Robert "Bob" Joe Welborn (May 5, 1928 – August 10, 1997) of Denton was a

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 ...

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 ...

driver. He was named to

NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers is an alphabetical list of NASCAR drivers. In 1998, as part of its 50th anniversary celebration, NASCAR gathered a panel to select the "50 Greatest NASCAR Drivers of All Time." It was inspired in part by the NBA's dec ...

list in 1998. He won the final three

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 ...

championships in 1956, 1957, and 1958.

NASCAR career

Welborn drove in 11 Grand National events in 1953 for Julian Petty and J.O. Goode’s. He had 2 Top-5 finishes and 6 Top-10 finishes. He drove in 9 events in 1954 for owners Julian Petty, Bob Griffin, and George Hutchens. Welborn had 1 Top-5 and 3 Top-10 finishes. Welborn drove in 32 of 45 events in Julian Petty and his cars. He won the pole at

Greenville-Pickens Speedway Greenville-Pickens Speedway is a race track located in Easley, South Carolina, just west of Greenville, South Carolina. The track hosted weekly NASCAR sanctioned races. Several NASCAR touring series have raced at the track in prior years, includi ...

. Welborn finished fourth in the 1955 points. Welborn raced in 6 events in 1956. He also won the

championship. Welborn won his first race at Martinsville in 1957, but did not cross the finish line. Lewis "Possum" Jones relieved Welborn halfway through the race, but NASCAR always credits the driver who started the car. He had 1 win and 3 Top-10 finished in 5 events. Welborn also won the NASCAR Convertible series championship. Welborn had four straight wins (and five total), 1 pole, 10 Top-5, and 15 Top-10 finishes in 1958. He raced in 18 of 51 events, all for

Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises (formerly Lee Petty Engineering) was a NASCAR racing team based in Level Cross, North Carolina, USA. It was founded by Lee Petty with his two sons Richard Petty and Maurice Petty. The team was later owned by Richard Petty, hi ...

. He only finished 149th in series points that year because he only participated in 18 of 51 races. He won his third straight NASCAR Convertible championship. Welborn won the

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

for 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 ...

by winning his qualifying race. He had 5 poles and 3 wins during the season. Welborn amassed 9 total wins in the 1950s and early 1960s driving his car and one owned by Julian Petty. He made his last NASCAR start in 1964 while driving 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 ...

Career awards

*Welborn was named one of

in 1998. *He was inducted in the National Motorsports Press Association's Hall of Fame in 1982.

References

External links

Biography at SpeedwayMedia.com
* *
Biography at nascar.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welborn, Bob 1928 births 1997 deaths NASCAR drivers People from Denton, North Carolina Racing drivers from North Carolina