Bill Snowden

Bill Snowden
Born May 6, 1910
St. Augustine, Florida
Died 1957
Cause of death Heart Attack
Awards 1992 inductee in the Jacksonville Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame[1]
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
24 races run over 4 years
Best finish 9th - 1951 Grand National season
First race 1949 Charlotte Speedway
Last race 1952 Central City Speedway (Macon, Georgia)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 15 0

Bill Snowden (born May 6, 1910–1957) was a NASCAR driver from St. Augustine, Florida, USA. He was one of the racers whose career was interrupted by World War II. He was nicknamed "Wild Bill" and the "Florida Hurricane".[2]

Snowden competed on various circuits before NASCAR was organize, and he had second place finishes at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1941 and 1948.[3] He competed in NASCAR's Strictly Stock/Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup Series) races between the series' inception in 1949 and 1952.[4] He had 15 Top 10 and 5 Top 5 finishes in those 24 races.[4]

NASCAR career

In the series' first year in 1949, he competed in four of the eight events, with three Top 10s and a season-best fifth place finish at Occoneechee Speedway at Hillsboro, North Carolina. Snowden finished 11th in the season points.[4]

Snowden competed in four events in the next season, finishing 40th in season points with 2 Top 10s. His season-best fifth place finish happened at Charlotte Speedway.[4]

Snowden had a career-best ninth place season points finish in 1951. In 21 starts, he had 9 Top 10 finishes with two career-best fourth place finishes at Martinsville Speedway and Speedway Park in Jacksonville.[4]

1952 was Snowden's final season in Grand National. He competed in four events, with one Top 10 with his sixth place finish at Hayloft Speedway in Augusta, Georgia.[4] Fireball Roberts raced one event in Snowden's car that season, and Banjo Matthews used Snowden's car in three events with one fifth place finish at Darlington Raceway.[5]

Snowden died in 1957. In 1992, he was inducted in the Jacksonville Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "1991 & 1992 Hall of Fame Inductees". Jacksonville Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame. 1992. http://jacksonvillestockcarracinghalloffame.com/Gallery1/Hall-of-Fame-Members/bill_snowden. Retrieved 2009-04-05. 
  2. ^ Menzer, Joe (2007-02-17). "Daytona legends recall good ol' days on beach". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/opinion/02/17/jmenzer.daytona.legends/index.html. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  3. ^ "Bill Snowden". Racin History. http://www.racinhistory.com/gallery.asp?photo=53. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Strictly Stock/Grand National Driver's statistics". Racing Reference. http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=snowdbi01. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  5. ^ "Bill Snowden's NASCAR Owner's statistics". Racing Reference. http://www.racing-reference.info/owner?id=snowdbi01. Retrieved 2008-07-09.