JACKSONVILLE SPEEDWAY - JACKSONVILLE NC
Jacksonville Speedway was a dirt track located in Piney Green, North Carolina just southeast of Jacksonville, North Carolina. The speedway was a 1/2 mile dirt track that hosted two NASCAR Cup Series races and one Convertible race. The first race was in June 1957 was the Cup cars ran. 19 cars started the race, and 1/2 had fell out by the time the race ended. Billy Myers broke an A-frame, Speedy Thompson fell out with overheating, Darel Dieringer broke a transmission. And this was just a few of the issues drivers had. Buck Baker would have none of those problems as he motored away from the field to win by three laps. Jim Paschal was second and Tiny Lund third. The Convertibles raced in November. Again 19 cars started, and again they had high attrition. Ten cars fell out
of the event. Joe Weatherly won a hard fought battle with Glen Wood by just eight car lengths. NASCAR didn't return until 1964 when the Cup cars returned for the final time. As in the past attrition was an issue. 25 cars started the race; and only 12 finished. Both Buck and Buddy Baker fell out with laps of each other with a broken rear housing. Elmo Langley encountered the same problem. Bobby Isaac broke a tortion bar, Bud Moore had a hole knocked in his fuel tank, and David Pearson broke a rear end. Ned Jarrett would lead the final 97 laps as he beat Richard Petty by more than a lap. G.C. Spencer finished third, while Doug Cooper and Larry Thomas rounded out the top five.
All Photos copyright and are property of their respective owners