Gwyn Staley

Gwyn Edward Staley (born July 6, 1927 – died March 23, 1958) was a NASCAR Grand National driver from Burlington, North Carolina, USA.^[1]

Career

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 ($190,327.23 when adjusted for inflation) 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 Julian 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 Langhorne 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.

His greatest successes came at road courses where his average finishes would be in ninth place. Staley's racing performance would be the worst on intermediate tracks where he would finish in a paltry 39th place.^[4]

References

• Gwyn Staley at Find a Grave