Shorty Rollins

Lloyd George "Shorty" Rollins (born April 3, 1929 in Granbury , Texas , † December 28, 1998 ) was an American racing driver. His greatest achievement was being named NASCAR Rookie of the Year in 1958.

Career

Rollins began his racing career in Corpus Christi , Texas , where he drove extremely successfully. His successes took him up to the Grand National, the highest division of NASCAR , now known as the Sprint Cup . He contested his first Grand National race on April 5, 1958 in Fayetteville , North Carolina . In the further course of the 1958 season Rollins took part in 28 races, 22 of these races he was able to finish in the top 10, twelve times reached the goal than in the top 5. The season's best finish was the first and only victory of his NASCAR career, which he scored on July 16, 1958 at State Line Speedway . He was the best newcomer of the season and was named the first official NASCAR Rookie of the Year .

Rollins was also the first driver to win a stock car race at Daytona International Speedway . He succeeded in 1959 in a qualifying race for the NASCAR Convertible Division . Victory in this race secured him second place on the grid for the first Daytona 500 held on February 22, 1959, which he only finished in 38th place due to an engine failure. In 1959 and 1960 he drove only a few races and so he ended his career in 1960 after only 43 starts in the Grand National.

After his racing career ended, he moved to Pensacola , Florida , where he founded the company Hurricane Fence Industries and stayed until his death.

Web links

Driver statistics on racing-reference.info