Editor’s note: This is the original script I wrote for Donut Media’s Past Gas podcast. WATCH BELOW
It’s February 11, 1951, and 10,000 spectators have lined the sands of the Daytona Beach and Road Course to cheer on 54 young men vying to win the opening race of NASCAR’s third season. Several future legends of the sport are pushing their stock cars to the limit that day, including Buck Baker, Lee Petty, Fireball Roberts, and brothers Tim and Fonty Flock.
However, as the checkered flag drew near, all eyes fell on Daytona local Marshall Teague in a brand new 1951 Hudson Hornet he had borrowed from a Florida dealer. Sitting low thanks to Hudson’s innovative step-down design, its high compression 308 cubic inch inline six rumbled across the beach, carrying Teague to a first place finish.
The win marked both Teague’s and Hudson’s first NASCAR victories, solidifying the Daytona mechanic’s King of the Beach moniker while the Hornet gained a nickname of its own — the Teaguemobile.
But another driver, a tobacco farmer who wheeled his Plymouth to 16th place that day, would soon become the face of Hudson’s dominant racing era — and decades after a career ending crash, he’d inspire the voice of a generation in one of Hollywood’s biggest animated movie franchises.
With the bean counters scrambling to keep Hudson afloat amid dwindling sales in the early 1950s, the company went all in on racing, birthing the slogan, Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday.
At Hudson’s Detroit headquarters, engineers and drivers collaborated on rule-bending engines, suspension and other special parts that would give the Hornet an edge on the track. But would commanding success on the oval actually translate to sales in the showroom?
Today on Past Gas: how did a farmer become NASCAR’s first two time champ? What made the Hornet nearly unbeatable? And why didn’t back-to-back-to-back championships save Hudson from the chopping block? This is the story of NASCAR’s unlikely superstars of the early 1950s: Herb Thomas and The Fabulous Hudson Hornet.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUDSON
In February of 1909, long before Teague ever made a splash at the beach, a group of Detroit businessmen led by Roy D. Chapin founded Hudson Motor Car Company. With the financial backing of department store magnate Joseph Hudson, the automaker set out to build affordable vehicles that would sell for under $1,000, close to $35,000 today. Their efforts came at a time when the automobile had just begun to reach the masses, with the $850 Ford Model T debuting the year prior. At the same time, a new Cadillac could be driven out of the showroom for $1,795.
With literally hundreds of startup car companies coast to coast and around the globe, innovation and convenience became key to attracting buyers in the early days of personal motorized transport. Unlike a number of early automakers that would license parts, such as engines and transmissions, to build their vehicles, Hudson would keep their programs largely in house, maximizing ingenuity and quality control from within. The very first Hudson, a model Twenty, left the factory on July 3, 1909, less than four months after the company’s formation. A newspaper ad for the new roadster read, “Here’s a car that is good looking. It is big and racy. Note the graceful and harmonious lines. Observe the sweep of the fenders and the frame.” Ah, the all-important sweep of the fenders.
By the end of 1909 workers assembled more than 4,500 examples, the best first year production numbers of any US automaker to date.
Soon, under the leadership of Chapin, Hudson invested in a larger assembly facility to accommodate their success. Throughout its growth, which included adding the Essex and Terraplane lines in 1919 and 1932 respectively, Hudson remained focused on technical advancement. Engineers at the company developed a number of firsts in the auto industry, including a dual braking setup that combined mechanical and hydraulic systems for added safety.
We can also thank Hudson for idiot lights, better known today as dashboard warning lights such as the dreaded check engine light. In the 1930s Hudson replaced finicky gauges with warning lights on the dashboard for both oil pressure and the generator to let the driver know potential issues.
As with many smaller automakers of the era, the Great Depression, followed by World War II, stifled growth. But the war also presented an unexpected opportunity for young men and women across the world to learn the ins and outs of vehicle mechanics – and how to drive them. For future NASCAR hall of famer, Herb Thomas, this meant cutting his teeth behind the wheel of a logging rig on the busy grounds of Fort Bragg In NC. For many others, they developed skills that would help them push automobile performance into a new era, whether that be building in the studios of Detroit automakers or at the racetrack.
