FANTASY NASCAR Racin

Born September 8, 1915 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Shuman quickly established himself in the racing community as a mechanic and a driver. He won the first Stock Car race held at Alcyon Speedway at Pitman, New Jersey on August 27, 1948, with Chick Di Natale of Trenton, New Jersey, finishing second. Shuman was the National Stock Car Racing Association champion in 1948 and 1950. Shuman entered NASCAR Cup competition in 1951. He drove R .H. Yandell's #17 Ford at the 1/2-mile dirt oval at Air Base Speedway in Greenville SC, finishing tenth. It would be his worst finish of his 1951 season. He followed that with a third place finish in the Southern 500 at Darlington. He started 19th and drove a clean race, but couldn't keep up with the top two runners. The first 52 laps saw five different leaders; but on lap 95 Herb Thomas took the lead away from Curtis Turner and led the final 306 laps to get the win over Jesse James Taylor. A sixth place finish came on the 1/2-mile dirt Charlotte Speedway, as once again Thomas would claim the win. Buddy finished eighth in the Wilkes 200 at North Wilkesboro's .625-mile dirt track, and followed that with a ninth place run at Jacksonville, FL 1/2-mile dirt Speedway Park. Once again Herb Thomas would go to

victory circle; leading 199 of 200 laps. Shuman was eighth at the big, fast, one-mile dirt Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta. His final start of the year came at Lakeview Speedway in Mobil AL. It was a 3/4 mile dirt oval, that saw Frank Mundy win the pole, lead all 150 laps, and win the race. In seven starts in his first year of competition with the series, Shuman recorded an amazing one top-5 and seven top-10s. Shuman began the 1952 season driving his own #17 Ford and Oldsmobile in six events, and then began driving B.A. Pless's #89 Hudson Hornet. His first start was at West Palm Beach Fl. Tim Flock won the pole and led 194 of the race's 200 laps, while Shuman finished in fifth place. On Daytona's Beach and Road Course, Shuman had bad luck, and broke a tie rod after completing 24 laps and finished 39th. At Speedway Park in Jacksonville FL, Shuman finished 25th, as Marshall Teague led all 200 laps to win. At North Wilkesboro, it would again be a run-away for the winner, as Herb Thomas led all 200 laps, beating Fonty Flock by over a lap. Shuman ran well,

but broke a shock with 25 laps to go and finished seventh. After a 13th place finish at Martinsville, Shuman again finished seventh, when the Cup stars went to race at Columbia Speedway in Cayce SC. Shuman ran all of the first six races of the season, driving his own equipment; but sat out until race number 15, when he returned in a car owned by B.A. Pless. He finished 17th in their first effort together, coming at Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsborough NC. Tim Flock held off his brother Fonty to get the win, while Shuman would finish 17th, when he broke an axle just 41 laps into the event. Their next start came at Michigan State Fairgrounds which posted an impressive payout. Winner Tim Flock took home over $5,000 and second place finisher Shuman claimed $2,225. It was

his best career finish to date and biggest pay day. On July 1, 1952 NASCAR held its first event outside the United States. The location was Stamford Park, Ontario, Canada near Niagara Falls. Stamford was a flat 1/2-mile dirt horse track that began hosting stock car races in 1948. Herb Thomas won the pole with Tim Flock starting along side. Shuman took the green from eighth. Shuman took the lead of the event on lap 71, and led the rest of the 200-lap event, winning by two laps, over the second place car of Herb Thomas. Only seventeen cars started the race that day, but because the track became so rough, only three cars managed to complete the event. Even with the win, Shuman only claimed $1,000 for the win. Shuman ran five more races in 1952, and his best finish was sixth at

Wilson Speedway in Wilson NC. In 1953, Shuman drove J. R. Dunberry's #190 Hudson at the beach course at Daytona Beach. On the fourth lap, the car lost a clutch putting him out of the competition. He made two starts in his own #12 Oldsmobile with poor results. He finished 31st at North Wilkesboro, and 23rd at Charlotte. He then made two more starts on the year, both driving Pless's #89 Hudson. They ran the Southern 500, when Shuman started eighth. The car couldn't keep pace with the front runners, and no one could keep up with Buck Baker. Baker led 151 laps and beat second place finisher Fonty Flock by three laps. Shuman finish 14th, 26 laps behind. His other start came at Langhorne where he would be involved in a crash and finish 32nd. Shuman did not make any Cup starts in 1954, and only had two starts in 1955. Buddy drove Frank Christian's #14 Chevrolet at Hickory Speedway finishing ninth, after starting seventh. Junior Johnson led

123 laps, including the last 29, to get the win over Tim Flock. In his final Cup start, he drove Bob Griffin's #87 Oldsmobile at Southern States Fairgrounds in Charlotte NC. Shuman started in 11th place, but no one could keep pace with Jim Paschal as he run away from the field, beating second place finishing, Dwyn Staley, by two laps. Buddy would finish sixth. On November 13, 1955, Buddy Shuman tragically perished in a hotel fire the night before the start of the 1956 NASCAR Cup Series campaign. He had been tasked to head Ford's effort to succeed in NASCAR. In 1957, NASCAR established the Buddy Shuman Award to recognize outstanding contributions to NASCAR racing. Some of the recipients of the Buddy Shuman Award have included Banjo Mathews, Richard Petty, Rick Hendrick, Dave Marcis and Chris Economaki.

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

LOUIS GRIER "BUDDY" SHUMAN - 9/08/1915 - 6/21/1971