Charles Lee Glotzbach (June 19, 1938 – April 23, 2021) was an American ARCA and NASCAR

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and fro ...

driver. He holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He has the record for fastest pace at Bristol Motor Speedway for a NASCAR race. He was also known as the "Chargin' Comet" and "Chargin' Charlie".

Volunteer 500 win

In 1971 Glotzbach won the caution-free

Volunteer 500 The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. It is one of two NASCAR Cup Series races held at Bristol, the other being the Food City 500. From 1978 to 2019, the race ha ...

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...

in a record pace that still stood for 53 years. The race was completed with an average speed of 101.074 mph (two hours, 38 minutes) at the .533-mile track in a race that did not feature a single safety car period in the July heat. Glotzbach required relief during the middle of the race from

Friday Hassler Raymond Lee "Friday" Hassler (July 29, 1935 – February 17, 1972) was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. Career Hassler made his debut in 1960 but only drove a handful of races per year until 1967 when he drove 21 of the 49 ...

. The record was broken at the 2024 running of the Volunteer 500, which

Kyle Larson Kyle Miyata Larson (born July 31, 1992) is an American professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. ...

won despite five safety car periods, with a time of 2:37:53 at 101.277 mph.

NASCAR history

Glotzbach's first NASCAR Winston Cup race was in 1960. While never running a full Winston Cup schedule, he ran a partial schedule every year from 1967 to 1975. The most he ran in a single year was in 1968, when he raced in 22 of 48 events. In 1969 he finished second in the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

after being passed on the last lap by

LeeRoy Yarbrough Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough (September 17, 1938 – December 7, 1984) was an American stock car racing, stock car racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, had 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211 ($ when adjusted for infl ...

. In late 1969, Glotzbach received broken ribs and was shot twice after firing an employee of his trucking company. He returned the next season and continued to run competitively with one of the bullets still in his upper arm. (ABC Wide World of Sports Broadcast, 1970 Daytona 500.) Glotzbach set a world record of 199.466 mph in September 1969 at Talladega, driving the Chrysler Engineering No. 88 Dodge Charger Daytona. The car was the pole winner, but Glotzbach, along with most other drivers, sat out the race due to a tire boycott. His last NASCAR Winston Cup race was in 1992, a season when he competed in seven events. He has four wins and 12 poles in NASCAR and his last attempt was in 1994 for the inaugural Brickyard 400 when he did not qualify.

Other racing

Glotzbach was named the 1964 ARCA series Rookie of the Year. He also attempted to qualify for the

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and

1970 Indianapolis 500 The 54th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Saturday, May 30, 1970. Al Unser, Sr. dominated the race, winning the pole position and leading 190 laps (of 200) en route to victor ...

races, but failed to qualify for both. In later life, Glotzbach ran a truck sales business named "Charlie's Truck Sales" in

Sellersburg, Indiana Sellersburg is a town located within Silver Creek and Carr Townships, Clark County, Indiana, United States. It had a population of 9,310 at the time of the 2020 census. Sellersburg is located along Interstate 65, about 15 minutes north of Loui ...

. In a charity legends race on March 20, 2010, Glotzbach was involved in a serious crash at

. He T-boned the driver's side of

Larry Pearson Larry Pearson (born November 2, 1953) is an American former stock car racing driver and the son of three-time Winston Cup champion David Pearson. He won the Busch Series championship in 1986 and 1987, but struggled during his brief tenure in Winst ...

at near full speed after Pearson spun. Both drivers suffered injuries, but none were life-threatening.

Personal life

Glotzbach was born in

Edwardsville, Indiana Edwardsville is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Georgetown Township, Floyd County, Indiana, Georgetown Township, Floyd County, Indiana, Floyd County, Indiana. The Duncan Tunnel is located at Edwardsville. History Edwardsville ...

. Glotzbach was found dead in his home in

Jeffersonville, Indiana Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio Riv ...

, on April 23, 2021. He was 82 years old.

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

=Daytona 500

ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series

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

References

External links

*
2001 Nascar.com article on his 1971 Bristol win
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glotzbach, Charlie 1938 births 2021 deaths ARCA Menards Series drivers NASCAR drivers American Speed Association drivers People from Floyd County, Indiana Racing drivers from Indiana People from Sellersburg, Indiana Sportspeople from Clark County, Indiana