1957 Southern 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 40 of 53 in the 1957 NASCAR Grand National Series season | |||
|
1957 Southern 500 program cover | |||
| Date | September 2, 1957 | ||
| Location | Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.375 miles (2.221 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 500 mi (800 km) | ||
| Weather | Extremely hot with temperatures of 93.3 °F (34.1 °C); wind speeds of 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 100.094 miles per hour (161.086 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 75,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Nichels Engineering | ||
| Time | 16.863 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Speedy Thompson | Speedy Thompson | |
| Laps | 210 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 46 | Speedy Thompson | Speedy Thompson | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | WJMX (local AM radio) | ||
| Announcers | Local radio announcers | ||
The 1957 Southern 500, the eighth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 2, 1957, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.
Herb Thomas, already a three-time Southern 500 winner, arrived in Darlington in a visibly shaken state. Thomas finally gave up his ride to Fonty Flock stating that he was just too nervous to drive the race. The race was then marred by a violent crash involving him, Bobby Myers and Paul Goldsmith, causing severe injuries to all drivers involved, ending Flock's career and resulting in the death of Myers.