The great '54 Chrysler myth
I enjoy reading about all sorts of post-war racing history (48-55) and the vehicles that raced. I confess that the early Chrysler hemi engines (Dodge, DeSoto, Chrysler) are especially favorites of mine and any time I can check one out I do. Everywhere you look or read about the early hemi, some remark is always made about Lee Petty winning the Daytona 500 in his '54 Chrysler 331 hemi and how it put the hemi on the map. I've even seen an original '54 promotional Saratoga with all the Chrysler achievements, including the '54 Daytona, painted on the side of the car. Do these people know what really happened in the '54 Daytona 500? They should read Miller's "Total Domination". It involves a '54 Hudson, Herb Thomas, and some sand.
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From what I remember Lee won the '54 Daytona 500 driving a Chrysler - he also won it again in 1959 driving an Oldsmobile. If Lee didn't put the Chrysler hemi on the map Richard sure did. Along with a few other Dodge drivers way back then.
I played around a lot with the '53 Dodge 241 small block hemi - stuffed a few of them into 1937-1938-1939 Dodge and Plymouth coupes back in the early 50's. We used a 4-speed Dodge truck tranny and clutch - those things would go like crazy. Only reason we didn't kill ourselves was because we were to damn dumb to realize that this wasn't really a good thing to do. Mainly because the brakes were totally out of hunger and not designed for such power.
If I were to build one of these things today I would have, at least, discs in the front - to be really safe discs all around.
Wild man, wild.
Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN0 -
WHAT 1954 Daytona 500??? The FIRST Daytona 500 was on the track. The track was brand new in 1959. Lee Petty won that race. Before that they raced on the sand of the beach and the beach access road and it was not a 500 mile race. The beach races were 160 miles in length if that is what you are writing about.
Lee Petty was declared the winner of the '54 Daytona Beach Grand National race in a Chrysler after Tim Flock was DISQUALIFIED. Flock quit NASCAR over this but went to work for the good money offered by Carl Kiekhaefer for the 1955 season.
Lee Petty was the Grand National Points Champion of the 1954 NASCAR racing season with his '54 New Yorker Special coupe with a 331 Hemi and Powerflite automatic transmission. Petty had one of the most consistent racing seasons in NASCAR history in that car.
What was it you were saying???0 -
StillOutThere wrote:WHAT 1954 Daytona 500??? The FIRST Daytona 500 was on the track. The track was brand new in 1959. Lee Petty won that race. Before that they raced on the sand of the beach and the beach access road and it was not a 500 mile race. The beach races were 160 miles in length if that is what you are writing about.
Lee Petty was declared the winner of the '54 Daytona Beach Grand National race in a Chrysler after Tim Flock was DISQUALIFIED. Flock quit NASCAR over this but went to work for the good money offered by Carl Kiekhaefer for the 1955 season.
Lee Petty was the Grand National Points Champion of the 1954 NASCAR racing season with his '54 New Yorker Special coupe with a 331 Hemi and Powerflite automatic transmission. Petty had one of the most consistent racing seasons in NASCAR history in that car.
What was it you were saying???
Tim Flocks HELZAPOPIN Oldsmobile was found to have an illegal Carburetor after winning the 54 race, a phone call to Lansing Olds headquarters confirmed the the venturis had been opened up 1/8 of an inch. Herb Thomas won 12 races in the Hudson in 54 to Pettys 7. Pettys consistancy was amazing with 32 top ten finishes in 34 races.The 59 season and the new Super Speedway at Daytona was to be a sad one for Hudson fans as Marshall Teague became the first fatality at the speedway not in a Nascar but a modified Indycar (the Sumar Special) trying to set a new closed course record.
PS Word of warning StillOutThere knows his stuff.
Taken from "NASCAR THE COMPLETE HISTORY"0 -
StillOutThere wrote:WHAT 1954 Daytona 500??? The FIRST Daytona 500 was on the track. The track was brand new in 1959. Lee Petty won that race. Before that they raced on the sand of the beach and the beach access road and it was not a 500 mile race. The beach races were 160 miles in length if that is what you are writing about.
Lee Petty was declared the winner of the '54 Daytona Beach Grand National race in a Chrysler after Tim Flock was DISQUALIFIED. Flock quit NASCAR over this but went to work for the good money offered by Carl Kiekhaefer for the 1955 season.
Lee Petty was the Grand National Points Champion of the 1954 NASCAR racing season with his '54 New Yorker Special coupe with a 331 Hemi and Powerflite automatic transmission. Petty had one of the most consistent racing seasons in NASCAR history in that car.
