This is the fourth in a series of profiles on the five members of the Class of 2015 of the NASCAR Hall Of Fame. The five will be inducted in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Jan. 30, in a ceremony to be broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network, Motor Racing Network Radio and SiriusXM Satellite Radio.
Joe Weatherly’s time in NASCAR’s premier series was short, just two fulltime seasons.
Joe Weatherly’s time in NASCAR’s premier series was short, just two fulltime seasons.
But
what an impact the Norfolk, Virginia, native had on NASCAR racing in those
brief, 24 months.
Weatherly,
previously a winner of American Motorcyclist Association and NASCAR modified
titles, claimed back-to-back premier series championships in 1962-63. He posted
25 victories in 229 starts before his untimely death in January 1964 at
Riverside (California) International Raceway.
“He
would have been as good as any that’s been along,” said one of Weatherly’s
early car owners, the late, fellow Virginian Junie Donlavey. “He had quick
reflexes and good equipment. He was just a natural born driver.
“He
would have been right there with all the greats. He was that good.”
Weatherly
also was one of the sport’s characters, a one-of-a-kind practical joker whose
antics off the racing surface endeared him to fans and fellow competitors and
earned him the nickname “Clown Prince of Racing.” A friendship quickly
blossomed with NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Curtis Turner, another
larger-than-life figure. The 5 feet 4 inch Weatherly and the lanky Turner made
the perfect Mutt and Jeff pair.
They
raced hard and – according to legend – partied just as wide open. Both were
reputed to have been black-listed by rental car companies for racing and
wrecking numerous cars.
“They
were fearless on the track but also fearless as far as their habits and
lifestyles,” said NASCAR Productions archivist Ken Martin in a Nov. 27, 2014 National
Speed Sport News feature written by Ben White. “No one loved to throw a
party more than Curtis. Joe was more the comedian and Curtis loved a good
laugh.”
Earl
Swift, writing in Norfolk’s Virginian-Pilot in 2007, remembered
Weatherly as “a rough-and-tumble Southern rogue. Weatherly was the archetype of
the early NASCAR hero, an inveterate practical joker and hell raiser.”
No
surprise, Weatherly was voted the premier series’ Most Popular Driver in 1961.
Joseph
Herbert “Joe” Weatherly was born May 29, 1922. He served in World War II – as
did his later car owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Bud Moore – with the 809th
Aviation Battalion Engineers of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Discharged in November
1945, Weatherly raced motorcycles from 1946 through 1950 winning a pair of AMA
championships as well as the 1948 Laconia (New Hampshire) Classic that resulted
in his posthumous induction into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 1998.
“Little
Joe,” as he’d became known, switched to stock cars telling a reporter for Consumer
Guide, “I like having something between my head and the ground when I
crash.”
Weatherly
proved to be a fast learner on four wheels. Between 1952 and 1953, he won 101
NASCAR Modified races as well as the division’s championships in 1953.
Weatherly’s first premier division start came in Darlington Raceway’s 1952
Southern 500. He finished 16th driving Donlavey’s Hudson.
Weatherly’s
initial premier series victory came on Aug. 10, 1958 in the inaugural race at
Nashville Speedway. He drove a Holman-Moody prepared Ford convertible in the
“Sweepstakes” event that was open to both hard and soft top cars. Weatherly was
no stranger to the open top cars winning 12 times in NASCAR’s short-lived
convertible division.
After
winning the opening race of the 1961 season in Dr. Bradford “Doc” White’s Ford,
Weatherly gave his competitors a taste of NASCAR’s future. Racing in just 25 of
the schedule’s 52 events – most of them in Moore’s No. 8 Pontiac – Weatherly
posted nine victories, good for a fourth-place championship finish behind
champion Ned Jarrett, a NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2011 inductee.
The
duo stepped up for a full campaign in 1962. Weatherly again won nine times
including his Daytona 500 qualifying race which, at the time, carried NASCAR
premier series points. With 45 top-10 finishes in 52 starts, the 40-year-old
Weatherly beat NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty by more than 2,000 points to
become Virginia’s only premier series champion. Moore also captured his sole
owner’s title.
Moore
reduced the team’s schedule in 1963 forcing Weatherly to beg and borrow cars
from fellow competitors – frequently driving what politely could be called
semi-competitive equipment. Weatherly persevered, winning three times and again
bested Petty, who counted 14 trips to Victory Lane. What would be his last
victory and 20th with Moore came at Hillsboro, North Carolina on Oct. 27.
True
to form, Weatherly quipped, “I had greater luck (than Petty), rather than
greater skill. I was lucky to get rides when I needed them.”
Weatherly’s
luck ran out several months later in Southern California. Laps behind due to an
early race mechanical problem, his No. 8 Mercury left the track entering
Riverside’s Turn 6 and skidded into a steel retaining wall. Weatherly, without
a shoulder harness or window net, died when his head struck the barrier.
Weatherly
was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. He previously was
inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, National Motorsports Hall of
Fame and National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame. Darlington
Raceway’s stock car racing museum was christened in Weatherly’s name upon its
opening in 1965.
I was watching the Riverside race that day across the track from turn 6. Joe drove straight into the wall and never made an attempt to turn the steering wheel. He probably had a heart attack coming up through the esses.
ReplyDeleteJoe was my Dad's Best Friends growing up next door to him, a friendship that lasted even after the War when my Dad was also drafted. My Dad died 4 years ago yesterday but he told many stories of Joe and their "pranks" as kids. One was a guy that ran them off from playing football on a vacant lot. Dad said Joe put his 34 ford up on just rims and disced that lot to get even. When Joe was banished from Va. for a traffic incident, Dad and a couple of friends would go see him there. He often would see my Grandfather waiting on his morning bus ride to the Naval Station and stop, pick him up and take him to the base. We used to go to the Norfolk Speedway which Joe owned to see him race there as well as Chinese Corner Speedway. Dad never talked about the tragic wreck in Norfolk in which one of the passengers died. He told of him racing down 26th st. and would often race people while he would drive in reverse. Dad was on the back of a motorcycle with Joe and they ended up wrecking in a ditch. When I wanted a "Bike" he told me no and the story of what could happen even if you are Great on one. His death ended my Dad's Nascar interest and would never watch a race but he never stopped me from it. I remember us going to the funeral home when I was 15 but Dad did not let me go in. I suspect he didn't want me to see his reaction..
ReplyDeleteI've got one question: Norfolk Speedway and Chinese Corner Speedway were the same track? If they didn't, where was Norfolk Speedway?
ReplyDelete