Well, for all-y'all (which is the plural-form, of y'all, which is a
singular-term) who were holding your breath Re: the outcome of the 1958
Rebel 300 NASCAR race, Greg Fielden's book : (btw: there are FOUR
volumes of his "40 Years of Stock car Racing; Vol-2 covers 1959 -1964,
which I've got, too) "Rumblin Ragtops" is his 'fifth' book, devoted to
convertible racing, over the period 1956 - 1959, but it also has a
section on NASCAR's short-lived " Speedway Division", which involved
"indy"-type cars.
OK, what about the Rebel 300 (which was referenced to me, yesterday, by
Tim Dupont, as an example of the 56 Dodge D-500-1 prowess)??
Well, the race WAS a convie-affair, held @ Darlington Raceway, on
5/10/58, and involved 300 miles, covered on a 1.375 mile 'super'
speedway (the 1st one, actually).
You may recall that the 1957 Daytona 'clambake' involved some 51
entries.
The 1958 Rebel 300 had 31 contestants.
The 1st TWENTY finishers were NOT Mopars.
The LONE Dodge, a 1956 Coro, driven by Billy Rather (sponsor: not
I.D.'ed) completed 170 laps, of the 219-total, but DID take-home
$100.00, for his trouble, AND, he is listed as "RUNNING" @ the end of
the race!!!! Way to go, Billy!
However, the Dodge TROUNCED the sole other-Mope, a 1958(!) Plymouth,
driven by Ross Turner (sponsored by Spook Crawford), which only managed
a 28th-place (non-finish; 72 laps, due to : "Oil Press" failure. But, he
also took-home $100.00 'Consolation-prize', which was a
'guaranteed-seed', to all qualifiers).
I just noticed that the minimum $100.00-prize "began" w/ Billy Rather's
21st place 'result'.
The last still-running car was Shep Langdon's '56 Ferd, which was a
lap-down, from Billy.
BTW, the winner, Curtis Turner, in his Ferdmobile, won $5,600.00
(!!!!!!), in a 1958 Holman-Moody car, w/#2 car, another H-M
1958 car, driven by Joe Weatherly, winning $2800.00.
Interestingly, there was one other '56 car entered, which finished ahead
of Rather, Neil Castles' Ferd (20th) , and another Ferd & Chebbie which
(didn't-) finish, in 22nd & 30th, respectively.
For the 1956 season, the overall winner was Bob Welborn (Chev), followed
by Curtis Turner (ibid), Larry Odo (Chev),Joe Weatherly (Ferd),
Don Oldenberg (Buick????), Jimmie Lewallen
(Chev), Art Binkley (PLYMOUTH), Jimmy Massey (Chev), Mel Larson (Ferd),
Glen Wood
(Ferd), and, in 1th place: Allen Adkins (DODGE).
Just remember, though: a 1956 Dodge D-500-1 could "outrun" a 426 Hemi
(if it wasn't connected to a car!) ----ok, that's a cheap-shot
, but, wouldn't it have been 'neat' if Kiekaefer would have taken
personal-umbrage against Holman&Moody, and gone into 'direct-combat'
with them?
Kiekaefer withdrew his ownership/sponsorship of his 'stable', in 1957,
over a rules-feud with NASCAR--I've got a Sports Illustarted article,
from 1/57, that discusses Kiekaefer, and it 'alludes' to a dispute, but
doesn't, specifically state what the 'affont' may have been---we are ALL
the poorer, tho, or Kiekaefer's withdrawl, from NASCAR.
Neil Vedder
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