Charley Griffith (September 4, 1929November 22, 1999) was a

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 ...

driver. He finished 3rd at 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 ...

. It is controversial that he finished 3rd, he was still a lap down from race winner

Lee Petty Lee Arnold Petty (March 14, 1914 – April 5, 2000) was an American stock car racing driver who competed during the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the pioneers of NASCAR and one of its first superstars. He was NASCAR's first three-time Cup ch ...

. According to NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison as well as other drivers who were there, Charley Griffith and car owner Paul Hudson, won the race. It is said that due to Charley’s lack of familiarity and popularity, NASCAR changed the result of the race , to more popular Lee Petty. This finish was in only his third Grand National start. Griffith is part of NASCAR lore as his car was involved in the famous

photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the finis ...

of the race. He attempted to race in the

1960 Daytona 500 The 1960 Daytona 500 was a NASCAR Grand National Series stock car race that was held on February 14, 1960, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It was the 5th race of the 1960 season, and was won by Junior ...

, but did not qualify.

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* 1929 births 1999 deaths NASCAR drivers {{NASCAR-bio-stub Charlie Griffith won the first asphalt race event held at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on July 19, 1958. He drove a car owned by Hart Hastings, Brooks Tune and George Tune from Shelbyville, TN. Griffith also won the first asphalt event held at Alabama's Birmingham International Raceway (1962) driving for Harry Mewbourne. Racing drivers from Tennessee Sportspeople from Chattanooga, Tennessee