|| *Comments on the 1954 Wilkes 160:* View the most recent comment <#16> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Darrell posted: 10.02.2005 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One-time winner Lou Figaro died in this race. 2. NWS fan posted: 05.26.2009 - 5:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Figaro was transported to a hospital in Winston-Salem after a serious crash. He died the next day as a result of the crash. 3. WillG46 posted: 11.07.2009 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hershel McGriff's final victory, and his last Grand National race for 17 years. 4. Breaker posted: 03.08.2011 - 10:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The race was called 3 laps early due to the crash of Lou Figaro, where his car flipped and caved in the roof. Figaro died the following day from a skull fracture and brain damage. 5. kup posted: 05.24.2012 - 1:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) UPS - Universal Points System - after all races of 1954 Cup Points for a driver = His Distance /devided/ His Average Finish Dis/AvFn = Driver = KM-Miles / AV-FN 725 Lee Petty 4060 / 5,6 626 Dick Rathman 3629 / 5,8 581 Buck Baker 3895 / 6,7 519 Herb Thomas 3998 / 7,7 358 Joe Eubanks 3542 / 9,9 6. Spen posted: 05.29.2012 - 6:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I can't believe I actually did it. But '54 is now Latfordized. 1. Lee Petty 5367 2. Herb Thomas 5186 (-181) 3. Buck Baker 5118 (-249) 4. Dick Rathman 5011 (-356) 5. Joe Eubanks 4542 (-825) 6. Hershel McGriff 3455 (-1912) 7. Jim Paschal 3236 (-2131) 8. Dave Terrell 3235 (-2132) 9. Blackie Pitt 3010 (-2357) 10. Jimmie Lewallen 2746 (-2621) 11. Ralph Liguori 2739 12. Laird Bruner 2567 13. Bill Blair 2397 14. Gober Sosebee 2227 (Al Keller would be here, with 1886 points. He left to race sprint cars in AAA mid-season.) 15. Eddie Skinner 1738 16. Curtis Turner 1537 17. Clyde Minter 1468 18. Marvin Panch 1405 19. Elton Hildreth 1375 20. Ray Duhigg 1340 21. Fred Dove 1321 22. Arden Mounts 1244 23. Bob Welborn 1232 (Should have been fined, as he raced ARCA during the season.) 24. Donald Thomas 1160 25. John Soares 1040 26. Ted Chamberlain 1032 27. Joel Million 1023 28. Jim Reed 910 29. Walt Flinchum 880 30. Speedy Thompson 826 (Don Oldenberg would be here, with 754.) (Billy Irvin would have had 742.) 31. Jim Clark 713 32. Erick Erickson 706 33. Slick Smith 665 34. Jack Smith 650 35. Russ Helper 645 (Should have been fined.) 36. Lloyd Dane 627 37. Fireball Roberts 612 38. Bill Amick 600 (Fonty Flock would be here, with 588. He left for MARC (ARCA) mid-season.) (Emory Lewis would be here, with 570.) 39. Bill Widenhouse 561 (Ben Gregory would be here, with 559.) 40. Tim Flock 557 41. Dink Widenhouse 553 42. Harvey Eakin 547 43. Danny Letner 523 44. Ken Fisher 522 45. Stan Kross 510 46. Chuck Hansen 492 47. Parks Surratt 484 48. Bud Harless 476 (Virgil Stockton would be here, with 470.) (Eddie Riker would be here, with 460.) 49. Joe Valente 459 50. Woody Brown 442 338 drivers later, we're done. For now. Next up, 1955 (aka "how many points is Tim Flock going to win by?") 7. David posted: 05.31.2012 - 2:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keep it up, Spen, you are awesome!!! 8. Timberwolf Frenzel posted: 08.14.2012 - 7:05 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) RIP Lou Figaro 9. Scott B posted: 07.30.2015 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Herb Thomas (3rd) made up some points on Lee Petty (32nd/last) in this final race of the season, but it was too little to late as far as the championship. Thomas won more races (12 versus 7) and more poles (8 to 3), but Petty had fewer DNF's and a better average finish over the season. 