NASCAR Convertible Division
Category | Stock car racing |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Folded | 1962 |
The NASCAR Convertible Division was a division of convertible cars early in NASCAR's history, from 1956 until 1959, although the signature race for convertibles remained a Convertible Division race until 1962. Two remnants of the Convertible Division are still used in the NASCAR Cup Series today: the Bluegreen Vacations Duel (one Daytona 500 qualifying race was reserved for convertibles) and the Goodyear 400 (started as a convertible race until the end of the division).
History
NASCAR purchased SAFE (Society of Auto Sports, Fellowship, and Education)'s all-convertible Circuit of Champions “All Stars” circuit late in 1955.[1] Most drivers did not make the transition to NASCAR's sanction. NASCAR ran the division from 1956 until 1959.[2] Some Convertibles raced against the Grand National hardtop cars in the same race.[3] The 1959 Daytona 500 had one qualifying race for Convertibles and one for the hardtop Grand National cars. 20 of the 59 cars in the Daytona 500 were convertibles.[4] The split qualifying races of the 1959 race led to the development of the Budweiser Duel qualifying races still used in the Daytona 500.
Rebel 300 at Darlington
The current
The Rebel 300 was run as a Grand National race with hardtops for the first time in 1963 as two 150-mile races before adopting a full 300-mile race in 1964, and expanded to 400 miles in 1966, before going to 500 miles in 1974, reverting to 400 miles in 1994. From 2005-13, the lineal Rebel stayed on the schedule but was moved to May as a 500-mile race, and in April 2014. The race ran in September from 2015 to 2020, before a lineage swap of with the newly reinstated Southern 500 weekend in May meant the race returned to its traditional Confederate Memorial Day weekend event in 2021, returning to 400 miles.
List of champions
- 1956 Bob Welborn 1956 Chevrolet[6]
- 1957 Bob Welborn 1957 Chevrolet[7]
- 1958 Bob Welborn 1957 Chevrolet[8]
- 1959 Joe Lee Johnson 1957 Chevrolet[9][10]
References
- ^ Bob Pronger - Biography; Stan Kalwasinski; Chicagoland Auto Racing, Retrieved February 20, 2008
- ISBN 0-89024-285-2.
- ^ Pepsi 400: Nothing like racing at night; NASCAR.com; Dave Rodman; July 3, 2002; Retrieved February 21, 2008
- ^ Daytona 500 Anniversary - The 50th Run Archived 2009-09-15 at the Wayback Machine; Stock Car Racing magazine; Benny Phillips; July 3, 2002; Retrieved February 21, 2008
- ^ Nelson Stacy; legendsofnascar.com; Retrieved February 20, 2008
- ^ 1956 1956 NASCAR Convertible Series Results, Retrieved August 23, 2019
- ^ "NASCAR Convertible Series standings for 1957". NASCAR Digital Media Network. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
- ^ "NASCAR Convertible Series standings for 1958". NASCAR Digital Media Network. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
- ^ 1959 NASCAR Convertible Series Results, Retrieved August 23, 2019
- ^ "NASCAR Convertible Series standings for 1959". NASCAR Digital Media Network. Retrieved 24 August 2019.