The First Southern 500
by Tom Jensen March 13, 2023
Darlington Raceway was the first superspeedway on the NASCAR schedule and the Southern 500 quickly became the sport’s biggest race.
The 1950 season was a pivotal time for NASCAR.
Having survived its first two seasons, the sanctioning body had big plans for 1950, including changing the name of NASCAR’s Strictly Stock Division to the Grand National Division (now Cup Series) and expanding the schedule from eight to 19 races.
During 1949 and the first 12 races of the 1950 season, the only track on the schedule longer than one mile was the Daytona Beach-Road Course. Most of the other tracks where NASCAR raced were dirt, typically 0.5 miles in length.
Until September 4, 1950, that is.
Johnny Mantz (No. 90) started last in the 1950 Southern 500 and wound up winning the race by nine laps. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
That’s when the Grand National Division competed for the first time at Darlington Raceway, a paved, high-banked 1.25-mile superspeedway developed by South Carolina peanut farmer Harold Brasington, the winner of the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s 2016 Landmark Award for outstanding contributions to NASCAR.
After attending the Indianapolis 500 in the 1930s, Brasington was inspired to build a paved superspeedway in his native Palmetto State. But numerous obstacles, most notably the outbreak of World War II, delayed the project. Construction did not begin until the late 1940s.
The infield and the grandstands were both jam-packed at the first Southern 500. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
The delays, while frustrating, proved to be more than worth the wait, as everything about that first Southern 500 in 1950 was huge.
The 75-car field was the biggest in series history.
The 500-mile length was the longest in series history.
The crowd of 25,000 fans was the largest in series history.
Car owner Raymond Parks was a tire changer for fellow Hall of Famer Red Byron and his Cadillac in the first Southern 500. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images
And the $25,320 purse was more than four times the next biggest purse of any NASCAR race that year. In fact, the first NASCAR race at a track other than Darlington to feature a purse larger than $25,000 was the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959.
Until Daytona International Speedway opened in February 1959, the Southern 500 was the biggest and most prestigious race on the NASCAR circuit by a fair measure. The Southern 500 was – and still is – a race every NASCAR driver circles on their calendar as one they very much want to win.
Southern California racer Johnny “Madman” Mantz earned a record $10,510 for winning the inaugural Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 1950. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
If you come to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and go up to the top floor to our Heritage Speedway exhibit, you’ll find a program from the first Southern 500 in 1950. In other exhibits in the Hall, you’ll also find re-creations of two 1950 Oldsmobile 88 Coupes that competed in the 1950 Southern 500 with Hall of Famers at the wheel: Hershel McGriff (Class of 2023) and Buck Baker (2013).
The program for the first Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway held on Labor Day, Monday, September 4, 1950 is on display in Heritage Speedway. Photo by NASCAR Hall of Fame/Siera Erazo
Six of the top 11 finishers in the first Southern 500 would go on to have Hall of Fame careers:
Fireball Roberts (Class of 2014) finished second to race-winner Johnny Mantz and one position ahead of third-place Red Byon (2018). Lee Petty (2011) finished sixth, in front of Cotton Owens (2014). Hershel McGriff, making his first NACAR start, came home ninth, while Tim Flock (2014) was 11th. Two other Hall of Famers, pole-sitter Curtis Turner (2016) and Buck Baker (2013), were eliminated in early crashes.
NASCAR official Bill Tuthill (from left) interviewed track owner Harold Brasington and race-winner Johnny Mantz after Mantz won the inaugural Southern 500. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images
The winner of the first Southern 500 was Johnny “Madman” Mantz, a California driver who piloted a Plymouth co-owned by moonshiner Hubert Westmoreland and NASCAR founder and Hall of Famer William. H.G. France (2010).
While many competitors opted for new-car models with powerful V-8 engines, Mantz used a thrifty six-cylinder Plymouth to secure his lone career win in 12 starts. His Plymouth also had a secret weapon – hard-compound truck tires that were far more durable on the abrasive track surface than the passenger-car tires most other racers used.
The Plymouth that Johnny Mantz drove to victory in the first Southern 500 in 1950 was sent on a promotional tour to several Southeastern tracks, including Occoneechee Speedway in North Carolina. Photo courtesy of NASCAR Archives & Research Center via Getty Images
The first Southern 500 took a grueling 6 hours 38 minutes and 40 seconds to complete, with Mantz taking the checkered flap a whopping 9 laps ahead of Fireball Roberts.
And here’s what may be the strangest fact of all: Mantz was the slowest qualifier in the 75-car field. His average speed of 75.250 mph in the 500-mile race was faster than his qualifying speed of 73.460 mph.
Little did anyone know that day just how big a part of NASCAR history that Darlington Raceway and the Southern 500 would become.
Plan a visit to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and purchase tickets at nascarhall.com/tickets.
