Jack Ingram (racing driver)

Jack Ingram

status	not active
NASCAR Cup Series statistics
Best placement	47th - (1981)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 19th - - 4th
NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics
Best placement	1. - (1982, 1985)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 275 31 5 164

Jack Ingram (born December 28, 1936 in Asheville , North Carolina ) is a retired American automobile racing driver . He is considered one of the most successful drivers in today's NASCAR Nationwide Series .

Career

Jack Ingram is considered one of the best drivers in NASCAR, but drove very few races in NASCAR's highest division, today's Sprint Cup . For much of his career, he was behind the wheel of a car in today's Nationwide Series, NASCAR's second highest division. In 1982 and 1985 he won the title in this, which he succeeded in 1972, 1973 and 1974 in the Late Model Sportsman Division Champions, the predecessor of the Nationwide Series. With his first title win, at the age of 45, he was the oldest NASCAR champion at the time, breaking a 23-year-old record for Lee Petty . The following year, Bobby Allison broke the record again by winning the Winston Cup at the age of 45. Since Ingram was 48 years old when he won his second title, he broke Allison's record again, but this record has since been broken by Ted Musgrave and Ron Hornaday junior (both in the truck series). In the Busch and Xfinity series, however, he still holds this record today.

Ingram has won 31 races throughout his Nationwide Series career. This was the record until 1997, when Mark Martin won his 32nd race in this series. Ingram finished 122 times in the top 5, 164 times in the top 10. It is remarkable that he managed all of this at a relatively old age. When he first started in the then new Busch Series in 1982, today's Nationwide Series, he was already 45 years old. Ingram was 50 years old when he last won Busch. At the time, Ingram was the oldest NASCAR winner ever until Harry Gant broke that record in the Cup series in 1990. In the Busch / Nationwide / Xfinity series, this record also exists to this day.

Ingram retired from professional motorsport in 1991 in the Kroger 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis . But this departure from professional motorsport did not mean that he no longer competed in races. The now 83-year-old is still active in racing. He currently starts in the Late Model Sportsman Division at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville , South Carolina .

In 1998 Ingram was named one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time ( NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers ). In 2007 he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame .

Web links

• Statistics on racing-reference.info