Elmo Harold Langley (August 21, 1928 – November 21, 1996) 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 ...

driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number 64 on his race cars during his NASCAR career.

Racing career

Langley began his racing career racing modified cars in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in 1952. Langley came into

as a Driver/Owner in 1954. In 1966 he partnered with Henry Woodfield and created Langley-Woodfield Racing. That same year Langley won the only two races of his long career. After the second race of the 1969 season, Langley and Woodfield split and Langley continued to run the team on his own returning to the driver/owner role. Langley finished 5th in season points in 1969 and 1971, 6th in 1968 and 1970, 7th in 1972, 8th in 1975, and 9th in 1967 and 1973. His final full season was as a driver for Langley Racing in 1975. He continued to drive in a few select races until 1981 when he hung up the helmet for good. Langley began to field his familiar #64 for other drivers to develop their career including Tommy Gale, Joe Millikan, Jimmy Hensley and Ken Schrader. Langley shut down his team after the 1987 season. On April 15, 1988, Langley was named as the crew chief for

Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

and

Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champio ...

with his duties in effect after that year's First Union 400 where he attended as an observer. Elmo's very last race was the Battle of the NASCAR Legends race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1991. The race featured such drivers as

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

Pete Hamilton Peter Goodwill Hamilton (July 20, 1942 – March 21, 2017) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He competed in NASCAR for six years, where he won four times in his career (including the 1970 Daytona 500), three times driving ...

, and

Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the bro ...

. The winner was Langley, beating Yarborough to the line by about 3 feet on the last lap. From April 1989 through November 1996, Langley served as the official pace car driver for all Winston Cup events.

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...

and

Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...

were well known to bump and draft his car during pace laps.

Personal life

Langley was married to Nancy and had four sons; Elmo Jr., Raymond, William and Steven. He lived in

Harrisburg, North Carolina Harrisburg, a northeastern suburb of Charlotte, is a city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States. The population was estimated to be 16,576 . Geography Harrisburg is located in southwestern Cabarrus County at (35.322295, -80.653331). ...

Death

On November 21, 1996, Langley was in Suzuka, Japan to drive the pace car in the

NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka In 1996 and 1997, NASCAR held exhibition races on the East portion of the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Several Japanese, Australian and Winston West Series drivers participated among some of the Winston Cup Series regul ...

exhibition race which was held on November 24. During a test drive, he began to experience chest pains. He was subsequently taken to the Suzuka General Hospital where he was pronounced dead when his heart stopped beating before arrival.

legend and

TBS Superstation TBS (an abbreviation for Turner Broadcasting System) is an American pay television network owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It carries a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy, alo ...

analyst

Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 198 ...

was in the pace car at the time Langley suffered his heart attack, and was one of the last people to see Langley still alive.

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.)

Grand National Series

Winston Cup Series

=Daytona 500

References

External links

* *
Photo and Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langley, Elmo 1928 births 1996 deaths Burials in North Carolina NASCAR drivers NASCAR team owners People from Landover, Maryland Racing drivers from Maryland People from Harrisburg, North Carolina