Emanuel Zervakis Explained

Emanuel Zervakis
Birth Date:	23 January 1930
Birth Place:	Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Total Cup Races:	83
Years In Cup:	7
Best Cup Pos:	3rd (1961)
First Cup Race:	1956 Race 6 (Daytona Beach)
Last Cup Race:	1963 Southern 500 (Darlington)
First Cup Win:	1961 Greenville 200 (Greenville-Pickens)
Last Cup Win:	1961 Yankee 500 (Norwood)
Cup Wins:	2
Cup Top Tens:	40
Cup Poles:	2

Emanuel Zervakis (January 23, 1930  - June 25, 2003) was an American NASCAR driver and team owner. He won two NASCAR Grand National Series races in his career, both in 1961 (Greenville 200 and Yankee 500). He later went on to own a part-time Cup team and a successful Busch Series team, receiving five Busch wins as an owner, four with Butch Lindley and one with Ricky Rudd.

Career

Driver

He started in 83 NASCAR Cup races between 1956 and 1963 and finished in the top ten in points twice. He started his first race at Daytona Beach in 1956, finishing last in a field of 76 cars. He did not score a single top ten finish until 1960, but after that, he was in the top ten more than he was out. Zervakis was disqualified for his fuel tank being too large after winning at Wilson Speedway in 1960. He was the last winning driver to be disqualified from a race for 62 years.^{[1] [2]} In 1961, he finished third in the point standings, only behind Ned Jarrett and Rex White. He ran his last race in 1963. He also made 6 starts in the now-defunct Convertible Series.

Owner

Zervakis was also a team owner. He might be remembered most for fielding a car for Dale Jarrett's first Winston Cup race. his Cup team competed in 39 events total, with a best finish was a second-place finish by Butch Lindley at Martinsville. He also had five wins in the Nationwide series, including Ricky Rudd's only Busch/Nationwide win in his first start, and four wins by Butch Lindley in 1982, where he finished ninth in points despite running a partial schedule.

Racing career results

NASCAR Grand National Series

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	NGNC	Pts	Ref.
1956	Emanuel Zervakis	113	Chevrolet						DAY76											OCC14		LIN14											RAL13																											81st	n/a	^[3]
		11																																													DAR23												WIL20
1957									WIL 16										RCH22	MARDNQ																																								n/a	n/a	^[4]
	Junie Donlavey	90	Ford																												RAL 24
			Chevrolet																																													LAN26				MAR 22
1958																ODO22							TRE24								RAL 55													DAR42								MAR 33								161st	n/a	^[5]
		9																																															RCH 21
1960	Monroe Shook	85				DAY8		DAY10					MAR 9		WIL 19						OCC 7	RCH 18		CLS33						ATL10			ASH3					DAR 4					MAR 8		CLS 7		ATL 30													8th	9,720	^[6]
			Ford																DAR 8
1961			Chevrolet				DAY7	DAY18		ASH 5		ATL 9	GRE1	OCC 14	BOW13	MAR 4	NWI6	COL3	HIC17		MAR 2	DAR 13	CLS 15				CLS 15			GRE 3	BOW 4	NOR1	HAR16	STA5		ATL 4	COL 6	MYR5	BRI7	NFA5	BOW 4	ASH 5	RCH 3	SBO4	DAR 5	HIC 5	RCH 6		ATL 14	MAR 7	NWI 6	CLS 7	BRI 5							3rd	22,312	^[7]
			Ford																																DAY 29
1962	Emanuel Zervakis	20	Mercury																		RCH 6			DAR 29		CLS 14	ATL 16			RCH 23	SBO 21								BRI 30									DAR 13		RCH 24					CLS 7	ATL 27				27th	6,406	^[8]
1963																		RCH 24																																										54th	1,882	^[9]
			Ford																										CLS 16																			DAR 41

NASCAR Convertible Series

NASCAR Convertible Division

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	NCSS	Pts	Ref.
1957	Junie Donlavey	7	Chevrolet																																		NOR6			27th	1,556	^[10]
		3																																				WIL 7
1958		90				RCH 17						DAR 15			MAR 31																									n/a	n/a	^[11]
1959						RCH 17																																		80th	64	^[12]

Notes and References

1. Web site: NASCAR disqualifies top two cars, Chase Elliott is Pocono winner . Dustin . Long . . July 24, 2022 . July 25, 2022.
2. News: Meredith . Luke . NASCAR denies Ross Chastain's appeal over Sunday's post-race disqualification at Iowa Speedway . April 9, 2022 . . June 19, 2019.
3. Web site: Driver Emanuel Zervakis 1956 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-11. www.racing-reference.info.
4. Web site: Driver Emanuel Zervakis 1957 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-11. www.racing-reference.info.
5. Web site: Driver Emanuel Zervakis 1958 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-12. www.racing-reference.info.
6. Web site: Driver Emanuel Zervakis 1960 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-12. www.racing-reference.info.
7. Web site: Driver Emanuel Zervakis 1961 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-12. www.racing-reference.info.
8. Web site: Driver Emanuel Zervakis 1962 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-12. www.racing-reference.info.
9. Web site: Driver Emanuel Zervakis 1963 NASCAR Grand National Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-12. www.racing-reference.info.
10. Web site: Driver Emanuel Zervakis 1957 NASCAR Convertible Series Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-12. www.racing-reference.info.
11. Web site: Driver Emanuel Zervakis 1958 NASCAR Convertible Series Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-12. www.racing-reference.info.
12. Web site: Driver Emanuel Zervakis 1959 NASCAR Convertible Series Results - Racing-Reference.info. 2021-04-12. www.racing-reference.info.