13 replies to this topic

[YankeeRacer]

Does anyone have any information on the old NASCAR Convertible division (ie: champions, when/why it was disbanded, etc.?

Thanks in advance

For champions I've found the following:
1955 Bob Welborn
1956 Bob Welborn
1957 Bob Welborn
1958 ???
1959 Joe Lee Johnson

[ensign14]

Everything you need is in the book "Rumblin' Ragtops" by Greg Fielden. I was going to point you to some retailers but noticed that the price is now something north of £100...

The 1955 champion was not Welborn but Don Oldenberg, who was retrospectively named thus. He won the SAFE (Society of Auto Sports, Fellowship, and Education) convertible championship and when SAFE merged with NASCAR in late '55 NASCAR took over the title, confirmed that it considered Oldenberg champ and started running the series. But Welborn won in '58.

The influx of NASCAR drivers was to the detriment of the SAFE series drivers; only Oldenberg and Larry Odo ever won races in the NASCAR convertible division, and even then just one each.

The Convertible division was dropped owing to a lack of interest. The hard tops were getting more and more prominent; the first Daytona 500 had hard and rag tops in it, running in separate races, but one concern was that the same cars were being entered in both, just zip the top up & Bob's your uncle.

There was an odd controversy in 1959 when Larry Frank was announced as Champ due to a mathematical error...there were also "mixed" races where convertibles ran to their own points against roofed cars.

It seems NASCAR may have been more interested in taking over a competitor in SAFE than running the ragtops but they gave it a go for a few years. But the folly of points systems is indicated by the fact that in a couple of years Curtis Turner won ten times as many races as Welborn but still did not get the title.

[Disco Stu]

I've got a copy of Rumblin' Ragtops if there's anything specific you need.

[YankeeRacer]

That's great . I would like to get a list of the champions first. Then if its possible a list of the races and winners. This series, like many divisions Ive read about on this board have been overlooked for too long. We need to preserve racing history.

[ensign14]

If you're Stateside, you might want to contact Greg Fielden who compiled all the available data. His "Rumblin' Ragtops" even includes at the back full details of the NASCAR Speedway division...

His publishing company address is:

The Galfield Press
P. O. Box 15009
Surfside Beach
S. C. 29587

[YankeeRacer]

That's a good idea. Thanks for the info. I have the champions from 1955-59 and that is as long as it lasted from what I can gather. I already have a couple of his Forty Years of Stock Car racing books. He is one of the premier historians-statisticians. I heard that he recently suffered a stroke, so I would like to send my best (albeit belated) wishes to Greg for a safe and speedy recovery.

[HistoricMustang]

Wait until Jim or Don catch up with this thread!

Henry

[Disco Stu]

No results listed for the 1955 SAFE races, the book mentions the merger but really picks up at 1956.

1956 race winners (Bob Welborn champion) :

1/25/1956 Daytona Beach, FL Curtis Turner
3/18/1956 Charlotte, NC Curtis Turner
3/25/1956 Hillsboro, NC Curtis Turner
4/8/1956 Fayetteville, NC Bob Welborn
4/12/1956 Atlanta, GA Fonty Flock
4/15/1956 Montgomery, AL Marvin Panch
4/22/1956 Hickory, NC Bob Welborn
4/28/1956 Lancaster, SC Larry Odo
4/29/1956 Greensboro, NC Bob Welborn
5/6/1956 Old Bridge, NJ Frank Mundy
5/12/1956 Raleigh, NC Frank Mundy
5/20/1956 Langhorne, PA Danny Letner
5/25/1956 Roanoke, VA Curtis Turner
5/26/1956 Columbia, SC Jimmy Massey
5/30/1956 Kansas City, KS Frank Mundy
6/2/1956 Tulsa, OK Frank Mundy
6/8/1956 Oklahoma City, OK Allen Adkins
6/10/1956 Hutchinson, KS Frank Mundy
6/17/1956 Sedalia, MO Frank Mundy
6/22/1956 Norfolk, VA Curtis Turner
6/24/1956 Wilson, NC Curtis Turner
6/30/1956 Chicago, IL Tom Pistone
7/1/1956 Flat Rock, MI Curtis Turner
7/4/1956 Syracuse, NY Curtis Turner
7/6/1956 Toronto, ON Don Oldenberg
7/7/1956 Buffalo, NY Joe Weatherly
7/14/1956 Belmar, NJ Curtis Turner
7/21/1956 Abbottstown, PA Curtis Turner
7/28/1956 Ft.Wayne, IN Curtis Turner
8/3/1956 Winston-Salem, NC Curtis Turner
8/4/1956 Columbia, SC Curtis Turner
8/5/1956 Hickory, NC Gwyn Staley
8/10/1956 Charlotte, NC Jimmy Massey
8/12/1956 Flat Rock, MI Allen Adkins
8/17/1956 Rochester, NY Joe Weatherly
8/19/1956 Heidelberg, PA Joe Weatherly
8/25/1956 Raleigh, NC Curtis Turner
8/31/1956 Greenville, SC Curtis Turner
9/2/1956 Atlanta, GA Joe Weatherly
9/5/1956 Asheville, NC Curtis Turner
9/9/1956 Chicago, IL Curtis Turner
9/16/1956 LeHi, AR Curtis Turner
9/18/1956 Shelby, NC Curtis Turner
9/23/1956 Martinsville, VA Jimmy Massey
9/29/1956 Spartanburg, SC Curtis Turner
9/30/1956 Weaverville, NC Curtis Turner
10/14/1956 Hillsboro, NC Curtis Turner

More to come later

[Disco Stu]

1957 race winners (Bob Welborn champion) :

