Billy Carden (April 1, 1924 – October 25, 2004) 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 from

Mableton Mableton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. According to the 2020 census, Mableton has a population of 40,834. Upon Brookhaven's cityhood in December 2012, Mableton became ...

, Georgia. He was a stock car racing pioneer and an early

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 hi ...

competitor. He made over 50

NASCAR Grand National 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 Natio ...

(now Cup) starts and also dabbled in the

NASCAR Convertible Division The NASCAR Convertible Division was a division of convertible cars early in NASCAR's history, from 1956 until 1959, although the signature race for convertibles remained a Convertible Division race until 1962. Two remnants of the Convertible Divi ...

Racing career

NASCAR

Carden has contributed four finishes in the top five, seventeen finishes in the top ten, starting the race at the pole position twice, 58 laps led, and 6431.8 miles (7951 laps) of racing experience at the top level. He was a participant at both 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 ...

and the

1959 Daytona 500 The 1959 First 500 Mile NASCAR International Sweepstakes at Daytona (now known as the 1959 Inaugural Daytona 500) was the second race of the 1959 NASCAR Grand National Series season. It was held on February 22, 1959, in front of 41,921 spectator ...

which were seen as the major events of his generation. After the end of his career, total career earnings for this driver were considered to be $8,415 ($ when adjusted for inflation). Out of all his races that he has participated in his career, Carden has started an average of 13th place and finished an average of 18th place. Carden's ultimate retirement from any form of professional motorsports came on June 14, 1959 at a NASCAR Grand National Convertible race at Lakewood Speedway. He would start in 12th and finish in 16th; collecting a meager $110 in the process ($ when adjusted for inflation). Competitors in that race included Lee Petty, his son

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

, and

Buck Baker Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. (March 4, 1919 – April 14, 2002), better known as Buck Baker, was an American stock car racer. Born in Richburg, South Carolina, Baker began his NASCAR career in 1949 and won his first race three years later at Columbia ...

. Most of Carden's top-five and top-ten finishes were done on short tracks. He was generally more successful there as opposed to superspeedways, road courses, and intermediate tracks.

Short tracks

Carden started his racing career in his home state of Georgia in 1947. He went on to claim championships on tracks in Georgia and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and raced with Fonty Flock and Bob Flock. Carden also competed at several Georgia racetracks on a part-time basis, winning a 200 lap race at Lakewood Speedway over 1949 NASCAR champion Red Byron. He won a 1948 race at Columbus Speedway that was marred by a Byron crash that resulted in the death of a seven-year-old spectator. Carden owned his hometown Mableton Speedway in 1948 and 1949 while racing at it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carden, Billy 1924 births 2004 deaths NASCAR drivers People from Mableton, Georgia Racing drivers from Atlanta Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportspeople from Cobb County, Georgia