Despite surviving the battles in Europe and Asia, Hudson still faced an uncertain future. After spending the war years building engines, airplane wings, weapons and automotive parts, brothers Fred and Charles Fisher, of Body by Fisher, attempted a hostile takeover of the company. After a decade of planning they made an offer to purchase stock from the company’s biggest holder at the time, the Dutch royal family. However, after Wall Street investors learned of the plan, stock prices soared and the brothers’ offer was no longer viable. The Queen of the Netherlands would remain the majority owner of the Motor City car company — later encouraging Hudson’s involvement in NASCAR.
But it wasn’t just the word of the crown that would lead to Hudson’s impending success. As production resumed after the war, so too did the innovation of its engineers, now free from translating European blueprints into standardized American production documents. Like its competitors, Hudson’s 1946 models were essentially 1942 examples. However, Hudson was quick to the drawing board. Despite reusing the Commodore name first introduced in 1941, the automaker released an all new style for 1948, a model year ahead of The Big 3.
Designed in part by Betty Thatcher, the 1948 Hudsons featured a refined, slab-sided body style that tucked away the bulbous fenders of the pre-war era. At first look, it wasn’t hard to see the new Hudson also sat exceptionally low compared to its competition. This was thanks to the new step-down frame style that would become a key factor in Hudson’s on – track success.
The step-down design placed the floor within the perimeter of the frame, opposed to on top of it, a step toward unibody construction of today. The placement of the floor resulted in a safer cabin, a lower center of gravity and enhanced handling.
THE HUDSON HORNET
The second model to sit atop the dropped floor styling was the Hudson Hornet, introduced for 1951. Each one came equipped with a high compression 5 liter, 308 cubic inch straight six billed as the H-145, the 145 representing its horsepower rating. This was a big number when you considered Lee Petty was racing a 97 horsepower Plymouth at the time. The Hudson could be had with a three on the tree with or without overdrive or a GM sourced Hydramatic transmission. With ample power and the low-slung design, Hudson had unintentionally built a race car that would prove to be the one to beat.
The Hornet’s introduction to the market couldn’t have come at a better time for the brand or for NASCAR. In its third year, NASCAR founder Bill France tightened the rules around his version of stock car racing. In short, by 1951, stock meant stock, making acquiring a new racer that would prove competitive a tad more difficult for many of the wheelmen. This led to drivers pulling all sorts of tricks to get their hands on a new set of wheels.
This included Marshall Teague, who had borrowed his Hudson for the 1951 strictly stock Daytona race from a local dealer on the promise he would return it in like new shape – give or take a few miles on the clock. Like other drivers, as Teague prepared his car for Daytona, he shielded the front end with tape to protect the finish, knowing the repair costs for any damage would come out of his pocket. Then he put the pedal to the floor.
As the 1951 Daytona race wound down Tim Flock was coasting to victory, or so it seemed to his pit crew. The mechanics started celebrating laps before the checkered flag flew. With their lips wet from drink, Flock made an unexpected pitstop for fuel. His team stumbled to get him the gas, giving Teague the chance to pass and take home the first place share of the $6,225 purse. No record could be found regarding just how much of that went to refreshing the borrowed Hornet before it was returned to the dealership.
WHO IS PLAYING THIS GAME?
Following the win at Daytona, the Hudson public relations department received a call alerting them of the victory, but it nearly fell on deaf ears. Tom Rhoades, then director of PR, responded with a simple, “That’s nice,” before hanging up the phone. He later claimed, “We don’t build race cars, we build automobiles.”
All that was about to change thanks to Marshall Teague and his pals Smokey “The Best Damn Race Car Mechanic” Yunick and self-taught wheelman Herb Thomas.
Teague made his way to Detroit and showed up at the Hudson HQ unannounced, requesting a meeting with Hudson executives. Given his successes on the track, he was welcomed with open arms. His pitstop included a tour of the facility during which he made an astonishing request: to be supplied with a car, parts and factory technical support for the rest of the 1951 NASCAR season.
By the time he left, he had been given the nod with Hudson execs, and possibly the Queen of the Netherlands, seeing the benefits of on track marketing. Factory NASCAR racing was born.
Teague was off to the races and quickly found success time and time again, winning five of the fifteen NASCAR Grand National races he entered in 1951. Having billed the Hornet as FABULOUS, Teague’s brother adorned the race car with the now famous lettering scheme. By August of ‘51 the Detroit suits and ties were so pleased with his efforts, they decided to host an additional car in the second running of the prestigious Southern 500 in August of 1951.
It was left to Teague to determine who would drive the second factory sponsored Hudson. He set his sights on “baccy” farmer Herb Thomas.
HERB THOMAS
Born April 6, 1923 to a poor farming family in Olivia, North Carolina, grew up working with his hands, doing his best to make ends meet. His experience behind the wheel came mostly from tractors and then timber trucks, delivering lumber to a military base in his home state in World War II. He was a hard working fellow dedicated to providing for his family. That didn’t leave much time for extracurriculars, that is, until he attended his first car race at Greensboro, North Carolina in 1947.
Thomas enjoyed the action so much he borrowed his father’s car without asking to try out racing himself. He came home with $25 and handed it to his father, confessing to his misdeed. However, he proved to himself he was a dandy behind the wheel and fell in love with the thrill. He’d spend his weekends refining his skills running modified at area tracks and started making a few bucks here and there. It became apparent early in his racing adventures that if he took the sport seriously, he could win his way out of poverty.
His mindset proved fruitful. Unlike his contemporaries, Thomas wasn’t much for the drink, the girls or other late night shenanigans known to be favored by fellow drivers, mechanics and promoters. To him, racing was business. That mentality only grew stronger after making his NASCAR debut at Charlotte on June 19, 1949, the very first strictly stock race of the series. Renamed the Grand National division the section year, he took home his first checkers at Martinsville Speedway driving a privately-owned Plymouth the next year.
In the pioneering days of NASCAR Thomas stood out for his skill alone and continued driving a Plymouth into the 1951 season. Depending on availability of vehicles, he’d make the occasional substitution, recording a win in an Oldsmobile that year. As the ‘51 season progressed he found himself near the top of the driver’s championship in points, with a dozen top tens and one win leading up to the prestigious Southern 500, to be held on September 3.
This made him a primary target for Teague to run the second factory sponsored Hudson in the 500 mile event, the 24th of 41 races that would be held that year. The Southern 500 wasn’t just about speed, but stamina, as 27 of that season’s races were only 100 miles, with the second longest race being 250. However, with a total purse worth more than five times that of most other races, going all in was a must.
A WINNING COMBO – SMOKEY & HERB
To ensure Thomas’ own Hudson Hornet, which would wear number 92, was ready for the long distance run and the races that followed, Teague connected him with his own crew chief, Smokey Yunick. (Check out episodes 7 and 8 of Past Gas to get the full story of Smokey!). For the purposes of our tale, we need to recall a bit about him and who he was. Daniel Pierce described Yunick as “A fast-talking, profane, hard-drinking, carousing mechanical genius, in his book Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France.
In short, he had a reputation for bending the rules, or in layman’s terms, cheating. Though he’d describe his efforts more as reading between the lines. In many cases, Yunick would pull a stunt that wasn’t in the rule book, only to find his tactics outlawed soon thereafter. With his winning reputation on the line and as the owner of “Smokey’s – The Best Damn Garage in Town” near Daytona Beach, Yunick was none too pleased with Teague’s choice of a driver — until he watched Thomas run practice laps in the Hudson at Darlington. “That son-of-a-bitch could flat haul ass, and you could see he was in total control,” Yunick said upon watching him.
Despite Yunick’s back pocket methodology, he was undoubtedly an extremely talented mechanic. Paired with Thomas’ flat out driving style, they proved to be quite a set. With Smokey and Herb winning the Southern 500 and the $8,800 first place prize, that’s close to $110,000 today. Not bad for a day’s work. They went on to win four more races in his Fabulous Hudson Hornet 1951, which allowed Thomas to close the points gap and win the 1951 Grand National Championship. Not bad for someone who Yunick once referred to as a dirt poor bush hillbilly.
The Hudson folks up in Detroit were stoked, and by the end of the 1951 model year, the company had built 131,915 cars, including 43,666 Hornets. Year over year, production had grown by some ten thousand units. Surely the success on the race track must have something to do with this growth, right? That was the consensus, and team Hudson doubled down.
