| Elmo Langley | |
| Birth Name: | Elmo Harold Langley |
| Birth Date: | 21 August 1928 |
| Birth Place: | Creswell, North Carolina |
| Death Place: | Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan |
| Death Cause: | Heart attack |
| Total Cup Races: | 535 |
| Years In Cup: | 27 |
| Best Cup Pos: | 5th (1969, 1971) |
| First Cup Race: | 1954 Southern 500 (Darlington) |
| Last Cup Race: | 1981 Mason-Dixon 500 (Dover) |
| First Cup Win: | 1966 race #23 (Spartanburg) |
| Last Cup Win: | 1966 Old Dominion 150 (Manassas) |
| Cup Wins: | 2 |
| Cup Top Tens: | 193 |
| Cup Poles: | 1 |
| Total Gneast Races: | 23 |
| Years In Gneast: | 2 |
| Best Gneast Pos: | 2nd (1972) |
| First Gneast Race: | 1972 Hickory 276 (Hickory) |
| Last Gneast Race: | 1973 Buddy Shuman 100 (Hickory) |
| First Gneast Win: | 1972 Fun Sun 200 (Myrtle Beach) |
| Last Gneast Win: | 1972 Fun Sun 200 (Myrtle Beach) |
| Gneast Wins: | 1 |
| Gneast Top Tens: | 19 |
| Gneast Poles: | 2 |
| Updated: | October 27, 2013 |
Elmo Harold Langley (August 21, 1928 – November 21, 1996) was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number 64 on his race cars during his NASCAR career.
Langley began his racing career racing modified cars in Virginia and Maryland in 1952. Langley came into NASCAR as a Driver/Owner in 1954. In 1966 he partnered with Henry Woodfield and created Langley-Woodfield Racing. That same year Langley won the only two races of his long career. After the second race of the 1969 season, Langley and Woodfield split and Langley continued to run the team on his own returning to the driver/owner role.
Langley finished 5th in season points in 1969 and 1971, 6th in 1968 and 1970, 7th in 1972, 8th in 1975, and 9th in 1967 and 1973. His final full season was as a driver for Langley Racing in 1975.
He continued to drive in a few select races until 1981 when he hung up the helmet for good. Langley began to field his familiar #64 for other drivers to develop their career including Tommy Gale, Joe Millikan, Jimmy Hensley and Ken Schrader. Langley shut down his team after the 1987 season.
On April 15, 1988, Langley was named as the crew chief for Cale Yarborough and Dale Jarrett with his duties in effect after that year's First Union 400 where he attended as an observer.[1]
Elmo's very last race was the Battle of the NASCAR Legends race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1991. The race featured such drivers as Cale Yarborough, Junior Johnson, Pete Hamilton, and Donnie Allison. The winner was Langley, beating Yarborough to the line by about 3 feet on the last lap.
From April 1989 through November 1996, Langley served as the official pace car driver for all Winston Cup events. Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace were well known to bump and draft his car during pace laps.
Langley was married to Nancy and had four sons; Elmo Jr., Raymond, William and Steven. He lived in Harrisburg, North Carolina.[2]
On November 21, 1996, Langley was in Suzuka, Japan to drive the pace car in the NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka exhibition race which was held on November 24.[3] During a test drive, he began to experience chest pains. He was subsequently taken to the Suzuka General Hospital where he was pronounced dead when his heart stopped beating before arrival.[4] NASCAR legend and TBS Superstation analyst Buddy Baker was in the pace car at the time Langley suffered his heart attack, and was one of the last people to see Langley still alive.[5]
(key) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Ratus Walters | Ford | 48 | align=center style="background:#CFCFFF;" | 25 |
| 1960 | Buick | 55 | align=center style="background:#EFCFFF;" | 52 | |
| 1961 | Happy Steigel | 38 | align=center style="background:#CFCFFF;" | 25 | |
| 1962 | Ratus Walters | Ford | 39 | align=center style="background:#EFCFFF;" | 47 |
| 1965 | Langley Racing | Ford | 31 | align=center style="background:#CFCFFF;" | 21 |
| 1966 | Chevrolet | 26 | align=center style="background:#EFCFFF;" | 45 | |
| 1967 | Ford | 33 | align=center style="background:#DFFFDF;" | 20 | |
| 1968 | 17 | align=center style="background:#EFCFFF;" | 25 | ||
| 1969 | 29 | align=center style="background:#DFFFDF;" | 20 | ||
| 1970 | Mercury | 25 | align=center style="background:#EFCFFF;" | 28 | |
| 1971 | 16 | align=center style="background:#DFFFDF;" | 14 | ||
| 1972 | Ford | 38 | align=center style="background:#DFFFDF;" | 12 | |
| 1973 | align=center colspan=2 style="background:#FFCFCF;" | DNQ | |||
| 1974 | align=center colspan=2 style="background:#FFCFCF;" | DNQ |