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The 1957 NASCAR premier series season saw a very popular former-bus-driver- turned-racer from Charlotte, North Carolina, successfully defend his title as Buck Baker – driving his own car – battled the factory teams for the championship.
The 1957 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season consisted of 53 races on tracks both dirt and paved. Thirty-eight races were held on dirt, 10 on paved surfaces and five on road courses. Eight were contested on short tracks with two being run on the superspeedways in Darlington, South Carolina, and Raleigh, North Carolina.
Chevrolets won 21 of 53 events and enjoyed a title run as Baker took top honors with 10 victories. Ford’s drivers won 16 races, while Oldsmobile drivers logged four wins to Pontiac’s two triumphs.
Baker began his championship quest with an early season victory on the short track in Hillsboro, North Carolina, in his black-and-white No. 87 Chevrolet he built himself. Baker finished among the top 10 in 38 of the 40 races he entered with 35 of those coming in consecutive races.
Rising star Marvin Panch won the first race of the season at the Willow Springs road course in Lancaster, California, driving Pete DePaolo’s No. 98 Ford. He followed it by winning again at Concord (N.C.) Speedway, establishing himself as a season-long frontrunner and title hopeful.
Panch also fielded his own car for a portion of the schedule and over the next 11 months he and Baker combined for 16 victories, 52 top-five finishes and 65 top-10 results. When the 1957 season ended in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Oct. 27, Baker had successfully defended his 1956 NASCAR title by 760 points.
PRESIDENT: DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
NO. 1 SONG: “ALL SHOOK UP,” BY ELVIS PRESLEY
TOP NEWS:
MAY 6: JFK AWARDED PULITZER PRIZE
JUNE 27: HURRICANE AUDREY LANDS
NOV. 22: CONSTRUCTION OF DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ANNOUNCED
GLENN “FIREBALL” ROBERTS collected eight victories in 42 starts. The native of Apopka, Florida, showed strength in Pete DePaolo’s No. 22 factory-supported Ford as well the Ford Roberts fielded himself in 22 races. His year was that of feast or famine as his cars failed to finish 10 times. His average start was 5.8 and average finish was 9.2, slightly less than Baker’s statistics.
ALFRED “SPEEDY” THOMPSON, driving his own Chevrolet, passed veteran Curtis Turner on the 216th of 364 laps to collect the most prestigious victory of his career in the Southern 500 at South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway. Thompson led 210 laps and averaged 100.094 mph in the hot, attrition-filled event. Sadly, driver Bobby Myers lost his life in a multi-car crash on the 27th lap of the race.
BUCK BAKER, DRIVER
and owner of the No. 87 Chevrolet Bel Air, logged 10 victories, 30-top-five finishes, 38 top-10 results and six pole positions. Marvin Panch, driver of the No. 98 DePaolo Ford, scored six wins, 22 top-five results, 27 top-10 finishes and four pole positions.
DATE | CIRCUIT | WINNER
Nov. 11 | Willow Springs Int’l Raceway | Marvin Panch
Dec. 2 | Concord Speedway | Marvin Panch
Dec. 30 | Titusville-Cocoa Speedway | Fireball Roberts
Feb. 17 | Daytona Beach & Road Course | Cotton Owens
March 3 | Concord Speedway | Jack Smith
March 17 | Wilson Speedway | Ralph Moody
March 24 | Orange Speedway | Buck Baker
March 31 | Asheville-Weaverville Speedway | Buck Baker
April 7 | North Wilkesboro Speedway | Fireball Roberts
April 14 | Langhorne Speedway | Fireball Roberts
April 19 | Southern States Fairgrounds | Fireball Roberts
April 27 | Hub City Speedway | Marvin Panch
April 28 | Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds | Paul Goldsmith
April 28 | Portland Speedway | Art Watts
May 4 | Cleveland County Fairgrounds | Fireball Roberts
May 5 | Atlantic Rural Exposition Fairgrounds | Paul Goldsmith
May 19 | Martinsville Speedway | Buck Baker
May 26 | Portland Speedway | Eddie Pagan
May 30 | Eureka Speedway | Lloyd Dane
May 30 | Lincoln Speedway | Buck Baker
June 1 | Lancaster Speedway | Paul Goldsmith
June 8 | Los Angeles Fairgrounds | Eddie Pagan
June 15 | Newport Speedway | Fireball Roberts
June 20 | Columbia Speedway | Jack Smith
June 22 | Capitol Speedway | Bill Amick
June 29 | Hub City Speedway | Lee Petty
June 30 | Speedway Park | Buck Baker
July 4 | Raleigh Speedway | Paul Goldsmith
July 12 | Southern States Fairgrounds | Marvin Panch
July 14 | Memphis-Arkansas Speedway | Marvin Panch
July 14 | Portland Speedway | Eddie Pagan
July 20 | Hickory Speedway | Jack Smith
July 24 | Norfolk Speedway | Buck Baker
July 30 | Lancaster Speedway | Speedy Thompson
Aug. 4 | Watkins Glen International | Buck Baker
Aug. 4 | Kitsap County Airport | Parnelli Jones
Aug. 10 | Lincoln Speedway | Marvin Panch
Aug. 16 | Old Bridget Stadium | Lee Petty
Aug. 26 | Coastal Speedway | Gwyn Staley
Sept. 2 | Darlington Raceway | Speedy Thompson
Sept. 5 | New York State Fairgrounds | Gwyn Staley
Sept. 8 | Asheville-Weaverville Speedway | Lee Petty
Sept. 8 | California State Fairgrounds | Danny Graves
Sept. 15 | Santa Clara Fairgrounds | Marvin Porter
Sept. 15 | Langhorne Speedway | Gwyn Staley
Sept. 19 | Columbia Speedway | Buck Baker
Sept. 21 | Cleveland County Fairgrounds | Buck Baker
Oct. 5 | Southern States Fairgrounds | Lee Petty
Oct. 6 | Martinsville Speedway | Bob Welborn
Oct. 12 | Newberry Speedway | Fireball Roberts
Oct. 13 | Concord Speedway | Fireball Roberts
Oct. 20 | North Wilkesboro Speedway | Jack Smith
Oct. 27 | Central Carolina Fairgrounds | Buck Baker
