Bill Rexford

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Bill Rexford (born March 14, 1927 in Conewango Valley , New York , † April 18, 1994 ) was an American NASCAR racing driver and champion in the Grand National Series in 1950.

Career

Born in Conewango Valley, Rexford first made a name for himself in touring car racing in the region. When NASCAR introduced the Strictly Stock Series in 1949 , it took part in three races in the northeastern United States, with a third place being the best result.

In the 1950 season, Rexford was one of two drivers from the Northern States in the racing series renamed Grand National. The other driver was his teammate Lloyd Moore . That year Rexford won his first and only NASCAR race of his career in Canfield , Ohio .

Towards the end of the season, Rexford fought for the championship victory, the outcome of which was largely decided by the bad luck of the other title contenders. The two title contenders Fireball Roberts and Curtis Turner had poor results at the end of the season. The third title candidate Lee Petty, however, was punished with a point deduction of 809 points because he had competed in races of other motor sports associations. The point deduction was the equivalent of about four wins or five third places.

At the last race of the season in Hillsboro , North Carolina , Rexford had a narrow lead in the championship over Roberts. He almost missed the title when he retired with an early engine failure. Roberts would have been in the top five to become champions. However, he drove aggressively as he wanted to win the race. With less than 50 laps to go, Roberts also retired with engine failure, which brought Rexford the title in the 1950 season.

The following year after winning the championship, Rexford returned to the Northeast to continue racing. He competed in a handful of major NASCAR races in the Southeast and Northeast in the following. His win at Canfield was the only one in his career as a NASCAR racing driver.

As of 2020, Rexford is the youngest driver to ever win the championship in NASCAR's Cup series, as well as the youngest NASCAR champion ever until Rob Moroso broke that record in 1989. Until the championship win by Alan Kulwicki of Wisconsin in the 1992 season, he was the only driver from the northern United States to win the championship, and the only one until Martin Truex Jr. of New Jersey won the title in 2017 from the northeast . Rexford is the only champions of the Cup series not to be included in NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

Web links

Driver statistics on racing-reference.info