…at least we think it is from the 1952 race as that’s what the title claims but we’re not 100% sure. That minutiae aside, the real story here is the quality, clarity, and straight up coolness of this video. Normally stuff from this era is black and white and on a good day has sound. Not this video. The colors and footage is so beautiful it is almost hard to believe it was made sixty plus years ago. Anyway, we’re thinking that NASCAR paid the money necessary to get the highest quality footage as possible as a means to help grow the sport that was already rapidly gaining in popularity across the country. Between the scenes of the cars racing, stuff in the pits, guys getting the machines ready, flying mile qualifying, and the sheer spectacle of the cars charging down a beach and through the sand traps known as corners on either end of the course it is hard to not smile.
There’s one scene that is totally hilarious as a driver has a fender come loose on some old jalopy looking coupe. He pulls into his pit space and his crew guys emerge, one with a sledge hammer. He hammers the fender until it falls off and they the driver is gone. His success is short lived however as the hood has flown up and is blocking the windshield. In he pulls again, out comes the sledge again and moments later he is gone with the three Strombergs he’s got atop his flathead shining in the Florida sun.
As the video shows, the “sportsman” cars started in the front of the pack as they were the slower of the classes. Those are the late 1930s, early 1940s coupes that we all love so much. The Grand National cars were in the rear apparently and those were the late model performance cars of their day. The Hudson Hornet was the most singularly dominant car in NASCAR racing of this era. It was of unitized construction, sat low, had good steering, and was stone reliable. It was not a drag race special but it handled better than virtually anything else and in 1952 Hudsons won 27 or 34 NASCAR races. Seriously.
We could rant on for days about this one but we’re going to stop there. Watch how things were handled on the beach at NASCAR’s famed 1952 Daytona Beach Race. Oh…we should mention that the race was not completed as scheduled. Why? The tide came in! Marshall Teague was the winner after the race was called on lap 37 of the 4.1 mile course. Teague was paid $6,110 for winning. The equivalent of $54,139 today.
Too cool…modern NASCAR drivers would curl up in a corner and cry if asked to do this…taping the door shut, priceless!