Reeves Dutton... Born ... AAA driver from 1919 & 1920
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1939
Jack LeCain... Died ... AAA driver from 1912 to 1917
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1948
Jim Crawford... Born ... USAC/CART driver 1984 to 1995. Ran the Indy 500 eight times with a best finish of 6th in 1988.
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1955
Lee Petty won the 100 mile NASCAR Grand National race on the 1/2 mile dirt Speedway Park oval in Jacksonville Florida. Petty's Chrysler took the lead when leader Dick Rathmann pitted his Hudson for fuel with 10 laps to go. Until then it appeared Rathmann was headed for his first win of the season. Rathmann still finished second with fellow Hudson pilot Herb Thomas third and the Olds 88s of Buck Baker and Junior Johnson rounding out the top five. It was Petty's second win in three 1955 season races.
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1960
Bernie Wilhelmi won the Midget race over Bill Chennault and Mel Kenyon at the Memorial Stadium, Daytona Beach, FL.
( Click here for the race report. )
Buzz Barton won the final IMCA Sprint Car race of the Florida State Fair series, and Pete Folsewas crowned the Florida State Champion at the Florida State Fair, Tampa, FL.
( Click here for the race report. )
Jim Clark, defending series champion, drove his Lotus-Climax to his first win of the season in the Tasman Cup series race held on the Warwick Farm circuit in Sydney, Australia.
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1969
Ronnie Johncox... Born ... A former driver in the Indy Racing League. He raced in the 1999-2000 seasons with 8 career starts.
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1972
Louis Durant... Died ... AAA driver 1939 to 1948
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1975
Bobby Allison and David Pearson won the twin 125 mile NASCAR GN qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway. Driving the Penske AMC Matador, Allison pulled away from Dick Brooks' Ford on a restart to win the first race by 1.6 seconds. Buddy Baker led the first 27 laps before blowing a tire and spinning to set up the restart. In the second race, Pearson squeezed the Wood Brothers' Mercury by Richard Petty on the last lap to win by a car length.
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1976
Benny Parsons won the IROC race at Daytona, Florida.
Paul Russo... Died ... AAA / USAC driver from 1934 to 1965. He started racing midget cars in 1934. He went with a contigent of midget car drivers to Hawaii in the winter of 1934-35. He was the 1938 AAA Eastern Midget Champion. Russo won the first race held at the Nutley Velodrome in New Jersey in 1938. He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1940-1941, 1946-1954, 1956-1959 and 1962 seasons with 85 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in each year but 1951 and 1952. He finished in the top ten 49 times, with 3 victories, at Springfield (1950), Detroit (1951), and Williams Grove (1952). His best finish at Indy was fourth in 1957, although he co-drove with Tony Bettenhausen to a second place finish in 1955. His brother Joe and nephew Eddie have also raced at the Indianapolis 500. Russo was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1992.
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1977
Lance Blevins... Born ... World of Outlaws racer.
Jerry Nuckles won the 100-lap USAC Midget race at Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY.
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1979
Richie Evans won the fifth night Modified feature of the World Series Of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at the New Smyrna Speedway, New Smyrna Beach, FL. Anthony Ferraiuolo IV was second followed by Ronnie Bouchard, Charlie Jarzombek and Jay Hedgecock.
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1982
Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona Sportsman 300 race at the Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL. ( Click here for the race report. )
Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt won the twin 125 mile Daytona 500 qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway.
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1987
Kenny Brightbill won the DIRT Modified race and Tuck Trentham won the first ever Winston Invitational NASCAR dirt Late Model race at the Volusia County Speedway, Barberville, FL. ( Click here for the race report. )
Reggie Ruggiero won the Modified race and Dick Trickle won the Late Model race at the New Smyrna Speedway, New Smyrna Beach, FL. ( Click here for the race report. )
Geoff Bodine won the IROC race at the Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL. Dale Earnhardt finished second followed by Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott, Al Unser Jr., Wally Dallenbach and Mario Andretti.
ONE DAY
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