HUDSON GOES ALL IN ON RACING
With stock meaning stock, parts had to be readily available off the showroom floor. Working closely with Hudson engineers, Smokey Yunick and Marshall Teague would help develop a variety of parts that would ensure better performance on the track, each available in the Hudson catalog, though they were “designated” for police cars and taxis. Deemed “Severe Usage” parts, these performance enhancers that began to show up for 1952 model vehicles are the first evidence of Hudson’s direct involvement in racing.
The ploy, developed largely by Yunick, ensured each component had a factory part number, making it legal for NASCAR racing. These parts included upgraded axles, shocks and brakes, though the biggest addition for ‘52 was the Twin H-Power carburetor set up. First appearing in fall of ‘51 as a kit and then as a factory installed option the next January, the upgrade included two one-barrel Carter carbs and cast iron intake and exhaust manifolds. This unit eventually bumped the H-145 to 170 horsepower, giving the car a top speed of 107 miles per hour. This was just the beginning of Hudson’s deep involvement in producing factory racing parts.
The 1952 season kicked off with Teague and Thomas finishing one-two at Daytona. However, during that season, Teague had a falling out with NASCAR boss Bill France over competing in another stock car series, the AAA. He left NASCAR for good, winning the AAA championship in his Hudson in ‘52 and ‘54. With Teague’s departure, Herb Thomas became the focal driver for Hudson in NASCAR, though other drivers wisely ran their own, non factory backed Hornets.
In 1952 Thomas would take second in the points to Tim Flock, who also piloted a Hudson. That year the make won 22 of 34 NASCAR Grand National races. The success continued for Hudson in 1953 with Herb Thomas retaking the crown, becoming NASCAR’s first two-time champion.
ONE LAST PUSH
Through this success, the company faced dwindling sales. To combat this, Hudson spent upwards of $15 million developing a new “compact” — for the time — car, the Jet, which debuted for the 1953 model year. The radical costs of developing and tooling their factories put the company in a dire position and the rest of the Hudson line up suffered in terms of outdated looks. Sales continued to slump for Hudson going into 1954, falling to 66,143 cars for the ‘53 model year. MORE: Comprehensive automotive history.
Facing an uncertain future, Hudson pulled out all the stops for the 1954 model year in terms of racing development. The biggest achievement to date came in the form of the 7-X version of the H-145. This was a true racing engine, designed to be driven only with your foot through the floor. Trying to drive the vehicle on the street would prove difficult, despite it being a factory option, as it preferred to run at 4,000 RPMs.
What made the 7-X severe usage engine so fantastic? Yunick and co. helped develop it, resulting in larger valves, high compression head, a hit cam and a dual exhaust manifold. These options pushed the horsepower to 210 and resulted in high torque at low RPMs. This helped the Hornet continue to beat the more powerful V8s that were starting to show up more frequently on the track, including those from Ford, Oldsmobile and Buick. Unfortunately it proved to be too little too late for Hudson.
THE AMC MERGER
With mounting financial troubles, Hudson’s board of directors approved a plan to merge with Nash-Kelvinator in early 1954 to form American Motors Corporation, just before the racing season got underway. However, the news didn’t stop Hudson nor Thomas from giving it their all, as the pair won the season opener at Palm Beach Raceway. With the merger becoming official on May 1, 1954, the writing was on the wall, but Thomas’ foot was still through the floor.
In the last race of the year, on October 10, 1954, Herb Thomas drove his number 92 Hornet to fourth place at the Mid-South 250. In the end, he captured 12 wins that year, but fell to second in the points to Lee Petty, who claimed his first NASCAR championship driving Chrysler products. Just 20 days later, on October 30, 1954, the Hudson plant in Detroit was shuttered and production moved to Nash’s Kenosha, Wisconsin plant.
Hudson’s dominant racing days were over.
In total, the Hornet won 78 of the 149 NASCAR Grand National races between 1951 and 1954, earning titles in ‘51, ‘52 and ‘53, as well as a second place finish in ‘54. The car also won AAA stock car titles in ‘52, ‘53 and ‘54.
The success on the track proved being a winner was not enough to be a seller. For the next few years, Hudsons continued to roll out of the Nash plant, more or less wearing Nash clothes with a Hudson badge. Sales slumped to all time lows and officials within the company abandoned any effort to save the once prestigious brand. For Hudson, racing was a deadend. However, Hudson’s efforts opened the door for others, specifically the Big 3, to see the value of racing. While nearly every American car maker gave NASCAR a go at one point or another, today, the field has narrowed to only Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford.
