1955 LeHi 300

Auto race held at Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in 1955 February 2025 35 8.31486 N 90 18.9617 W title CUST Race 40 of 45 in the 1955 NASCAR Grand National Series season LeHi 300 http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/AR/Lehi/1955-10-09 1955 LeHi 300 weather information The Old Farmers' Almanac 2012-09-03 1955 10 9 1955 40 45 Mild with temperatures of 77 F C; wind speeds of 10.1 mph km/h LeHi 300 Memphis-Arkansas Speedway (LeHi, Arkansas) 1.500 3.000 200 300.1 452.8 83.948 mph on 8,500 http://racing-reference.info/race/1955-40/W 1955 LeHi 300 information Racing Reference 2011-02-16 Fonty Flock Carl Keikhaefer Speedy Thompson Pete DePaolo 158 297 Speedy Thompson Pete DePaolo The 1955 LeHi 300 (known officially in NASCAR as 1955-40) was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on October 9, 1955, at Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in Lehi, Arkansas. Drivers had to commute to the races, under their own power, using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race. This was due to a policy of homologation which ended around 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had stopped tracking the year model of the vehicles and most teams no longer took cars to the track under their own power. Race report The 200-lap race took three hours and thirty-four minutes to complete in front of 8500 live spectators. Speedy Thompson defeated Marvin Panch http://mcubed.net/nascar/memphisarkansasspeedwayracesw.shtml 1955 LeHi 300 race winner Mcubed.net 2011-02-18 by ¾ of a single lap. Ford won its first race as a manufacturer since 1950. Fonty Flock earned the pole position with a speed of 100.390 mph km/h, while the winner of the race achieved a speed of 83.948 mph km/h. Jim Reed was disqualified for using non-stock cylinder heads, which NASCAR considered a repeat violation. The in-race disqualification resulted in Reed given the last-place finish on lap 8. All of the 41 drivers on the racing grid were Caucasian American-born males. This was the 40th racing event out of 45 in the 1955 NASCAR Grand National Series season. Bob Flock made his only NASCAR Grand National Series start under car owner Carl Kiekhafer. Due to strained relationships between Flock and Kiekhafer, Flock would never drive for him again. In this race, 21 of the drivers had previously won in the NASCAR Grand National Cup Series. This was also the 12th of Buck Baker's 16 consecutive finishes to bring the 1955 NASCAR Grand National Series to a conclusion. It was also the 10th of 12 starts for Johnny Mantz. The total amount of prize winnings that could have been earned from this racing event was $9,120 ($ when adjusted for inflation). http://everythingstockcar.com/2902r-1955-40-nascar-race.html 1955 LeHi 300 total prize winnings information Everything Stock Car 2011-02-19 2011-07-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20110710205833/http://everythingstockcar.com/2902r-1955-40-nascar-race.html dead Smokey Yunick and Carl Kiekhaefer were the two notable crew chiefs that participated in the event. http://racing-reference.info/entrylist/1955-40/W/C 1955 LeHi 300 crew chief information Racing Reference 2017-07-04 Tiny Lund made his career start during this event and received $60 ($ when adjusted for inflation). Other drivers making their NASCAR Cup Series debut in this race included Johnny Allen, Bill Morton, Jim Murray, Norm Nelson, and Chuck Stevenson. http://www.race-database.com/results/results.php?year=1955&race=40&series_id=2 1955 Memphis-Arkansas Speedway results Race Database 2012-03-10 Many drivers would make their grand exits from NASCAR after this race, including included Floyd Curtis, Hooker Hood, Roscoe Rann and Leland Sewell. One-time drivers Bob Coleman, Al Hager, and Gene Rose would make their only NASCAR appearances during the race. Even during the 1950s, it was unusual to see four cars fail to finish the race. This happened due to vapor lock, which disrupts the operation of the fuel pump and causes loss of feed pressure to the carburetor. Qualifying Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Owner 1 301 Fonty Flock '55 Chrysler Carl Kiekhaefer 2 300 Tim Flock '55 Chrysler Carl Kiekhaefer 3 87 Buck Baker '55 Ford Pete DePaolo 4 99 Billy Carden '55 Ford Charlie Schwam 5 95 Curtis Turner '55 Ford Charlie Schwam 6 98 Marvin Panch '55 Ford Pete DePaolo 7 92 Herb Thomas '55 Chevrolet Herb Thomas 8 86 Joe Weatherly '55 Ford Pete DePaolo 8 308 Bob Flock '55 Chrysler Carl Kiekhaefer 10 297 Speedy Thompson '55 Ford Pete DePaolo 11 25 Bill Widenhouse '55 Chevrolet Sam McCuthen 12 04 Jimmy Massey '55 Chevrolet Hubert Westmoreland 13 2 Gwyn Staley '55 Chevrolet Hubert Westmoreland 14 B-29 Dink Widenhouse '55 Ford Dink Widenhouse 15 68 Chuck Stevenson '55 Ford Pete DePaolo 16 17 Russ Graham '55 Chevrolet Earl Wright 17 70 Joe Eubanks '55 Chevrolet Lancaster Brothers 18 88 Jimmie Lewallen '55 Oldsmobile Ernest Woods 19 198 Dave Terrell '55 Oldsmobile Dave Terrell 20 49 Bob Welborn '55 Chevrolet Bob Welborn 21 15 Johnny Mantz '55 Ford unknown 22 188 Hooker Hood '54 Oldsmobile Hooker Hood 23 37 Tiny Lund '55 Chevrolet Carl Rupert 24 42 Lee Petty '55 Dodge Petty Enterprises 25 44 Ralph Liguori '55 Chevrolet Julian Petty Top 10 finishers Pos Grid No. Car number Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps completed Winnings Laps led Laps as the lead driver Time/Status 1 10 297 Speedy Thompson '55 Ford 200 $2,900 158 3:34:25 2 6 98 Marvin Panch '55 Ford 200 $1,450 0 +0.75 laps 3 12 04 Jimmy Massey '55 Chevrolet 196 $1,000 0 +4 laps 4 2 300 Tim Flock '55 Chrysler 195 $850 42 +5 laps 5 8 308 Bob Flock '55 Chrysler 195 $650 0 +5 laps 6 3 87 Buck Baker '55 Ford 194 $525 0 +6 laps 7 18 18 Jimmie Lewallen '55 Oldsmobile 190 $400 0 +10 laps 8 25 44 Ralph Liguori '55 Chevrolet 189 $350 0 +11 laps 9 14 B-29 Dink Widenhouse '55 Ford 185 $250 0 +15 laps 10 20 49 Bob Welborn '55 Chevrolet 183 $225 0 +17 laps Timeline Section reference: Start of race: Tim Flock started the race with the pole position. Lap 3: A piston located inside Ted Cannady's vehicle stopped working properly. Lap 5: Radiator issues forced Fonty Flock into the sidelines for the remainder of the race. Lap 8: Jim Reed was disqualified from the race. Lap 10: The radiator on Floyd Curtis' vehicle no longer worked properly. Lap 13: The gasket on Eddie Skinner's vehicle fell off. Lap 19: The vapor lock on Curtis Turner's vehicle acted in an unusual manner. Lap 22: Russ Graham's vehicle overheated; Bill Widenhouse's radiator started acting strangely. Lap 27: Dave Terrell had a terminal crash. Lap 29: Joe Weatherly's vehicle developed vapor lock issues. Lap 38: Gwyn Staley's fuel pump started acting funny, forcing him off the track. Lap 43: Speedy Thompson takes over the lead from Tim Flock. Lap 46: Johnny Mantz suddenly had problems with his vapor lock along with Joe Eubanks. Lap 55: Billy Carden had a terminal crash. Lap 63: Jim Murray's fuel pump was giving him problems. Lap 65: Tiny Lund had a terminal crash. Lap 123: Bill Morton had a terminal crash. Lap 132: The rear end of Herb Thomas' vehicle fell off, forcing him to leave the event. Lap 162: Norm Nelson's engine became problematic, causing him to exit the race early. Finish: Speedy Thompson was declared the winner of the race. References collapsed LeHi 300 LeHi 300 Category:NASCAR races at Memphis-Arkansas Speedway