Chauncey T. Maggiacomo Jr. (born November 30, 1947) known as "Jocko" or, in high school, as "Chant," is a racing car driver from
Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
. He is infamous for T-boning Bobby Allison, all but ending both careers.
His father Chauncey T. Maggiacomo (also nicknamed Jocko) was a famous modified
stock car
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 ...
racer in the northeast. Jocko Sr. won 31 feature races and multiple championships at Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Mass., and won the track's biggest event, the Riverside 500. He is eighth on the track's all-time win list. He is a member of the
New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame The New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for racing-related people in the New England region of the United States. NEAR was established in 1981. The New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame was established in 1998 by the New Englan ...
.
Jocko Jr., followed a different path, racing sportscars with the SCCA. He rose to the professional ranks, winning the 1976 SCCA
Trans Am Series
The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...
championship driving an ex-
Roger Penske
Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, t ...
/
Mark Donohue AMC Javelin
The AMC Javelin is an American front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop automobile manufactured by American Motors Corporation (AMC) across two generations, 1968 through 1970 and 1971 through 1974 model years. The car was positioned an ...
.
Moving to
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 ...
, Maggiacomo started 23
Winston Cup
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 in 10 seasons, primarily in the
Northeastern United States.
Unable to avoid a spinning
Bobby Allison
Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short tracks ...
in the 1988
Miller High Life 500 at
Pocono, the T-bone crash with Maggiacomo ended Allison's driving career. According to Maggiacomo's autobiography, he chose to end his career too out of post-traumatic stress disorder and guilt of hitting Allison.
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.)
Winston Cup Series
=Daytona 500
=
ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series
(
key) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maggiacomo, Jocko
1947 births
Living people
NASCAR drivers
Trans-Am Series drivers
Sportspeople from Poughkeepsie, New York
Racing drivers from New York (state)
ARCA Menards Series drivers
American people of Italian descent