Robert Arthur Allison, known as Bobby, was born on 3^rd December 1937 in Miami, Florida. During his career as a race car driver his fans loved his warm and effervescent attitude and unstoppable spirit.  He is still, to this day, considered to be one of the greatest race car drivers.  While still in high school at Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School he entered his first race.  When he finished high school he persuaded his older brother, Donnie (who also became a race car diver) and some friends to head out with him in the hope of finding better racing than that which was available in South Florida.  On arriving in Montgomery, Alabama Bobby heard that there would be a race that very night in Midfield.  He won the race, together with two other races that week – he was hooked!  In 1959 Bobby, Donnie and friend, Red Farmer moved to Hueytown, Alabama – the three were later to be nicknamed the Alabama Gang.  Bobby worked as a mechanic and an engine tester while still racing and eventually became a driver in 1962 winning the national championship in the modified special division.

In 1965 he moved to the Grand National Circuit and had his first victory on 12^th July 1966 at the Oxford Plains Speedway.  In total he won 84 races in his NASCAR top division career, levelling with Darrell Waltrip for third place in all-time victories. In 1980 he won the International Race of Champions award, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of fame of America in 1992, also inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993 and was named as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.  His greatest wish was to win the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National championship but this eluded him on many occasions.  In 1970 he came second to Bobby Isaac; again in 1972 he finished a close second to Richard Petty.  Three other years Bobby was to finish second place, in 1978, 1981 and 1982.  He was bitterly disappointed.  Bobby said at the time, “I’ve come so close so many times maybe I’m never going to win a Winston Cup championship.”  In 1983 Bobby found himself once again to be a major contender while driving Buicks for the Charlotte-based DiGard Racing Team, he was on top of the standings.  Darrell Waltrip, once again as he had in 1981 and 1982, started his late-season charge and closed the points but this time Bobby was up for it, he had three consecutive victories at Darlington, Richmond and Dover and a glitch at Rockingham allowed Darrell Waltrip to get close.  In the final two events of 1983 Bobby came third and ninth to wrap up the title.  After securing the championship Bobby said, “I’ve worked hard for a long, long time.  My wife, Judy has worked with me and so many people have supported me over the years.  This is something I have wanted my entire career and today I’m going to celebrate it.  I just thank God for it.” In 1988 he won the Daytona 500 for the third time, this was to be his final victory with his son Davey taking second place, making this the first father/son, first/second victory in the history of the Daytona 500.

Later in 1988 Bobby was to suffer horrendous head injuries after a crash on 19^th June at Pocono Raceway that he survived but was forced to retire from driving in NASCAR.  Further devastation was to come when in 1992 his youngest son, Clifford was fatally injured in a practice crash at Michigan International Speedway and within a year his other son, Davey, died in a helicopter accident at Talladega Superspeedway.

He is married to Judy and has two surviving children, Carrie and Bonnie and he has been actively involved in promoting rail safety for the CSX “Keep on Living” campaign, making appearances at Talladega and Daytona.

References:
Bobby Allison Biography
Bobby Allison – Wikipedia
Davey Allison – Related Biography: Race Car Driver Bobby Allison

Ryan Joseph Newman was the first born child of Greg and Diane Newman.  He was born on 8^th December 1977 in their home town of South Bend, Indiana.  He has a younger sister called Jamie.  Ryan attended Purdue University whilst pursuing a full time career in motor racing and graduated in 2001 with a B.Sc. in vehicle structure engineering making him the only active member of NASCAR to have a degree.   With his engineering background Ryan understands what a car is designed to do, particularly on the racetrack. The combination of being a first class driver and his engineering background is what makes him a respected and successful driver in modern motor sports.

Ryan’s love of the sport started when he was just four years old when he was given his first racing machine, a go-cart.  From this age he went from strength to strength, winning 75 races and two championships in various Quarter Midget classes by the age of ten.  At eleven years of age Ryan won the US Quarter-Midget National Championship and the All-American Midget Series championship at fifteen.  In 1999 he was “Rookie of the Year” after winning the USAC Coors Light Silver Bullet championship, made his sprint debut in 2000and ran the Arca, Busch Cup programme and achieved his first career Sprint Cup pole.

Ryan and his wife, Krissie, operate the Ryan Newman Foundation.  This foundation a has three line mission, firstly to educate and encourage people to spay/neuter their animals and to adopt their dogs and cats from animal shelters, the second line is to educate children and adults about the importance of conservation so the beauty of the great outdoors can be appreciated by future generations and thirdly to provide college scholarship funding through the Rich Vogler Scholarship programme to students interested in auto racing careers. Ryan, himself, received this funding.  The Foundation published a charity book – Pit Road Pets: NASCAR Stars and Their Pets – which included more than forty faces of NASCAR drivers and their pets together with first person stories. 100% of the net proceeds of sales were given to humane efforts.  In March of 2010 a second book was published – Pit Road Pets: NASCAR Stars and Their Pets, The Second Lap.  The Newman family have five dogs that they have rescued and care for.  Ryan helped with funding the North Carolina Humane Society shelter in Catawba County, the county where he once lived.

Ryan is an avid car enthusiast with a collection of fourteen cars, his favourite being a 1948 Buick Roadmaster convertible bought for him by his wife as a birthday present.  He loves to work on and to drive vintage cars especially 1950’s Chryslers.

Ryan has raced in an incredible 266 races since making his debut in 2000, winning 13 with 44 poles, 68 top five and121 top ten to his credit.  In 2003 he finished the season with a series-high of eight wins and eleven poles and because of the high number of poles he gained in this series he became known as “Rocket Man”.

References:

http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/rnewman00/cup/

http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Newman

http://www.ryannewman.org

The heart-racing power, speed and performance of American muscle cars inspire enthusiasts and collectors from all walks of life. Of all the cars that stir the blood, few have the cool of the classic American muscle car, with its racetrack-ready horsepower and handling, freeze-frame good looks, and bad-boy charm. It comes as no surprise that the coolest of our celebrities keep muscle cars in their garages. In this book, stars of football and film, motorcycle racing and rap, TV and BMX open those garages to show off their prized muscle cars. This peek inside the private worlds and personal passions provides insight into the personality of the owner that you won’t see anywhere else. Whether you’re a muscle car enthusiast or simply have interest in seeing the hobbies and passions of these diverse celebrities, this book is a must have.

Muscle Car Dream Garages gives readers a rare glimpse into the worlds of celebrities from all genres… from TJ Lavin from MTV to Thomas DuPont of DuPont Registry to Chris Wilcox of NBA fame and Hip Hop Artist Funk Master Flex. Readers can explore the garages and adrenaline-pumping muscle cars of sixteen different celebrities!

Buy From Amazon
US : Muscle Car Dream Garages
UK : Muscle Car Dream Garages

Just Customz Review

This book is all about the selection of high-profile celebrities and the jaw-dropping collections of American Muscle Cars. It is written by Simon Green, a british born photo-journalist, who left the UK about 5 years ago. His book is full of fantastic shots of the celebrities American Muscle Cars from various angles and is all about the cars and each subjects love for them.

The book covers 16 celebrities from a whole miriad disciplines from DJ’s to Snowboarding all united by the undeniable love for American Muscle Cars. The garages that are explored are listed below;

Funk Master Flex
Gilbert Brown
Ben and Eric Bostfrom
Tina Basich
Erick Dampier
Thomas Dunpont
Colin Edwards
Mat Hoffman
Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy
Billy Lane
T.J. Lavin
Joe Martin
Lonie Paxton
Heath Pinter
Chris Wilcox
Trevor Vines

Each of the chapters give an insight into the how their passion for these cars grew as well a little bit of information about the celebrity themseleves.

About The Author

Simon Green is a British-born photojournalist, art school graduate, and die-hard motorcycle rider whose work has appeared in numerous motorcycle and automotive magazines.

Joseph Herbert Weatherly, known as Joe was born on the 29^th May 1922 in Norfolk, Virginia.  His love of speed and racing started when he was in high school and after returning from the army when the Second World War ended he started to race motorcycles.  From 1946 to 1950 he won three national championships, The American Motorcycle Association (AMA) including the prestigious Laconia Classic 100 mile road race in 1948.  In 1950 he began racing cars in the NASCAR’s Modified Division and in the 1952/1953 season he won 101 races, giving him the championship.  He raced in the NASCAR’s Convertible Division when NASCAR purchased SAFE (Society of Auto Sports, Fellowship, and Education)’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 until 1959 when it folded due to lack of interest.  In1956 Joe moved over to the NASCAR Grand National series (this is now the Sprint Cup) driving cars for Peter DePaolo Engineering and Ford  and it was in that division that Joe really started to enjoy himself.  Joe had a reputation of a man who drove his cars hard and this is shown by the amount of races he ran in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series statistics – he drove in 230 races, had 25 wins, 153 top tens,  with  18 pole positions and 52 did-not-finish results.  Joe Kelly, the long time Richmond radio host and NASCAR aficionado said of Joe,”He was a consummate racer, he could race anything and he could win anything he raced.  Joe was his own worst enemy, he would run a car so hard he sometimes didn’t have anything left by the end of the race.  He led just about every race he was ever in, at some point.  He was a hard driver but finally realised that you’ve got to let these things live.” Not only did Joe drive his cars hard   he lived and partied hard too.  Together with his friend, Curtis Turner, they rented an apartment on Atlantic Avenue that was the place to be the night before the annual Daytona race.  This was their party pad and they entertained many ladies there.  Joe was known for his outrageous behaviour and this gave him the nickname of “The Clown Prince of Racing”.  His escapades included taking the keys and petrol caps of the other drivers before a race started,  riding a mule at one of the Darlington parades, dressing as Peter Pan during practice laps to name just a few of his antics.  Nevertheless, Joe was highly thought of, he has a grandstand named after him at Daytona International Speedway and a museum called Joe Weatherly Stock Car Museum at Darlington Racetrack.

On the 19^th January 1964, during the 1964 season at Riverside International Raceway Joe sustained head injuries during the fifth race.  His head went outside of the car and subsequently hitting his head against the retaining wall.  He was fatally injured.  Seven years later NASCAR made it mandatory for window nets to be used and these nets are still used today in most stock car races

His achievements include three times champion with the AMA (1946 – 1950), NASCAR Modified National Champion (1952 and 1953) and Grand National Champion (1962 and 1963). His awards include winning NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver (1961), being inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame (1998), named as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) and inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.  He has been recognised in virtually every Hall of Fame that is of any consequence.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Weatherly

http://www.joeweatherly.com/Stories.htm

http://www.joeweatherly.com

Fred Lorenzen has been likened to the great chess player, Bobby Fischer, in that he was alone, so far superior to his counterparts that he was his only challenger, a rarity for someone to be so gifted. He is thought to be one of the most capable drivers in NASCAR’s history and at the peak of his career there was nobody harder to beat. Born in Elmhurst, Illinois on 30th December 1934 he was attracted to cars at a very young age, building his first car at the age of thirteen. At eighteen he won the National Gas Eliminators proving himself to be a capable drag racer. He wanted to try out another form of racing, stock car racing, and on entering his NASCAR debut race in 1956 in an untitled race at Langhorne Speedway he won $25 after coming in at 26th with a broken fuel pipe before gaining two further United States Auto Club stock car championship wins in 1958 and 1959 driving his Talarico Bros. built Chevrolet. This was the beginning of an outstanding, albeit seemingly short career. He won twenty six races, had eighty four top ten positions and thirty two poles. He became a full time driver for the Holman-Moody team in 1961 and it was in the southern stock car circuit that Freddie (as he known) that he established his Fischer credentials. In his first season as a factory driver not only did he defeat veteran Curtis Turner to take the victory in the annual Rebel 300 but the way that he did it was truly spectacular – he created a never before travelled groove on the high banks at Darlington and in turn two, driving at 130 mph, he faked high, drove low and somehow passed Turner on the inside. This race gave him his first nickname of “Fearless Freddie”, a name that would be with him forever.

From 1961 to 1967 Freddie broke more records than had ever been seen before or since. Up to that time he was the only driver to win races at all of the southern original superspeedways, accomplishing this feat at Rockingham in 1966 and when he initially retired in 1967 he had won twelve races at superspeedway events. He was the first driver in history to earn over $100,000 in a single season in1963; he had six consecutive wins in1964 and three consecutive wins in the Atlanta 500 from 1962 to 1964. He won five consecutive races in 1964, setting another record, whilst racing against a full complement of factory drivers at the major events. Although this record was broken by Richard Petty in 1967 winning ten consecutive races, these races were not against all of the factory racers and were not all won in major events, some were in minor events. This record was set after Freddie retired and there was a saying in the south that year, “Ole Richard wasn’t doing so good when “Fearless Fred” was running.” Freddie earned the nicknames of “The Elmhurst Express”, “The Golden Boy”, “Fastback Freddie” and so on.

One of the most talked about stories about Freddie is his 1966 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he drove a #26 Ford owned by Junior Johnson. The car was aerodynamic, with the front end sloping down, the roof lowered, the side windows narrowed, the windscreen lowered and the tail kicked up. Because Ford was boycotting NASCAR the season Freddie was allowed to drive this very illegal car as NASCAR hoped that it would bring up the lowered attendance caused by Fords boycott. Other drivers called it “Juniors Joke”, “The Yellow Banana” or “The Magnafluxed Monster”. Freddie crashed it while leading the Dixie 500 on the 139th lap.

In 1964 Freddie saw his close friend, Fireball Roberts, involved in a crash at Charlotte on 24th May, receiving horrific injuries that claimed his life on 2nd July and when asked if the Roberts tragedy had an impact on him he replied, “Yep … did,” and when asked how he reacted to the loss he replied, “It hurt, he was a very good friend of mine, very close. I saw it happen. I saw it coming, the accident. He didn’t have a fire suit on.”

Freddie returned to NASCAR in 1970 to drive a Dodge Daytona for Ray Fox in the World 600 and raced a few more events that year. 1971 saw him with the Ray Nickels/Paul Goldsmiths #Plymouth and part way through the season he swapped to do a practice run for the Woods Brothers prior to the Southern 500 and during this run he was badly injured. He joined Hoss Ellington in 1972 driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo and his last start came at Martinsville Speedway. He didn’t win during his 1070 to 1972 comeback but settled for a couple of runner ups at Dover and Darlington. When asked if he was happy with his comeback he replied, “Not really but you’ve got to take into consideration, the big thing is age. The older you get, the slower you get. That’s my opinion, 25; 27 years old… that’s the peak of your career in auto racing.”

The King himself named Freddie as one of NASCAR’s five greatest drivers, and one of the ten toughest drivers. His awards include as well as his championships named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) and Inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He is a member of more than one Hall of Fame and no doubt will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame before too long.

There is no doubt that Freddie was a rare athlete, always ready to sign an autograph, asking the fans their name and signing it – Best of luck, “John”, Fred Lorenzen “28”. He was also a man’s man, tough, determined, and when the checkered flag was near he would not give an inch.

Freddie is now approaching 76 years of age and is still a tremendously busy man being involved in the stock market, living off the dividends of his portfolio.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Lorenzen

http://www.fredlorenzen.com/

http://fireballroberts.com/Real_Top50.htm

Darel Dieringer was born on the 1^st June 1926 in Indianapolis, Indiana. He had a short Grand National career, making his debut in 1957 and at first he had little success. In 1961 and 1962 he had no wins although he took part in twenty one races.  He finished the seasons at 35^th and 33^rd respectively.  In 1963 he moved from John Zink and John Whitford to drive for Bill Stroppe and he won the last race of the season, the Golden State 400 at Riverside, California.  He started in twenty seven races and ended the season at seventh in the point’s race.  In 1964 he had to wait until the second from the last race for his second career win at Augusta, Georgia. This season he finished eleventh in the points race.  1965 was an even better year for Darel when he won his third career race in the Daytona 500 qualifying race and he won the pole for the Daytona 500 but unfortunately he was unable to turn this into a win leaving him placed third in the overall points race.  The following year, 1966 was a very good season for Darel, giving him his fourth career win at Monroe, North Carolina and yet another win at Weaverville, North Carolina and a sixth and most treasured win driving Bud Moore’s Mercury to victory at Darlington when he beat Richard Petty.  Starting nineteen races in 1967 he amasses an amazing seven pole positions including the Firecracker 400 at Daytona and the South Eastern 500 at Bristol.  He had his seventh and final win of his career at Wilkesboro, North Carolina and finished twelfth in the point’s race.  In 1968 he started eighteen races, gained no wins but had one pole position at Weaverville, North Carolina.  He finished twenty first in what was to be his final full time NASCAR season.  It seems that Darel ran a limited schedule from 1967 to 1969 with little success and he had just one race in 1969.  He returned to NASCAR in 1975 for the National 500 at Charlotte and the Talladega Superspeedway before retiring.  Throughout his career Darel raced in 181 races over a twelve year period, gaining seven wins, an incredible seventy nine top ten positions and nine poles.

He was a popular driver, both with his fans and his colleagues and this earned him the title of NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver in 1966.  He was also a test driver who in 1965 helped Goodyear to develop the tyre inner tube that was to become one of the most important tyre safety innovations.  Together with Richard Petty, the two gutsy drivers purposely drove over pieces of pipe, sharpened at one end and mounted onto a steel plate at speeds up to 170 mph to test how the car would react.  They both found that after the tyre failed the car was still controllable and they were able to bring in the cars smoothly and safely into the pits

Sadly Darel died on 28^th of October 1989 at the age of sixty three.

His son, Darel “the Demon” Dieringer is continuing with the family tradition of racing by being part of local Indiana short track racing in the Super Truck Division of the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) now the Indy United Racing League (IURL), winning many top 5 points finishes and several top 5 Event finishes. He is a co-owner and drives for RMM.

References:

http://www.legendsofnascar.com/Darel_Dieringer.htm

http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Darel_Dieringer

http://www.historicracing.com

Cale Yarborough was not only one of the greatest stock car drivers to have lived but he was also an  accomplished sportsman, gaining a scholarship in football and was a Golden Glove champion.  He taught himself to fly in a Piper Cub aeroplane, learned to parachute and is reputed to have wrestled alligators, he’s an action man!

Born on 27^th March 1939 in Timmonsville, South Carolina William Caleb Yarborough was the eldest of three sons to Julian and Annie Mae Yarborough.  His father encouraged his sons by telling them that they were able to do anything if they put their minds to it.  Julian would take his sons to the stock car races at Florence and Sumter and this was the beginning of Cale’s love of racing.  At the age of eleven Cale went to the fairly new speed palace near Darlington, bunked in under the fence to watch the second Southern 500 and was able to watch the likes of Lee Petty and Fireball Roberts in action – an enviable opportunity for him.  In high school Cale played semi professional football and was a boxing champion, he also worked as a crew member for Bobby Weatherly and his Palmetto Racing team and when Bobby discovered that Cale could drive he encouraged him to get behind the wheel to take a few practice laps.  Before long Cale was building his own car, a 1935 Ford which he drove at the quarter-mile track at Sumter, finishing third in his first heat race.  Together he and Bobby Weatherly built a car to enter the 1957 Southern 500 with the intention of Cale driving it. When NASCAR discovered that he was only seventeen they asked for his credentials back but for Cale not to be disappointed Bobby entered the car as the driver, sneaking Cale into the car instead of him before the race.  Cale qualified 42^nd and managed a few laps before being disqualified by the officials. Cale ran his debut race in 1958, driving the #Pontiac for Bob Weatherly where he started at 44^th position and finished at 42^nd and this was the beginning of what turned out to be a brilliant career.  He had 83 wins in thirty one years; this placed him at fifth in the all time NASCAR winners list.  He was the first, (the second being Jimmie Johnson who went on to win his fourth consecutive championship in 2009) to win three consecutive Winston Cup Championships, 1976, 1977 and 1978.  He won the Daytona 500 race four times and in 1984 he was the first driver to qualify for the Daytona 500 whilst driving at a top speed of more than 200 mph.  His other awards are also impressive being:- NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver Award (1967), three times National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year (1977, 1978, 1979), IROC V111 champion ((1984), International Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee (1993),  National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame Inductee and Motorsports Hall of Fame of America Inductee (1994),  Court of Legends Inductee at Charlotte Motor Speedway (1996), Talladega Walk of Fame Inductee (1996), Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers (1998).  He is the only Cup driver with over five hundred starts to finish all of his races himself without a relief.  He said of this, “I never had a relief driver during my thirty years of racing and that’s one record I’m most proud of”.

Cale ran his last season in 1988 in an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and retired at the end of the year to spend more time with his wife, Betty Jo Thigpen who he married in 1961 and his three daughters, Julie, Kelley and B.J.

During his working life he has been not only a race car driver but has had a logging company, a turkey farm and has owned Cale Yarborough Honda in Florence, South Carolina for the past twenty five years.

Cale was not only famous for his record three consecutive championships but also for an important incident of NASCAR history.  In 1979 during the Daytona 500 Cale went beneath Donnie Allison in the final lap, resulting in them both wrecking out.  A fight ensued between Cale, Donnie and his brother Bobby Allison that was televised and viewed by millions, this, some say, ingrained NASCAR into the National consciousness and started the sport into a permanent American sports fixture in both  south and in north America because before this incident sock car racing was primarily a southern sport.

Reference:

http://en’wikipedia.org/wiki/Cale_Yarborough
http://www.taurtoisemotorsports.com/eighies/Cale.html
http://www.examiner.com/nascar/five

Born Kurtis Thomas Busch, Kurt, as he is known, together with his brother, Kyle, also a race driver, is a third generation NASCAR race car driver.  He was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on the 4^th August 1978 and after graduating at Durango High School he enrolled at the University of Arizona to gain a degree in Pharmacy.  From the age of six Kurt accompanied his father, Tom, to the race track where he was able to drive go-carts. When he was fourteen years old Kurt had his first driving experience, driving a Dwarf car at Pahrump Valley Speedway. He won his first race in Dwarf competition at the Las Vegas Speedway Park while he was still an underage teenager, this was his second race.  It was obvious that Kurt was a natural race driver and together with his father he competed at western tracks covering Utah to Southern California and in 1994 Kurt won ten consecutive races at ten different race tracks.  This was impressive as it was only his first year as a driver.

His break came when Christ Trickle, a fellow race car driver, was gunned down by a mysterious assailant and the Star Nursery team had to look for a replacement driver for the #70 team and in 1997 Kurt gained national exposure while competing for the first time in the 1997 Winter Heat Series at Tucson Raceway Park.

In 2004 the “Chase for the Cup” points system was introduced and Kurt won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Championship where he finished just eight points ahead of Jimmie Johnson.  Following a Nationwide Series win in 2006 he became one of only twenty-one drivers to have a win in  the Sprint Cup Series, Camping World Truck Series and the Nationwide Series, all three of NASCAR’s top divisions.

2005 Kurt’s season was cut short after being cited for reckless driving after being pulled over by the police on suspicion of drink driving.  This allegation of drink driving later proved to be false but not before Roush Racing suspended him for the remainder of the season. It was also reported that he was aggressive and abusive to the police officer.  He was given a ticket and ordered to complete fifty hours of community service.

Kurt’s aggressive behaviour has got him in trouble with NASCAR and other drivers several times, both on and off the track.  He was hit in the face by one driver who said that he was deliberately trying to “wreck” him.  He has had run-ins with Greg Biffle, Kevin Hardwick and Tony Stewart to name but a few, overheard cursing a NASCAR official  and is booed by fans who don’t like his aggressive driving.  Fortunately, Kurt has had a successful career and with that has brought him to the public through talk shows, photo shoots, charity events and a busy social calendar and this will encourage him to become an ambassador for the sport in the future.

Kurt married his girlfriend, Eva Bryan, on 27^th July 2006 in Virginia.  The marriage ceremony was recorded and aired on the national television.  Eva enjoys racing and the couple travel together each week to the race tracks.  Kurt and Eva currently have two Terriers named Ginger and Lola. The family and pets all appear on the NASCAR Pets calendar.  Kurt is an avid fan of The Chicago Cubs and Bears.

References

http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/kbusch00/cup/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt Busch

http://www.kurtbusch.com/

Tony Stewart is currently sponsored by Old Spice/ Office Depot driving a Chevrolet that is owned by Margaret Haas.  He is with the Stewart-Haas Racing team after being released one year early in July 2008 from his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing and his crew chief is Darian Grubb. He switched from Joe Gibbs Racing after his old team changed from running Chevrolets to Toyota.  Tony is very loyal to Chevrolet and the move enabled him to continue with his choice of car in the then Haas CNCRacing team.  Sponsorship came when Office Depot relocated from the #99 Roush Fenway team and Tony bought the Old Spice sponsorship, he also bought half of the team and Haas CNC Racing was renamed Stewart-Haas Racing making him the highest paid driver in NASCAR.

Tony was born on 20^th May 1971 in Columbus, Indiana.  He started racing Karts from an early age and successfully won a World Karting Association championship in 1987.  Until 1991 he raced three-quarter-midgets then moved up to the United States Auto Club (USAC) series with the help of his friend and sponsor, Mark Dismore and became the Rookie of the Year that year.

His racing career is pretty impressive with wins such as the Hut Hundred in 1993, the National Midget Series championship in 1994 and in 1995 the first driver to win the USAC’s version of the Triple Crown, gaining championships in all three of the USAC’s major divisions, National Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown and highlight of the year winning the Hut Hundred and 4-Crown Nationals.  He raced in the Indy Racing League from 1996 to 2001, taking part in 26 races to win 3, with 10 top 5 and 15 top 10 places and going on to NASCAR in 1999 to take part in 417 races to win 38, with 151 top 5 and 244 top 10 places.

He has earned the nickname “Smoke” by firstly, on his own admission, by “not being very good about not slipping the right rear tyre” during dirt racing and then for blowing his engine often in his 1997 championship run.  He was once told by team owner, Joe Gibbs that he was no longer allowed to race outside of his Sprint Car obligations so he got around this by entering a USAC Midget race under the name of “Smokey Jones” and once he had won the feature he revealed himself as Tony Stewart to the crowd.  He has raced many Modified races under the name of “Smoke Johnson” in 2010.

Tony is involved with many other activities such as:  “Prelude to the Dream”,  a sponsored race by Sprint that features many NASCAR and NHRA drivers such as Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and others and the event has raised over 4 million dollars for NASCAR and other driver charities including The Victory Junction Gang Camp.

He formed his own charity, run by his mother, in 2003, known as the Tony Stewart Foundation, a charity whose mission is to raise money for organisations that help to care for critically ill children and to help support for the families of race car drivers that have been injured in Motorsports.

He owns various racetracks, has appeared on the television and radio where he has hosted and co-hosted various programmes appeared in commercials, videos and has been included in Electronic Arts’ NASCAR sim racing series from 2000 to the present day

Tony is single and still lives in the house that he grew up in.  Natalie, his sister runs the Tony Stewart Fan Club together with his mother Pam Boas.

References:
http://ww.nascar.com/drivers/dps/tstewart00/cup/
http://www/tonystewart.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony Stewart

David became known as the “Silver Fox” because of his calculated approach to racing, staying in around eighth or ninth position, saving his car for the final sprint to the checkers.  NASCAR said of him “he is the model of NASCAR efficiency during his career.” The only person who came close to him was Richard Petty and between them both they came in an astonishing one-two win no less than sixty three times.

David Gene Pearson was born on the 22nd December 1934 in the “moonshine” town of Whitney, South Carolina.  His parents worked at the local mill, as did most of the locals, and did their best to provide for their family.  David left school after the 10th grade and went to work at the mill with his parents but he was soon disillusioned with this and left there to work in a car body shop with his brother.  He saved the money he earned to buy a Ford coach which he modified to convert it into a street rod racing it on dirt tracks until finally rolling it over, wrecking it.  His mother gave him some money to buy another car to build using this car to race on dirt tracks and in 1952 he won $30 in an outlaw class race.  Success followed success and before long he had attracted the attention of the racing community, including John Littlejohn, at nearby Spartanburg.  From an early age David had a love of racing (he used to climb a tree at the local race track to see the races) and he once said “I’d always been interested in cars and I decided right then that was what I wanted to do with my life.”  David was content with the fame he found locally and was not really looking for fame but others thought differently.  Friends and family started to raise money to buy a car that David could compete in the NASCAR Grand National where in 1960 he competed in a limited number of races and was named the Rookie of the Year.  David was unable to race in the 1962 season because he had bent the frame of his own race car but as luck would have it Darel Dieringer was unable race in the inaugural World 600 at Charlotte because of a dispute and John Littlejohn recommended that Ray Fox hire David to drive his car in place of Darel.  After having a successful test drive David went on to win the race and later in the season he won the Firecracker 250 at Daytona and the Dixie 400 at Atlanta making him the first man to win, in a single year, on three of NASCAR’s Big Four tracks.  His phenomenal NASCAR career had begun!

David became known as the “Silver Fox” because of his calculated approach to racing, staying in around eighth or ninth position, saving his car for the final sprint to the checkers.  NASCAR said of him “he is the model of NASCAR efficiency during his career.” The only person who came close to him was Richard Petty and between them both they came in an astonishing one-two win no less than sixty three times.

David has an incredible list of awards:  three times Grand National winner 1966, 1968 and 1969, NASCAR “Rookie of the Year” 1060, named as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers 1998, the National Motor Sports Press Association’s Hall of Fame inductee 1991, the International Motorsport Hall of Fame inductee 1993, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Court of Legends 1998 and has been nominated for the NASCAR Hall of Fame 2011.  He holds the record for being the first man to drive a stock car over 190 mph at Daytona (190.029mph).  There is a report about him in the South Carolina Concurrent Resolution 4658 which states “Whereas, never flamboyant and a man of sterling character, and despite a racing career that spans twenty seven years, and includes five hundred seventy four races, one hundred five victories, three championships, and accomplishments too numerous to mention, David Gene Pearson never forgot his Southern roots or lost the humility that dwells in the heart of a true Southern gentleman and son of the soil.”

David retired from racing in 1986 and was widowed in 1991.  He has three sons, Larry who raced in NASCAR and was the 1986 Busch Series champion, Ricky who was general manager and a crew chief for Buckshop Jones/Buckshop Racing when they won two Busch Series races and Eddie.

David Gene Pearson resides in Spartanburg, South Carolina comfortably living with his father, Lennie H. Pearson, his sister, Josephine Pearson Brown and among his many loyal friends.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pearson_(NASCAR_driver)

http://allyouneeded.com/20110/10/15nascar-legend-david-pearson-the…

http://www.experiencenascar.com/flashback/David_Pearson.HTML