| Dick Passwater | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Indianapolis, Indiana | ||||||
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career | |||||||
| 20 races run over 2 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 25th - 1953 (Grand National) | ||||||
| First race | 1952 Motor City 250 (Michigan State Fairgrounds) | ||||||
| Last race | 1953 Southern 500 (Darlington) | ||||||
| First win | 1953 Race #5 (Charlotte Speedway) | ||||||
| Last win | 1953 Race #5 (Charlotte Speedway) | ||||||
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Richard "Dick" Passwater (born July 25, 1925) is a retired American racecar driver who raced in NASCAR and USAC.
Born in Indianapolis, Passwater started racing after World War II, and was active in the 1950s and 1960s.[1] He won the fifth race of the 1953 NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) season at Charlotte Speedway in his 1953 Oldsmobile.[2] He won the race after most of the top contenders either fell out of the race or had to make a late pit stop at the 3/4 mile long dirt track.[3] The race saw a then-record six drivers take the lead with 18 lead changes.[3] One of Passwater's Oldsmobiles is in a museum in Lansing, Michigan.[1] He retired because car owner Frank Arford had died in a crash in Langhorne, PA while attempting to qualify for the race. Passwater's generosity of letting the owner race backfired, and he returned to Indianapolis. He campaigned a self-owned Olds for his last race in the '53 Southern 500, finishing ninth.