| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 31 of 37 in the 1954 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
 1954 Southern 500 program cover | |||
| Date | September 6, 1954 | ||
| Official name | Southern 500 | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.375 mi (2.221 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 500 mi (800 km) | ||
| Weather | Extremely hot with temperatures of 100 °F (38 °C); wind speeds of 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 95.206 miles per hour (153.219 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Bob Griffin | ||
| Time | 18.289 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Curtis Turner | Elmer Brooks | |
| Laps | 266 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 92 | Herb Thomas | Herb Thomas | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | WJMX (local AM radio) | ||
| Announcers | Local radio announcers | ||
The 1954 Southern 500, the fifth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 6, 1954, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.
The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.
- ^ Weather information for the 1954 Southern 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac