5 More Auto Racing Facts that sound made up (but are true)

 5 More Auto Racing Facts that sound made up (but are true)

By Brian H Cotnoir

1.)  Carl Edwards 1st two wins in NASCAR happened the same weekend

Carl Edwards had a fantastic start to his 2005 NASCAR Cup Season.   He made his full-time debut in the NASCAR Busch and Cup Series for Roush Fenway Weekend and did something that no other driver in the Series has done scored his first two wins in the same weekend.   Edwards won the Busch Series race at Atlanta and then the next afternoon beating Jimmie Johnson by 0.02 seconds.

2.)  Dick Hagey drove a Volkswagen Beetle in a NASCAR race

What if I told you that one race some driver decided to enter a Volkswagen Beetle, and no I'm not talkinga bout the Disney film "Herbie: Fully Loaded".   In 1953, Philadelphia native Dick Hagy entered a Volkswagen Beetle in a race at the infamous Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania.  Hagey qualified 32nd out of 38 entrants in the race and scored a surprising 19th place finish!   The only drivers names I recognize that he beat that day were Buck Baker, Fonty Flock, and Al Keller (who actually won a NASCAR race in a Jaguar the next year).    Hagy would never race in NASCAR again.  

I could not find an actual picture of Hagey's car

3.)  Norwegian Gil Andersen was the first European to compete and sit on Pole at the Indy 500

For the majority of its 100+ year history, the Indy 500 has remained mostly American affair.  In the 1960's the race was won twice by to Britons (Jim Clark and Graham Hill) and since the 80's the race has been won by drivers from Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, Canada, among other countries.    However, the first non-American born driver to compete in the Indy 500.    The Norwegian born driver had immigrated to the United States and got married to an American citizen.    Andersen was the only non-American driver to compete in the Inaugural Indy 500.   He finished 11th in the race completing all 200 laps.  The next year he actually at on the pole for the Indy 500 with an average speed just under 81 MPH.   Andersen would wreck out of the race on lap 80.  Andersen would take part in the first six running's of the Indy 500, with a best career finish of 3rd during the 1915 race.

It's amazing how much IndyCar has changed in 110 years

4.)  Kyle Petty never won a Cup race for Petty Enterprises

Petty is a name synonymous with NASCAR and Winning.   Lee Petty, his son Richard, and several other drivers made Petty Enterprises the winningest team in NASCAR winning 268 races in NASCAR's Cup Series between 1949 and 2008 (a record that has since been eclipsed by Hendrick Motorsports).  However, despite being born into a racing dynasty Kyle Petty never saw the same level as success as his Hall of Famer father and Grandfather.   Kyle only scored 8 wins in his NASCAR Career, but none of them were driving for his families team.  He scored his first two wins driving for the famous Wood Brothers Racing, and then scored 6 wins in the 1990's driving for owner Felix Sabates.

The only race Kyle Petty ever won driving for Petty Enterprises was his only ARCA race in 1979 at Daytona International Speedway.  Kyle's best finish for Petty Enterprises was a 2nd place at Dover in 1982.

5.)  The Wood Brothers have never won a driver championship.

Even more shocking than that, did you know that the Wood Brothers has never won championship?   That's right the oldest team in the sport, who has been operating in some capacity since 1953 and has scored 99 wins, but yet does not have a single championship to their name.  David Pearson won 43 races for the Wood Brothers between 1972-1979, but he only ran part-time for the Wood Brothers.  He had scored his 3 drivers championships driving for Cotton Owens and Holman-Moody Racing.  The best position finished by the Wood Brothers Racing in the final standings was a 6th place with Morgan Shepherd in 1994.