Billy Wade (racing driver) explained

Billy Wade
Birth Name:Billy Drew Wade
Birth Date:28 February 1930
Birth Place:Houston, Texas, U.S.
Death Place:Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Death Cause:Injuries from racing accident
Best Cup Pos:4th (1964)
Cup Wins:4
Cup Top Tens:41
Cup Poles:5
First Cup Race:1962 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
First Cup Win:1964 Fireball Roberts 200 (Old Bridge Stadium)
Last Cup Win:1964 The Glen 151.8 (Watkins Glen)
Last Cup Race:1964 Jaycee 300 (Augusta Speedway)
Awards:1963 NASCAR Rookie of the Year
Years In Cup:3
Total Cup Races:70

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

Career

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. 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 crashin the west turn, killing the 34-year-old Texan.[1]

Racing career results

NASCAR Grand National Series

NASCAR Grand National Series results
YearTeam/OwnerNo.Make1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556575859606162NGNCPtsRef
1962Luther Costales01FordDAY1846th2,008[2]
James Turner24PontiacNWI10MAR8BOW19
1963Cotton Owens5DodgeRIV7DAY29DAY

41

PIF16ASH7ATL13BRI8RCH4GRE10SBO13MAR

7

NWI

9

DAR10CLS24ATL

8

DAY

19

BRD12BRI

13

GRE

18

FAI2COL6ASH

5

SPR

4

DAR

28

MAR

6

CLS

33

SBO

19

OCC21RIV

33

16th14,646[3]
Bill Church0ChevroletBOW

15

Mark Hurley61FordBOW

23

1964Cotton Owens6DodgeCON154th28,474[4]
5AUG3JAC10
Rex White4MercuryRIV

13

Bud Moore Engineering1DAY

10

DAY6RCH

3

BRI10ATL

12

ASH

3

PIF

6

COL

4

NWI

8

MAR

33

DAR

7

CLS

5

ATL

8

BIR3PIF

6

DAY

20

OLD1BRD

1

ISL1GLN1BRI

22

FAI

19

ASH

26

HUN6COL

10

DAR

6

RCH

14

MAR

9

NWI

4

CLS

37

HAR16AUG

4

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Kahn. Bernard. Wade killed in test run. Daytona Beach Morning Journal. January 6, 1965.
  2. Web site: Driver Billy Wade 1962 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-11. www.racing-reference.info.
  3. Web site: Driver Billy Wade 1963 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-11. www.racing-reference.info.
  4. Web site: Driver Billy Wade 1964 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-11. www.racing-reference.info.