Not only was Tiny Lund a big man, standing around 6’ 6", with a big grin he had an even bigger heart. Tiny was a very generous man, always willing to give to others who had less than him, he loved fishing, practical jokes and children. More than once Tiny was seen to give a trophy he had just won at a main event to a child. There are numerous records of practical jokes that he played on his fellow drivers and that they played on him both on the track and of it.

Family photo of Tiny Lund and son, Chris Lund, taken late 1972 or early 1973. Submitted to Wiki Commons by Chris Lund, Tiny's son.

DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund was born on the 14th November 1929 in Harlan, Iowa. He began racing on motorcycles as a youngster before moving over to midgets and sprint cars and eventually settled for "Modifieds", an area of racing where he had a first-rate reputation as a good, hard racer who never faltered as he worked on perfecting his skills on a wide range of Iowa short tracks, he practiced on them all - dirt, clay, flat and high banks.

After a stint in the United States Air Force where he served in the Korean War Tiny decided to go down South and try the competition in NASCAR racing. In 1955 he drove in his first NASCAR Sprint Series race at Lehi , Arkansas in the Lehi 300. The race didn’t go as well as expected, it was dominated by Speedy Thompson in his Pete DePaolo-owned Ford and although Tiny qualified in the middle his race ended when he flipped his car over on Lap 65. He broke his arm and sustained bruising. Not to be daunted he joined Guz Holsmueller in 1956 and their best result was to be placed fourth at Columbia, South Carolina. He also ran a few races for A.L. Bumgarner who he stayed with in 1957, together with races for Petty Enterprises he ran with Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles. 1958 saw him become a journeyman, he won a couple of pole positions at Gastonia and Hillsboro.

In 1959 he raced with Chevrolets that he owned but again with no major success and had no more rides until 1963. In February of 1963 he was at Daytona hoping to find an owner who needed a driver when his friend, Marvin Panch was involved in an accident when testing an experimental Ford- powered Maserati when the car swerved out of control, turned over and burst into flames.

Tiny saw the flames and, with no regard to his own safety he ran to the inferno and pulled his friend out of the wreckage. Later, when Marvin was in hospital he asked if Tiny would drive his car in Daytona 500. Tiny said he would and with the agreement of Glen Wood he went on to qualify fourth in the first qualifying heat and finished sixth in the second heat. Tiny started from twelfth position at the beginning of the race. Fireball Roberts was in pole position with Fred Lorenzen outside of him. Lorenzen led the race with Tiny working his way towards the front. The Wood brothers had a plan and that was to take one less pit stop than usual. Tiny eventually managed to take the lead very late in the race and again Fred Lorenzen took the lead but had to pull into the pit after running out of gas.

Tiny’s car also ran out of fuel but he managed to coast to the winning line to take the 1963 Daytona 500. This victory was just what he needed for his flagging career. He also received that year the Carnegie Medal of Honour for his courageous actions when saving his friend, Marvin. He went on to become the NASCAR Grand American division champion in 1968, 1970 and 1971, two times winner of the Daytona Permatex 300, in 1964 and 1970. His awards were to be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994 and he was named as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

Tiny also won the Most Popular Driver title in the Grand National American Series a total of four consecutive years: (1969, 1970, 1971 and 1972). There is a Tiny Lund Grandstand at Daytona International ~Speedway and Harlan, his home town have a local dirt-track International Motor Contest Association Modified race, named the Tiny Lund Memorial with over 200 entrants annually for this popular event.

On the 17th August 1975, after a semi-retirement Tiny entered the Talladega 500 as an alternate after Grant Adcox’s car was withdrawn. During the seventh lap Tiny and J.D. McDuffie collided and they both spun down the track, leaving chaos behind them and rookie Terry Link was spun straight into the drivers’ door of Tiny’s car. Terry Link’s car burst into flames and whilst people were pulling him out of the wreckage Tiny was pronounced dead at the scene. Buddy Baker won that Talladega 500 race but there was no celebration. When Buddy was told the news he just dropped to his knees. The entire NASCAR racing community were saddened by the death of one of their most colourful stars. He was aged just forty five years. Dozens of drivers, crew chiefs and team owners attended the funeral at the small St Michael Lutheran Church in Moncks Corner, South Carolina and many tough men wept openly. He left a widow, Wanda and a son Christopher aged five years.

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Wikipedia
Tiny Lund's Webiste

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