| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 32 of 44 in the 1959 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
| Date | August 16, 1959 | ||
| Official name | Western North Carolina 500 | ||
| Location | Asheville-Weaverville Speedway, Weaverville, North Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.500 mi (0.804 km) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 250 mi (310 km) | ||
| Weather | Very hot with temperatures of 87.1 °F (30.6 °C); wind speeds of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 71.633 miles per hour (115.282 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Rex White | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bob Welborn | Bob Welborn | |
| Laps | 1 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 49 | Bob Welborn | Bob Welborn | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1959 Western North Carolina 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on August 16, 1959, at Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in Weaverville, North Carolina. This event took place after the 1959 Nashville 300; which was set at Nashville Speedway (now Fairgrounds Speedway) in Nashville, Tennessee.
From 1949 to 1972, Richard and Lee Petty were the most dominant drivers on any circuit in NASCAR. David Pearson was easily the third most dominant NASCAR driver. Buck Baker and Rex White were considered to be the middle-of-the road competitors in NASCAR from 1949 to 1972. Fonty and Tim Flock along with Herb Thomas, Joe Weatherly, Ned Jarrett, and Bobby Isaac were considered to be below-average performers during the early years of NASCAR.
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 any more.