Edwin Keith "Banjo" Matthews (February 14, 1932 – October 2, 1996) was an American

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 ...

driver, car owner, and builder. As a driver, he had 13 top ten finishes in 51 starts. He was the car builder for the 1976 to 1978 NASCAR Cup Series champions.

Racing career

Driver

Matthews began his career at age 15 at Pompano Beach Speedway in Florida. He was a successful Modified driver. He won 50 times in 1954. He made 51 starts in the

NASCAR Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 to 1970, then the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand Nation ...

, with a best finish of second at

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

.Circle Track magazine
Retrieved April 1, 2007 He won three poles, one each at the

Daytona Beach and Road Course The Daytona Beach and Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It originally became famous as the location where 15 world land speed records were set. Beach and r ...

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASC ...

, and

Atlanta International Raceway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series s ...

. His best finishes were on superspeedways where he would finish in 15th place on average while his worst finishes would be on road courses where he would finish in 39th place on average. Matthews drove 26 races using #94. Matthews stopped driving in 1963 to focus on building cars.

Car owner/builder

Matthews served as car owner for several of the biggest names in NASCAR in the 1960s and 1970s, including

Fireball Roberts Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts Jr. (January 20, 1929July 2, 1964) was an American stock car racer. Background Roberts was born in Tavares, Florida, and raised in Apopka, Florida, where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. He was ...

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the bro ...

, and Cale Yarborough. Matthews' career as a team owner began at the

1957 Southern 500 The 1957 Southern 500, the eighth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 2, 1957, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Herb Thomas, already a three-time Southern 500 winner, arr ...

and ended at the 1974 Southeastern 500. His drivers won 9 races and had 14 pole positions in 160 races. Matthews also served as co-crew chief for

Jack Ingram Jack Owen Ingram (born November 15, 1970) is an American country music artist formerly signed to Big Machine Records, an independent record label. He has released eleven studio albums, one extended play, six live albums, and 19 singles. Although ...

in 1975, with

. He is best known, however, for having constructed many cars in the 1970s and 1980s, including 72% of the winning cars in the top NASCAR division from 1974 to 1985 (262 wins in 362 Cup races). He first worked for

Holman Moody Holman-Moody is an American racecar manufacturer, marine engine manufacturer and former auto racing team. The company currently operates out of Charlotte, North Carolina, but is no longer a race team. Holman-Moody continues to manufacture racing ...

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

factory team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

before starting his own shop called Banjo's Performance Center in Arden, North Carolina in 1970. In 1978, he built the winning car for all 30 Cup races. He was nicknamed the "

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...

of Race Cars."

Death and personal life

Matthews had failing health for his last two years and he died in a nursing home in

Hendersonville, North Carolina Hendersonville is a city in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. It is south of Asheville and is the county seat of Henderson County. Like the county, the city is named for 19th-century North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leon ...

on October 2, 1996. His wife Penny had died from cancer in 1984. His son Jody took over the family business and had a daughter.

Banjo Nickname

NASCAR owner Bud Moore said, "When Banjo first came around, he wore a pair of glasses that were so thick, it made everyone, on first impression, think of a " banjo." I don't know who thought of it first, but that's what we started calling him 'Banjo Eyes' and it stuck.

Awards

He was inducted in the

International Motorsports Hall of Fame The International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) is a hall of fame located adjacent to the Talladega Superspeedway (formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway) located in Talladega County, east central Alabama. It enshrines those who have co ...

in 1998. He also received the Buddy Shuman Award for his contributions to the sport, the

Smokey Yunick Henry "Smokey" Yunick (May 25, 1923 – May 9, 2001) was an American professional stock car racing crew chief, owner, driver, engineer, engine builder, and car designer as well as being a pilot in the United States Army Air Corps in World W ...

Award for his mechanical ability, and was inducted in the inducted National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Hall of Fame in 1996.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Banjo 1932 births 1996 deaths NASCAR drivers NASCAR team owners Sportspeople from Akron, Ohio Racing drivers from Ohio