Bobby Gill (June 25, 1959 – October 17, 2024) was an American professional

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

driver. He raced for a number of years in the

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

, earning four top-tens in 16 starts.

Pre-NASCAR career

Prior to racing in NASCAR's national touring series, he found success in NASCAR's All-Pro Series, and was the winner of the ASA's Miller 300 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in 1995.

Career

Most of Gill's starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series came in 1996, when he started off with Spears Motorsports. In his debut with the team, he started 15th and finished 23rd at Homestead-Miami. Then, the very next race at Phoenix, Gill earned his first career top-10 with a ninth-place showing. He would later better that with a 7th at

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

and

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and a 6th at

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. He also earned one top-10 start at

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Curiously, after an 11th-place finish at

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, Gill was released from the team for unspecified reasons. He was running 11th in the points at the time, just thirty points out of tenth. Gill recovered by joining Billy Ballew Motorsports for three races in later 1996. After finishing 22nd at

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Gill closed out the year with a pair of 11ths, allowing him to finish 21st in points, despite missing ten races during the year. Gill returned to the series for two starts in 2000. He started 7th in his season debut at Milwaukee before finishing 34th due to a rear end gear failure. He did not fare much better at Memphis, where he crashed to 32nd. This would be Gill's final start in a major NASCAR series.

Post-NASCAR

Residing in

Dalton, Georgia Dalton is a city and the county seat of Whitfield County, Georgia, Whitfield County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is also the principal city of the Dalton metropolitan area, Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encomp ...

, Gill carved out a successful niche in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup developmental series where he won three straight championships from 1999 to 2001. Gill added his fourth USAR championship in 2007."New schedule, same objective for champ Gill". Myrtle Beach, SC: '' The Sun News'', March 15, 2008. Page B1. Gill died from brain cancer on October 17, 2024, at the age of 65.

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.)

Craftsman Truck Series

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Bobby 1959 births 2024 deaths People from Dalton, Georgia Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) NASCAR drivers CARS Tour drivers American Speed Association drivers Sportspeople from Sarasota, Florida Racing drivers from Florida Deaths from brain cancer in the United States 20th-century American sportsmen