Kenneth Wayne Wagner (September 19, 1917 - March 1, 1981) was a stock car racing driver from the early

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, ...

years, competing in NASCAR's inaugural season. He won the first pole position at the season finale 1949 Wilkes 200.

Career

Wagner's NASCAR debut came in 1949, when he competed 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 ...

. He competed in three races in 1949 at Martinsville,

Heidelberg Raceway Heidelberg Raceway was an American auto racing track which was built near Heidelberg, Pennsylvania in Scott Township, Allegheny County, approximately southwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It held weekly races and numerous special events between ...

(near Pittsburgh), and

North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill fr ...

. He took the pole position for the

Wilkes 200 The Tyson Holly Farms 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held annually from 1949 to 1996 at the North Wilkesboro Speedway in Wilkes County, North Carolina. It was the second of two Winston Cup Series races held annually (with the ...

, the first ever pole position at North Wilkesboro for the NASCAR Cup Series. Wagner then raced three more times in the 1950 season with a best start of fourth at

Langhorne Speedway Langhorne Speedway was an automobile racetrack in Middletown Township, Bucks County, near the borough of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. According to the book ''Langhorne! No Man's Land'' by L. Spencer Riggs: "With a ...

and a tenth place at the second Langhorne race. He finished tenth at the Langhorne circle for his only top ten career finish. He also competed in the inaugural

Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...

at Darlington where he finished 70th of 78 cars. Wagner would skip several years before his next NASCAR race in 1956. He raced three times in 1956:

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 ...

Wilson Speedway Wilson Speedway was a half-mile dirt oval located in Wilson, North Carolina that held 12 NASCAR Cup Series between 1951 and 1960 and 5 races in the NASCAR Convertible Series from 1956 to 1958. and continued to hold local races until 1989 when th ...

, and his final NASCAR start at Langhorne.

Personal life

Wagner was born in

Caldwell, Ohio Caldwell is a village and the county seat of Noble County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the West Fork of Duck Creek 23 miles north of Marietta. The population was 1,748 at the 2010 census. History Caldwell was founded in 1857, and ...

but lived and was based out of

Pennington, New Jersey Pennington is a borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The borough is located at the cross-roads between the Delaware Valley region to the south and the Raritan Valley region to the north. As of the 2010 United States Census, th ...

. He died in Philadelphia on March 1, 1981. He had three sons, Kenneth, John, and Raymond, who died aboard

Pan Am Flight 103 Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...

over

Lockerbie Lockerbie (, gd, Locarbaidh) is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway, south-western Scotland. It is about from Glasgow, and from the border with England. The United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town ...

as he was the co-captain aboard the plane https://panam103.syr.edu/victims/pa103_v_wagner_raymond.php, Syracuse University, December 21, 1988.] Retrieved October 21, 2021

References

NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Ohio {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Kenneth 1917 births 1981 deaths