The 1949 Wilkes 200 was a NASCAR Strictly Stock Series racing event that took place on October 16, 1949 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Ten thousand people would attend this live racing event where Kenneth Wagner qualified for the race with a pole position speed of – the equivalent of 31.27 seconds. The entire race took place on a dirt track spanning per lap. Weather conditions for the race were recorded at nearby Hickory Regional Airport; a public airport located three miles (5 km) west of the central business district of nearby Hickory, North Carolina.
Summary This would be the final race of the 1949 NASCAR season and would take place at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
Bob Flock would defeat Lee Petty by an entire football field – – to win NASCAR's first racing event with an established name. Flock would earn a mere $1,500 in prize winnings ($ when inflation is taken into effect). Frank Mundy would receive a last-place finish for only finishing 38 laps out of the mandated 200 laps. Bill Blair would lead the most laps in this race with 180 laps led out of 200.
Red Byron would go on to win NASCAR's first ever championship while Sara Christian would become one of its first female drivers. Byron almost became a cripple after being shot by an enemy fighter plane while serving as a tail gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber during World War II. He spent two years in military hospitals rehabilitating his leg so that he could compete in NASCAR after the war ended.
Notable crew chiefs who actively participated in the race were Buddy Elliott, Julian Petty, Buddy Helms, Red Vogt, and Cliff Rainwater.
While Red Byron and Lee Petty were the better drivers of the 1949 NASCAR Cup Series season, Bill Blair was the most consistent driver along with Petty.
Timeline Section reference: Start of race: Bill Blair starts off the race in the pole position Lap 38: Frank Mundy withdrew from the race for reasons unknown Lap 155: Red Byron withdrew from the race for reasons unknown, he was assumed not have been paid for participating in this event Lap 181: Bob Flock takes over the lead from Bill Blair Lap 188: Sara Christian ended the racing event 12 laps behind Herb Thomas Lap 191: Bill Blair had a terminal problem with his engine, forcing him out of the race Lap 196: Roy Hall may or may not have finished the race six laps behind Thomas, records of this race were not kept in the NASCAR archives Finish: Bob Flock was officially declared the winner of the event
Results POS ST # DRIVER SPONSOR / OWNER CAR LAPS MONEY STATUS LED 1 7 Bob Flock Bob Flock Garage (Frank Christian) '49 Oldsmobile 200 1500 running20 2 42 Lee Petty Petty Enterprises '49 Plymouth 200 750 running 0 3 47 Fonty Flock Green Leaf Cafe (Ed Lawrence) '47 Buick 199 400 running0 4 19 Clyde Minter Clyde Minter '47 Ford 199 300 running0 5 92 Herb Thomas Herb Thomas '49 Ford 197 175 running0 6 14 Roy Hall Parks Novelty (Raymond Parks) '49 Oldsmobile 196 150 0 7 5 Ray Erickson Ed Hastings '49 Mercury 194 100 0 8 9 Raymond Lewis Robert Dixon '49 Cadillac 194 75 0 9 41 Curtis Turner Frank Christian '49 Oldsmobile 193 50 0 10 2 44 Bill Blair Sam Rice '49 Cadillac 191 50 engine180 11 11 Bob Apperson Bob Apperson '47 Ford 191 50 0 12 71 Sara Christian Frank Christian '49 Oldsmobile 188 50 0 13 28 Slick Smith Buddy Helms '47 Hudson 174 50 0 14 20 H.F. Stikeleather '48 Lincoln 167 50 0 15 1 15 Kenneth Wagner Moyer Co. (Dailey Moyer) '49 Lincoln 165 50 0 16 22 Red Byron Parks Novelty (Raymond Parks) Oldsmobile 155 0 17 21 Bobby Green Bobby Greene '48 Ford 148 0 18 1 Bill Greever '48 Mercury 134 0 19 90 Tim Flock Buddy Elliott '49 Oldsmobile 117 0 20 8 Dick Linder LaBelle Motors '49 Kaiser 59 0 21 4 Otis Martin Raymond Lewis '47 Buick 50 0 22 2 Frank Mundy '49 Ford 38 0
Race summary Lead changes: 2 Cautions: N/A Red flags: N/A Time of race: 1 hours, 52 minutes, and 16 seconds Average speed: Margin of Victory: 100 yards
References