Charlie Blanton (December 29, 1935 – October 17, 2018) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race car driver who raced from 1973 to 1978.[1]
| Charlie Blanton | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | December 29, 1935 Gaffney, South Carolina, United States | ||||||
| Died | October 17, 2018 (aged 82) | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 3 races run over 3 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 82nd - 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | ||||||
| First race | 1973 World 600 (Charlotte Motor Speedway) | ||||||
| Last race | 1978 American 500 (North Carolina Motor Speedway) | ||||||
| |||||||
Career
editThis driver participated in 634 laps of racing action - the equivalent of 814.3 miles (1,310.5 km).[1] He would earn a total of $3,135 in his total racing career ($14,644.93 when adjusted for inflation) while starting and finishing in 27th place on average.[1] He appeared in the January 1970 issue of Popular Mechanics alongside Tiny Lund, Buck Baker, Randy Hutchison, Marty Robbins, and Jim Vandiver.[2]
One of Blanton's more notable non-Winston Cup Series performances was at the 1971 Florida Citrus 250; a NASCAR Grand American Series event where Blanton finished in fourth place. The race took two hours and twenty-nine minutes to finish.[3] While never winning at the Winston Cup Series level, Blanton did exceptionally well on dirt tracks in the other series; he managed to finish in second to David Pearson at the 1972 Bold City 200 in Jacksonville, Florida.[4]
Blanton was the winner of the 1973 Daytona ARCA 300 race. His primary car in the NASCAR Cup Series would be the #59 Chevrolet sponsored by Mr. Danny Queen.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c Charlie Blanton racing information at Racing Reference
- ^ Trans-Am Stars of NASCAR & GT Racing at Google Books
- ^ Blanton at the 1970 Florida Citrus 500 at Jeff Droke
- ^ Blanton at the 1972 Bold City 200 at Grand National East
- ^ Charlie Blanton sponsor information Archived 2012-03-20 at the Wayback Machine at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet