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. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

driver from the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

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 (; pronounced "young") 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. Once the southernmost ...

north of Sheppard). Fagan served his country in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack subma ...

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, United States Coast Guard, and Marine Corps. During the Age of Sail, shore leave was often abused by the mem ...

. His mother's 1957 Dodge Custom Royal 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 sy ...

to make it sound better.

Pinecrest Speedway Pinecrest is the name of a number of places in North America: Places Canada * Pinecrest Road (Ottawa), in Ottawa * Pinecrest Public School, in Ottawa * Pinecrest Station (OC Transpo), in Ottawa United States Florida * Pinecrest, Florid ...

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 3,120 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Chartered in 1875 and named for Michael Montraville Weaver ...

). 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 ...

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 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establ ...

. 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 Racing drivers from Ontario NASCAR drivers People from Willowdale, Toronto Sportspeople from North York