| Gwyn Staley | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | July 6, 1927 Burlington, North Carolina |
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| Died | March 23, 1958 (aged 30) | ||||||
| Cause of death | car accident in turn 4 during sunoco 500 at daytona international speedway | ||||||
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career | |||||||
| 69 races run over 8 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 10th – 1955 Grand National season | ||||||
| First race | 1951 Southern 500 (Darlington Raceway | ||||||
| Last race | 1958 race (Champion Speeedway) | ||||||
| First win | 1957 untitled race (Coastal Speedway) | ||||||
| Last win | 1957 untitled race (Langhorne Speedway) | ||||||
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Gwyn Staley (born July 6, 1927 – died March 23, 1958) was a NASCAR Grand National driver from Burlington, North Carolina, USA.[1]
He participated in the 1955 Southern 500 and died shortly after running the 150-lap race at Champion Speedway in Fayetteville, North Carolina. As a Grand National driver, Staley had three wins in addition to twenty-three finishes in the "top 5" and forty-one finishes in the "top 10.[1]" Out of 10218 laps, Gwyn officially led 299 laps and accumulated a grand total of $23,284 ($176,861.61 in today's money) in his seven-year career.[1] Notable appearances for Gwyn Staley have been at Hickory Motor Speedway (where he won the first race ever held there) and Langhorne Speedway (where he won a race in 1957 using a Chevrolet Bel Air vehicle).[2]
Gwyn won three races driving the Julain Petty prepared 1957 Chevy Bel Air. The first win was on August 26, 1957 at the Coastal Speedway in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.[3] It was a 200-lap race and he had lapped the field.[3] The second win came a few weeks later on September the 5th.[3] It was at the New York State Fairgrounds and once again he had lapped the field driving the Petty prepared 1957 Chevy.[3] His third and last win came on September the 15th in the same car at the Langhorn Speedway in Pennsylvania.[3] He had the field lapped twice this time.[3] North Wilkesboro Speedway named the race after him during the early 1970s.