1950 Season Recap

The 1950 NASCAR Grand National (now known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series) championship race is known for both its drama and its controversy. Bill Rexford, who is still the youngest driver to ever to win the NASCAR Winston Cup championship at the age of 23, outlasted stars Fireball Roberts and Lee Petty to capture the 1950 title. Petty and defending champion Red Byron were both stripped of valuable championship points for racing in non-NASCAR sanctioned events during the year. Had the drivers retained their points that were taken away, the point standings would have looked dramatically different, with Petty taking home the title.

Bill Rexford and Fireball Roberts traded the points lead back and forth coming down the championship stretch in what was one of the more exciting points battles in history.

FIVE RACES TO GO: North Wilkesboro, NC - Glenn "Fireball" Roberts was 46 points ahead of Bill Rexford in the point standings after the previous week's race in Langhorne, PA. With five races to go in the 1950 season, Roberts looked poised to increase his lead dramatically at North Wilkesboro since he was starting on the pole and Rexford and other contenders Lee Petty and Lloyd Moore were not entered in the race. However, Roberts had engine trouble and came home 16th, only picking up 2.5 points on Rexford. Curtis Turner, who was also in the mix for the championship, did not take advantage of Roberts' misfortune with his 22nd place finish. Roberts left North Wilkesboro Speedway with a 48.5 point lead over Rexford in the standings.

FOUR RACES TO GO: Vernon, NY - Oddly enough, points leader Fireball Roberts was not entered in the race at Vernon Fairgrounds, and like Roberts, fifth place Curtis Turner was absent from the event as well. Bill Rexford took advantage of his competitors' absence and used a sixth place finish to take hold of the points lead by 31.5 points. Lee Petty followed Rexford in seventh place. Lloyd Moore, who was still in reach of making the chase for the championship even more interesting, finished third.

THREE RACES TO GO: Martinsville, VA - Adding to the drama of the 1950 championship race, Curtis Turner was caught in a tailspin in the points standings. After leading the circuit for 5 consecutive weeks and as recently as the Southern 500 in Darlington (four races ago), Turner hit a streak of bad luck which continued at Martinsville Speedway. Turner had engine trouble and finished 17th, while rival Lee Petty was the runner-up. With Rexford not entered in the Martinsville race, Fireball Roberts again snatched the points lead from Rexford with a sixth place finish. His lead, however, only lasted a few hours.

TWO RACES TO GO: Winchester, IN - The NASCAR Grand National race at Funks Speedway in Indiana took place on the same day as the race in Martinsville. With most of the field participating in the Virginia race, Bill Rexford and Lloyd Moore sought to make their presence know in the points race. Moore did just that, winning the race in Indiana. Rexford finished third in the field of 13 starters and took the points lead back from Roberts. The points lead had swapped hands twice - in the same day, nonetheless - and Rexford went into the season finale with a 110.5 point lead over Roberts.

FINAL RACE: Hillsboro, NC - Bill Rexford left the door wide open for Fireball Roberts at Hillsboro, a mile-long dirt track. Rexford succumbed to engine problems early in the race, meaning Roberts could turn in a fifth place finish and still win the championship. However, instead of driving a conservative race, Roberts charged hard all afternoon and was leading for most of the second half of the race when his engine gave out on lap 126. The event was called at lap 175 of 200 for darkness and Rexford was in 26th place in the field of 29. Fireball Roberts' championship slid through his fingers with his 21st place finish. Rexford was declared the 1950 champion by the same margin as he entered the race. Lee Petty won the race at Occoneechee Speedway and finished third in the final point standings, although he was docked 809 points earlier in the year. Lloyd Moore finished the race in 17th place and was fourth in the final point standings, due to Curtis Turner's streak of misfortune, which hit a low point in the season's final event. He finished last in the field of 41 and was relegated to a fifth place finish in the final point standings.