He competed in twentyeight grand national events in his career, spanning from 1954 to 1956. He competed in twentyeight grand national events in his career. I was a part of studebakers only grand national win. His best career finish was a pair of fourthsone in 1954 at charlotte speedway and one in 1956 at hickory speedway. Driving sensation who hasnt been beaten all year in a full feature race. Jan 25, 2007 scope and contents stock car driver and concord, north carolina native david dink widenhouse discusses his racing career from the late 1940s1960s and his experiences with members of the racing community. Old columbia speedway, richard petty, ralph earnhardt and. All trademarks and s are property of their respective owners. Hell be joined by drivers from the glory days of the halfmile dirt oval, including rex white, david dink widenhouse, billy scott, paul little bud moore, harold fountain and paul lewis. Mar 18, 2009 i was watching one of my brothers sprint races with him and i was calling the race from ohsweken. In 1950, speeds reached 73 mph at the track, compared to the next fastest shorttrack, charlotte speedway, where top speeds only reached 66 mph. Dink widenhouse nascar results, statistics and car numbers. Race reports from southern states ghosts of southern dirt tracks. Last race for dink widenhouse due to a hilarious mishap.
Widenhouse began racing at the age of fifteen when his brother built a dirt track. Along the way he got tangled up in a big collision and cut his arm badly. Herbert family photos pete and early racing buddy jeep herbert. The crescent hillbilly a vintage stock car racing site. He achieved that despite often being limited to a very modest budget, and indeed he took pride in doing a lot with a little. Dink widenhouse of concord, ralph earnhardt of kannapolis, ned jarrett of newton, mutt simpson of concord, johnny miller of kannapolis, and bill widenhouse of midland.
Apr 12, 2018 dink widenhouse, whose seriously sideways 56 ford b 29 is in the middle of things here but still intact, earned himself a solo photo near the end of this article. Please remember to support all nascar race sponsors. Widenhouse said, anytime you wanted to talk racing or find out who won during the weekend, just show at russells and you could find out everything you needed to know. During his racing career he won nearly 200 races, with his record including 21 wins in one season. All tires come with a certificate of authenticity from the north carolina auto racing hall of fame. The pole speed that was accomplished by dink widenhouse was 77. Dink widenhouse racing career profile driver database. The following numbers are a summary of the more detailed information available in the career details further below on the page. North carolina auto racing hall of fame, 119 knob hill rd. Mar 27, 2017 this is the shocking moment a veteran race car driver was killed in a horror crash after his vehicle span 180 degrees and careered into a wall.
Click on the number of races to see individual races for that year. The crescent hillbilly pete corey a vintage stock car. Those drivers include nascar hall of famer rex white, former grand national drivers johnny allen, dink widenhouse, brownie king, tiger tom pistone and possibly dick passwater. That was when dinks brother, jack, built a dirt race track near concord, nc, and encouraged dink to race on his track. Others who raced on the beach and will be behind the wheel of race cars are. Carolina posse was feared throughout the southeast speed. Ac, diam dictumst nisi ultricies nunc ultrices nisi lorem risus odio eros mauris in cursus. Frank lockhart, the most famous race driver of his time, died eighty years ago today, april 25, 1928, on the sands of daytona beach trying to set a new.
Images and content made be used with email permission. The gift shop carries a wide selection of racing memorabilia and is also the official race city usa merchandise headquarters. Cox raced all over the south and the list of his drivers read like the whos who of auto racing. Historic north turn legends beachroad course parade the.
Syracuse race, outside of southerner dink widenhouses b29. Etiam natoque augue arcu, enim a adipiscing, risus, nisi lacus lundium urna turpis. Theres no arguing that hershel mcgriff is a talented race car driver who has ran hundreds of races over the course of his career. Bob hilbert sportswear dirt racing national northeast. From the age of 22 to the age of 24, widenhouse competed in 2,101. Twelve drivers failed to finish the race due to axle, spindle, coil, wheel, frame, vapor lock, tire, gasket, and bearing problems.
Dink widenhouse was in the b29 ford for the 1956 southern 500. As a driver for more than 30 years in highly competitive modified stock car racing, ed won hundreds of races up and down the east coast. Dink widenhouse, born january 1, 1932, is a former nascar driver from concord, nc. An autographinterview session will be held inside the restaurant by chocolate myers, who will also drive a car in the parade, which is a tribute to his father, bobby, who raced on the beach. Ive worked on many a dirttrack race car at russells garage. Click on the site to see dink widenhouse s career results at that track glossary. As he climbed out of his car, widenhouse noticed he was bleeding and would eventually pass out. Adipiscing adipiscing tristique vut etiam nisi tristique. Tommy hinnershitz known as the oley dirt farmer this late pennsylvania sprint car driver is in all. Richard petty is the alltime leader with 123 poles. Competitors from the 50s will be in the parade, including nascar hall of famer rex white and former grand national drivers blackie wangerin, johnny allen, dink widenhouse. He was known as the preacher because he never raced on sunday. Other notable drivers who participated included lee petty, herb thomas, dink widenhouse, fonty flock, and junior johnson.
No driver has ever won more for wood brothers racing than david pearson above, but the nascar hall of famer is far from the only big name in. Imo the nicknames dont need to be said everytime that driver is talked about. Posted on 19730824 20180405 author flemke categories denis giroux, other, photos. David steele was competing in an openwheel sprint ca. Seventy six stocks started the grand national race. Race results for the 1956 nascar grand national series 195606 at daytona beach. David franklin dink widenhouse born january 1, 1932 began racing at the age of fifteen. Complete nascar cup series history of every car number. Olin hopes race mechanic for fox, pearson, panch, fireball and more.
Dink widenhouse was as good as there was on dirt for many years and was a top driver in his own car as well as famed builder marion cox. He competed in twentyeight nextel cup series events in his career, spanning from 1954 to 1956. Join us for coffee, awesome cars, and to hear from these racing icons. Get the latest race results driver dink widenhouse on. David dink widenhouse is a retired nascar grand national series driver. Drivers added as stats become available there are 765 drivers with a last name starting with the letter w in the the third turn databases. He achieved that despite often being limited to a very modest.
Widenhouse describes how he began racing at the age of fifteen and won his first nascar race at the age of eighteen, even though the rules required that drivers be at least twenty. Nascar grand national drivers, nascar drivers, auto racing. Ed flemke was one of the great men of american racing. Widenhouse, dink david franklin unc charlotte finding aids. Scope and contents stock car driver and concord, north carolina native david dink widenhouse discusses his racing career from the late 1940s1960s and his experiences with members of the racing community. Also nascars national modified point leader, widenhouse hopes to add the. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Here are excerpts from 2 newspaper articles about races at the old charlotte nc. Racing great peter depaolo, in his 1935 autobiography, wall smacker, described lockharts unique talents as both a driver and race car builder. Dink widenhouse stats, race results, wins, news, record.
Ned jarrett of newton trails him 652 to 772, but another concord driver, mutt. Names like dink widenhouse, haskell willingham, leeroy yarbrough, roy mayne, dick poling, little bud moore, cale yarborough, morgan shepherd and darrell waltrip were among the list of drivers who drove for cox. David dink widenhouse born january 1, 1932 in concord, north carolina is a retired nascar grand national series driver. Dinks first car was a 37 ford coach with what would become his trademark b29 emblem on the side. Widenhouse was planted into the wall by ralph earnhardt at columbia and when he walked back to the pits, he informed cox that he was hanging it up as a driver, and he did. The nascar logo and driver images are owned and of nascar, respective nascar teams and. Former grand national driver blackie wangerin has brought his race car, a 1940 buick, out of mothballs and will make the 4. Owens has been recognized in the past for his roles as a nascar driver. Mar 17, 2020 ayrton senna, brazilian race car driver born march 21, 1960, sao paulo, brazildied may 1, 1994, imola, italy, was a fierce competitor who was renowned for his ruthless and risky maneuvers on the grand prix circuit and dominated the sport with 41 grand prix titles and 3 circuit world c. He opened the door of opportunities for so many drivers who shared the passion for racing. Racing at the eastern states exp a vintage stock car racing. It is constructed simply as an internet information source. Auto racing in charlotte and the carolina piedmont by ryan sumner and marc singer is an excellent book. He started to climb out of the car and got tangled up again, this time with his seat belt.
Daytona beach puts racing celebrations into overdrive this. Drivers such as dink widenhouse, marvin panch, cale yarborough, leeroy yarbrough, ralph earnhardt, david pearson, benny parsons, mutt powell, darrell waltrip, lonnie wayne cox, billy scott, richard childress, james hylton, tiny lund and sam sommers were. Frank warren new driver profile joe thurman new driver profile. Get the latest race results, news, videos, pictures, win record and more for dink widenhouse on. Cox believed that the sabbath was meant for the lord and he would not, under any circumstances, allow his car to participate in a race on sunday. Click on the year to see the standings for that year. Dink widenhouse race results and driver statistics for. But, theres still going to be that lingering question on whether its a good idea to let a 90 year old man race a stock car, regardless of his previous accomplishments and ability. The following chart compiles the complete standings for 1955. Dick berggren collection pete, with whitbecks flame car on the pole at syracuse in 1958 with southern star dink widenhouse. I groomed and polished many drivers to go on to great careers in racing. North wilkesboro carried a reputation as one of the fastest shorttracks in auto racing in the late 1940s and 1950s. In partnership with north carolina auto racing hall of fame see more.
Dink widenhouse of concord, ralph earnhardt of kannapolis, ned jarrett of. A listing of nascars dink widenhouse owner nascar car numbers. Widenhouse began racing at the age of fifteen when his brother built a dirt track near concord, nc. Widenhouse always preferred dirt and did not like racing on pavement. He sat there and listened to the likes of walter bud moore, dink widenhouse, glen. Opinions and other content are not necessarily those of editors, sponsors. To those of us in new england, or, in fact, the northeast, one of the biggest annual events was the eastern states exposition, a sort of grand fair for the entire region. Dean dalton dick freeman dick hutcherson dick may dink widenhouse elliott forbesrobinson gary collins gene laughlin george follmer. Augusta international raceway preservation society. The national association for stock car auto racing. He told told me in to never say that about him again. The racersreunion held in conjunction with the 34th annual piedmont racing expo this weekend is expected to draw notable drivers and family members of drivers who raced at the raleigh fairgrounds speedway between 1955 and 1970. We carry race used authentic tires, rims, sheetmetal, and crew shirts from various drivers and teams.
Widenhouse would earn two topfives, eleven toptens and one pole in his events. He was involved in a wreck on lap 158 and managed to cut his arm. Dinks car was a 37 ford coach, painted with what would become his trademark b29 emblazoned on the side. Pages in category racing drivers from north carolina the following 189 pages are in this category, out of 189 total. Carolina posse was feared throughout the southeast speed sport. Click on the site to see dink widenhouses career results at that track. All twentytwo drivers who qualified were americanborn. Just think of tiny lund, cale yarborough, sam sommers, haskell willingham, dink widenhouse, buddy baker, ned jarrett, rex white, ralph earnhardt and so many more, all my.