The fourth race of the 1950 NASCAR Grand National Series season took place on May 21 at the rugged half-mile dirt oval of Martinsville Speedway, drawing a crowd of 9,500 fans eager to see stock car racing’s early stars battle for supremacy. A field of 25 cars took the green flag, with Buck Baker leading them to the start after claiming the pole position.
However, it didn’t take long for the race to take shape, as Curtis Turner surged to the front by lap 10, overtaking Baker and quickly asserting control over the field. From that point on, Turner was in a class of his own, mastering the challenging dirt surface and steadily building an insurmountable advantage. By the time the checkered flag waved, Turner had lapped the entire field twice, securing a dominant victory by two full laps. Behind him, Jim Paschal finished a distant second, followed by Lee Petty in third, Glenn Dunnaway in fourth, and Clyde Minter rounding out the top five. The race highlighted Turner’s raw talent and fearless driving style, as he turned an early pass into a wire-to-wire rout over the remaining laps, cementing one of the most commanding performances of the 1950 season.
