Henry Glenn Dunaway (July 6, 1914 – March 8, 1964) was an American auto racer noted for initially winning, and then being disqualified from, what is today recognized as

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 ...

's first-ever race.

NASCAR career

1949

Dunaway competed in NASCAR first Strictly Stock (now

NASCAR 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, ...

)

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

on June 19, 1949. He won the race by three laps over

Jim Roper Christian David "Jim" Roper (August 13, 1916 – June 23, 2000) was a NASCAR driver. He lived in Halstead, Kansas. He is most known as the winner of the first ever NASCAR race at Charlotte. Racing career Roper lived at his grandfather's hors ...

after all 33 cars in the race were overheating. Chief NASCAR inspector Al Crisler disqualified Dunaway's car because car owner

Hubert Westmoreland Hubert Westmoreland (January 28, 1915October 26, 2006) was a mechanic that became a car owner in the beginning of NASCAR. His role as a car owner ran from 1949 to 1964. In that time his cars were driven to four first -place finishes. His most not ...

had shored up the chassis by spreading the rear springs, a favorite bootlegger trick to improve traction and handling. When asked about the illegal modifications, Dunaway responded: "Just one of them deals." The night after the race ended, Dunaway went to Bill France's hotel room at the Alamo Plaza, told France that he knew he had won the race and France promptly gave Dunaway his winnings. Westmoreland sued NASCAR for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

10,000, but

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

Judge John J. Hayes threw the case out of court, thus setting a legal precedent that recognized NASCAR's power to oversee its races. Dunaway received no money and was credited with finishing last in the 33 car field. Roper was credited with the win in NASCAR's first Strictly Stock race. In 1998, fellow driver

Buck Baker Elzie Wylie Baker Sr. (March 4, 1919 – April 14, 2002), better known as Buck Baker, was an American stock car racer. Born in Richburg, South Carolina, Baker began his NASCAR career in 1949 and won his first race three years later at Columbia ...

recalled various drivers in that race pooled money together for Dunaway so he would not leave penniless; Baker remarked: "he ended up getting more from that than he would have if he'd won the damn race." Dunaway used his car to compete in five more events in 1949. He finished last at the next event at the

Daytona Beach Road Course The Daytona Beach and Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It originally became famous as the location where 15 world land speed records were set. Beach and ro ...

. He rebounded and finished third at

Occoneechee Speedway Occoneechee Speedway was one of the first two NASCAR tracks to open. It closed in 1968 and is the only dirt track remaining from the inaugural 1949 season. It is located just outside the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina. Site history Occon ...

, ninth at

Hamburg Speedway The Erie County Fair is a fair held in Hamburg in Erie County, New York every August. Based on 2018 attendance statistics, The Erie County Fair is the second largest fair in New York and the fourth largest county fair in North America, often dra ...

, and seventh at

Martinsville Speedway Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in s ...

(then a half-mile dirt track). He finished ninth in the final 1949 points standings.

1950–1951

He competed in seven events in 1950 and had his career-high second-place finish at

Canfield Speedway Canfield Speedway is a half mile dirt oval racetrack that hosted (major) sanctioned auto racing from 1950 to 1964, but other associations ran until the late 1970s. There was also a 1/4 mile dirt racing surface that shared the front stretch with ...

. He had 3 Top-10 finishes. He competed in five events in 1951, with 2 Top-10 finishes. He finished 89th in the final points.Profile
racing-reference.info; accessed December 8, 2014.

Death

Dunaway died at a train crossing near

Camden, South Carolina Camden is the largest city and county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Camden is the oldest inland city in South Caro ...

on Sunday morning, March 8, 1964. He and his passenger Margaret Fox were struck by a

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

train, throwing Dunaway from his car. He was 49 years old.

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

References

Links

Story of NASCAR's first race

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunaway, Glenn 1914 births 1964 deaths Road incident deaths in South Carolina NASCAR drivers NASCAR team owners People from Gastonia, North Carolina Racing drivers from North Carolina Railway accident deaths in the United States