NASCAR’s current top division, the Cup Series, makes its debut in Iowa this weekend.
However, this is not the first time the top stock car team has toured the state. That distinction has belonged to Davenport Speedway for many years.
In early August 1953, the NASCAR Grand National circuit wrapped up a three-race tour of Rapid City, South Dakota; North Platte, Nebraska; and finally Davenport. The final night of the tour was headlined by a 200-lap feature on the quarter-mile oval dirt track.
The cost of attendance that day was $3 (the equivalent of $35.29 today, adjusted for inflation) for a box, $2 for general admission and 75 cents for children, according to an advertisement in the Quad City Times . Sunday night’s Cup Series race at Newton has long since sold out. Tickets can be had on the secondary market, starting at around $180.
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The 1953 race brought together all of the best stock car drivers of the era, notably Lee Petty, father of the sport’s most successful driver, Richard Petty. Lee Petty won 54 races in his career and founded Petty Enterprises from the ground up. Richard Petty’s 200 Cup Series wins belong in the category of unbreakable records along with Cal Ripken playing 2,362 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles, Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak and Wayne Gretzky’s 1,963 assists in the NHL.
Among current Cup drivers, Kyle Busch, who is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning, leads the way with 63 wins.
But it wasn’t Lee Petty who took the checkered flag at Davenport 71 years ago.
The race, which included local drivers Red Untiedt of Davenport and Jerry Draper of Silvis, was ultimately won by Herb Thomas, who said after the race that his car ran out of gas after the checkered flag waved.
Thomas was one of NASCAR’s first greats. His 21% win rate (48 wins in 228 starts) ranks No. 1 all-time. After working as a tobacco farmer and truck driver, the World War II veteran finally discovered where he truly belonged: behind the wheel and on the track. He piloted his No. 91 Hudson to an average winning speed of 62.5 miles per hour for the victory at Davenport.
Thomas died at the age of 77 from a heart attack in August 2000. His legend lives on in Hollywood. The character of Doc Hudson, in the animated film “Cars”, was loosely based on Thomas.
Before the 1953 race, fans were invited to the temporary garage area set up beneath the grandstand to meet and greet the drivers. That’s something NASCAR has always understood and is usually excellent at: public relations.
Fan-related events began Thursday night in Newton and began again at noon Friday. If people wanted, they could sit on the track from noon to 9 p.m. on Friday; 8 a.m. until the post-race concert ends on Saturday; and from 11 a.m. until the final fireworks are lit after the race on Sunday night.
The 1953 race and Sunday’s will have another thing in common: the heat.
Track workers had to endure 91- and 99-degree working conditions during the two days preparing what was then called the Davenport Fairgrounds for the race. Fortunately, a storm hit the night before the race, cooling things down a bit for the early afternoon. The forecast for Sunday in Newton doesn’t look as forgiving with temperatures expected to be in the mid-90s.
Those are among the many nuggets that Davenport racing expert and historian Mike McGuire unearthed on that famous NASCAR race night in the Quad-Cities. If you want to learn more, I recommend you visit Mike’s Facebook page. Whether you like racing or not, it is worth your time.
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