Paul Goldsmith (born October 2, 1925) is a former USAC and NASCAR driver. He is an inductee of the

Motorcycle Hall of Fame The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is an offshoot of the American Motorcyclist Association, recognizing individuals who have contributed to motorcycle sport, motorcycle construction Motorcycle components and systems for a motorcycle are en ...

, the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycle ...

, and the USAC Hall of Fame. Later in life Goldsmith became a pilot and, flying primarily a

Cessna 421 The Cessna 421 Golden Eagle is an American six or seven seat twin-engined light transport aircraft, developed in the 1960s by Cessna as a pressurized version of the earlier Cessna 411. Development The Cessna 421 was first produced in May 196 ...

, transported engines and parts to and from races. Goldsmith is currently the oldest living veteran of the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

Motorcycle career

Goldsmith was a famous A.M.A. Grand National Championship motorcycle racer during the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. His first victory came in 1952 aboard a

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depre ...

at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 specta ...

in Harley's hometown. Paul was a full-time worker at a

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

plant in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. His most famous victory was in the 1953

Daytona 200 The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Associat ...

. Later in 1953, he won a event at the grueling Langhorne (Pennsylvania) cinder track. He was awarded the Most Popular Rider of the Year Award for his efforts. In 1954, Goldsmith had one victory at Charity Newsies at Columbus, Ohio, and four podium finishes. He finished second in the first year of the Grand National Series behind his former pupil

Joe Leonard Joe Leonard (August 4, 1932 in San Diego, California – April 27, 2017 in San Jose, California) was an American professional motorcycle racer and racecar driver. Biography Motorcycle career Leonard won the first A.M.A. Grand National Champion ...

. In 1955 he won his final AMA event at Schererville, Indiana. He was frequently running stock cars. He left motorcycle racing because he was pressured to run only stock cars by

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

NASCAR and USAC stock car career

During the 1957 Southern 500 held on September 2 at

Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is ...

, he sustained serious injuries when he was involved in a major crash which also seriously injured

Fonty Flock Truman Fontell "Fonty" Flock (March 21, 1920 – July 15, 1972) was an American stock car racer. Flock family He was the brother of NASCAR pioneers Tim Flock and Bob Flock, and the second female NASCAR driver Ethel Mobley. The four rac ...

and killed Bobby Myers. During lap 27, Flock was driving Herb Thomas's No. 92 Pontiac and spun on the backstretch, stopping perpendicular to the track. Myers and Goldsmith subsequently struck the stopped car at full speed respectively. He was the winner of the final race at the famous

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 ...

in 1958. He was also the only driver to win the Daytona Beach Road course both in a stock car and on a motorcycle. Goldsmith was the 1961 USAC Stock Car champion, with 7 poles, 10 wins, 16 top-five finishes in 19 races. Goldsmith won his second consecutive USAC championship in 1962 with 6 poles, 8 wins, and 15 top-five finishes in 20 races. He was inducted into the USAC Hall of Fame in 2018.

Championship Car career

Goldsmith competed in 8 races in the USAC

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive event ...

series, between 1958 and 1963 with 6 of those starts in the

. He finished in the top five twice at Indy, following up a 5th-place finish in 1959 with a 3rd in 1960.

Indianapolis 500 results

World Championship career summary

The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Paul Goldsmith participated in three such World Championship races, finishing fifth in 1959 and third in 1960, earning him a total of six World Championship points.

References

External links

Biography from Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum
note: The Motorcycle HoF bio is incorrect; Paul never won the Daytona 500, but instead, won both automobile and motorcycle races on the beach/road course. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmith, Paul 1925 births American motorcycle racers Indianapolis 500 drivers Living people NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Parkersburg, West Virginia Racing drivers from West Virginia USAC Stock Car drivers