Darrell Basham (born March 17, 1949) is 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 and team owner. He currently competes in the

ARCA Racing Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

, driving the No. 34

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

for Darrell Basham Racing.

Racing career

ARCA Racing Series

Darrell Basham 34 at 2013 ARCA Scott 160 at Road America

Basham made his

debut in 1972. In 1975, Basham posted a career-best finish of fifth twice, both times at

Salem Speedway Salem Speedway is a long paved oval racetrack in Washington Township, Washington County, near Salem, Indiana, United States, approximately south of Indianapolis. The track has 33° degrees of banking in the corners. Major auto racing series ...

. One year later, he finished a career-best seventh place in the standings. After driving sporadically over the next two decades, Basham began racing full-time again in 2002. The next season, Basham won the Spirit Award for his dedication and support for ARCA, uplifting spirit by way of example, perseverance, and positive attitude. He finished ninth in the 2009 Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at

Daytona Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Da ...

, tying his career-best finish at the track from 33 years earlier. That same year, Basham and his son Jason made ARCA history by becoming the first father/son duo to finish in the top 20 in the standings the same year. In 2011, Basham competed in all 19 races, having a best finish of 12th at Salem Speedway and finishing 10th in the season point standings. He also won the Spirit Award for the second time. Basham made his 300th career ARCA start at

Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. It ...

in 2012, finishing 21st in the event. He had a best finish of 14th place that season at

Winchester Speedway Winchester Speedway is a half-mile paved oval motor racetrack in White River Township, Randolph County, just outside Winchester, Indiana, approximately northeast of Indianapolis. It seats 4000 spectators. It is also known as the "World's Faste ...

, and ultimately finished 11th in the points standings. He was awarded the Marcum Award at the Championship Awards Banquet for his positive efforts and contributions within the ARCA Racing community. 69 Darrell Basham car 2018 ARCA Madison

After racing a full schedule in the ARCA Racing Series for the previous 11 seasons, the 63-year-old Basham decided to reduce his schedule for the 2013 season and only compete on short tracks.

NASCAR

Basham has competed in a single

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 ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, 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. ...

event in his career, the 1979

Sun-Drop Music City USA 420 The Coors 420 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held at Nashville International Raceway. It was held annually from 1959 to 1984. Past winners *1974: Race shortened due to energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is ...

Nashville Speedway Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand Nati ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. He started and finished 24th in the 28-car field, completing 101 of the race's 420 laps before retiring from the event due to

rear end Rear end may refer to: *Buttocks, euphemistically *Rear-end collision A rear-end collision (often called simply rear-end or in the UK a shunt) occurs when a vehicle crashes into the one in front of it. Common factors contributing to rear-end ...

failure. Basham also competed in the NASCAR-sanctioned

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 ...

, a racing formula for four-cylinder subcompact cars, in the early and mid 1990s.

Personal life

Basham has three children. His son Jason competed in 60 ARCA Racing Series events between 2003 and 2013. Basham operates a business as an independent trucker, operating his shop and trucking business from shops attached to his home in Henryville; he builds his own racing engines as well. On March 2, 2012, Basham's race shop was destroyed by a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

that devastated Henryville; Basham was able to salvage his race cars and other parts to reopen in a garage in

Marysville, Indiana Marysville is an unincorporated community in Oregon Township, Clark County, Indiana. History The town was laid out with 40 lots along the railroad tracks in 1871. It was named for Mary Kimberlain, a local resident. The town suffered severe ...

, and successfully resumed racing in ARCA, christening his car the Spirit of Henryville. He also has a son named Mike, and a brother named Dugan, who worked as a crew chief for his Darrell's team.

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

ARCA Menards Series

(

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Basham, Darrell Living people 1949 births People from Henryville, Indiana Racing drivers from Indiana NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers American Speed Association drivers