ELMO LANGLEY
08-21-1928 - 11-21-1996
was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number "64" on his race cars during his NASCAR career. Langley came in to NASCAR as a Driver/Owner in 1954. From 1954-1964 Langley was an owner/driver, but only raced a few races per year (the most being seven in 1958). In 1966 He ran 32 events and posted three top five finishes. In 1966 he partnered with Henry Woodfield and created Langley-Woodfield Racing. That same year Langley ran in 45 races and won the only two races of his long career. His victories came at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds in Spartanburg SC where he won by four laps. And at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas VA where he won by seven laps. He again ran full time in 1967 and 1968 and finished in the top ten in points both years. After the second race of the 1969 season, Langley and Woodfield split and Langley continued to run team on his own returning to the driver/owner role. That season he ran 49 races had 27 top ten finishes, and finished fifth in the CUP points. In 1970 Langley ran well, and finished sixth in points. 1971 saw him cut back his racing schedule to only 39 of 48 races, but his eight top five finishes propelled him to a fifth
place finish in points again. 1972-1974 saw Langley run fewer races each season, but finished well in the points standings. In 1972 and 1973 he finished in the top ten. His final full season as an owner/driver was in 1975 where he finished eighth in points. He continued to race just a hand full of races through 1979. Tommy Gale became the primary driver in 1976, but he would also field cars in just a few races for drivers like Dick Brooks, Skip Manning, Henley Gray and others through the 1978 season. Gale would post a seventh place finish at Talladega in 1979; the first andonly top ten finish since 1979. In 1980 Langley
concentrated all his efforts on one car; the one Gale drove. Gale ran 25 or more events through 1983 and that season he would finish tenth at Rockingham. It would be the last top ten finish for as Langley owned race car. In 1985 Clark Dwyer took over the controls but with little success. In 1986 Langley had eleven different drivers wheel his machines, but none ran more than five races. 1987 would be his final year as owner as he had drivers start 28 events total. On April 15, 1988, Langley was named as the crew chief for Cale Yarborough and Dale Jarrett with his duties in effect after that year's First Union 400 where he attended as an observer. Elmo's very last race was the Battle of the NASCAR Legends race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1991. The race featured such drivers as Cale Yarborough,
Junior Johnson, Pete Hamilton, and Donnie Allison. The winner was Langley, beating Yarborough to the line by about 3 feet on the last lap. From April 1989, through November 1996, Langley served as the official pace car driver for all NASCAR Cup events. On November 21, 1996, Langley was in Suzuka, Japan to drive the pace car in the Suzuka Thunder Special 100 Exhibition race which was held on November 24, when during a test drive, he began to experience chest pains. He was subsequently taken to the Suzuka General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival from a heart attack. During his long career Langley was your typical 'independent' driver. always fielding his own cars, and on a shoe string budget. Many believe if he would of had as good of equipment as the other drivers in his era he could have been a formidable opponent.
Clark Dwyer
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