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's first-ever race.

NASCAR career

1949

Dunaway competed in NASCAR first Strictly Stock (now NASCAR Cup Series)

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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 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$10,000, but

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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 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. He rebounded and finished third at Occoneechee Speedway, ninth at

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, 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 ...

(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

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

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

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (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