Curtis "Crawfish" Crider (October 7, 1930 – December 21, 2012) was an American

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southe ...

racing driver, and a pioneer in the early years of

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 ...

Career

Born in

Danville, Virginia Danville is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The city is located in the Southside (Virginia), Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River ( ...

, he was one of the hardest working and underfinanced racers to ever drive the stock car circuit. Landing in a lake eventually earned him the nickname "Crawfish". Like most early NASCAR racers, Crider was a bootlegger and delivered

moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

to his customers. From

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, this driver has competed in 232 races in his seven-year career and accumulated a grand total of $58740 ($ when adjusted for inflation). Crider's average start was in 19th place while his average finish was in 15th place. Following his retirement from NASCAR competition, Crider competed in

late model Late Model stock car racing, also known as late model racing and late models, refers to a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other primarily on oval tracks. This type of racing was early-on ...

stock car racing in Florida, competing primarily at

Volusia County Speedway Volusia Speedway Park (formerly known as Volusia County Speedway and Barberville Speedway) is an auto racing facility located near Barberville in Volusia County, Florida. It currently operates as a 1/2-mile dirt oval and a 1/5-mile dirt oval f ...

and winning the Florida State Championship in 1972, 1973 and 1974. He released a book in 1987, called "The Road to Daytona". He operated an automobile restoration shop near his home in

Ormond Beach, Florida Ormond Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metrop ...

before he died on December 21, 2012.

References

External links

* 1930 births 2012 deaths Racing drivers from Virginia NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Ormond Beach, Florida Sportspeople from Danville, Virginia {{NASCAR-bio-stub