1954 Grand National Series

1954 Grand National Series
Duration	February 7, 1954 through October 24, 1954
Season Statistics
No. of races	37
First race	1954-01
Last race	1954 Wilkes 160
Drivers' champion	Lee Petty
Manufacturers' champion	Hudson
Rookie of the Year	Blackie Pitt
Most popular driver	Lee Petty
Previous	1953
Next	1955

The 1954 Grand National Series was the 6th season of the NASCAR Grand National Series. The season began at Palm Beach Speedway on February 7 and ended at North Wilkesboro Speedway on October 24.

Lee Petty won his first Grand National championship, becoming the oldest champion at the time at 40 years old. It was Petty Enterprises’ first championship as well as the first championship for Dodge. Petty scored 7 wins in 1954, and earned 32 Top 10s out of 34 starts, including a streak of 27 Top 10s. His consistency helped him win the championship over Herb Thomas, who had more wins but fewer Top 10s.

The season was notable for a number of firsts, including the introduction of flame-proof overalls, new dedicated helmets, and new tires designed for stock car racing. In addition, Goodyear conducted its first official tire test at Darlington during the season, and the Grand National series ran its first road course race on the runways at an airport in Linden, New Jersey. It was also the first season where a foreign car brand won a Grand National race, with Jaguar winning at Linden Airport. Finally, it was the first season for Memphis-Arkansas Speedway, a 1.5 mile dirt speedway that was built specifically for stock car racing.

Schedule

Round	Date	Race Name	Track
1	February 7, 1954	1954-01	Palm Beach Speedway
2	February 21, 1954	1954-02	Daytona Beach Road Course
3	March 7, 1954	1954-03	Speedway Park
4	March 21, 1954	1954-04	Lakewood Speedway
5	March 28, 1954	1954-05	Oglethorpe Speedway
6	March 28, 1954	1954-06	Oakland Stadium
7	April 4, 1954	Wilkes County 160	North Wilkesboro Speedway
8	April 18, 1954	1954-08	Orange Speedway
9	April 25, 1954	1954-09	Central City Speedway
10	May 2, 1954	1954-10	Langhorne Speedway
11	May 9, 1954	1954-11	Wilson Speedway
12	May 16, 1954	1954-12	Martinsville Speedway
13	May 23, 1954	1954-13	Sharon Speedway
14	May 29, 1954	Raleigh 250	Raleigh Speedway
15	May 30, 1954	1954-15	Charlotte Speedway
16	5/30/54	1954-16	Carrell Speedway
17	June 6, 1954	1954-17	Columbia Speedway
18	June 13, 1954	International 100	Linden Airport
19	June 19, 1954	1954-19	Hickory Speedway
20	June 25, 1954	1954-20	Monroe County Fairgrounds
21	June 27, 1954	1954-21	Williams Grove Speedway
22	July 3, 1954	1954-22	Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds
23	July 4, 1954	1954-23	Asheville-Weaverville Speedway
24	July 10, 1954	1954-24	Santa Fe Speedway
25	July 11, 1954	1954-25	Grand River Speedrome
26	July 30, 1954	1954-26	Morristown Speedway
27	August 1, 1954	1954-27	Oakland Stadium
28	August 13, 1954	1954-28	Southern States Fairgrounds
29	August 22, 1954	1954-29	Bay Meadows Speedway
30	August 29, 1954	1954-30	Corbin Speedway
31	September 6, 1954	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway
32	September 12, 1954	1954-32	Central City Speedway
33	September 24, 1954	1954-33	Southern States Fairgrounds
34	September 26, 1954	1954-34	Langhorne Speedway
35	October 10, 1954	Mid-South 250	Memphis-Arkansas Speedway
36	October 17, 1954	1954-36	Martinsville Speedway
37	October 24, 1954	Wilkes 160	North Wilkesboro Speedway

