Most of the fans in the early years of the sport saw the track as notorious for being a great venue to watch races between the legendary racers of the time.
Twenty-one-year-old Fireball Roberts qualified with a lap speed of 73.266 mph on the dirt track for his first-ever Grand National pole, but engine problems dropped him out of the running.
Fonty Flock started in the third position and led the most laps in the race with 104, but engine troubles also ended his day.
Ultimately, Leon Sales led eight of the 200 laps to become the victor, the fourth NASCAR driver to win an event in his debut race.
Herb Thomas, driving his 1952 "Fabulous" Hudson Hornet, won the pole, led 192 of the 200 laps, and grabbed the victory.
Herb Thomas started on the pole for the 1953 Wilkes 200 with his record-setting qualifying speed of 78.424 mph on the dirt surface.
Fonty Flock managed to work his way up from the fourth starting position to the front and led three laps before dropping back and finishing third.
Baker ran strong and led the most laps in the race with 80 out front before falling back into the sixth position at the finish.
The race was called three laps early because of a serious crash involving Lou Figaro; his car flipped, and the roof caved in.
Figaro was transported to a hospital in Winston-Salem, but he died the following day from a skull fracture and brain damage suffered in the crash.
[2] The top ten finishers of the race were Tim Flock,[2] Billy Myers,[2] Jim Paschal,[2] Herb Thomas,[2] Ralph Moody,[2] Dink Widenhouse,[2] Allen Adkins,[2] Lee Petty,[2] Bill Blair,[2] and Whitey Norman.
[2] Some other notable racers were Fireball Roberts,[2] Buck Baker,[2] Gwyn Staley,[2] Junior Johnson,[2] and Tiny Lund.
[3] Carl Kiekhaefer was a notable crew chief to attend this race; he was also the owner of the #300C Chrysler vehicle driven by Buck Baker.
Fortunately, this practice was discarded by NASCAR after the 1963 Sandlapper 200 where Frank Warren would take his single-lettered car to a 13th-place finish (after starting in 18th).