Bill Champion (October 16, 1921 – May 20, 1991) was an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driver who competed in the

NASCAR Winston Cup Series 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, ...

from

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

. He was the uncle of

Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "The Rooster", is an American former racing driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins. He was named ...

; a retired NASCAR Cup Series driver. When he was not racing on the NASCAR circuit, Champion had a shop in

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Bill's most iconic ride of his NASCAR career was driving the 1969

Ford Torino The Ford Torino is an automobile that was produced by Ford for the North American market between 1968 and 1976. It was a competitor in the intermediate market segment. The car was named after the city of Turin (''Torino'', in Italian), consider ...

Career

Champion managed to drive in his professional stock car racing career; starting and finishing an average of 20th place.Career statistics of ''Bill Champion''
at Racing Reference At the end of his career, Bill's total earnings was $234,268 ($ when adjusted for inflation). Champion's experience in NASCAR added up to 57,214 laps of professional stock car racing experience. In addition to his 43 finishes in the "top ten," Champion has also accumulated four finishes in the "top five" and never failed to qualify for a race. During 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. An ...

, he managed to avoid Duckworth by swerving past his vehicle in a rapid manner. However,

Arden Mounts Enoch Arden Mounts (July 9, 1917 – March 4, 2003) was an American NASCAR Grand National Series driver from Gilbert, Mingo County, West Virginia. His primary vehicle was the #18 self-owned Pontiac machine; although he would occasionally drive a ...

did not get to see the stalled vehicle in time and prepared himself for a hard collision into

Don Duckworth Donald Duckworth is a retired NASCAR Grand National Series driver from Gray Court, South Carolina, US. Career Duckworth made his sole Cup Series appearance at the 1955 Southern 500 under the ''Woodruff Motors'' sponsorship livery while driving a ...

's vehicle. One of Bill Champion's best races was at the November running of the 1969 Georgia 500. Other spectacular finishes occurred at the 1971 Asheville 300, the 1971 Kingsport 300 and the 1971 Georgia 500. He performed the best on dirt tracks; finishing an average of 15th place. However, Champion was not a good performer on restrictor-plate tracks where he averaged a meager finish of 25th place.NASCAR Statistics of ''Bill Champion''
at Driver Averages

References

External links

* 1921 births 1991 deaths NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Norfolk, Virginia Racing drivers from Virginia {{NASCAR-bio-stub