What was it you were saying???
You are correct - the first 500 was in 1959. I had my head in the pencil sharpener at the time I wrote Lee won the '54 Daytona 500.
Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN0 -
Yes, the "official" beginning of the Daytona 500 was when the track was built in '59, which is why many choose to ignore any race before then. The beach races were shorter due to the vagaries of lunar cycles and the tide. They still raced at Daytona before 1959, and Petty won the contested '54 race. Herb Thomas's '54 Hornet did not finish and the official reason was "fuel line" issues. Supposedly someone put a bunch of sand in the tank shortly before the race.0
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Ol' Lee Petty gives y'all a Howdy from the driver's seat of what appears to be his '54 Chrysler New Yorker Special.0
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dougson wrote:Yes, the "official" beginning of the Daytona 500 was when the track was built in '59, which is why many choose to ignore any race before then. The beach races were shorter due to the vagaries of lunar cycles and the tide. They still raced at Daytona before 1959, and Petty won the contested '54 race. Herb Thomas's '54 Hornet did not finish and the official reason was "fuel line" issues. Supposedly someone put a bunch of sand in the tank shortly before the race.
Maybe a Petty crew member! what do you think StillOutThere?0 -
SUGAR is much more effective and was probably preferred by the Pettys. Just sayin'. If it was sand, it was probably one Hudson team trying to take another out of competition. LOL0
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I think with any type of so called production racing (or strickly standard as Hudson referred to it)The crime was not in cheating but in getting caught out, I know when I raced production motorcycles if your bike had been standard you would have had no chance and after reading Smokey's book I am sure Nascar was no different even back then.0
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Smokey Yunick. Perhaps the ultimate cheater in early NASCAR. It was he who ran REVERSE ROTATION in a Hornet motor wasn't it? Answer: yes it was.
On the other hand, the master of Chrysler racing in the Hudson era and a few years beyond, was Carl Kiekhaefer. His business was Mercury Outboards which he raced in every competition. The lure of also car racing was so great he entered the Carrera Panamericana, AAA racing, sports cars and also NASCAR events. In every form of racing, EVERY venue, his outboards and his cars were constantly under scrutiny and torn down because of his regular trips to the victory circle. Never, not once, was he ever found to be in violation of any rule of any sanctioning body. So where ever his Chryslers raced you can rest assured they won within the confines of the rule books.
Yes, I own one HET; my '34 Terraplane. But I also have three Chrysler 300 Letter Cars.0 -
Ole Smoky didn't cheat - as he said "If it ain't in the rule book, it ain't cheating!!"
The man did keep Big Bill busy changing the rule book every Monday morning, for sure.
Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN0 -
StillOutThere wrote:Smokey Yunick. Perhaps the ultimate cheater in early NASCAR. It was he who ran REVERSE ROTATION in a Hornet motor wasn't it? Answer: yes it was.
Pardon this young'ns ignorance... What do you mean by reverse rotation, and what would you gain by it?0 -
I do not know if the reverse rotation cam was tried in the Hudson or not. But it was available for the small block chevy in the late 1950's or early 1960's. I do not recall the cam company. The timing chain was replaced with a cam gear and crankshaft gear that messed, therefore reverseing the cam's rotation. It did not catch on. I suppose the idea was to gain a little power by eliminating the chain.
Also, there was another cam back then with two intake lobs and two exhaust lobs on the cam which turned one turn to four crankshaft revolutions. That didn't catch on either. Tried to gain power by slowing down the cam's rotation.
Lee O'Dell0 -
Ah, now I see. Thanks!0
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All boat engines turn counter clock rotation, and this is done buy the camshaft using gears. Walt.0
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Early Super six engines 1916-1923 are gear driven and therefore the cams turn in the opposite direction as well. 1924 they started using a timing chain.0
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The Ford 300 in my garage has a geared cam. I just needed a little clarification in this instance as to what, exactly, was rotating in reverse and why it would be against the rules.0
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It isn't against the rules. Some vehicles use chains to turn the cam and other vehicles use gears to turn the cam. Today, new cars use cogged belts to turn the cams. It's just a great deal more expensive to change an original design. When the cam direction is changed you can not use the same camshaft. A new cam blank has to be manufactured and the new lobes ground in different locations from the original to use the same opening and closing degrees because the cam is now rotating backwards. Also, new timeing covers, gears and gaskets need to be manufactured. It just is not worth the expence.
Lee O'Dell0
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