Gwyn Edward Staley (July 6, 1927 – March 23, 1958) was an American

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...

driver from Burlington,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Career

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." Out of 10218 laps, he officially led 299 laps and accumulated a grand total of $23,284 ($ when adjusted for inflation) in his seven-year career. Notable appearances for Staley have been at

Hickory Motor Speedway Hickory Motor Speedway is a short track located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is one of stock car racing's most storied venues, and is often referred to as the "World's Most Famous Short Track" and the "Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars". The t ...

(where he won the first race ever held there) and

Langhorne Speedway Langhorne Speedway was an automobile racetrack in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. According to the book ''Langhorne! No Man's Land'' by L. Spencer Riggs: "With a ...

(where he won a race in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

using a Chevrolet Bel Air vehicle). Staley 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 Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as "The Grand Strand" in the northeastern part of the state. Its ...

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. It was a 200-lap race and he had lapped the field. The second win came a few weeks later on September the 5th. It was at the

New York State Fairgrounds The New York State Fair, also known as the Great New York State Fair, is a 13-day showcase of agriculture, entertainment, education, and technology. With midway rides, concessionaires, exhibits, and concerts, it has become New York's largest an ...

and once again he had lapped the field driving the Petty prepared 1957

Chevy Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and oust ...

. His third and last win came on September the 15th in the same car at the Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania. He had the field lapped twice this time.

North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill fr ...

named the race after him during the early 1970s. Staley's greatest successes came at road courses where his average finishes would be in ninth place. His racing performance would be the worst on intermediate tracks where he would finish in a paltry 39th place. Eight days after scoring a second-place finish in the 150-lap Grand National race at

Champion Speedway A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

in Fayetteville,

Staley was killed in a

NASCAR Convertible Division The NASCAR Convertible Division was a division of convertible cars early in NASCAR's history, from 1956 until 1959, although the signature race for convertibles remained a Convertible Division race until 1962. Two remnants of the Convertible Divi ...

100-mile race held at the Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds in Richmond,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in March 1958.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Staley, Gwyn 1927 births 1958 deaths People from Burlington, North Carolina Racing drivers from North Carolina NASCAR drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in Virginia Burials in North Carolina