Henry Neil Castles (October 1, 1934 – August 4, 2022) was an AmericanNASCARGrand National and Winston Cup Series driver. He raced from1957 to1976, and won theNASCAR Grand National East Series in 1972.

Castles was born inMarion, North Carolina,^[2] on October 1, 1934.^[3][4] He was raised in nearbyCharlotte.^[3] When he was nine, he was gifted a car to drive at a soapbox derby racer byBuddy Shuman, who also gave Castles the nickname "Soapy". As a teenager, Castles worked on Shuman's cars and cleaned his tools at the latter's shop.^[5]

Castles made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in June 1957 atColumbia Speedway, finishing 51 laps before engine failure forced him to record adid not finish.^[3] He went on to win 25-lap qualifying races atDarlington Raceway (1967) andRockingham Speedway (1969).^[5] Three years later, he won the NASCAR Grand National East Series, a second-level series beneath theWinston Cup Series, which would ultimately prove to be his most successful NASCAR campaign.^[3][5] He also won at theGreenville-Pickens Speedway in the spring of 1972.^[5] Even though he failed to win a race in his nineteen-year career, Castles managed to record 51 finishes in the top five and 178 finishes in the top ten.^[4] Out of 90,509 laps, Castles led 70 of them. His total mileage in his career was 65,412.8 miles (105,271.7 km).^[1][6][7]

There was a short story about Castles fromAmerican Zoom, a book authored byPeter Golenbock.^[8] Castles was an also-ran of the old days who once found himself having an uncharacteristically good day. He had lapped Curtis Turner, but the flagman apparently did not believe it, for he kept giving Castles the move-over flag to let Turner around him. As Castles told the story: "The starter kept doing this, and I was getting real mad, so I just picked up my gun and when I come by the stand the next time I took aim and shot that flag out of his hand."^[3]

By the end of his racing career, Castles managed to earn $276,854 in total winnings ($1,529,820.73 when adjusted for inflation).^[4] At the time of his death, his 498 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series were the third-most by a driver who did not have a victory, behindJ. D. McDuffie (653) andBuddy Arrington (560).^[3]

Castles also worked in the film industry as astunt driver, beginning in the 1950s about the time that he started racing. After he and his friends were recruited asextras for filming at theOcconeechee Speedway, he volunteered to replace the stuntman who was stuck in California.^[5] He later featured in that capacity inThunder Road (1958),^[4]Speedway (1968, doubling forElvis Presley),The Last American Hero (1973),Greased Lightning (1977), andSix Pack (1982).^[3][5] He also acted inThe Night of the Cat (1973) andChallenge (1974).^[3][9]

In 2019, Castles published a memoir of his life in NASCAR and in the film industry.^[10]

Castles was married to Iris Jean Gallion for 63 years until her death in December 2019.^[11] Together, they had three children.^[2]

Castles died on August 4, 2022, at the age of 87.^[2][3][5]

• Neil Castles driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Legends of NASCAR
• NASCAR.com's 1969 season recap

• Golenbock, Peter (1994).American Zoom: Stock Car Racing—from the Dirt Tracks to Daytona. Macmillan USA.ISBN 978-0-02-032782-0.
• Castles, Henry Neil "Soapy" (January 31, 2019).Neil "Soapy" Castles: Memoir of a Life in NASCAR and the Movies. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.ISBN 978-1-4766-3504-0.

• 1934 births
• 2022 deaths
• NASCAR drivers
• NASCAR team owners
• Racing drivers from Charlotte, North Carolina

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• Use American English from August 2022
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