On July 4, 1958, a crowd of 15,000 fans turned out at Raleigh Speedway in North Carolina for the Raleigh 250, a special sweepstakes race that featured both hardtops and convertibles competing together on the one-mile paved track. Cotton Owens won the pole position with a speed of 83.896 mph in a very large field of 55 cars. The race saw eight lead changes among seven drivers and was slowed by eight cautions for 32 laps.
Fireball Roberts passed Buck Baker for the lead on lap 194 and went on to win by a full lap over Baker. Rex White finished third, Shorty Rollins took fourth, and Speedy Thompson rounded out the top five. Hardtops swept the first six positions. Roberts earned $3,800 for the victory and completed the 250 laps at an average speed of 73.691 mph.
