| Curtis Turner | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Turner's1967 Daytona 500 racecar | |||||||
| Born | (1924-04-12)April 12, 1924 Floyd, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | October 4, 1970(1970-10-04) (aged 46) Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||
| Cause of death | Airplane crash | ||||||
| Achievements | 1956Southern 500Winner 1967 Daytona 500 Polesitter Inaugural winner atRockingham Speedway (1965) | ||||||
| Awards | 1949 and 1956Grand National SeriesMost Popular Driver Named one ofNASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) | ||||||
| NASCARCup Series career | |||||||
| 184 races run over 17 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 5th (1950) | ||||||
| First race | 1949Race No. 1 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| Last race | 1968Hillsboro 150 (Hillsboro) | ||||||
| First win | 1949 untitled race (Langhorne) | ||||||
| Last win | 1965American 500 (Rockingham) | ||||||
| |||||||
| NASCARConvertible Division career | |||||||
| 79 races run over 4 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 2nd (1956) | ||||||
| First race | 1956 Race #1 (Daytona Beach & Road Course) | ||||||
| Last race | 1959 Rebel 300 (Darlington) | ||||||
| First win | 1956 Race #1 (Daytona Beach & Road Course) | ||||||
| Last win | 1959 Catawba 250 (Hickory) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Statistics current as of February 22, 2013. | |||||||
Curtis Morton Turner (April 12, 1924 – October 4, 1970) was an Americanstock car racer who won 17NASCAR Grand National Division races and 38NASCAR Convertible Division races. Throughout his life, he developed a reputation for drinking and partying. He also fought to form a drivers union, which got him banned by NASCAR founderBill France Sr. for four years.
He was born inFloyd, Virginia, to Morton and Minnie Turner on April 12, 1924. Curtis grew up with a brother and two sisters. His father, Morton Turner, was into the moonshine business and had a productive still. Curtis was responsible for delivering his father's moonshine to the customers. From a very early age, long before he was old enough for a driver's license, Curtis developed his driving talents by running moonshine through the mountains from the law.
Curtis was never caught with alcohol, yet came to grief with a 500 lb bag of stolen sugar (for making alcohol) in the post-WWII ration days. After a gunfight escape from theJoint Expeditionary Base–Little Creek where numerous bullet holes pierced the chassis and the lead lodged in the sugar, his more than 300-mile trip under police dragnet to Floyd, Virginia, was successfully achieved by using back roads. However, his father's house was under surveillance, and he was caught with the sugar and incriminating bullet-riddled car. Under oath, Curtis convincingly stated a lie of conspiring to produce apple butter, and the judge let him off with a 1,000 dollar fine and a 2-year suspended sentence.[1] Locals spoke of how Curtis would drive away from the hot pursuit of revenuers and lawmen, and his legendary ability to turn a car 180 degrees in a very small space.
He began his racing career in 1946 when he finished 18th in a field of 18 contestants in a race atMount Airy, North Carolina. However, he rebounded and won his next race. He also was one of the founding members in the original group that met in Daytona Beach at theStreamline Hotel to discuss and support the formation of NASCAR. During his career, he won 360 races in several different racing series, including 22 in theNASCAR Convertible Division in 1956, and 17 wins in the NASCARGrand National Series. From 1950 to 1954, he drove forOldsmobile being billed as theBlond Blizzard of Virginia. He switched to drivingFords in 1954. He eventually acquired the nickname ofPops, allegedly because of the way he would "pop" other drivers on the track.
Turner drove aHolman Moody-preparedStudebaker Lark in the 2-hour compact car race accompanying the inaugural United States Grand Prix at Sebring, Florida, on December 12, 1959. He finished second overall, trailing the disc-brake-equipped Jaguar 3.4 ofWalt Hansgen.[2]
Turner frequently stayed out partying until the early hours, usually with a friend and fellow driver,Joe Weatherly.
He is noted for several other racing accomplishments:[1]Archived 2006-02-21 at theWayback Machine
Needing money to support the newly constructedCharlotte Motor Speedway, Turner and his business partnerBruton Smith turned to theTeamsters Union to organize aunion for them, the Federation of Professional Athletes, in 1961.[4] According toThe Washington Post: "His aims are for better purses, a share in broadcasting rights and retirement benefits for the drivers."[5] NASCAR founderBill France Sr. refused to let any driver who was a part of the union race, and eventually all the drivers except for Turner andTim Flock sided with France. Turner and Flock were banned for life, and Charlotte Motor Speedway went bankrupt before being saved by its board of directors.
Turner continued to race under other sanctioning bodies, including theMidwest Association for Race Cars (MARC),[6] even promoting his 100-mile event on the dirt atLakewood Speedway, Georgia, in October 1961. Tim Flock finished second in that event.[7] Turner and Flock sued NASCAR and France, "seeking $200,000 punitive damages each and restitution for loss of earnings."[8] "Attorneys for the drivers claim the ban represents a violation of state right to work laws because test driving contracts involving $150 a day plus expenses were canceled as a result of the action. NASCAR and France's attorneys contended the ban isn't a right-to-work violation because it doesn't involve an employer-employee relationship. They said Flock and Turner are individual contractors and not employees of NASCAR or any track."[9]
During his NASCAR ban, Turner attempted a fewUSAC Championship Cars races, in1962, Turner attempted a race atIllinois State Fairgrounds but failed to qualify. In1963 Turner competed in the season-opener atTrenton International Speedway and finished 12th. He also attempted the1963 Indianapolis 500 but failed to qualify.[10]
Turner's NASCAR ban was lifted after four years in 1965, and Turner returned to racing. Bill France was in a bind and needed to mend some fences. 1962 and 1963 NASCAR-points champion Weatherly was killed driving a Mercury at Riverside, California on January 19, 1964,[11] and his star driverFireball Roberts had died following a fiery crash on May 24, 1964, at the World 600 in Charlotte.[12] The track owners wanted Turner back. "Turner was slated to drive for a newly-organized group, The Grand American Racing Association, organized July 31 in Sumter, S.C. Turner was due to compete in the first of 17 scheduled races at Concord, N.C. Aug 21."[13] France was also short of cars. The Chrysler factory was boycotting NASCAR over the organizing body's ban of the Hemi engine, andRichard Petty went drag racing in the first half of the 1965 season. The Ford factory was also in dispute with NASCAR over the SOHC engine, which faced a joint NASCAR-USAC ban on December 17, 1965.[14]
Turner, then 41, soon notched the first victory of his comeback in a Ford at the inaugural American 500, at theNorth Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina, on October 31, 1965, winning a purse of $13,090.[15] Turner lost his Ford ride in 1966 when: "Ford withdrew its factory backed racing teams from competition when the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing and the United States Auto Club ruled April 6 that Fords equipped with an overhead cam engine must carry 427 additional pounds."[16] Turner started the 1966 season in a Ford, but with the Ford-factory withdrawal, he signed to drive a Chevrolet forSmokey Yunick out of Daytona Beach, Florida.[17]
In 1968 he was the first NASCAR driver to appear on the cover ofSports Illustrated.
Curtis Turner died in an airplane crash nearPunxsutawney, Pennsylvania on October 4, 1970; the crash also killed golfer Clarence King.[18] Police said theAero Commander 500 piloted by Turner crashed shortly after taking off from theDubois-Jefferson Airport en route toRoanoke,Virginia.[19] At the time of the crash, Turner was preparing to compete in that week'sNational 500 at Charlotte in a special one-off race.[20]
In December 2017, theVirginia Department of Historic Resources approved the erection of a historic marker denoting Turner's birthplace in Floyd County and detailing his accomplishments.[21]
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)
| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Doc White | Ford | 43 | 13 |
| 1960 | Holman-Moody | Ford | 53 | 7 |
| 1961 | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 33 | 55 |
| 1966 | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 21 | 25 |
| 1967 | Yunick-Rich Racing | Chevrolet | 1 | 25 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
