Wilbur Rakestraw
Wilbur Rakestraw (June 6, 1928 – May 7, 2014) was an American racing car driver. He was born in Dallas, Georgia into a family of racers. His career included racing in the SRE (Southeastern Racing Enterprises) organization as well as the 11 NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) and 30 Convertible races.[1] Rakestraw was known for his toughness and thoughtfulness of other drivers due to one incident at Lakewood Speedway in 1957 when he drove through a fence and into the infield lake to avoid T-boning another driver who had crashed in front of him.[2] After he retired from racing, Rakestraw went to work as a mechanic and later became a service manager for a local grading company.[1][2][3]
Career
Wilbur Rakestraw began his career in 1956 racing at his hometown track, the Dallas Speed Bowl.[2] He drove a 1937 Ford Coupe with the number 999 in honor of Henry Ford’s first race car, which had been driven by Barney Oldfield.[4] He continued racing in the SRE circuit at various local tracks including Fairburn, Gainesville, Lakewood, Cornelia, Canton, Macon, and the Peach Bowl.[4]
Rakestraw had 30 starts[3] at 19 different tracks including the last Beach Race in Daytona Beach, Florida in the NASCAR Grand National Division (now NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) from 1956-1961.[4] He placed a top five finish at Columbia, South Carolina and 6 other top ten finishes at various different tracks.[4] He started in three Daytona 500 Speedway races where his best finish was 22nd at the inaugural event in 1959.[4] He raced in several NASCAR Convertible Series events in 1958 and 1959, where he picked 3 top fives and 4 top tens.[4] His best unofficial finish was a second place drive in a non-points race at Daytona behind Junior Johnson and immediately ahead of Fred Lorenzen.[1]
Rakestraw was a member of the Midwest Association of Race Cars (MARC) (now ARCA), where he collected numerous wins and top ten finishes.[2] Due to lack of funds, Rakestraw retired from racing after the 1961 season.[4] In a 2008 interview, Rakestraw said "I was considered a very good race driver. A lot of my friends hated to see me get out of it. If not for financial problems, I’d have been there until I got too old. I enjoyed it as much as anybody could."[1] In 2008, Wilbur Rakestraw was inducted into the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame (GRHOF).[4]
Accomplishments
- 30 starts in the NASCAR Cup and Convertible series from 1956-1961
- 1 top five and 6 top ten finishes in the NASCAR Grand National Division
- 3 top five and 4 top ten finishes in the NASCAR Convertible Series
- 3 Starts in the Daytona 500 (22nd-place finish in the inaugural event)
- Numerous wins in the MARC series
- 2008 GRHOF Inductee
Death
Rakestraw died on May 7, 2014 of congestive heart failure.[1]
References
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