to view a stock car race, and a rich purse of $71,351, the richest in stock car history, lured a starting field of 50 cars for the classic. Reed won $2,551 in lap money and took home $17,351 plus manufacturer's awards for his richest payoff since he started racing in 1947.
A garage owner in Peekskill, Reed was in his sixth Southern 500 when the big victory came his way. His previous best finish was 1955 when he came in second. He was fourth in 1956 and 1957 and was running fifth in 1958 in one of Lee Petty's cars when misfortune came his way.
Trailing Reed across the finish line was Joe Weatherly of Norfolk, Va., driving in relief of Bob Burdick, the rookie from Omaha, Neb. Weatherly had started in another Thunderbird and blew the engine before relieving Burdick.
Another rookie, Richard Petty of Randleman, N. C., finished third. He was relieved in the race by Marvin Panch in a 1959 Plymouth.
Petty's car was running second around the 340th lap when the right front tire blew; the car hit the railing and came around on its own power. But that mishap, with Reed holding a two - lap edge, wrapped it up for the veteran New Yorker. He made it look easy the rest of the way.
Bobby Johns of Miami, who held the lead on two occasions, was fourth in a 1957 Chevrolet. Tommy Irwin of Purcellville, Va., took fifth in a 1959 Thunderbird.
Others in the top 10 were Jim Paschal of High Point, N. C., 1958 Impala; Fireball Roberts, the top qualifier and heavy favorite in a 1959 Pontiac; Larry Frank, Greenville, S.C., in a 1957 Chevrolet; Buck Baker, Spartanburg, S. C., in a 1959 Impala, and Jimmy Thompson of Monroe, N. C., in a 1959 Thunderbird.
Speedy Thompson of Monroe, N. C., starting on the outside front row, grabbed the lead on the initial lap in a 1959 Impala. On the third lap, Roberts moved into the lead and set a sizzling early pace.
Banjo Matthews of Asheville, driving a hot 1959 Thunderbird, took over on the 45th lap and Cotton Owens, of Spartanburg, S. C., driving another T-Bird, took the lead on the 68th lap when Matthews pitted.
Bobby Johns, driving a 1957 Chevrolet and starting in the 48th spot in the 50-car field, grabbed the lead on the 86th lap when Owens went into the pits.
Richard Petty took the front position on the 92nd lap and Matthews regained the top spot on the 99th lap.
On the 138th trip around, Johns regained the lead.
Around the 170th lap, with Matthews running in second and bidding for the lead, he ran into bad luck when his car broke a wheel and hit the wall and a bent frame put his car out of the race for good.
Reed took the lead for the first time at the 187th lap and kept it until the Burdick Thunderbird, with Weatherly at the wheel, grabbed the lead on the 238th lap when Reed pitted.
Reed took over for good on the 264th lap with 100 laps remaining and the Richard Petty car some 75 feet behind.
At the 300-lap distance, Reed had built up a lap lead over the second place car. When the Petty car blew the tire and hit the railing; that moved Weatherly into second and increased Reed's lead to some three laps.
He started taking it easier at that point to pick up his first big victory.
Results –
1. Jim Reed
2. Bob Burdick/Joe Weatherly
3. Bobby Johns
4. Marvin Panch/Richard Petty
5. Tommy Irwin
6. Jim Paschal
7. Glenn Roberts
8. Larry Frank
9. Buck Baker
10.Jimmy Thompson
11.Shep Langdon
12.Bill Champion
13.Joe Caspolich
14.Speedy Thompson
15.Charlie Cregar
16.Herman Beam
17.Rex White
18.L.D. Austin
19.Cotton Owens
20.Lee Petty
21.Bud Crothers
22.Al White
23.G.C. Spencer
24.Earl Balmer
25.Dick Blackwell
26.Tiny Lund
27.Cale Yarborough
28.Jack Smith
29.Marvin Panch
30.Johnny Patterson
31.Banjo Matthews
32.George Green
33.Roy Tyner
34.Bob Duell
35.Bob Welborn
36.Tom Pistone
37.Neil Castles
38.Possum Jones
39.Lennie Page
40.Buddy Baker
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