1957 Southern 500

1957 Southern 500

Race details[1][2]
Race 40 of 53 in the 1957 NASCAR Grand National Series season
1957 Southern 500 program cover
Date	September 2, 1957 (1957-September-02)
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 93.3 °F (34.1 °C); wind speeds of 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)
Average speed	100.094 miles per hour (161.086 km/h)
Attendance	75,000
Pole position
Driver	Cotton Owens	Nichels Engineering
Time	16.863 seconds
Most laps led
Driver	Speedy Thompson	Speedy Thompson
Laps	210
Winner
No. 46	Speedy Thompson	Speedy Thompson
Television in the United States
Network	WJMX (local AM radio)
Announcers	Local radio announcers

The 1957 Southern 500, the eighth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 2, 1957, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.

Herb Thomas, already a three-time Southern 500 winner, arrived in Darlington in a visibly shaken state. Thomas finally gave up his ride to Fonty Flock stating that he was just too nervous to drive the race. The race was then marred by a violent crash involving him, Bobby Myers and Paul Goldsmith, causing severe injuries to all drivers involved, ending Flock's career and resulting in the death of Myers.