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.
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]
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 |
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1962 | Luther Costales | 01 | Ford | DAY18 | 46th | 2,008 | [2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
James Turner | 24 | Pontiac | NWI10 | MAR8 | BOW19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1963 | Cotton Owens | 5 | Dodge | RIV7 | DAY29 | DAY 41 | PIF16 | ASH7 | ATL13 | BRI8 | RCH4 | GRE10 | SBO13 | MAR 7 | NWI 9 | DAR10 | CLS24 | ATL 8 | DAY 19 | BRD12 | BRI 13 | GRE 18 | FAI2 | COL6 | ASH 5 | SPR 4 | DAR 28 | MAR 6 | CLS 33 | SBO 19 | OCC21 | RIV 33 | 16th | 14,646 | [3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bill Church | 0 | Chevrolet | BOW 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mark Hurley | 61 | Ford | BOW 23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1964 | Cotton Owens | 6 | Dodge | CON15 | 4th | 28,474 | [4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | AUG3 | JAC10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rex White | 4 | Mercury | RIV 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bud Moore Engineering | 1 | DAY 10 | DAY6 | RCH 3 | BRI10 | ATL 12 | ASH 3 | PIF 6 | COL 4 | NWI 8 | MAR 33 | DAR 7 | CLS 5 | ATL 8 | BIR3 | PIF 6 | DAY 20 | OLD1 | BRD 1 | ISL1 | GLN1 | BRI 22 | FAI 19 | ASH 26 | HUN6 | COL 10 | DAR 6 | RCH 14 | MAR 9 | NWI 4 | CLS 37 | HAR16 | AUG 4 |