Joe Weatherly

Infobox NASCAR driver
Name = Joseph Weatherly
Birthdate = birth date|1922|5|29 | Died = death date and age|1964|1|19|1922|5|29
Birthplace = flagicon|USA Norfolk, Virginia
Cause of Death = racing crash
Best_Cup_Pos = 1st - 1962, 1963 (Grand National)
Cup_Wins = 25
Cup_Top_Tens = 153
Cup_Poles = 18
First_Cup_Race = 1952 Southern 500 (Darlington)
First_Cup_Win = 1958 Nashville 200 (Nashville)
Last_Cup_Win = 1963 unknown race (Hillsboro)
Last_Cup_Race = 1964 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside)
Awards = Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)

1962 Grand National Champion

1963 Grand National Champion

1952 and 1953 NASCAR Modified National Champion

3 American Motorcycle Association championships

Years_In_Cup = 12
Total_Cup_Races = 230

Joe Weatherly (May 29, 1922 - January 19, 1964) was a two-time NASCAR championship driver.

Personality

Weatherly was wounded while serving for the United States armed forces in North Africa during World War II. A German sniper's bullet struck him in the face in two teeth. He would use the scars to become known as the "Clown Prince of Automobile Racing".

Weatherly enjoyed behaving outrageously. He once took practice laps wearing a Peter Pan suit. Moreover, he frequently stayed out partying until the early hours, usually with fellow driver and good time buddy Curtis Turner [http://www.yourfunshop.com/home/archive3/index3.html] .

Motorcycle career

He won three American Motorcycle Association (AMA) nationals between 1946 and 1950, including the prestigious Laconia Classic 100 Mile road race in 1948. In 1998 he was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

NASCAR career

Weatherly began racing stockcars in 1950. "Little Joe" won the first modified event that he entered. He won 49 of the 83 stockcar races that he entered that season. In 1952 he won the NASCAR Modified National crown, and he again won 49 of 83 stockcar races that he entered. Weatherly won 52 more races, and won the Modified National crown again.

Weatherly had partial interest in what would later be called Richmond International Raceway from 1955 to 1956.

In 1956 he moved up to the NASCAR Grand National series (now Sprint Cup.) He drove a Ford car for Pete DePaolo Engineering.

In 1957 he drove for Holman-Moody.

Weatherly won NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award in 1961.

He won two consecutive championships in 1962 and 1963 for Bud Moore Engineering. Moore didn't have enough resources to run the full season, so Weatherly frequently "bummed a ride".

Death

He died on January 19, 1964 from head injuries sustained in a racing accident at the fifth race of the 1964 season at Riverside International Raceway. His head went outside the car and struck a retaining wall. He is the only reigning champ of what is now known as the Sprint Cup to be killed on the track while defending his title. (1992 champion Alan Kulwicki died in 1993, but he was killed in a plane accident.)

This tragedy eventually led NASCAR to mandate the window net, seven years later in 1971. Window nets are used in most stockcar racing series to this day.

He is buried in Norfolk, and has (as a final joke) Riverside Raceway on his headstone.

External links

* [http://www.joeweatherly.com/ joeweatherly.com]
* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=weathjo01 Driver's statistics at racing-reference.info]
* [http://www.yourfunshop.com/home/archive3/index3.html 1964: Tragic year for NASCAR]
* [http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/hofbiopage.asp?id=58 Motorcycle Hall of Fame]