The 1950 NASCAR Grand National season was the second season of professional stock car racing in the United States. Beginning at the Daytona Beach Road Course on February 5, 1950, the season included 19 races. The season concluded at Occoneechee Speedway on October 29. Bill Rexford won the Drivers' Championship with a 26th-place finish at the final race of the season, racing for Julian Buesink.
Schedule
19 different races were held at 14 different circuits, in 8 different states. The Southern 500 had the largest purse and therefore awarded the highest points, whilst race 1950–04, at the Martinsville Speedway, had the smallest purse.
Race summaries
1950-01
The first race of the 1950 season was run on February 5 at the Daytona Beach Road Course in Daytona Beach, Florida. Joe Littlejohn won the pole. Harold Kite of East Point, Georgia, a former tank driver who began racing on the short tracks after World War II, drove past Red Byron in the 25th lap and went on to score a victory in the 200-mile Grand National opener of the 1950 season. Kite, competing in his first Grand National event, pushed his Lincoln around the sandy course at a record 89.894 mph and beat runner-up Byron to the finish line by 53 seconds. Third place went to Lloyd Moore, Al Gross was fourth, and J. C. Van Landingham, ending a lengthy absence, finished fifth. A crowd estimated at 9,500 watched Kite take the lead at the outset from pole sitter Littlejohn. Kite, a captain in the national guard, held the top spot until Byron passed him on the 15th lap. The defending NASCAR champion relinquished the lead to Kite in the 24th lap when he made a pit stop. Several laps later Byron was forced to make another pit stop to repair gear shift problems. He returned to the race running seventh. Kite went uncontested for the second half of the 48-lap affair on the 4.167-mile course, and Byron provided plenty of action as he worked his way up through the pack. He edged out Moore for second place with a final lap pass. Forty-one cars started the event and 21 were still running at the finish despite the fact that conditions on the beach were less than ideal. Flock turned in one of the most spirited efforts on the cloudy, breezy day. He finished seventh despite the fact that his car's left front wheel wobbled around every turn
Top-ten results
21- Harold Kite
22- Red Byron
59- Lloyd Moore
88- Al Gross
35- J. C. Van Landingham
90- Tim Flock
7- Bob Flock
4- Otis Martin
70- Buck Baker
47- Fonty Flock
1950-02
The second race of the 1950 season was run on April 2 at Charlotte Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Red Byron won the pole. Tim Flock, wheeling the same Lincoln that carried Harold Kite to victory at Daytona, drove around Byron in the 48th lap and stormed to victory in the 150-mile Grand National race. It was Flock's first win on the NASCAR major league tour. Bob Flock finished second, a half lap behind his younger brother. Clyde Minter wound up third, Byron came in fourth and Bill Snowden was fifth. Byron's fourth-place effort, coupled with his runner-up finish at Daytona, enabled him to move to the top of the Grand National points standings, 2.5 points ahead of Tim Flock. A crowd of 13,000 was on hand to watch Bob Flock lead the opening laps in his Oldsmobile. Pole sitter Byron then charged past and led for 42 laps on the three-quarter mile dirt track. Tim surged past Byron in the 48th lap and led the rest of the way. Lash LaRue, Western movie star, greeted Flock in victory lane. "This is my biggest win", said Flock. "To win a Grand National race is a dream come true." June Cleveland was running in the top five when he flipped his Buick in the 85th lap. The roof was flattened, and Cleveland was transported to a Charlotte hospital with cuts. He was not seriously injured. His crash occurred in the exact spot where Virginia driver Jesse Elmo "Hank" Stanley was killed a few weeks earlier in a modified sportsman race. Curtis Turner, Lee Petty, Buck Baker, Fonty Flock and Bill Blair—all rated as pre-race threats—failed to finish the 200-lap race.