The final car to bear the Hudson name drove off into the sunset on June 25, 1957 as AMC turned focus to its Rambler and Metropolitan marques. Ironically, Roy D. Chapin, Jr. the son of the original co-founder of Hudson, joined AMC in 1954 and later served as CEO. He was instrumental in acquiring Kaiser Jeep for American Motors, with the Jeep nameplate being the last surviving vehicle brand of the AMC era.
HANGING UP THEIR GOGGLES
While the great ride with Hudson ended with the closure of the ‘54 season, Thomas wasn’t done racing. He switched to GM products for 1955. A nasty wreck took him out of competition for three months before he returned to win his third Southern 500 in his Motoramic Chevrolet. Despite the extended absence he still placed fifth in points that year.
The 1956 season would be his last in competition due to a wreck wrapped in controversy. He won a handful of races as an owner/driver and for a few other owners, including one last rip for Smokey Yunick. With a grip on the points championship, a surprise race was organized in Shelby, North Carolina late in the season by a determined team owner named Carl Kiekhaefer. It’s suggested he put the race together to give his driver Buck Baker a chance to close the gap.
On lap 109 of 200 Buck Baker’s teammate Speedy Thompson tapped Thomas, causing his car to spin and roll before being hit by several other vehicles. Thomas was transported to the hospital in a coma. He was out for the rest of the season.
Speculation soon arose that Kiekhaefer had ordered his driver to cause the wreck to ensure Baker could improve his points standing. While Baker claimed he wouldn’t race if Herb Thomas wasn’t on the track, he did head back to the oval and ultimately won the year’s championship.
For Thomas, he attempted to return, but two starts in ‘57 and one in 1962 proved fruitless. He walked away from NASCAR with 48 career victories in 228 starts, resulting in a 21.05 win percentage — the best of any driver to date with at least 100 career starts.
TEAGUE
As for Marshall Teague, he never returned to NASCAR after winning 7 of the 23 races he entered between 1949 and 1952 before falling out with NASCAR’s boss, Bill France. Teague continued to race in the AAA series through 1958, winning championships in ‘52 and ‘54. He also raced in three Indy 500s.
He met an untimely end on February 11, 1959 while attempting to break the closed circuit speed record at the brand new Daytona International Speedway. Driving the Sumar Special, a reconfigured Indy car on a Kurtis Craft Chassis with a 270 cubic inch Offenhauser engine, Teague reached about 140 miles per hour when the car spun and flipped. He was ejected during the accident and died instantly of his injuries. He was 37 years old.
SMOKEY
Smokey Yunick would continue his racing career as a crew chief, owner, car designer and engineer, becoming a true legend in motorsports history. He’d also author multiple books and claim many patents related to automotive and race track engineering. (Again, go listen to the podcast!). In 2000 he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. The next year he passed away at age 77 after losing a battle with leukemia.
THOMAS
After hanging up his racing goggles following the one 1962 entry, Herb Thomas returned to his roots and started a trucking company and sawmill. He earned a place in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994 and was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR hall of fame in 2013 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2017. Thomas passed away at age 77 in 2000.
His legacy is forever etched in pop culture thanks to a little Hollywood tale called Cars. His story, his victories and defeats, including his career ending crash, all highly influenced the character Doc Hudson in the movie franchise, originally voiced by fellow race car driver Paul Newman. Smokey Yunick also is enshrined in animated lore as Smokey in Cars 3.
The earliest surviving championship NASCAR vehicle is a 1952 Fabulous Hudson Hornet once raced by Thomas. It’s displayed at the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum, which is housed in a former Hudson dealership in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The Hornet is exhibited as an artifact of the earliest days of NASCAR and the birth of factory sponsored racing on American ovals. But it also serves as a reminder that winning on Sunday, doesn’t actually translate to selling on Monday. If it did, we all might be driving Hudson Hornets today.
Watch Past Gas Podcast on the Hudson Hornet
Primary Source Materials
Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France by Daniel S. Pierce
Cars of the Fabulous 50s by James Flammang
Chrome by Brian Laban
The Fabulous Hudson Hornet directed by Tom Quigley
Originally written for Donut Media.
