Billy Joe Hagan (March 22, 1932 – November 16, 2007) was a

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. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

owner/driver. He owned Hagan Racing and was known for winning the

1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 36th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 13th modern-era Cup series season. It began on Sunday, February 19 and ended on Sunday, November 18. Terry Labonte was crowned ...

championship with

Terry Labonte Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed "Texas Terry" or "the Iceman", is an American former stock car racing, stock car driver. He raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NAS ...

Career

He made three starts in NASCAR's Grand National/Winston Cup division, finishing eighth in his first start, the inaugural Talladega 500 in a self-owned 1968 Mercury

Cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

. He did not field another car until 1975, finishing 19th once again at Talladega. He also fielded a car for five races for Skip Manning. In 1976, he fielded the #92 Stratagraph Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna for Manning, and he won Rookie of the Year honors. Manning was released in 1978, and replaced by

. Hagan hired

Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises (formerly Lee Petty Engineering) was a NASCAR racing team based in Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina, Level Cross, North Carolina, United States, USA. It was founded by Lee Petty with his two sons Richard Petty and Ma ...

crew chief

Dale Inman Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/ Winston Cup Series crew chief. He is best known for being the crew chief of Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three decades. They won 188 races and seven championsh ...

for the 1984 season. Labonte won the

Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. ...

, and won the 1984 championship. Labonte left the team in 1986, and was replaced by

Sterling Marlin Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, winning the Daytona 500 in 1994 and 1995. He ...

. Labonte returned to the team in 1991, but was unable to continue their success. 1994, marked Hagan's last season as a single car owner, fielding cars for John Andretti and Randy MacDonald. In 1996, his shop was purchased by Triad Motorsports. Hagan continued to serve as a co-owner of the operation until the team's demise in 1999. In 1981 Hagan entered a

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

Camaro stock car under the Stratagraph team name in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

. Powered by a modified 350-cubic-inch Chevrolet small block, the car qualified well enough in the IMSA GT class, but was sidelined by a crash caused by brake failure.Sports Illustrated July 13, 1981 Drivers were Billy Hagan, Cale Yarborough, and Bill Cooper; also listed by some sources was Bobby Mitchell. The following year, he came 17th at 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans, always on Camaro V8 350 inch

small block (#81 team Stratagraph inc.), paired with Gene Felton. The other team car (#80 Camaro V8, Stratagraph inc.) arrives 19th.

Death

Hagan died on November 16, 2007, at the age of 75.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series

Winston Cup Series

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

( key)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagan, Billy 1932 births 2007 deaths 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Racing drivers from Louisiana NASCAR drivers NASCAR team owners ARCA Menards Series drivers People from Union Parish, Louisiana World Sportscar Championship drivers