Bill_Snowden

Bill Snowden

Bill Snowden

American racing driver (1910–1959)

For New Zealand rugby league international, see Bill Snowden (rugby league).

William Andrew Snowden (May 6, 1910 – February 2, 1959) was a NASCAR driver from St. Augustine, Florida, USA. He was one of the racers whose career was interrupted by World War II. He was nicknamed "Wild Bill" and "the Florida Hurricane".[2]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Snowden competed on various circuits before NASCAR was organized, and he had second-place finishes at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1941 and 1948.[3] He competed in NASCAR's Strictly Stock/Grand National Series (now NASCAR Cup Series) races between the series' inception in 1949 and 1952.[4] He had 15 Top 10 and 5 Top 5 finishes in those 24 races.[4]

NASCAR career

In the series' first year in 1949, he competed in four of the eight events, with three Top 10s and a season-best fifth-place finish at Occoneechee Speedway at Hillsboro, North Carolina. Snowden finished 11th in the season points.[4]

Snowden competed in four events in the next season, finishing 40th in season points with 2 Top 10s. His season-best fifth-place finish happened at Charlotte Speedway.[4]

Snowden had a career-best ninth place season points finish in 1951. In 21 starts, he had 9 Top 10 finishes with two career-best fourth-place finishes at Martinsville Speedway and Speedway Park in Jacksonville.[4]

1952 was Snowden's final season in Grand National. He competed in four events, with one Top 10 with his sixth-place finish at Hayloft Speedway in Augusta, Georgia.[4] Fireball Roberts raced one event in Snowden's car that season, and Banjo Matthews used Snowden's car in three events with one fifth-place finish at Darlington Raceway.[5]

After his retirement from racing, Snowden became a shrimp boat operator. He died on February 2, 1959.[6] In 1992, he was inducted in the Jacksonville Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame.[1]

References

  1. [1]
    "1991 & 1992 Hall of Fame Inductees". Jacksonville Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame. 1992. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  2. [2]
    Menzer, Joe (2007-02-17). "Daytona legends recall good ol' days on beach". NASCAR. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
  3. [3]
    "Bill Snowden". Racin History. Archived from the original on 2003-09-14. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
  4. [4]
    "Strictly Stock/Grand National Driver's statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
  5. [5]
    "Bill Snowden's NASCAR Owner's statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
  6. [6]
    "Bill Snowden Dies; Ex-Stock Car Champ". Scranton Tribune. UPI. February 4, 1959. Retrieved January 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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