The 1955 Mid-South 250 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on August 14, 1955, at the Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in LeHi, Arkansas. The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.

Race report

One hundred and sixty-seven laps were done on a dirt oval track spanning 1.500 mi. There were no cautions and the time of the race was two hours, forty-seven minutes, and twelve seconds. The average speed was 89.982 mi/h while the pole position speed was 99.944 mi/h. Fifteen thousand people attended this live and completely untelevised race. Total winnings for this race were $10,625 ($0 when adjusted for inflation) with the winner receiving $2,950 ($0 when adjusted for inflation). Fonty Flock managed to break his brother's eight-race pole streak. However, Tim Flock qualified in second place for this race. Fonty would eventually win the race in his 1955 Chrysler C-300 but Tim would finish in third place (one position worse than he started in). Speeds achieved during qualifying range from 77.9 mph to 99.9 mph; with most drivers being able to do a qualifying lap in less than 60 seconds. Lee Petty was knocked out of the race due to problem with his car's U joint; causing Petty to lose the point lead during the race. It was the first time he didn't lead the point standings since the 10th race of 1954, a 59-race streak. Jimmie Lewallen was forced out of the race due to a broken gas line. Ted Cannady and Banks Simpson would make their NASCAR debuts at this racing event while Ken Johns and Jim McLain would end their NASCAR careers here. No record pertaining to the points system used in NASCAR was recorded for this event. Smokey Yunick and Carl Kiekhaefer were two of the most notable crew chiefs to attend this race; Yunick attended to Herb Thomas' car while Carl helped to service Tim Flock's vehicle.

Qualifying

Finishing order

Section reference:

• Driver failed to finish race † signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

Timeline

Section reference: