Darel Dieringer
| Darel Dieringer | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Darel Dieringer in his NASCAR uniform (circa 1960s-1970s) | |||||||
| Born |
June 1, 1926 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. | ||||||
| Died | October 28, 1989 (aged 63) | ||||||
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career | |||||||
| 181 races run over 12 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 3rd – 1965 NASCAR Grand National series season | ||||||
| First race | 1957 race at Daytona Beach Road Course | ||||||
| Last race | 1975 National 500 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| First win | 1963 Golden State 400 (Riverside) | ||||||
| Last win | 1967 Gwyn Staley 400 (North Wilkesboro) | ||||||
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Darel Dieringer (June 1, 1926 in Indianapolis, Indiana[1] – October 28, 1989) was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver.[2]
Summary
He made his debut in 1957 driving for John Zink and John Whitford but would see little success until 1963, when driving for Bill Stroppe, he won a race, logged 15 finishes in the top ten, and finished seventh in points.[2] A solid 1964 was followed up by an even better 1965 season when Dieringer collected 15 more top tens in addition to another win and finished 3rd in series points behind Ned Jarrett and Dick Hutcherson while driving for Bud Moore and a variety of other owners.[2] However, he struggled with reliability in 1966 and despite capturing three wins, including his biggest win of his career, the Southern 500, only finished 12th in points.[2] Dieringer ran a part-time schedule in 1967 and 1968 with limited success and a single race in 1969.[2] He was out of NASCAR until 1975 when he returned for the Charlotte and Superspeedway races.[2] After those race, Dieringer would declare his ultimate retirement from motorsports forever.[2]
His son Darel "the Demon" Dieringer continues on with the family tradition by participating in the Super Truck Division of the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) now the Indy United Racing League (IURL).[1]