SEASON IN REVIEW
Charlotte, North Carolina driver Neil “Soapy” Castles picked up his first LASTCAR Cup Championship in 1958 with three last-place finishes in fifteen starts during the fifty-one-race season.
Castles was competing in his second season of Cup competition, driving his self-prepared #86 1956 Fords in all but four of his starts that year, including all three of his last-place finishes.
Castles’ first last-place finish - and the first of his career - came April 12 at Spartanburg, South Carolina after an oil line slipped after six laps. The second finish came two races later at the Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 18, where brake problems knocked him out after two laps. The third finish did not come until the season finale at the Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lost the engine after three laps.
The Atlanta finish helped Castles break a seven-way tie for the title that would have had to been settled by Bottom Five finishes - although Castles’ seven Bottom Fives coming into Atlanta would have likely been enough.
Castles went on to become one of NASCAR’s most prolific owner-drivers. From 1957 through 1976, he would compete in 498 races, including his iconic white and red #06 in the latter part of his career. Although he never won a race, he finished second three times – once each to Bobby Isaac, Richard Petty, and Elmo Langley. Castles died on August 4, 2022.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
Joining Castles among the notable first-time last-placers of 1958 was Rex White, who in two years would claim his only NASCAR Cup Championship. On July 25, 1958, White’s #44 Julian Petty-prepared 1957 Chevrolet won the pole, but never led a lap, and eventually fell out after ten laps due to overheating problems. It was the first of only four last-place finishes White would score in his nine-year, 28-win career.
On February 23, Bennie Rakestraw became the final driver to finish last in a NASCAR race held on the old Daytona Beach-Road Course in Daytona Beach, Florida. Rakestraw’s #120 1957 Mercury lost the engine without completing a single lap.
On June 12, following the running of a 150-lapper at New Bradford (Pennsylvania) Speedway, NASCAR cracked down on technical infractions by disqualifying three drivers, lifting Jim Reed from last. Emory Mahan’s #8 was ranked last behind fellow Chevrolet drivers Squirt Johns (#511), and Dean Layfield (#916).
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Neil Castles (3)
2nd) Tiny Lund, Blackie Pitt, Bennie Rakestraw, Jimmy Thompson, Roy Tyner, Dick Walters (2)
3rd) Don Angel, Buck Baker, Herman Beam, Bill Benson, Ben Benz, Cannonball Brown, Carl Burris, Billy Carden, R.L. Combs, Jerry Draper, Herbert Estes, George Green, Cecil Grubbs, Harvey Hege, Junior Johnson, Brownie King, Frank Lies, Emory Mahon, Nace Mattingly, Whitey Norman, Bob Perry, Lee Petty, Bob Price, Shorty Rollins, Ken Rush, Volney Schulze, Arley Scranton, Barney Shore, Jack Smith, Curtis Turner, Joe Weatherly, Bob Welborn, Al White, Rex White, Bailey Wynkoop, Emanuel Zervakis (1)
