1956 Grand National Series

1956 Grand National Series
Duration	November 13, 1955 through November 18, 1956
Season statistics
No. of races	56
First race	1956-01
Last race	1956-56
Drivers' champion	Buck Baker
Manufacturers' champion
Most popular driver	Curtis Turner
Previous	1955
Next	1957

The 1956 Grand National Series was the 8th season of the NASCAR Grand National Series. The season began on November 13, 1955 at Hickory Speedway and ended at Wilson Speedway on November 18.

Buck Baker won his first championship in his fourth full-time season. He won 14 races in 1956 and clinched the championship with 1 race to go in the season.

The season was notable for the domination of Carl Kiekhaefer’s operation, scoring 30 wins, including a streak of 16 in a row. However, the season saw star drivers Herb Thomas and Tim Flock quit Kiekhaefer’s operation, and championship-contender Thomas was hospitalized after an accident with Kiekhaefer driver Speedy Thompson with four races to go in the season. The controversy with Thomas caused Kiekhaefer to retire from stock car racing at the end of the season. Thomas would only race three more times in his career after the accident.

Schedule

Round	Date	Race Name	Track
1	November 13, 1955	1956-01	Hickory Speedway
2	November 20, 1955	1956-02	Charlotte Speedway
3	November 20, 1955	1956-03	Willow Springs Speedway
4	December 11, 1955	1956-04	Palm Beach Speedway
5	January 22, 1956	1956-05	Arizona State Fairgrounds
6	February 26, 1956	1956-06	Daytona Beach Road Course
7	March 4, 1956	1956-07	Palm Beach Speedway
8	March 18, 1956	1956-08	Wilson Speedway
9	March 25, 1956	1956-09	Lakewood Speedway
10	April 8, 1956	Wilkes County 160	North Wilkesboro Speedway
11	April 22, 1956	1956-11	Langhorne Speedway
12	April 29, 1956	Richmond 200	Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds
13	May 5, 1956	Arclite 100	Columbia Speedway
14	May 6, 1956	1956-14	Concord Speedway
15	May 10, 1956	1956-15	Greenville-Pickens Speedway
16	May 12, 1956	1956-16	Hickory Speedway
17	May 13, 1956	1956-17	Orange Speedway
18	May 20, 1956	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway
19	May 25, 1956	1956-19	Lincoln Speedway
20	May 27, 1956	1956-20	Charlotte Speedway
21	May 27, 1956	1956-21	Portland Speedway
22	May 30, 1956	1956-22	Eureka Speedway
23	May 30, 1956	1956-23	New York State Fairgrounds
24	June 3, 1956	1956-24	Merced Fairgrounds
25	June 10, 1956	1956-25	Memphis-Arkansas Speedway
26	June 15, 1956	1956-26	Southern States Fairgrounds
27	June 22, 1956	1956-27	Monroe County Fairgrounds
28	June 24, 1956	1956-28	Portland Speedway
29	July 1, 1956	1956-29	Asheville-Weaverville Speedway
30	July 4, 1956	Raleigh 250	Raleigh Speedway
31	July 7, 1956	1956-31	Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds
32	July 8, 1956	1956-32	California State Fairgrounds
33	July 21, 1956	1956-33	Soldier Field
34	July 27, 1956	1956-34	Cleveland County Fairgrounds
35	July 29, 1956	1956-35	Montgomery Speedway
36	August 3, 1956	1956-36	Oklahoma State Fairgrounds
37	August 12, 1956	1956-37	Road America
38	August 17, 1956	1956-38	Old Bridge Stadium
39	August 19, 1956	1956-39	Bay Meadows Speedway
40	August 22, 1956	1956-40	Norfolk Speedway
41	August 23, 1956	1956-41	Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds
42	August 25, 1956	1956-42	Coastal Speedway
43	August 26, 1956	1956-43	Portland Speedway
44	September 3, 1956	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway
45	September 9, 1956	1956-45	Chisholm Speedway
46	September 12, 1956	1956-46	Southern States Fairgrounds
47	September 23, 1956	1956-47	Langhorne Speedway
48	September 23, 1956	1956-48	Portland Speedway
49	September 29, 1956	1956-49	Columbia Speedway
50	September 30, 1956	1956-50	Orange Speedway
51	October 7, 1956	1956-51	Newport Speedway
52	October 17, 1956	1956-52	Charlotte Speedway
53	October 23, 1956	1956-53	Cleveland County Fairgrounds
54	October 28, 1956	Old Dominion 400	Martinsville Speedway
55	November 11, 1956	Buddy Shuman 250	Hickory Speedway
56	November 18, 1956	1956-56	Wilson Speedway

Results

Round	Race	Pole Winner	Winner	Make	Cautions	Caution Laps	Average Speed	Number of Lead Changes
1	1956-01	Tim Flock	Tim Flock		4	23	56.962	2
2	1956-02	Fonty Flock	Fonty Flock		2	7	61.825	0
3	1956-03	Jim Reed	Chuck Stevenson		0	0	66.512	7
4	1956-04	Fonty Flock	Herb Thomas				65.009
5	1956-05	Joe Weatherly	Buck Baker				64.408
6	1956-06	Tim Flock	Tim Flock		2	2	90.657	2
7	1956-07	Buck Baker	Billy Myers		1	3	68.990	2
8	1956-08	Herb Thomas	Herb Thomas				46.287
9	1956-09	Tim Flock	Buck Baker				70.643	1
10	1956 Wilkes County 160	Junior Johnson	Tim Flock				71.034	2
11	1956-11	Buck Baker	Buck Baker				75.928	2
12	1956 Richmond 200	Buck Baker	Buck Baker				56.232	2
13	1956 Arclite 100	Buck Baker	Speedy Thompson		2		54.545	3
14	1956-14	Speedy Thompson	Speedy Thompson		1	3	61.633	2
15	1956-15	Rex White	Buck Baker				60.362
16	1956-16	Speedy Thompson	Speedy Thompson		6		59.442	0
17	1956-17	Buck Baker	Buck Baker				83.720	2
18	1956 Virginia 500	Buck Baker	Buck Baker		7	20	60.824	5
19	1956-19	Speedy Thompson	Buck Baker				69.619	3
20	1956-20	Speedy Thompson	Speedy Thompson		3	9	64.866	6
21	1956-21	John Kieper	Herb Thomas				63.815
22	1956-22	John Kieper	Herb Thomas				38.814
23	1956-23	Buck Baker	Buck Baker		1	3	86.179	2
24	1956-24	Herb Thomas	Herb Thomas				47.325
25	1956-25	Buck Baker	Ralph Moody		5		74.313	5
26	1956-26	Fireball Roberts	Speedy Thompson		2	6	56.022	3
27	1956-27	Jim Paschal	Speedy Thompson		1	7	57.288	3
28	1956-28	Herb Thomas	John Kieper				62.586
29	1956-29	Fireball Roberts	Lee Petty				56.435
30	1956 Raleigh 250	Lee Petty	Fireball Roberts		1		79.822	6
31	1956-31	Fireball Roberts	Lee Petty				50.483
32	1956-32	Eddie Pagan	Lloyd Dane				74.074
33	1956-33	Billy Myers	Fireball Roberts				61.037
34	1956-34	Ralph Moody	Speedy Thompson				53.699
35	1956-35	Marvin Panch	Marvin Panch				67.252
36	1956-36	Speedy Thompson	Jim Paschal		0	0	60.100	2
37	1956-37	Buck Baker	Tim Flock		0	0	73.858	4
38	1956-38	Jim Reed	Ralph Moody				65.170	1
39	1956-39	Eddie Pagan	Eddie Pagan				68.161
40	1956-40	Ralph Moody	Billy Myers				56.408
41	1956-41	Ralph Moody	Ralph Moody				54.372	2
42	1956-42	Ralph Moody	Fireball Roberts				50.576
43	1956-43	John Kieper	Royce Haggerty				0.000
44	1956 Southern 500	Speedy Thompson	Curtis Turner		7	68	95.167	14
45	1956-45	Tim Flock	Buck Baker				60.893	3
46	1956-46	Joe Eubanks	Ralph Moody				52.847	2
47	1956-47	Buck Baker	Paul Goldsmith		9		70.615	10
48	1956-48	Royce Haggerty	Lloyd Dane				0.000
49	1956-49	Tim Flock	Buck Baker				61.193	4
50	1956-50	Speedy Thompson	Fireball Roberts		4		72.734	6
51	1956-51	Joe Eubanks	Fireball Roberts		0	0	61.475	2
52	1956-52	Ralph Moody	Buck Baker				72.268	3
53	1956-53	Doug Cox	Buck Baker		2		54.054
54	1956 Old Dominion 400	Buck Baker	Jack Smith		4		61.136	7
55	1956 Buddy Shuman 250	Ralph Earnhardt	Speedy Thompson				66.420	4
56	1956-56	Buck Baker	Buck Baker				50.597

Final Points Standings

Pos.	Driver	Races	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	Points	Difference
1	Buck Baker	48	14	31	39	12	9272
2	Herb Thomas	48	5	22	36	3	8568	-704
3	Speedy Thompson	42	8	24	29	7	8328	-944
4	Lee Petty	47	2	17	28	1	8324	-948
5	Jim Paschal	42	1	17	27	1	7878	-1,394
6	Billy Myers	42	2	13	22	1	6920	-2,352
7	Fireball Roberts	33	5	17	22	3	5794	-3,478
8	Ralph Moody	35	4	13	21	5	5548	-3,724
9	Tim Flock	22	4	11	14	5	5062	-4,210
10	Marvin Panch	20	1	10	13	1	4680	-4,592
11	Rex White	24	0	3	14	1	4642	-4,630
12	Johnny Allen	32	0	2	11	0	3924	-5,348
13	Paul Goldsmith	9	1	4	6	0	3788	-5,484
14	Gwyn Staley	22	0	5	13	0	3550	-5,722
15	Joe Eubanks	26	0	7	13	2	3292	-5,980
16	Joe Weatherly	17	0	6	12	1	3084	-6,188
17	Bill Amick	13	0	7	10	0	3048	-6,224
18	Jim Reed	11	0	5	5	2	2870	-6,402
19	Tiny Lund	21	0	1	8	0	2754	-6,518
20	Curtis Turner	13	1	4	5	0	2580	-6,692
21	Jack Smith	15	1	1	6	0	2320	-6,952
22	Billy Carden	23	0	0	4	0	2128	-7,144
23	Lloyd Dane	10	2	5	9	0	2106	-7,166
24	Frank Mundy	9	0	3	5	0	1856	-7,416
25	Bobby Johns	9	0	0	3	0	1832	-7,440
26	Bill Champion	14	0	0	4	0	1764	-7,508
27	Blackie Pitt	27	0	0	5	0	1760	-7,512
28	Harold Hardesty	9	0	2	6	0	1724	-7,548
29	Al Watkins	14	0	0	4	0	1710	-7,562
30	Chuck Meekins	7	0	3	6	0	1656	-7,616

Manufacturer's Championship

Despite only winning 14 races to Chrysler's 22, Ford won the 1956 Manufacturer's Championship.

Position	Make	Race Wins
1		14
2		3
3		11
4		22
5		5
6		1