Terry Bivins (born September 13, 1943) is a retired

NASCAR Winston 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, ...

driver whose career spanned from 1975 to 1977. Bivins had a career-best finish of fifth in 28 races. He finished disputed second for the 1976 NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

Career

Early career

Bivins began racing in 1964 with a used 1955 Ford car that he bought at a car lot. He added a

roll cage A roll cage is a specially engineered and constructed frame built in (or sometimes around, in which case it is known as an exo cage) the passenger compartment of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured or killed in an accident, pa ...

to the car and started racing using the

snow tire Snow tires, also known as winter tires, are tires designed for use on snow and ice. Snow tires have a tread design with larger gaps than those on conventional tires, increasing traction on snow and ice. Such tires that have passed a specific win ...

s that came with the car.

NASCAR career

Bivins ran two NASCAR races in 1975, with a best finish of ninth at

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is ...

. He ran for NASCAR Rookie of the Year in 1976. Bivins shared a shop with

Richard Childress Richard Childress (born September 21, 1945 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American former race car driver in NASCAR. As the owner of Richard Childress Racing (RCR), he became one of the wealthiest men in North Carolina. In 2004, he opene ...

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

. Bivins competed in 18 of 30 events with 6 Top 10 finishes and his career-best finish of fifth at the 1976 Richmond 400 at

Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway Richmond Raceway (RR) is a , ''D''-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in unincorporated Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Known as ...

. Bivins finished in a disputed second place for the Rookie of the Year to

Skip Manning Skip Manning (born April 23, 1945) is a former NASCAR driver from Bogalusa, Louisiana. He competed in seventy-nine Winston Cup events in his career, spanning from 1975 to 1979. Manning won the rookie-of-the-year award in 1976. He had sixteen top ...

. Bivins was announced as the Rookie of the Year after the

Ontario Motor Speedway Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: USAC (and now In ...

race. Bivins was quoted by the ''

Emporia Gazette The ''Emporia Gazette'' is a daily newspaper in Emporia, Kansas. History William Allen White bought the newspaper for $3,000 ($ in dollars) in 1895. Through his editorship, over the next five decades, he became an iconic figure in American journ ...

'' in 2007, "I won the Rookie of the Year. We had a celebration dinner. They turned that around and gave it to Skip Manning. (Manning's sponsor) went to NASCAR and told them if his guy didn’t win the sponsor would pull out.” Bivins competed in 8 of 30 events with 1 Top 10 during the 1977 season before retiring from racing out of frustration from losing the Rookie of the Year crown. In his NASCAR career, he led six laps out of 7,901 - the equivalent of . For starting an average of 20th place and finishing an average of 17th, Bivins earned a grand total of $61,725 in total prize winnings. Bivins raced from the age of 31 to the age of 33.

Career after NASCAR

After retiring from NASCAR, Bivins drove a limited schedule for the

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before putting a hiatus to his stock car career in 1980.''Terry Bivins''
racing information at JCS Group In 2010, Bivins has resumed racing career in a Modified. Terry later raced at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas in the Grand National Class. Car #5 and he won three feature races in 2018. He then moved to B-Mods in 2019, 2020 and 2021 when he lived in

Lebo, Kansas Lebo is a city in Coffey County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 885. History Lebo was founded in 1883. It was named for Capt. Joe Lebo, a pioneer settler. The first post office in Lebo was establ ...

. name=wikiresu Bivins retired from racing in the middle of 2021 with health issues. He had over 400 wins in his career despite not racing during 30 of the years between his first and last race. He won track championships on both pavement and dirt at Lakeside and

I-70 Speedway I-70 Motorsports Park, formally known as I-70 Speedway, is a multi-purpose motorsports facility near Interstate 70 east of Odessa, Missouri, USA. The track, first opened in 1969, was open yearly until its closure in 2008. After more than a decade ...

Personal life

After retiring from NASCAR, he started his own construction company. Bivins later was a professional fisherman. Throughout his career, Bivins received help from his stepfather Jim and mother Kate Jones. Bivins is married to Claudia Bivins. She was always on his pit crew, whether as a video recorder or helping repair the car. Bivins' son James Bivins helped on his pit crew for several decades.

Career Honors

Bivins was elected in the first class (2004) into the Central Auto Racing Boosters Hall of Fame for drivers in the Kansas City area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bivins, Terry 1943 births NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers American Speed Association drivers Sportspeople from Johnson County, Kansas Living people Racing drivers from Kansas