Results

Round	Race	Pole Winner	Winner	Make	Cautions	Caution Laps	Average Speed	Number of Lead Changes
1	1954-01	Dick Rathman	Herb Thomas	Hudson	1	2	58.938	5
2	1954-02	Lee Petty	Lee Petty		0	0	89.108	2
3	1954-03	Curtis Turner	Herb Thomas	Hudson			56.461	4
4	1954-04	Herb Thomas	Herb Thomas	Hudson	2		60.494
5	1954-05	Herb Thomas	Al Keller	Hudson			59.820
6	1954-06	Hershel McGriff	Dick Rathman	Hudson			50.692
7	1954 Wilkes County 160	Gober Sosebee	Dick Rathman	Hudson			68.545	3
8	1954-08	Buck Baker	Herb Thomas	Hudson	1		77.386	2
9	1954-09	Dick Rathman	Gober Sosebee				55.410	6
10	1954-10	Lee Petty	Herb Thomas	Hudson	1		74.883	1
11	1954-11	Jim Paschal	Buck Baker				52.279	5
12	1954-12	Ralph Liguori	Jim Paschal		3		46.153	2
13	1954-13	Dick Rathman	Lee Petty				0.000	2
14	1954 Raleigh 250	Herb Thomas	Herb Thomas	Hudson	0	0	73.909	7
15	1954-15	Al Keller	Buck Baker		2	26	49.805	3
16	1954-16	Danny Letner	John Soares				53.438	2
17	1954-17	Buck Baker	Curtis Turner				56.719
18	1954 International 100	Buck Baker	Al Keller	Jaguar	4		77.569	4
19	1954-19	Herb Thomas	Herb Thomas	Hudson			82.872	0
20	1954-20	Herb Thomas	Lee Petty				52.455	1
21	1954-21	Dick Rathman	Herb Thomas	Hudson			51.085	5
22	1954-22	Hershel McGriff	Herb Thomas	Hudson			59.181
23	1954-23	Herb Thomas	Herb Thomas	Hudson			61.318
24	1954-24	Buck Baker	Dick Rathman	Hudson			72.216	1
25	1954-25	Herb Thomas	Lee Petty				52.090
26	1954-26	Buck Baker	Buck Baker				58.968	2
27	1954-27	Marvin Panch	Danny Letner	Hudson			53.045
28	1954-28	Buck Baker	Lee Petty				51.362
29	1954-29	Hershel McGriff	Hershel McGriff				64.710
30	1954-30	Jim Paschal	Lee Petty				63.080
31	1954 Southern 500	Buck Baker	Herb Thomas	Hudson	2	4	95.026	12
32	1954-32	Tim Flock	Hershel McGriff		3		50.536	1
33	1954-33	Hershel McGriff	Hershel McGriff				53.167
34	1954-34	Herb Thomas	Herb Thomas	Hudson	6	25	71.186	8
35	1954 Mid-South 250	Junior Johnson	Buck Baker				89.013	2
36	1954-36	Lee Petty	Lee Petty		3		44.547	4
37	1954 Wilkes 160	Hershel McGriff	Hershel McGriff		4		65.175	4

Final Points Standings

Pos.	Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points	Difference
1	Lee Petty	34	7	24	32	3	8649
2	Herb Thomas	34	12	19	27	8	8366	-283
3	Buck Baker	34	4	23	28	7	6893	-1,756
4	Dick Rathmann	32	3	23	26	4	6760	-1,889
5	Joe Eubanks	33	0	11	24	0	5467	-3,182
6	Hershel McGriff	24	4	13	17	5	5137	-3,512
7	Jim Paschal	27	1	5	11	2	3903	-4,746
8	Jimmie Lewallen	22	0	5	10	0	3233	-5,416
9	Curtis Turner	10	1	7	8	1	2994	-5,655
10	Ralph Liguori	23	0	2	12	0	2905	-5,744
11	Blackie Pitt	27	0	0	6	0	2661	-5,988
12	Dave Terrell	30	0	0	8	0	2645	-6,004
13	Bill Blair	19	0	2	10	0	2362	-6,287
14	Laird Bruner	24	0	2	6	0	2243	-6,406
15	Gober Sosebee	18	1	4	7	1	2114	-6,535
16	John Soares	9	1	2	4	0	2072	-6,577
17	Marvin Panch	10	0	3	7	1	1935	-6,714
18	Eddie Skinner	16	0	0	1	0	1794	-6,855
19	Joel Million	9	0	0	1	0	1779	-6,870
20	Elton Hildreth	14	0	0	2	0	1710	-6,939
21	Arden Mounts	12	0	0	1	0	1705	-6,944
22	Fireball Roberts	5	0	0	2	0	1648	-7,001
23	Speedy Thompson	7	0	1	3	0	1480	-7,169
24	Johnny Patterson	4	0	1	1	0	1417	-7,232
25	Erick Erickson	6	0	1	3	0	1337	-7,312
26	Ray Duhigg	12	0	2	5	0	1245	-7,404
27	Slick Smith	6	0	1	2	0	1122	-7,527
28	Clyde Minter	12	0	0	6	0	1116	-7,533
29	Gwyn Staley	2	0	0	1	0	1088	-7,561
30	Lloyd Dane	4	0	3	4	0	984	-7,665

Rookie of the Year

With 6 Top 10s in 27 races, Blackie Pitt was the 1954 Rookie of the Year. Pitt was named the Rookie of the Year by NASCAR's Public Relations director, Houston Lawing. It was not considered an official award until 1958.

Manufacturer's Championship

With 17 wins, Hudson won the 1954 Manufacturer's Championship.

Position	Make	Race Wins
1	Hudson	17
2		11
3		1
4		7
5		0
6	Jaguar	1