Reflecting on Darlington races from 50 years ago

T-Birds, Chevrolets, Lee Petty’s switch to a Plymouth and Joe Caspolich piloting an Oldsmobile titled the “City of Florence” were the gab of racing 50 years ago before the Rebel 300.

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And that was four months before the heralded Southern 500 on Labor Day, which was not only won by a Chevy Impala, but a Yankee to boot.

The late Fireball Roberts won the Rebel 300 convertible race in an Impala. His average speed was 116.903 mph.

And for his victory, Roberts pocketed a whopping $7,000 of the record $30,640 purse.

Joe Weatherly was second in a T-Bird, followed by Larry Frank in a Chevy. They raked in $4,050 and and $2,400, respectively.

“A race is won in the garage and pre-race preparations,” Roberts told a Morning News sports writer. “That’s why I was never worried about my car not being able to make it the distance. There was no doubt at any point of the race because Paul McDuffie, the man who does all the work on my car, is one of the best in the business. I had all the confidence in the world.”

And Roberts also had his own opinion about the favored Thunderbirds.

“I had figured all along that the Impalas would beat the T-Birds because of the weight,” he said. “The Birds were too heavy and tires can’t stand that kind of weight on this type of track, not at the speeds that were made out there today.”

The win was a welcome relief for Roberts. Not only was it the first race he had won that year, but the first he had finished.

“Maybe now I’ve broke the jinx which had plagued me all season,” he quipped, “but no, I’d better not say that. Heck, I’m liable not to make it but one lap in the Southern 500.”

Lee Petty surprised everyone by switching to a Plymouth. He finished 16th, just behind his son Richard, who was driving an Oldsmobile.

Lee Petty had won the first Daytona 500 earlier in the year in a photo finish in a 1959 Oldsmobile. The Olds was purchased following the race by a Florence group called the Paperhangers.

It was driven by Joe Caspolich and named the “City of Florence.” Caspolich didn’t fare well and finished far back in the pack.

Meanwhile, in another race on another track, Darlington Fire Chief Jim Stone won top honors in the Pee Dee Conference track meet in Darlington. Also participating and winning a third-place ribbon was former Florence Mayor Frank Willis. Stone and Willis graduated from St. John’s High School in 1959.

And fast-forwarding to the Southern 500 on Labor Day that same year, Jim Reed won in a 1959 Impala. He collected $17,351 and a kiss from Miss Southern 500, Carolyn Melton.

And a headline in the Morning News didn’t overlook the fact that Reed was from Peekskill, N.Y.

The headline blared, “Yankee Comes to Darlington and Wins Southern 500 Cash.”

The story’s lead was written by Dew James, a retired Morning News editorial page editor. James was city editor at the time.

“The world’s stock car racing capital buzzed with the excitement of a Roman holiday Monday as a Yankee paced a record and won a Southern classic,” James wrote. “Blue skies with big puffs of white cloud provided a colorful canopy as Jim Reed jockeyed a 1959 Chevrolet Impala into Victory Lane to collect a record purse.”

Reed told Morning News sports editor Thom Anderson tires made the difference in the race.

“I didn’t change tires but once and that was after 325 miles when I changed all four,” he said. “I went the rest of the way on those. In fact, in one Southern 500 race here, I went all the way on one set of tires.”

Weatherly finished second in the race in a T-Bird and Richard Petty was third in a Plymouth. Caspolich was 13th in an Oldsmobile.

Attendance was a record 79,000. Among the dignitaries were Gov. and Mrs. Ernest F. “Fritz” Hollings, Lt. Gen. Edwin Pollock, commander of the Marine Atlantic Fleet, and Maj. Gen. Joseph C. Berger, commander of Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Also on hand were movie stars Rory Calhoun, Connie Hines, Alan Hale Jr. and John Gentry. The Hollywood personalities were in Darlington for the filming of a movie based on the Southern 500.

— Staff writer Dwight Dana can be reached at (843) 317-2759. Comment on this story at www.scnow.com.