Richard Brickhouse (born October 27, 1939 in

Rocky Point, North Carolina Rocky Point is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in southern Pender County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area. Rocky Point is situated on North Carolina Highway 210, No ...

) is a retired

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 ...

driver. He is best known for winning the inaugural

Talladega 500 The GEICO 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race is usually held in April or May. The 1997 event stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run with an average speed of ...

in 1969 after a boycott of the top stars of the sport at the time because concerns with tire wear with the high rate of speeds at the racetrack. Though Brickhouse ran his final race in 1982, he did attempt a comeback in 1995 at age 55 at Rockingham driving for former driver Dick Skillen. The comeback was cut short, as Brickhouse crashed his No. 14 Chevy in qualifying. Brickhouse concluded his career with one win, four top fives and 13 career top 10s in 39 races. He held the Guinness book of world records for fastest time on a closed circuit for many years.

References

1939 births Living people NASCAR drivers People from Pender County, North Carolina Racing drivers from North Carolina {{NASCAR-bio-stub