Curtis Turner
Encyclopedia
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
driver. In addition to his success in racing, he made a fortune, lost it, and remade it buying and selling timberlands. Throughout his life he developed a reputation for drinking and partying. In 1999, he was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a sports hall of fame located in Portsmouth, Virginia. Founded in 1972, it moved to its current location in 2005...
.
History
He was born in Floyd, VirginiaFloyd, Virginia
Floyd is a town in Floyd County, Virginia, United States. The population was 432 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Floyd County. The Town of Floyd was originally named Jacksonville as the surrounding county was formed during the tenure of President Andrew Jackson...
and began his racing career in 1946 when he finished 18th in a field of 18 contestants in a race at Mount Airy, North Carolina
Mount Airy, North Carolina
Mount Airy is a city in Surry County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,388.-History:Mount Airy was settled in the 1750s as a stagecoach stop on the road between Winston-Salem and Galax, Virginia. It was named for a nearby plantation...
. However, he rebounded and won his next race. During his career, he won 360 races in several different racing series, including 22 in the NASCAR Convertible Division
NASCAR Convertible Division
The NASCAR Convertible Division was a division of convertible cars early in NASCAR's history.-History:NASCAR purchased SAFE 's all-convertible Circuit of Champions “All Stars” circuit late in 1955. Most drivers did not make the transition to NASCAR's sanction. NASCAR ran the division from 1956...
in 1956, and 17 wins in the NASCAR Grand National series (now Sprint Cup). From 1950 to 1954, he drove for Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
being billed as the Blond Blizzard of Virginia. He switched to driving Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
s in 1954. He eventually acquired the nickname of Pops, allegedly because of the way he would "pop" other drivers on the track.
Turner drove a Holman Moody
Holman Moody
Holman Moody was an auto racing team, racecar manufacturer, and marine engine manufacturer. The team built virtually all of the factory Ford racecars of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. It owned racecars that competed in NASCAR, drag racing, ocean boat racing, rallys, and sports car racing. The team...
-prepared Studebaker Lark
Studebaker Lark
The Studebaker Lark is a "compact car" which was produced by Studebaker from 1959 to 1966.From its introduction in early 1959 until 1962, the Lark was a product of the Studebaker-Packard Corporation. In mid-1962, the company dropped "Packard" from its name and reverted to its pre-1954 name, the...
in the 2-hour compact car race accompanying the inaugural United States Grand Prix at Sebring, Florida, on December 12, 1959. He finished second overall, trailing the disc-brake equipped Jaguar 3.4 of Walt Hansgen
Walt Hansgen
Walt Hansgen was a racecar driver from the United States. His racing career began as a road racing driver...
.
Accomplishments
He is noted for several other racing accomplishments:http://www.fireballroberts.com/curtis_turner1.htm- The only NASCAR driver to win two Grand National races in a row from the pole by leading every lap (Rochester, New York and Charlotte, North Carolina in July 1950)
- The only win in NASCAR for Nash — Charlotte 150 — April 1, 1951
- The only driver to win 25 major NASCAR races in one season driving the same car in each of them (in 1956 — 22 were won as the #26 car in the convertible division, the other three, including the 1956 Southern 5001956 Southern 500The 1956 Southern 500 was a NASCAR Grand National race that took place at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina on September 3, 1956...
, were with a top welded on.) - The only driver to win a major NASCAR race that was red-flagged because his car was the only one still running (at the Asheville-Weaverville, North Carolina track on September 30, 1956.)
- Turner conceptualized, secured financing for, and built Charlotte Motor SpeedwayCharlotte Motor SpeedwayCharlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...
in 1960 before being forced out by his business partners. - The first driver to climb Pikes Peak in less than 15 minutes (in a 1962 Ralph MoodyRalph MoodyRalph Moody was one of early drivers of NASCAR. However, he eventually became the most famous as team co-owner of Holman Moody.-Background:...
Ford — the actual time was 14 minutes 37 seconds for the 14 mile course.) - The first winner of the American 500 at Rockingham, North Carolina (in a 1965 Woods BrothersWood Brothers RacingWood Brothers Racing is an American auto racing team that competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series. The team was formed in 1950 by the sons of Walter and Ada Wood, thus the Wood Brothers...
Ford.) - The first driver to qualify for a NASCAR Grand National race at a speed greater than 180 miles per hour (1967 Daytona 500, driving #13, a 1967 Smokey YunickSmokey YunickHenry "Smokey" Yunick was an American mechanic and car designer associated with motorsports. Yunick was deeply involved in the early years of NASCAR, and he is probably most associated with that racing genre...
ChevroletChevroletChevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
.) - 2006 inductee of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaMotorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaThe Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a Hall of Fame and museum for American motorsports legends. It was originally located in Novi, Michigan and it moved to the Detroit Science Center in 2009.-Museum:...
- Turner's 1967 Daytona 500 car designed by Smokey Yunick., seen to the right, was the inspiration for the car driven by the Talladega Nights character Reese Bobby. The car was banned by NASCAR thus starting Smokey's tenuous relationship with NASCAR.
Labor Union
Being able to see the racing industry from the business end, he developed a feeling that drivers deserved a better deal for their role in the sport. Together with Fireball RobertsFireball Roberts
Edward Glenn Roberts, Jr. , nicknamed "Fireball", was one of the pioneering race car drivers of NASCAR.-Background:...
and Tim Flock
Tim Flock
Julius Timothy Flock was one of NASCAR's early pioneers, and a two time series champion. He was a brother to NASCAR's second female driver Ethel Mobley and NASCAR pioneers Bob Flock and Fonty Flock.- NASCAR career :...
, he attempted to organize a union for them, the Federation of Professional Athletes, in 1961. According to The Washington Post: "His aims are for better purses, a share in broadcasting rights and retirement benefits for the drivers." Unfortunately for him, NASCAR has never looked favorably on an organized union for the drivers, and Turner was banned for life.
Turner continued to race under other sanctioning bodies, including the Midwest Association for Race Cars (MARC), even promoting his own 100-mile event on the dirt at Lakewood Speedway
Lakewood Speedway
Lakewood Speedway was a race track located south of Atlanta, Georgia, in Lakewood, Georgia, just north of the eastern arm of Langford Parkway . The track held many kinds of races between 1919 and 1979, including events sanctioned by AAA/USAC, IMCA, and NASCAR. It was a one-mile dirt track which...
, Georgia, in October 1961. Tim Flock finished second in that event. Turner and Flock sued NASCAR and its president Bill France "seeking $200,000 punitive damages each and restitution for loss of earnings." "Attorneys for the drivers claim the ban represents a violation of state right to work laws because test driving contracts involving $150 a day plus expenses were canceled as a result of the action. NASCAR and France's attorneys contended the ban isn't a right to work violation because it doesn't involve an employer-employe relationship. They said Flock and Turner are individual contractors and not employes of NASCAR or any track."
NASCAR comeback
However, the ban was lifted after four years in 1965, and Turner returned to NASCAR racing. Bill France was in a bind and needed to mend some fences. 1962 and 1963 NASCAR-points champion Joe WeatherlyJoe Weatherly
Joseph "Joe" Weatherly was a two-time NASCAR championship driver. Weatherly was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009 after winning NASCAR's Grand National championships in 1962 and 1963, three A.M.A...
was killed driving a Mercury at Riverside, California on January 19, 1964, and his star driver Fireball Roberts
Fireball Roberts
Edward Glenn Roberts, Jr. , nicknamed "Fireball", was one of the pioneering race car drivers of NASCAR.-Background:...
had died following a fiery crash on May 24, 1964, at the World 600 in Charlotte. The track owners wanted Turner back. "Turner was slated to drive for a newly-organized group, The Grand American Racing Association, organized July 31 in Sumper, S.C. Turner was due to compete in the first of 17 scheduled races at Concord, N.C. Aug 21." France was also short of cars. The Chrysler factory were boycotting NASCAR over the organizing body's ban of the Hemi engine, and Richard Petty
Richard Petty
Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...
went drag racing in the first half of the 1965 season. The Ford factory were also in dispute with NASCAR over the SOHC engine, which faced a joint NASCAR-USAC ban on December 17, 1965.
Turner, then 41, soon notched the first victory of his comeback in a Ford at the inaugural American 500, at the North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina, on October 31, 1965, winning a purse of $13,090. Turner lost his Ford ride in 1966 when: "Ford withdrew its factory backed racing teams from competition when the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing and the United States Auto Club ruled April 6 that Fords equipped with an overhead cam engine must carry 427 additional pounds." Turner started the 1966 season in a Ford, but with the Ford-factory withdrawal, he signed to drive a Chevrolet for Smokey Yunick
Smokey Yunick
Henry "Smokey" Yunick was an American mechanic and car designer associated with motorsports. Yunick was deeply involved in the early years of NASCAR, and he is probably most associated with that racing genre...
out of Daytona Beach, Florida.
Death
He died in an airplane crash near Punxsutawney, PennsylvaniaPunxsutawney, Pennsylvania
Punxsutawney is a borough in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, United States, northeast of Pittsburgh. In 1907, Punxsutawney and Claysville boroughs were consolidated and incorporated as Greater Punxsutawney. A high-grade soft coal was mined in the surrounding region...
on October 4, 1970. The crash also killed golfer Clarence King. "Police said the aero-commander 500 piloted by Turner crashed shortly after taking off from the Dubois-Jefferson Airport en route to Roanoke
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
."
See also
- Buck BakerBuck BakerElzie Wylie Baker Sr. , better known as Buck Baker, was an American race car driver.-Racing career:...
- Tim FlockTim FlockJulius Timothy Flock was one of NASCAR's early pioneers, and a two time series champion. He was a brother to NASCAR's second female driver Ethel Mobley and NASCAR pioneers Bob Flock and Fonty Flock.- NASCAR career :...
- Fireball RobertsFireball RobertsEdward Glenn Roberts, Jr. , nicknamed "Fireball", was one of the pioneering race car drivers of NASCAR.-Background:...
- Bruton SmithBruton SmithOllen Bruton Smith is a promoter and owner/CEO of NASCAR track owner Speedway Motorsports, Inc. He was ranked #207 on the Forbes 400 list with an estimated worth of $1.5 billion in 2005, and fell to #278 in 2006. He is divorced with four children...
- Joe WeatherlyJoe WeatherlyJoseph "Joe" Weatherly was a two-time NASCAR championship driver. Weatherly was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009 after winning NASCAR's Grand National championships in 1962 and 1963, three A.M.A...
- Smokey YunickSmokey YunickHenry "Smokey" Yunick was an American mechanic and car designer associated with motorsports. Yunick was deeply involved in the early years of NASCAR, and he is probably most associated with that racing genre...