Harold "Frog" Fagan (November 3, 1940 – August 6, 1993) 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 ...

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, 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, ...

driver from the

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

subdivision of Willowdale, Ontario, Canada.

History

Harold Fagan is the son of Mrs. Yvonne Fagan (who was the owner of the ''Northway Restaurant'' on

Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...

north of

Sheppard Sheppard can refer to: Places * Sheppard, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community, United States * Sheppard Avenue in Toronto, Canada named for Joseph Shepard (1765-1837). Hence: ** Sheppard subway line ** Sheppard West (TTC), formerly Downsvie ...

). Fagan served his country in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

and would go to his mother's restaurant while on

shore leave Shore leave is the leave that professional sailors get to spend on dry land. It is also known as "liberty" within the United States Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps. During the Age of Sail, shore leave was often abused by the members of the ...

. His mother's 1957

Dodge Custom Royal The Dodge Custom Royal is an automobile which was produced by Dodge in the United States for the 1955 through 1959 model years. In each of these years the Custom Royal was the top trim level of the Dodge line, above the mid level Dodge Royal and th ...

would be Fagan's first ride; he would punch some holes in the

muffler A muffler (North American and Australian English) or silencer (British English) is a device for reducing the noise emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine—especially a noise-deadening device forming part of the exhaust syst ...

to make it sound better. Pinecrest Speedway was Fagan's first ever experience racing stock cars at any level. He had one top-ten finish (eighth at the 1968 Fireball 300 race that took place at the Asheville-Weaverville Speedway in

Weaverville, North Carolina Weaverville is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,567 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Asheville metropolitan area. History Chartered in 1875 and named for Michael Montraville Weaver who gave t ...

). Fagan also accomplished 2297 laps of racing experience; the equivalent of . His monetary achievement was earning $6,305 ($ when adjusted for inflation) in total career earnings. On average, Fagan started his races in 28th place and finished them in 23rd place. Fagan's career stretched for four years and twenty races. The majority of Fagan's races were driven in

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

vehicles; most notably in the #95 entry owned by

Neil Castles Henry Neil Castles (October 1, 1934 – August 4, 2022) was an American NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. He raced from 1957 to 1976, and won the NASCAR Grand National East Series in 1972. Early life Castles was born in Ma ...

while also racing in the #77 entry driven during his rookie season in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

. Other manufacturers that Fagan raced for included

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

(with the #06 entry)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fagan, Harold 1940 births 1993 deaths NASCAR drivers People from Willowdale, Toronto Sportspeople from North York Racing drivers from Toronto Canadian racing drivers Royal Canadian Navy personnel

History

See also

References