Marv’s Garage: Headbutting steel at 121mph

Eddie Pagan snotted the guardrail at the 1958 Southern 500 in Darlington at 11ty miles per hour, but he survived basically without a scratch. First run in 1950 on the 2.2km speedway at Darlington, South Carolina there was no bigger prize in the early days of American stock car racing than the Southern 500.

Typically run in hot September weather over 364 laps it was a real torture test, with average speed even in the 50s in the 100mph bracket. Even after Big Bill France Snr opened his flash new super-speedway at Daytona, Florida and put on a swag of legendary races, many regarded the Southen 500 as the one to win well into the 1960s.

But back to that hot September day at Darlington in 1958. 80,000 spectators had turned up to watch the best in the biz duke it out and they weren't disappointed. Having scored pole alongside two-time NASCAR champion Joe Weatherly and Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, Pagan ran hard in the top 2 spots in NASCAR's premiere race for 136 laps until a blown tire sent him on a hard right over the guardrail and out of the track.

Amazingly, he got out without serious injury (unlike Red Kagle who did a similar thing in 1961 and lost a leg to the armco). Between 1954 and '63 Pagan took 4 wins, 38 top 10s, and 6 pole positions in his career (1954-1963). But the Darlington crash is how many remember his time in NASCAR. And as for who won the 58 Southern 500? Having been parked in the no.1 spot for 194 laps of the race, Fireball Roberts in the no22 Chevy bested Buck Baker and Shorty Rollins for the win.