1950 Southern 500

1950 Southern Five-Hundred

Race details[1]
Race 13 of 19 in the 1950 NASCAR Grand National Series season
Program promoting the 1950 Southern 500.
Date	September 4, 1950 (1950-September-04)
Official name	Southern Five-Hundred
Location	Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.25 mi (2.012 km)
Distance	400 laps, 500 mi (800 km)
Weather	Very hot with temperatures of 90 °F (32 °C); wind speeds of 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)
Average speed	82.766 mph (133.199 km/h)
Attendance	25,000
Pole position
Driver	Curtis Turner	John Eanes
Time	43.884 seconds[2]
Most laps led
Driver	Johnny Mantz	Hubert Westmoreland
Laps	351
Winner
No. 98	Johnny Mantz	Hubert Westmoreland

The inaugural Southern Five-Hundred (Southern 500 since 1951) was an automobile race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina on September 4, 1950, as part of the 1950 NASCAR Grand National. While the 1950 race was co-sanctioned by NASCAR and its rival Central States Racing Association, all subsequent Southern 500 races were hosted exclusively by NASCAR. ^[3]

It is NASCAR's first 500-mile race, and still holds status as one of NASCAR's premier events. Since there had never been a 500-mile stock car race and Darlington was NASCAR's first superspeedway, drivers and teams came to the event with unique strategies. Darlington set the precedent for race strategies to come at tracks like the Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.