Dave Watson (born November 7, 1945) is an American racing driver from

Milton, Wisconsin Milton is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,716 at the 2020 census. History The city was formed as a result of the 1967 merger of the villages of Milton and Milton Junction. In November of that year, ballot ...

. Watson was the 1977

USAC Stock Car The USAC Stock Car division was the stock car racing class sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC). The division raced nationally; drivers from USAC's open wheel classes like Indy cars, Silver Crown, sprints, and midgets frequently comp ...

Rookie of the Year. He raced five

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 (now

Sprint Cup Series 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 ...

) races with one Top 10. Watson won in the

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...

(SCCA),

Grand American Grand American was a NASCAR sanctioned series of pony car stock cars. The series ran from 1968 until 1972. The series was called "Grand Touring" from 1968 to 1969. History The series formed in 1968 under the name "Grand Touring" as a competitor ...

and

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

Racing career

Local track racing

Watson began racing on the race tracks in the Wisconsin area. Watson won the 1973 track championship at

Rockford Speedway Rockford Speedway is a 1/4 mile short track high banked asphalt oval located in Loves Park, Illinois on Illinois Route 173. Rockford Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway are the only racetracks running unde ...

Slinger Super Speedway The Slinger Speedway (also known as Slinger Super Speedway) is a quarter mile paved oval automobile race track with 33-degree banked corners located in Slinger, Wisconsin. The track is billed as the "World's Fastest Quarter Mile Oval." The curre ...

track championship in 1975, the 1976

Madison International Speedway The Madison International Speedway (MIS) is a half-mile paved oval racetrack in the Town of Rutland near Oregon, Wisconsin, United States. With 18-degree banked turns, the track is billed as "The Track of Champions" and "Wisconsin's Fastest H ...

track championship with his Super Late Model, and the

Lake Geneva Raceway Lake Geneva Raceway (also LGR) was a motocross, demolition derby, off-road racing, stock car, and kart racing racetrack in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, US. It was billed as "Wisconsin's Busiest Racetrack." The track closed on December 31, 2006, and ...

track championship in 1976. He won two Red, White, and Blue state championship series at

Wisconsin International Raceway The Wisconsin International Raceway (abbreviated WIR) is an asphalt stock car racing oval and dragstrip in the Town of Buchanan, in Outagamie County, just outside Kaukauna, Wisconsin, USA. History Wisconsin International Raceway originally o ...

. In 76 events entered during 1976, Watson won 41 short track races which was the most in the United States that year. Watson won the Oktoberfest main event at the

La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway The La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway is a semi-banked asphalt oval racetrack in West Salem, Wisconsin. The outer track is 5/8 mile and the inner track is a 1/4 mile. The speedway has progressive banking in the corners, from 5 degrees on the bottom t ...

in 1978.

ASA / USAC racing

Dave Watson Buick USAC Stock Car 1977 ROTY

Watson began racing on two national tours in 1977 - the

American Speed Association The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt a ...

(ASA) and

. Watson was the first USAC Stock Car driver to win in his first career start at the 1977

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectator ...

event. He took the USAC Stock Car Rookie of the Year award. He won the 1977 ASA Championship and took the Rookie of the Year.

NASCAR racing

Watson made his first NASCAR Winston Cup start at Atlanta International Raceway (now

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series ...

) in late 1978. Watson started 22nd of 39 cars; he completed 316 of 328 laps before a crash ended his race with a 17th place finish in his own car. Watson attempted to qualify for the following race at

Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: USAC (and now In ...

for Phil Howard but did not make the field. Watson led one lap in the

1979 Daytona 500 The 1979 Daytona 500, the 21st annual event, was the second race of the 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. It was held on February 18, 1979. Sports pundits consider the 1979 Daytona 500 to be the most important race in stock car history. Th ...

and he finished 26th after his clutch failed. At the following race at

Rockingham Speedway Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is also known as The Rock and previously hosted NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, ...

, he started 15th and he finished 8th in his only career Top 10 finish. He started 17th and finished 18th at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

on the following week. At his fourth consecutive race at

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, he started 18th and led 6 laps. Watson went in for a pit stop on lap 123. The car had a part failure causing Watson to loss control of his car and struck his a crew member Dennis Wade while moving . Watson quit the race and went to the hospital but Wade was pronounced dead at the hospital. Watson has not raced in NASCAR since.

Sports car racing

Watson won the 1983 Most Improved Driver Award for the SCCA Trans Am series.

Legacy

The Southeastern Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame inducted Watson in 2015. Watson was inducted in the Hall of Fame for Madison international Speedway in 2015 in its second class.

Life after racing

After his racing career ended, he was the crew chief and team manager for several teams. Watson starting working as the Competition Direct for the

Grand American Road Racing Association Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. ...

when it formed in 1999. He took over as the Director of Special Projects in 2002.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Dave 1945 births Living people NASCAR drivers People from Milton, Wisconsin Racing drivers from Wisconsin USAC Stock Car drivers