''Joseph "Joe" Eubanks'' (August 9, 1925 – June 21, 1971) 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 ...

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

'' driver from

Spartanburg Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-most populous city in the state. The Office of Management and Budg ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

.''Joe Eubanks''
career information at Racing Reference He entered the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

along with fellow NASCAR veterans Bud Moore and

Cotton Owens Everett "Cotton" Owens (May 21, 1924 – June 7, 2012) was an American NASCAR driver. For five straight years (1957–61), Owens captured at least one Grand National Series win. Owens was known as "the King of the Modifieds" for his successes i ...

.Joe Eubanks' army career
at DropInTheHammer.Net All three of these men served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

together.

Career summary

Eubanks raced from

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

collecting one win, thirty-seven finishes in the top five, and eighty-one finishes in the top ten along the way. His total career earnings were $35,338 ($ when adjusted for inflation) and he successfully completed of racing. As one of the first competitors to compete in a NASCAR road racing event, Eubanks finished second to

Al Keller Alvah August “Al” Keller (April 11, 1920 in Alexander, New York – November 19, 1961 in Phoenix, Arizona) was an American racecar driver. NASCAR Keller participated in the NASCAR Strictly Stock/Grand National series from 1949 to 1956 ...

who was driving a 1951

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...

Hornet Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the Eusociality, eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to yellowjackets, their close relatives. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other Vespi ...

automobile. Joe was a competitor for the

1955 Southern 500 The 1955 Southern 500, the sixth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event. The event was held on September 5, 1955, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. This race spanned 500 miles on a paved oval track. ...

and was credited for having the fastest

Oldsmobile 88 The Oldsmobile 88 (marketed from 1989 on as the Eighty Eight) is a full-size car that was sold and produced by Oldsmobile from 1949 until 1999. From 1950 until 1974, the 88 was the division's most profitable line, particularly the entry-level m ...

vehicle of that particular race. Dirt tracks were Eubanks' greatest strong point as a driver; where a "top ten" finish were frequent.

Superspeedway Oval track racing is a form of motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traffic is almost uni ...

tracks turned out to be his weakness as his average finish on those tracks was 38th place. Eubanks' primary vehicle was the #88

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 ...

machine owned by Don Every and Domenic Petti of Daytona Florida. He was also one of the extras for the 1960

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 ...

film ''

Thunder in Carolina ''Thunder in Carolina'' is a 1960 stock car racing film directed by Paul Helmick and starring Rory Calhoun, Alan Hale, Jr., and Connie Hines. Written by Alexander Richards, it contains 1959-vintage stock car race footage. Filmed at a number of s ...

''.Racer profile about ''Joe Eubanks''
at Insider Racing News

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eubanks, Joe 1925 births 1971 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II NASCAR drivers Racing drivers from Spartanburg, South Carolina