10. Dan Jackett posted: 08.19.2015 - 7:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Using the 2014 Chase format the Final 4 were Lee Petty, Herb Thomas, Hershel McGriff, and Buck Baker...McGriff wins the race, and thus the championship 11. kup posted: 01.12.2018 - 9:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) TTSS*: Twin-Tandem Scoring System. TTSS - 1954 NASCAR "Cup" official: 8649 Lee Petty 8366 Herb Thomas TTSS - 1954 NASCAR "Cup" UPS*: UPS: see above - Upoints are (Distance /to/ Aver.finish) 725 Lee Petty 4060 / 5.6 626 Dick Rathman 3629 / 5.8 And TTSS champions after 6 years: 1949-1954: NASCAR "Cup" official: Herb Thomas 4: '51, '52, '53, '54. Lee Petty 3: '49, '53, '54. Red Byron 1: '49. Bill Rexford 1: '50. Fireball Roberts 1: '50. Fonty Flock 1: '51. Tim Flock 1: '52. NASCAR "Cup" UPS: Lee Petty 5: '49, '50, '52, '53, '54. Tim Flock 3: '50, '51, '52. Bill Blair 1: '49. Fonty Flock 1: '51. Herb Thomas 1: '53. Dick Rathman 1: '54. *TTSS* Every race can have 2 winners, awarded equal points except bonuses. Then equal points goes for every next pair of cars/drivers: 3+4, 5+6, etc. This TTSS adds to races not only feud, but also a co-operation. Every year/season can have 2 "gold" champions, then 2 "silver", 2 "bronze", etc. The basic idea is to compare current race/year system (aka "deficit") with TTSS (aka "plentiness"). No need to have 3 (triple) or more winners, as 2 is just oke to compare the root. 12. Brandon posted: 01.25.2018 - 12:35 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) A total of 23 manufacturers raced in the 37 races in 1954, here is how many races each showed up to. Austin-Healy: 1 Buick: 9 Cadillac: 6 Chevrolet: 10 Chrysler: 25 Dodge: 37 Ford: 25 Henry J: 5 Hudson: 37 Jaguar: 1 Kaiser: 1 Lincoln: 10 Mercury: 27 MG: 1 Morgan: 1 Nash: 15 Oldsmobile: 37 Packard: 7 Plymouth: 35 Pontiac: 2 Porsche: 1 Studebaker: 9 Willys: 3 13. Dan Jackett posted: 02.03.2018 - 3:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Using the 2016 format Buck Baker's 2nd place finish gives him the 1954 championship by 1 point over Herb Thomas...Dick Rathman finished 5th, and was 3 points behind, Lee Petty's last place finish puts him 4th, 30 points behind This is Baker's 2nd consecutive championship under the playoff format, and he would also be the 1st to win 2 championships overall It is also only the 2nd time (1951 is the other) that the champion was not the winner of the final race 14. Spen posted: 03.04.2018 - 1:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dan: What changed between '14 and '16? 15. Dan Jackett posted: 07.18.2018 - 9:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Reply to #14 2014's system had a 43 car maximum, where 2016's had a 40 car maximum...The 3 point reduction in each position could have doomed a late starter like McGriff, who made the playoff using the 2014 system, and was 31 points short usong the 2016 system 16. BOBO83329521 posted: 05.10.2020 - 7:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) Please check actual point standings for this particular season. Some positions are missing. Any way 338 drivers later here's the 2012-style point standings for 1954: 1. Lee Petty 2018 points 2. Buck Baker -37 3. Herb Thomas -70 4. Dick Rathman -122 5. Joe Eubanks -199 6. Dave Terrell -628 7. Jim Paschal -678 8. Hershel McGriff -680 9. Blackie Pitt -733 10. Laird Bruner -863 11. Ralph Liguori -877 12. Jimmie Lewallen -888 13. Bill Blair -1030 14. Gober Sosebee -1104 15. Eddie Skinner -1291 (Al Keller would be here, with -1293) 16. Clyde Minter -1405 17. Elton Hildreth -1414 18. Curtis Turner -1433 19. Ray Duhigg -1451 20. Fred Dove -1452 21. Marvin Panch -1461 22. Arden Mounts -1476 23. Bob Welborn -1492 24. Donald Thomas -1550 25. Ted Chamberlain -1568 26. John Soares -1590 27. Joel Million -1615 28. Jim Reed -1625 29. Walt Flinchum -1641 30. Speedy Thompson -1672 (Note: When I say "2012 style points" I am referring to 1 point per position, not the particular format and only awarding points to the top 43 finishers. The way these are calculated, I take the maximum number of entrants in the full season as the maximum number of points receivable per race, then 1 point per position back to last place who may acquire a significant amount of points!!) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: