Robert Joe Welborn, better know as "Bob", was born on the 5th of May 1928 in Denton, North Carolina. Bob was one of the last NASCAR pioneers competing against the like of Fireball Roberts, Junior Johnson, Lee Petty and others of the same ilk and he was a leader who always forced a challenge as a member of the "Pontiac Pack" in the early 1960s He ran in 183 NASCAR Grand National Cup Series races over a period of thirteen years, giving him nine victories, 102 top ten positions and seven poles. He never ran a full season in the NASCAR Grand National Cup series. His first three NASCAR Grand National Cup races took place in 1952 at Martinsville Speedway when he finished 81st in the points positions.

A photograph of the late Bob Welborn; a retired NASCAR Cup Series driver (Wiki Commons)

In 1953, driving for Julian Petty and J. O. Goode, he took part in eleven events, giving him two top ten and six top ten finishes. Driving for Julian Petty, Bob Griffin and George Hutchens in 1954 he gained one top five and three top ten positions. Finishing fourth in the 1955 points Bob ran thirty two out of forty five events in cars belonging to Julian Petty and himself, taking twelve top five and twenty five top ten positions and gaining the pole position. He only ran in six of a possible fifty six events in 1956, giving him two top ten positions and a final points position of eighty fourth. He won the NASCAR Convertible Division championship in 1956.

His first success in the Grand National Series came at Martinsville in 1957 but he didn’t actually drive over the finish line - it was Lewis "Possum" Jones who took over half way through the race but NASCAR always credits the driver who started the race. For the second time he won the NASCAR Convertible Division championship.

In 1958 Bob had four straight wins plus one, ten top five, fifteen top ten finishes and gained one pole position and finished at 149th in points because he only took place in eighteen of a possible fifty one events. He won his third straight NASCAR Convertible Division championship in 1958. He won the qualifying race in 1959, giving him the pole position for the 1959 Daytona 500 and had five poles in total along with three wins during this season. Over a course of four years, 1956 to 1959, he ran in a total of 111 events in the NASCAR Convertible Division, with nineteen victories, sixty nine top five and eighty seven top ten finishes together with eighteen pole positions. His last race, the Pennsylvania 200, was in 1964 at Lincoln Speedway. His awards include:- Inductee into the National Motorsports Press Associations Hall of Fame in 1982 and named s one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

Sadly, Bob died on the 10th August 1997 at the age of sixty nine. He left behind his wife, Novella

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