"Tiger" Tom Pistone (born March 17, 1929 in Chicago, Illinois,

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) is a former

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Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

driver from Chicago. He made his Grand National debut in 1955. He won two races and finished 6th in championship points in the 1959 season for Carl Rupert, his best season statistically. He was away from NASCAR in 1963 and 1964, but returned in 1965 to drive in 33 races for Glen Sweet and Emory Gilliam, a career high, but only 8 top tens and a 32nd-place points finish came of it. His final and 130th cup race came in 1968. He won two

NASCAR Convertible Division The NASCAR Convertible Division was a division of convertible cars early in NASCAR's history, from 1956 until 1959, although the signature race for convertibles remained a Convertible Division race until 1962. Two remnants of the Convertible Divi ...

races. In 1960, he wore a life preserver and an oxygen tube in his car while racing at Daytona for fear of running into the lake in the middle of the speedway and drowning. This happened after Tommy Irwin ran into the lake in the first qualifying race. Irwin did not drown, however. On October 17, 2010, Pistone was one of the year's 15 inductees to the Racers' Reunion Hall of Fame, located at Memory Lane Museum in Mooresville NC. Still active in racing at age 81, Pistone has a thriving race car parts business in Charlotte, NC, and can often be found mentoring young drivers at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He prepares and crews for several Legends and Bandolero drivers in the Winter Heat and Summer Shootout series. His grandson,

Chase Pistone Chase Pistone (born August 20, 1983) is an American professional stock car racing driver who has competed in the NASCAR Xfinity, Truck, and ARCA Series. He is the grandson of 2-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner "Tiger" Tom Pistone. Pistone is als ...

, races in the

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

. In April 2011, Pistone appeared on an episode of The

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's ''

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'' in which he sold items to be placed in the

NASCAR Hall of Fame The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, honors drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pistone, Tom 1929 births NASCAR drivers Living people Racing drivers from Chicago American people of Italian descent