PAUL GOLDSMITH - 10/02/1927
a motorcycle Hall of Famer, Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee and former USAC and NASCAR driver. Goldsmith was a famous A.M.A. Grand National Championship motorcycle racer during the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. His first victory came in 1952 aboard a Harley Davidson at the Milwaukee Mile in Harley's hometown. Paul's first Cup start would come in 1956 at atlanta where he would start seventh in his 1956 Chevy but crash out on lap 36 and finish 23rd. His first win would come later that same year at Langhorne Speedway in PA. He started second and led 182 of the races 300 laps. Beating second place finisher Lee Petty by seven laps. He was the winner of the final race at the famous Daytona Beach Road Course in 1958 driving the Smokey Yunick owned, "Best Damn Garage In Town" sponsored Ford. His final win came in 1966 at Bristol where he would start fourth and lead 84 laps. Goldsmith would bypass Jim
Paschal (who had to step in as a relief driver for Richard Petty) and lead the last five laps to get the win. These were the only two cars on the lead lap as third place finisher David pearson was four laps back. Goldsmiths final start would come at Michigan in 1969 driving the #99 Nichols Engineering Dodge where he would start 11th and have engines problems and finish 39th. This was the only NASCAR 600 mile race not held at Charlotte; however the race was rained out just past half way. He was also the only driver to win the Daytona Beach Road course both in a stock car and on a motorcycle. Goldsmith was the 1961 USAC Stock Car champion, with 7 poles, 10 wins, 16 Top 5 Finishes in 19 races. Goldsmith won his second consecutive
1964 Daytona
1956 Charlotte
USAC championship in 1962 with 6 poles, 8 wins, and 15 top-five finishes in 20 races. Goldsmith competed in 8 races in the USAC Championship Car series, between 1958 and 1963 with 6 of those starts in the Indianapolis 500. He finished in the top five twice at Indy, following up a 5th place finish in 1959 with a 3rd in 1960. In his Cup career, Goldsmith ran 127 races over an 11 year span. He only ran a few races per year, and posted nine wins, and 44 top five finishes. He also raced in NASCAR's Convertable Series in seven races. He won at North Wilkesboro Speedway driving for Slim Rominger beating out Lee Petty. In 1966 he finished fifth in the Cup series points chase, and only ran 21 of 49 events. Some info from WikiPedia
1963 Indy 500
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