Today In NASCAR History

 

1949: Bob Flock surges to victory in the Wilkes 200 at North Wilkesboro Speedway as Red Byron wraps up the first championship in NASCAR’s Strictly Stock (now Sprint Cup) series. Byron limped to a 16th-place finish, but still clinched the title by 117.5 points over race runner-up Lee Petty. Flock, the only other driver than Byron to win two races in NASCAR’s inaugural season for its top division, inherited the lead for the final 20 laps after Bill Blair’s engine soured after pacing the first 180 laps.

 

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.