MARVIN PORTER - 3/03/1924 - 11/04/2002
Porter was from Lakewood, CA. After a 4 year stint in the Air Force, Marvin started racing jalopies around Southern California with great success. His close friend Parnelli Jones started driving NASCAR stock cars in 1956, and thought it was so much fun, that during a game of cards at Marvin's place one evening, he suggested that Marvin get a stock car ride and go racing with him. Marvin opted to do just that, and got a ride in a Plymouth, owned by Jack Chataney. His first race was at Portland in May of 1957. He would start 16th, and finish in ninth spot, in a race won by Eddie Pagan. Before the season ended, he ventured to Santa Clara Fairgrounds in San Jose CA. He would start 12th, and battle Pagan for the win. The race saw very high attrition, as at lap 116 of 200, 18 of the 22 starters had already fallen out. At that point the race was called official with Porter getting his first win. In 1958, he again only made six starts, and his best finish was ninth at Bridgehampton Raceway (NY). 1959 saw Porter make seven starts, but his best finish of the year came in the opening race. He started 12th and finished third at Ascot Stadium in Los Angeles. In 1960 he would drive for Vel Miletich wheeling a Ford. Lloyd Dane would lead 89 laps, and be at the point when his car had issues, and he fell out of the race. Porter would start eighth and be there to inherit the lead when Dane fell out. He'd lead the final 50 laps to get the win. The other two races his car would have mechanical issues and would fall
out. 1961 would be the year he ran the most races, making eight starts. It would be a lean year however, as he only had one top five finish, that being a fifth at Charlotte in the qualifying race for the World 600. He finished 45th in a 55 car field when his motor failed. He only ran four additional races the rest of his career. All those starts came at Riverside Raceway. His best run was a seventh place finish in 1964. He raced for the first time in the Pacific Coast Late Model Series, (later to become the ARCA West Series) in 1957. He ran nine races that year out of 24. His worst finish was 15th, and that race he broke an axle and fell out. He was 14th at Sacramenta, and all his other finishes were inside the top ten. ,The next time they raced at Sacramento, he finished second behind winner Danny Graves. Marvin went on to become the NASCAR 1959 Short Track National Champion and being named the "Comeback Driver of the Year", by The National Speed News. The publication praised him by saying "Marv Porter of California returned from major surgery to earn the Short Track Grand National Title". He didn't race in the ARCA Series again until 1964. He made nine starts of the 29 race season. He won at Gardena and was the only driver to complete all 200 laps. Ron Hornaday Sr finished second two laps down. He added a second and four third place finishes, as he finished 11th in points. In 1965 would prove to be his best season. He ran 12 of 14 races that year. He won at Gardena again in the
fourth race of the year, and capped off the year with a win there in the season's final race. In between he added a win at Champion Speedway in Brisbane CA. He had a second place run at Brisbane, and at Sacramento, and had two seconds at Gardena. That's a total of six top two finishes in 12 starts. He also had two fourth place runs. Since he missed two races, the best he could finish was second in points. In 1966, the series expanded to 15 starts, and Porter only made ten of them, yet he won the most races of any year, when he
Altamont Motorsports Park Win 1966
grabbed the checkers on four occasions. He got his firstwin at Gardena before falling out in back-to-back races and finishing 17th both times. Then, he run off a string of three straight wins, winning at Orange Show Speedway (San Bernardino CA); Gardena, and Altamont Motorsports Park (Tracy CA). He would finish sixth in points. The win at Altamont would be his final career win. 1967 would be his final season as he ran 11 of 19 races. He was competitive as he had second place finishes at Gardena and Portland, and third place finishes at Altamont and San Gabriel Valley Speedway (Irwindale CA), and added a fourth at Clovis Speedway (Clovis CA) and a fifth at Salem Speedway (Salem OR). In later years he would become partners with his close friend Parnelli Jones and Vel Miletich, in Parnelli Jones Enterprises becoming one of Firestone Tires largest dealers. In 1985, with Firestone getting out of the racing tire business, he sold his interest in Parnelli Jones Enterprises, and retired and moved with his wife of 33 years Penny, and moved to San Felipe, Baja, California. Marvin Porter passed away on November 6, 2002 at the age of 76. He was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2002.
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