July 20, 1952: South Bend's one NASCAR race

1952

Two hundred laps on the park's dirt: On Sunday, 20 July 1952, NASCAR's Grand National division — the top stock-car series in the country — raced at Playland Park: 200 laps, 100 miles, on the park's half-mile dirt oval, before about 3,700 spectators, for a purse of $3,425. Herb Thomas took the pole. The winner was Tim Flock, in a 1951 Hudson owned by Ted Chester, at an average speed of 41.889 miles per hour. Lee Petty finished second, then Bub King, Herschel Buchanan, and Dick Passwater, with Gene Comstock, Glen Larsen, J. O. Staton, Bucky Sager, and Red Duvall completing the top ten. Motor Sport's race record describes Flock's win as taken "after barging his way past Herb Thomas," in a crash-filled race; Thomas, the polesitter, does not appear in its top ten. It stands as South Bend's only NASCAR Grand National race.

A correction this section owes the record: The race is sometimes retold locally with Herb Thomas as its winner and Lee Petty second. The race's own record — the results as NASCAR's record-keepers and the contemporary databases carry them — gives the pole to Thomas and the win to Flock, with Petty second. The retelling confuses the polesitter with the winner; this section prints the record.

Sources:

1. NASCAR Grand National results record for Playland Park, 20 July 1952 (racing-reference) — 200 laps and 100 miles on the half-mile dirt oval; Thomas the polesitter; Flock the winner in Ted Chester's 1951 Hudson; Petty second; the top ten as printed; the $3,425 purse and the 41.889 mph average speed.
2. Motor Sport Magazine, race database — Flock's win "after barging his way past Herb Thomas"; the race described as crash-filled; Thomas outside the top ten.
3. The Clio, Playland Park entry — the crowd of about 3,700.