Billy Wade (racing driver)

Billy Drew Wade (February 28, 1930 – January 5, 1965) was an American stock car racing driver.

Billy Wade
BornBilly Drew Wade
(1930-02-28)February 28, 1930
Houston, Texas, U.S.
DiedJanuary 5, 1965(1965-01-05) (aged 34)
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Cause of deathInjuries from racing accident
Awards1963 NASCAR Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
70 races run over 3 years
Best finish4th (1964)
First race1962 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race1964 Jaycee 300 (Augusta Speedway)
First win1964 Fireball Roberts 200 (Old Bridge Stadium)
Last win1964 The Glen 151.8 (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles
4 41 5

Career

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Billy was the 1963 NASCAR Rookie of the Year for car owner Cotton Owens. He finished the season with 14 Top 10 finishes in 31 races. He won four consecutive races the following year for Bud Moore Engineering between July 10 and July 19, 1964. The four wins give Wade the sole distinction of being the only driver to accomplish this feat with victories at Old Bridge Stadium on July 10, the road course at Bridgehampton, N.Y on the 12th, a July 15 win at Islip Speedway in New York, and his fourth (and final) win at Watkins Glen. Dick Linder also followed his first victory at Dayton with a win at Hamburg; but Wade is the only driver to string four victories in a row once he got his first.[1] He also accumulated five poles and 25 Top 10 finishes in his 35 starts. As of 2017, he is the most recent driver in NASCAR to get his first pole and win in the same weekend.

On January 5, 1965, Wade was performing a tire test at Daytona International Speedway, when a tire blowout caused his car to crash in the west turn, killing the 34-year-old Texan.[2]

Racing career results

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NASCAR Grand National Series

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NASCAR Grand National Series results
Year Team/Owner No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 NGNC Pts Ref
1962 Luther Costales 01 Ford DAY

18

46th 2,008 [3]
James Turner 24 Pontiac NWI

10

MAR

8

BOW

19

1963 Cotton Owens 5 Dodge RIV

7

DAY

29

DAY

41

PIF

16

ASH

7

ATL

13

BRI

8

RCH

4

GRE

10

SBO

13

MAR

7

NWI

9

DAR

10

CLS

24

ATL

8

DAY

19

BRD

12

BRI

13

GRE

18

FAI

2

COL

6

ASH

5

SPR

4

DAR

28

MAR

6

CLS

33

SBO

19

OCC

21

RIV

33

16th 14,646 [4]
Bill Church 0 Chevrolet BOW

15

Mark Hurley 61 Ford BOW

23

1964 Cotton Owens 6 Dodge CON

15

4th 28,474 [5]
5 AUG

3

JAC

10

Rex White 4 Mercury RIV

13

Bud Moore Engineering 1 DAY

10

DAY

6

RCH

3

BRI

10

ATL

12

ASH

3

PIF

6

COL

4

NWI

8

MAR

33

DAR

7

CLS

5

ATL

8

BIR

3

PIF

6

DAY

20

OLD

1

BRD

1

ISL

1

GLN

1

BRI

22

FAI

19

ASH

26

HUN

6

COL

10

DAR

6

RCH

14

MAR

9

NWI

4

CLS

37

HAR

16

AUG

4

References

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  1. ^ Jayski. "All Time NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Winners". ESPN. Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  2. ^ Kahn, Bernard (January 6, 1965). "Wade killed in test run". Daytona Beach Morning Journal.
  3. ^ "Driver Billy Wade 1962 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  4. ^ "Driver Billy Wade 1963 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  5. ^ "Driver Billy Wade 1964 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
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