American off-road and stock car racing driver
Mark Stahl (born August 12, 1951) is an American former professionaloff-road andstock car racing driver. He competed in theNASCAR Winston Cup Series and theARCA Re/MAX Series , and is a four-time winner of theBaja 1000 off-road race, twice winning the event overall.
Born inSan Diego ,California , Stahl began his professional racing career inoff-road racing ; he scored overall wins in theBaja 1000 in his ChenowthVW in 1978 and 1980, and the car won justClass 1 (but not overall) in 1981.[ 1] [ 2] Stahl battledFrank "Scoop" Vessels for the win of the 1978 Baja 1000 and Vessels crossed the finish line three minutes ahead of Stahl - but had started 9 minutes earlier - giving the victory to Stahl by 6 minutes.[ 3]
He moved to stock cars 1981, competing in theNASCAR Winston West Series ; he competed in the series full-time in 1982,[ 4] finishing twelfth in points. Stahl also made his debut in theWinston Cup Series in 1981, driving in theWinston Western 500 atRiverside International Raceway , finishing 23rd.[ 5]
Stahl competed in thirty races in the Winston Cup Series between 1981 and 1993;[ 5] his best finish was sixteenth in 1986 atDarlington Raceway .[ 6] He also failed to qualify for 34 additional events.[ 7] In 1987 Stahl posted the fastest time in second-round qualifying for the1987 Winston 500 , becoming part of the fastest field in NASCAR history.[ 8] He moved toSouth Carolina in 1991 to further his racing career.[ 1] In 1990 Stahl acquired sponsorship fromHooters ; his failing to qualify for the 1991Motorcraft 500 atAtlanta International Raceway led to 1992 Winston Cup Series ChampionAlan Kulwicki picking up the sponsorship for the event,[ 9] and later receiving the sponsorship full-time.[ 10] Stahl left NASCAR with more DNQs (34) than races run (30).
In 1988, Stahl made his debut in theAutomobile Racing Club of America 'sPermatex SuperCar Series ; he competed in 48 ARCA events between 1988 and 2001, posting a best finish of fourth atTalladega Superspeedway in 1997.[ 11]
Following the 2001 racing season, Stahl retired from competition; in 2007, he came out of retirement to compete in the Baja 1000 once more,[ 1] co-driving withJim Christensen and winning the Touring Car class of the race.[ 6] His 1977 Chenowth was restored by another driver for the 2011NORRA Mexican 1000 vintage race and Stahl co-drove in the May event.[ 12]
Motorsports career results [ edit ] (key ) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. )
(key ) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. )
^a b c "Bluffton's Stahl to tackle off-road race in Baja California" .The Island Packet . Bluffton, SC. November 11, 2007. Archived fromthe original on April 28, 2014. Retrieved2014-04-28 .^ "For Sale". Off Road Action News. 1982. ^ Koch, Ron (January 31, 2011).When the Green Flag Drops: Memoirs of a Baja and Pro-Rally Racer . Xlibris Corporation. p. 269.ISBN 978-1456858643 . RetrievedDecember 26, 2014 . ^ "Mark Stahl - NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Results" .Racing-Reference . USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved2014-04-28 .^a b "Mark Stahl - NASCAR Sprint Cup Results" .Racing-Reference . USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved2014-04-28 .^a b Wuensch, Christopher (November 25, 2007)."From Bluffton to Baja" (PDF) .Bluffton Today . Bluffton, SC. pp. 16A – 17A . Retrieved2014-04-28 . ^ "Mark Stahl - NASCAR Winston Cup / Nextel Cup / Sprint Cup DNQs" .Racing-Reference . USA Today Sports Media Group. Archived fromthe original on 2014-04-29. Retrieved2014-04-28 .^ "Stahl leads second-day runs" .The Tuscaloosa News . Tuscaloosa, AL. May 2, 1987. p. 19. Retrieved2014-04-28 .^ Gillipsie, Tom (May 3, 1991)."Kulwicki in with fun sponsor" .The News and Courier . Charleston, SC. p. 4E. Retrieved2014-04-28 . ^ Green, David (May 1, 1991)."Kulwicki gets full sponsorship" .Spartanburg Herald-Journal . Spartanburg, SC. p. D4. Retrieved2014-04-28 . ^ "Mark Stahl - ARCA Racing Series Results" .Racing-Reference . USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved2014-04-28 .^ "April 12, 2011 Press Release" .NORRA . RetrievedDecember 26, 2014 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1985 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1988 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1989 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1994 ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1995 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1996 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1997 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1998 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 1999 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 2000 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .^ "Mark Stahl – 2001 ARCA Re/Max Series Results" .Racing-Reference . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. RetrievedApril 18, 2023 .