MONROE  COUNTY  FAIRGROUNDS   -   ROCHESTER  NY

The track started hosting major races in 1949 when the NASCAR Modifieds rolled in in September.  In 1950, the track 1/2 mile dirt oval saw the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman division (now Xfinity) raced here eleven times, and hosted a Cup race.  In the first Cup event held at the track that same year Curtis Turner would lead all 200 laps to beat the field by over three laps.  Bill Blair and Lee Petty were second and third.  Dick Burns was badly shaken when his Mercury left the track and struck a light pole in the 133rd lap.  The event was the first Grand National race in which a father-son duo competed together.  Roscoe "Pappy" Hough and his son Lee finished 18th and 25th.  The Late Models would

run here yearly through 1961 with ten or more races most years.  The Cup cars ran here yearly 1950-1956 and also in 1958.  The next three years Lee Petty, Tim Flock and Herb Thomas would grab the checkers.  Petty would repeat as a winner in 1954, and Flock in 1955 1956 saw Jim Paschal grab the lead for the first 39 laps.  Speedy Thompson there took the lead before he lost it briefly when Buck Baker took it away.  But, Baker would have to pit for a flat tire and lost a lap.  Thompson retook the lead, and then motored away to win by more than a lap over Jim Paschal and Herb Thomas.  The final Cup race was in 1958. Speedy  

Thompson and Jim Paschal would battle for the win.  But Thompson proved to have the faster car as hepulled away to win by over a lap over Paschal.  Thomas was third.  The track hosted two Convertible series races.  The first in 1956 saw Joe Weatherly finish the 200 laps first as he beat out Denny Letner and Glen Wood.  In a 1957 convertible race, a driving duel between Bob Welborn and Joe Weatherly ended when Weatherly lost a right front wheel.  He pitted for repairs, but more wheel forced him to pit two additional times.  He eventually still managed to finish fourth.  Weatherly took the lead at the start with Curtis Turner close behind.  Turner went out on lap 34 with a leaking rear end. Weatherly looked to have things under control; building his lead to over a lap.  But he had issues and was out on lap 99.  Welborn would go on to claim the win by over a lap; with Glen Woog and Larry Frank making up the top three.

 

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