WILLIAM J "BILL" REXFORD - 03/14/1927 - 04/18/1994
was the only child of Kermit and Edith Rexford. Kermit owned a small Chevrolet sub-dealership in the village. Young Bill grew interested in cars as he helped around his dad's shop. At the age of sixteen, his passion for cars led him to attempt jalopy racing at the Penny Royal race track, a half-mile dirt oval in nearby Leon, NY. Bill's fledgling racing career was put on hold when he joined the Navy. He served as a control tower operator in Rhode Island. Following his discharge in 1946, Bill resumed jalopy racing at the local bullrings. Although his cars were crude and the prize money minimal, Rexford loved the fun and excitement of the sport. In late summer of 1949, while attending a party, Bill heard that Jamestown used car dealer, Julian Buesink, had entered a car in the NASCAR sanctioned race at the one-mile circular dirt track at Langhorne, PA and was looking for a driver. Rexford approached Buesink with an offer to drive and a deal was struck. On September 11, 1949, Rexford drove Buesink's 1949 Ford #59 from the 23rd staring position in a field of 45 entries to a 14th place finish. He completed 177 laps, 13 laps in arrears to the winner, Curtis Turner of Roanoke, VA. Although Turner and the car owner of his '49 Oldsmobile, Hubert Westmoreland were rewarded handsomely with $2250, the Rexford-Buesink team netted just $50. 1949 was the first year of existence for
the newly formed NASCAR organization. In total, the Bill France led group sanctioned eight events with Red Byron of Atlanta, GA, driving a '49 Olds 88 owned by Raymond Parks, being declared its first national champion. Despite racing in only three races, Rexford ended up in 12th place in the final points tally. For 1950, Buesink had added Lloyd Moore as a team mate to Rexford, and he continued his two-car team of Rexford and Moore on the expanding NASCAR circuit. Rexford competed in 17 of the 19 events, recording one win, 5 top-five finishes, 11 top-tens in his #60 numbers 1950 Oldsmobile. Bill's victory came in the "Poor Man's 500" at Canfield, OH. The race was so named because it was held the same day, May 30, 1950, as the other more notable Memorial Day race in Indianapolis. Rexford, driving a '50 Olds #60, took the lead from Curtis
1950 Cup Champion
Turner on the 121st lap and led the remaining 80 circuits to score a two-lap victory over Glenn Dunnaway and teammate Lloyd Moore. Bill received $1000 in prize money and another $400 in lap money, the first time bonuses for leading laps had ever been offered in a NASCAR race. Rexford's average finishing position of eleventh and just three DNFs (did not finish) were good enough to make him the 1950 NASCAR Champion, edging out Fireball Roberts of Daytona Beach, FL, and Lee Petty for the honor. Teammate Moore completed the season in fourth place marking a very successful year for car-owner Buesink. To date Rexford is still the youngest driver to even win a Cup Championship (at the age of 23 years, 229 days) As champion, Rexford received $2000, a Bulova wristwatch, and a 1951 Nash Rambler convertible. As agreed upon in
their deal, and as they had been doing all year, Bill split the money with Buesink. However, a dispute arose between the two men regarding the car. Julian believed Bill should compensate him for half its value, whereas Rexford felt that he had earned the exclusive right to the car. Is this picture Rexford can be seen receiving the keys to his new Nash. Rexford ultimately traded the Nash convertible for a hardtop model that he raced on quarter-mile tracks. The disagreement that developed over the car eventually led to the demise of the Rexford-Buesink team. The following year, Buesink promoted Moore to lead driving status giving him 22 NASCAR starts. Julian also employed seven other drivers to drive 24 other entries. Meanwhile, Rexford got
just five rides in Buesink cars that season. The Buesink-Rexford relationship continued to sour in 1952 as Bill got just two NASCAR starts in Julian's #60 Ford resulting in an 8th and a 16th place finish. Meanwhile Moore and Jim Paschal combined for 14 races in Buesink machines. Similarly in 1953, Rexford got two NASCAR starts for Buesink, however with much better results, a 5th at Rochester and a 10th at Langhorne. 1953 also marked the debut of a new sanctioning body, MARC (Midwest Association for Race Cars) that was organized by a former NASCAR official, John Marcum, and headquartered
in Toledo, OH. MARC offered new racing opportunities for Bill. He drove a car co-owned by Bob Duell of Frewsburg, NY in the new circuit's races. Although complete historical records for the full 1953 MARC season are lacking, Rexford drove to 5th place finishes at Akron, OH and Canfield. He completed the season in sixth place in the final points tally behind champion Jim Romine from Youngstown, OH. His MARC participation did not go unnoticed by NASCAR czar Bill France who viewed MARC as a threat to his racing empire. France suspended Rexford from NASCAR competition and fined him $1000, a penalty Rexford refused to pay. He would never race in the NASCAR series again. In 1954 Rexford moved to Ohio and from 1954-1956 he raced with limited success in the MARC series. MARC was the forerunner to the ARCA series. He drove for several car owners (each operated auto dealerships). You can see in one picture the Car number is actually the address of the car dealership "500 East Street". Shortly after he had completed his first two rides his driver replacements were killed. Those deaths along with other factors changed his viewpoint and he decided to give up racing. Some info from Wikipedia
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