11/11/1956 Jacksonville, NC Joe Weatherly
1/16/1957 Daytona Beach, FL Tim Flock
3/10/1957 Fayetteville, NC Glen Wood
3/17/1957 Greensboro, NC Curtis Turner
3/24/1957 Manassas, VA Joe Weatherly
3/31/1957 Hillsboro, NC Joe Weatherly
4/7/1957 Richmond, VA Glen Wood
4/13/1957 Greenville, SC Curtis Turner
4/14/1957 Wilson, NC Joe Weatherly
4/20/1957 Hickory, NC Curtis Turner
4/22/1957 Winston-Salem, NC Curtis Turner
4/28/1957 Norfolk, VA Curtis Turner
5/5/1957 Langhorne, PA Curtis Turner
5/12/1957 Darlington, SC Fireball Roberts
5/17/1957 Charlotte, NC Curtis Turner
5/18/1957 Asheville, NC Curtis Turner
5/25/1957 Spartanburg, SC Curtis Turner
5/30/1957 Syracuse, NY Possum Jones
5/31/1957 Old Bridge, NJ Bob Welborn
6/2/1957 Weaverville, NC Bob Welborn
6/7/1957 Atlanta, GA Bob Welborn
6/14/1957 Rochester, NY Bob Welborn
6/22/1957 Winston-Salem, NC Bob Welborn
6/23/1957 Concord, NC Curtis Turner
6/26/1957 Philadelphia, PA Bob Welborn
6/29/1957 Chicago, IL Glen Wood
7/19/1957 Columbia, SC Curtis Turner
8/2/1957 Raleigh, NC Bill Amick
8/6/1957 Virginia Beach, VA Bill Amick
8/11/1957 Martinsville, VA Bill Amick
8/17/1957 Fayetteville, NC Possum Jones
8/23/1957 Charlotte, NC Glen Wood
9/22/1957 North Wilkesboro, NC Paul Goldsmith
10/13/1957 Virginia Beach, VA Gwyn Staley
10/30/1957 Wilson, NC Billy Myers
10/31/1957 Columbia, SC Joe Weatherly

The Jacksonville race was held during 1956 but counted toward the 1957 season standings.

[Disco Stu]

1958 race winners (Bob Welborn champion) :

1/22/1958 Daytona Beach, FL Curtis Turner
3/16/1958 N. Wilkesboro, NC Billy Myers
3/23/1958 Richmond, VA Joe Weatherly
4/7/1958 Winston-Salem, NC Bob Welborn
4/13/1958 Weaverville, NC Bob Welborn
4/26/1958 Hickory, NC Bob Welborn
5/2/1958 Columbia, SC Billy Carden
5/4/1958 Wilson, NC Curtis Turner
5/10/1958 Darlington, SC Curtis Turner
5/16/1958 Charlotte, NC Lee Petty
5/18/1958 Atlanta, GA Fireball Roberts
6/8/1958 Martinsville, VA Fireball Roberts
6/22/1958 Birmingham, AL Curtis Turner
7/12/1958 Columbia, SC Bob Welborn
7/19/1958 Greenville, SC Bob Welborn
7/27/1958 Myrtle Beach, SC Bob Welborn
8/8/1958 Charlotte, NC Ken Rush
9/7/1958 Wilson, NC Bob Welborn
9/14/1958 Salisbury, NC Bob Welborn

[Disco Stu]

1959 race winners (Joe Lee Johnson champion) :

1/20/1959 Daytona Beach, FL Shorty Rollins
3/8/1959 Fayetteville, NC Joe Lee Johnson
3/15/1959 Richmond, VA Joe Lee Johnson
3/22/1959 Hickory, NC Curtis Turner
4/5/1959 Marlboro, MD Rex White
4/24/1959 Charlotte, NC Joe Weatherly
4/26/1959 Hillsboro, NC Joe Weatherly
5/9/1959 Darlington, SC Fireball Roberts
5/16/1959 Columbia, SC Bob Welborn
5/17/1959 Weaverville, NC Bob Welborn
5/23/1959 Winston-Salem, NC Glen Wood
6/7/1959 Martinsville, VA Tom Pistone
7/18/1959 Columbia, SC Richard Petty
7/31/1959 Greenville, SC Lee Petty
8/23/1959 Charlotte, NC Ned Jarrett

[Disco Stu]

For the 1960 Daytona 500 the original plan was to have the convertibles participate in the first qualifying race and the Grand National cars in the second. However there were so few convertible entries that the plan was scrapped and the convertibles were just mixed in with the Grand National cars. Virtually all of the tracks had abandoned the convertibles for the GN cars, and in March the season was cancelled. There was still one convertible race that year, as Darlington's president decided since he'd been promoting a convertible race for months he wasn't going to change. Joe Weatherly was the winner on 5/14/1960. The convertibles actually lasted for two more years at Darlington, with Fred Lorenzen winning on 5/6/1961 and Nelson Stacy on 5/12/1962 before NASCAR persuaded the track to dump the convertibles and run a standard GN race.

[Graham Clayton]

The Convertible division was dropped owing to a lack of interest. The hard tops were getting more and more prominent; the first Daytona 500 had hard and rag tops in it, running in separate races, but one concern was that the same cars were being entered in both, just zip the top up & Bob's your uncle.

Ensign14,

In the 1959 Daytona 500 the hard-tops started on the inside, with the convertibles on the outside. Was each division then arranged in qualifying speed order?

I have read that convertible drivers felt that the wind draft at Daytona was going to suck them out of the drivers' seat!

[ensign14]

In that 500 they lined up in qualifying race order. So Shorty Rollins, who won the convertible 250 miler, was on the outside pole.