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COUNTDOWN TO THE WEST CAOST HALL OF FAME AWARDS - JULY 22

NASCAR Comes to Oakland
On October 14, 1951, big-time stock car racing came to the Oakland Stadium. On this date the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NACAR) sanctioned a 400-lapper (250 miles) on the big, 5/8-mile track. NASCAR regulars such as Fonty Flock, Dick Rathman, Allen Heath, and Marvin Panch were in the lineup for the first Grand National Stock Car race, right along with local favorites like Woody Brown, Marvin Burke, Bob Caswell and Johnny Soares. West Coast zone supervisor Johnny Mantz, who had been assigned that post by NASCAR just two weeks before the race, over saw the event. 
Driving a 1950 Mercury, BCRA's (Bay Cities Racing Association) own Marvin Burke, their 1949 midget driving champion, came in first picking up a winner's check in the amount of $1,875. Bob Caswell, driving a '50 Plymouth, finished second, and Woody Brown (BCRA's 1950 midget champion) driving a 1950 Olds “88”, finished third. The race started at least 32 cars, the oldest a '48 Hudson, and the newest 1951-year models represted by Oldsmobile, For, Plymouth, Studebaker, Nash, Hudson and even a 1951 model Henry J. It was amazing how many fans were rooting for the Henry J as it ran mostly down on the lower apron of the track.
After an absence of two years, NASCAR came back to Oakland.
On March 28, 1954 the reconfigured track at Oakland was again the site of a NASCAR “Grand National” race for late model stock cars. This time it was to be 250 laps (125 miles) over the ½-mile dirt/Asphalt track ( trying to make the track more racy, what they had done was to fill in the high banked turns with dirt, leaving the straights asphalt). Qualifying was done the day before, and by the end of the day twenty-six cars had been entered into Sunday's big race. Fastest of the group was Hershel McGriff, with a qualifying speed of 55.624 mph. All the West Coast regulars were there, including Woody Brown, Johnny Soares, Clyde Palmer, and Ben Gregory, along with some of NASCAR's “big-guns”, Marvin Panch and Lee Petty.
Dick Rathman, winner of ten previous NASCAR Grand Nationals, had been pre-entered but didn't arrive at the track until qualifying had ended (his tow vehicle had broken down near Reno, Nevada and he hooked the broken down tow vehicle up to his race car and drove to Oakland.) and had to start at the very back of the field on race day. McGriff and Marvin Panch led the early stages of the race but at lap 143 Rathman took his 1951 Hudson Hornet into the lead and stayed there until the checkered flew.
Rathman became the first “last to first” winner in NASCAR Grand National history, Panch finished second, a lap down, while Johnny Soares placed third in his '54 Dodge. Lee Petty, driving the now familiar number 42, finished sixth, eighteen laps off the pace.
Reprinted from-A History of the Oakland Stadium 1946-1955 by Tom Motter
 



THANKS!
-STOKES