CHARLES "RED" FARMER - 10/15/1932 -
His first race was at Opa-locka Speedway near Miami, Florida in a 1934 Ford in 1948. Bobby and Donnie Allison also lived in the south Florida area and in 1959 Bobby went looking to run races that had a higher paying purse. He found them in Alabama; and Bobby convinced his brother Donnie and their buddy Red to move to Alabama and thus was formed "the Alabama Gang". From that point on Farmer considered his hometown to be Hueytown, Alabama. Estimates of Farmer's career victories range from 700 to 900 victories, most occurring in the late 1950s and early 60's. He raced 36 NASCAR races from 1953 to 1975. He won numerous championships at local tracks. He was the NASCAR National Late Model Sportsman champion (now Xfinity Series) for three consecutive years from 1969 to 1971. His first NASCAR start came in the Cup Series in 1953 just a few years after the formation of NASCAR. He only made one start that year and it would be at Daytona on the Beach and Road course. Farmer would start 41st; and would fall out after only 12 laps with over heating issues finishing 45th. His next start would not come until 1956 when he ran three events. Farmer only ran 36 Cup events in his career; with the most Cup races he ran in one season being seven. In 1960 he only raced at Daytona Speedway. He ran the first 100 mile
qualifier where his #88 Ford would finish 20th; advancing him into the Daytona 500. In the 500 itself, Farmer started 39th in the 68 car field. He would only complete 65 laps and finish 56th. He did not race in Cup in 1961, and 1962 would be a repeat of 1960 where he only made two starts, both at Daytona. He finished 11th in the 100 mile qualifier; but would break a spindle in the 500 and finish 40th. Farmer did not compete again in NASCAR until 1965 when he run one event and again it was the Daytona 500. Farmer started 36th and would be out after only three laps. 1967 and 1968 saw the same thing at Daytona for Farmer; poor finishes of 40th or worse. 1968 did see Farmer run the most starts in one Cup season. He started seven races and finished fourth at Macon GA. This was the only race he finished the whole season. 1972 saw Red tie his career best finish in a Cup race at Talladega. He would start 27th in the Talladega 500; and finish fourth driving his
1972 Daytona 500
#97 Long Lewis Ford. His final Cup start came in the 1975 Talladega 500. He qualified in 26th; but after only six laps his motor would expire and leave him with a 44th place finish. He had so few Cup races because he was content to run races primarily in the Late Model Sportsman and ARCA Series. He was named NASCAR's most popular driver 4 times. He also served as Davey Allison's crew chief in the Xfinity Series. His accolades are numerous. He's a member of 5 halls of fame. Red was named one of the 50 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR history in 1998. He was a member of the first Class of Inductees into the Talladega-Texaco Walk Of Fame. When the International Motorsports Hall of Fame inducted Red, they had to waive
their rule of 5 years of retirement - they figured that he never would retire. On July 12, 1993 Farmer was a passenger in the helicopter crash at Talladega Super Speedway that took the life of Davey Allison, when the two were arriving at the track to assist young driver David Bonnett (Neil Bonnett's son) around the track. He escaped with only broken bones. Red has retained his skills as a driver in spite of his age. On June 2005, Farmer, at that time over 70 years old, turned heads in winning a heat over current NASCAR Sprint Cup stars, and finished 8th in the feature during the Sprint Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway, owned by Tony Stewart. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame lists his birthyear as 1928, but other sources list his birthdate as October 15,
Talladega Short track 2022
1932. He was asked by stockcarracing.com: "You've been coy about your age over the years. I've read that you were born in 1928, 1929, or maybe even 1930 or 1931. What year was it?" Farmer replied: "Hey, I ain't sure. When I was born I was too young to read the birth certificate." The interviewer followed up with "We'll just go with 1928, how's that?" Farmer replied: "There is so many that I can't even figure it out. I ain't even sure myself anymore." As of 2021, at 89 (??) years of age, Farmer is still a regular at Talladega Short Track, an oval-shaped dirt track in Alabama, only a short distance from Talladega Super Speedway. He finished third in points in his division in 2016. As of 2021, Farmer still regularly competes in a late model at Talladega Short Track, a 1/3 mile oval dirt track in Eastaboga, Alabama (located near the Talladega Superspeedway). Some info from Wikipedia
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