LARRY FRANK - 4/29/1929 - 1/05/2010
Born in West Virginia, Frank was known as a resident of Indianapolis, Indiana. Larry loved open cockpit racing, and cut his eye teeth racing motorcycles, sprints, and midgets. Larry Frank was fearless, and was well respected by his competitors as a hard charger. He had the reputation of being the strongest man in racing, once lifting an engine with a chain around his neck on a bet. He won the engine. Money was hard to come by in Larry's day, and he is definitely remembered as being one of the true Legends of NASCAR that sacrificed and paid his dues to help lay the foundation for the sport today. He never knew but one speed, and that was wide open, and he gave it his all as long as his car lasted. Frank made 38 starts in the 47-event 1956 NASCAR Convertible Series. His best finish was a sixth place run at Flat Rock Speedway in Flat Rock MI. He added four seventh place finishes, once each at Hillsboro, Oklahoma City, Syracuse, and Flat Rock. For the year, in his 38 starts he had 16 top ten finishes and ranked 12th in the points. On October 28, 1956, Frank made his debut in the NASCAR Cup Division, in the Old Dominion 400 at Martinsville, Virginia driving Lonnie Fish's #76 Chevrolet finishing 38th after losing oil pressure on lap 77. In 1957, Frank spent most of his time competing in the Convertible Series racing in all but one race. His season started off mediocre. The first five starts he was no better than 12th, but no worse than 17th. At Richmond he got his first top five run and things turned around. For the
year his best finish was third on three occasions; they came at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem NC, Monroe County Fairgrounds in Rochester NY and Soldier Field in Chicago IL. He had nine top five, and 23 top tens, in his 35 starts and finished fourth in points. Frank also made four starts in the NASCAR Cup Division during the 1957 season driving Fish's #76 Chevrolet. His best finish of the season was 13th at Langhorne Speedway. In the 1958 NASCAR Cup Division, Frank competed in 11 events. He finished third in the Nashville 200, his first top five run of
Convertible series 1957
his career. The race was won by Joe Weatherly. Frank recorded one top-five, and four top-tens, in the Cup series.... In the Convertible series, NASCAR cut back the number of races in the series. It was cut from 36 in 1957, back to just 19 in 1958. Frank would start in 17 of them. Still, he couldn't break through and get that win in the Convertible series. His best finish was second on two occasions. He would finish second at Greenville-Pickens Speedway behind Bob Welborn, and he would also finish second at Charlotte Fairgrounds behind winner Ken Rush. His close friend, Bob Welborn, would win eight races that season and go on to claim the points championship. ,Frank would finish second. It would be the second championship for Welborn as he had won the Convertible championship the year before. The Cup series saw Frank almost claim a win. It happened at Nashville Fairgrounds, where Frank
would start fourth, and run a good race. But no one could keep pace with Joe Lee Johnson who won by three laps over Frank. Frank had a streak of great finishes the later part of the year. He ran nine races where his worst finish was eighth. The final year of the convertible series Frank was again in the hunt for the championship. This year the series was only 15 events long. 12 of the 15 races Franks finished in the top ten. Victory again avoided him as he was second at Columbia Speedway in Cayce SC, once again behind Welborn. He was second at Martinsville, but six laps behind winner Tom Pistone. For the year, he posted eight top five runs, and twelve top ten finishes. Again, he finished second in points, and Bob Welborn won the championship. Over the next few years, Frank had average
1962 Southern 500 winner
Daytona 500 1964
runs in the Cup series, and he only posted three top ten finishes in 1960 and 1961 combined. The high point of Frank's career occurred in 1962 when he qualified 10th for the Southern 500. He led 85 laps and lapped the entire field finishing the race with two blown tires. After a scoring issue, Junior Johnson was declared the winner. Frank filed a protest and after a review he was declared the winner of the Southern 500. The car number for this win was #66, as of 2024 Frank is the only driver to win a Cup race using this number. Over the next four seasons Frank would only make 34 combined starts. His best finish would come at
Richmond in 1963, when he finished third. In 1966, Frank decided it was time to call it quits. He subsequently opened Larry Frank's Auto Body Shop in Greenville, South Carolina, operating it with his wife Margaret. Frank had served in the United States Marine Corps, and was also a Golden Gloves boxer. In 2009 Frank was diagnosed with lymphoma. He died on January 5, 2010, at his home in Greenville, South Carolina
1966 Daytona 500
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