William Gerald Standridge (November 27, 1953 – April 12, 2014) 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. He was a competitor in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Busch Series.

Career

Born November 27, 1953, Standridge started his racing career in the

Goody's Dash Series The ISCARS Dash Touring Series (previously known as the NASCAR Baby Grand National, Goody's Dash Series and IPOWER Dash Series among others) was a stock car racing series created by NASCAR in 1973, initially running solely at North Wilkesboro Sp ...

. Standridge began running the NASCAR Busch Series in 1986, when he finished 14th at the All Pro 300 at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

in his own Pontiac. After that, he began running a limited schedule in the Busch Series, posting five top-ten finishes in 84 starts, the last of which came in 1993. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he began running a limited schedule in

Winston Cup 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, ...

, making his debut at North Carolina Speedway but finishing 42nd after a crash. He ran seven more races that year, his best finish being a 24th at the Southern 500 as well as picking up sponsorship from the

WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

and Dura Lube. He followed that up with a 14th-place finish at Darlington the following year. After an unsuccessful stint with Triad Motorsports in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

(he was released after New Hampshire's summer race in 1997), Standridge began running his own team, the #47 Ford Thunderbird, picking up sponsorship from

Jayski Jayski's Silly Season Site is a web site focusing primarily on NASCAR news and rumors. The website was founded by Jay "Jayski" Adamczyk in 1996 after he had difficulty finding news regarding the Melling Racing team, and subsequently worked to get ...

and also from fan-sponsored donations. He even picked up sponsorship from Phillips after Geoffrey Bodine failed to qualify for a 1998 Talladega race. Standridge was one of the last drivers to run in NASCAR using a Thunderbird after other teams switched to the redesigned

Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological characters named Taurus * ''Bos taurus ...

for the 1998 season. His last career start was that the Pepsi 400 in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, where his engine expired 19 laps into the race. His last attempt ever came in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, when he filled in for Dan Pardus in the

Midwest Transit Racing Midwest Transit Racing is a disbanded NASCAR Winston Cup Series team owned and operated by Hal Hicks and Mike Witter. It was formed in 1998 as No. 03 with Dan Pardus driving and Midwest Transit as the sponsor. Before the car hit the track howe ...

Chevy at Rockingham Speedway in 2nd-round-qualifying, but his time was not fast enough to make the race. Outside of NASCAR, Standridge ran an auto-parts store in Shelby, North Carolina. In March 2014, Standridge was diagnosed with cancer. He died on April 12, 2014 at his home in

Lake Wylie, South Carolina Lake Wylie is a census-designated place (CDP) in York County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,841 at the 2010 census. Lake Wylie is located on a peninsula along the shore of Lake Wylie, a reservoir that was named for Dr. W. Gi ...

. Standridge was survived by his wife, five children, and seven grandchildren.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

=Daytona 500 results

Busch Series

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

* *
Standridge Auto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Standridge, Billy 1953 births 2014 deaths People from Shelby, North Carolina Racing drivers from North Carolina NASCAR drivers ISCARS Dash Touring Series drivers Deaths from cancer in South Carolina ARCA Menards Series drivers