Joe Weatherly

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.

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