FANTASY NASCAR Racin

Zervakis started racing locally in 1950, was immediately a track champion. He was known as "The Greek", and started in 83 NASCAR Cup races between 1956 and 1963, and finished in the top ten in points twice. He started his first race at Daytona Beach in 1956, finishing 76th in a field of 80 cars, after a big crash on the first lap that eliminated six cars. The race was won by Tim Flock, in a race shortened from 39 laps, back to 37 due to the incoming tide. He would next race at Orange Speedway in Hillsborough NC., at the 9/10 mile dirt track. He started 17th, and was running 14th when winner Buch Baker took the checkers. He next raced at Lincoln Speedway, in New Oxford PA, and would finish 14th again; falling out with a broken axle. He improved one spot and finished 13th in his next race, at Raleigh. In his first Southern 500, he qualified way back in 57th spot, in a 70 car field. He ran a good race and pulled himself up to 23rd place, as Curtis Turner won the event. His final race that year was at Wilson Speedway in Wilson NC. He started 24th, but could finish no better than 20th, when he blew a motor on lap 51 of the 200 lap race. In 1957, he made just five starts. His best finish was in his first start that year as he would finish 16th at Wilson Speedway. His other starts, he finished between 22nd and 26th. 1958 was much like the previous year. This time his best finish was 21st, coming at Atlantic Rural Fairground in Richmond VA. He did not race at all in 1959, and had not scored a single top ten

finish until 1960, but after that, he was in the top ten more than he was out. For the season opening Daytona 500, he claimed his first carer top ten run in the qualifying race, finishing eighth. In the 500 itself, Zervakis started 15th, and finished in tenth spot, as Junior Johnson claimed the win. He improved one spot the next race at Martinsville, and was first to take the checkered flag the following race at Wilson Speedway. However, Zervakis was disqualified for his fuel tank being too large. He was stripped of the victory after Joe Weatherly filed a protest regarding Zervakis fuel tank, even though mileage hadn't influenced the victory. The tank's capacity was found to be slightly

over the legal limit. Weatherly was awarded the victory in the 200-lap race. His fuel tank was not inspected. Contemporaries say that when he was asked how he knew Zervakis' tank was illegal, Weatherly grinned and said, "because I was running the same tank he was." He was the last winning driver to be disqualified from a race, before Denny Hamlin was disqualified when both Hamlin, and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch, were caught with illegal fascia concealed beneath the front-end wrap on their Toyotas. The evidence from Pocono was so indisputable that the team didn’t waste its time with an appeal. In a Sunday night statement, NASCAR said the extra fascia affected the cars’ front-end aerodynamics. Hamlin and Busch were stripped of all points and money, and moved from the top of the scoring sheet to the bottom. Zervakis rebounded with an eighth place run at Darlington in the Spring, and next had a seventh place run when the cars traveled to Orange Speedway. A broken axle

in the World 600, just past half way, relegated him to a 33rd place finish, but he was back in the top ten his next race, when he finished tenth in Atlanta. He had his best official finish of the year the following race at Weaverville NC, when he started 15th, and finished third. At Darlington, in the Southern 500, he ran a great race as he brough home his Chevy in fourth position. For the year he made 14 starts, and had ten top ten finishes. 1961 would see him make the most starts of any year, as he ran 38 of 52 races. He finished 18th in the Daytona 500, but ran well at Weaverville and finished fifth. At Atlanta he ran well again and finished ninth. In the Greenville 200, held at Greenville-Pickens Speedway (SC), he started second. Junior Johnson would win the pole and lead the first 69 laps, before his fuel pump failed and he was out. Rex White led the next 106, but Zervakis would run him down, and bypass him with 25 laps to go. Richard Petty was close behind, but Emanuel held Petty off, to claim his first Cup win. White finished third. Zervakis finish 14th at Hillsborough, and was 13th at Bowman-Gray Stadium his

next two starts. He then had a run of three races where his worst finish was sixth. After a 17th at Hickory Speedway; he almost won again. He finished second at Martinsville, behind Junior Johnson and won $1,200. This was more than he got for the win at Greenville. He finished 13th, 15th and 15th his next three starts. Back at Greenville again, Zervakis would start fourth and finish third, in a race won by Jack Smith. His next race came at Bowman-Gray where he started eighth. Rex White would get the win, while Zervakis would finish fourth. The Cup series traveled north to Norwood Arena in Norwood MA. Emanuel would start third for the race of 500 laps, on the tight confines of the 1/4 mile paved bull ring. Once again Rex White was a tough competitor, as he won the pole, and

led the first 125 laps. Zervakis then took the lead and held it for 123 laps. Ned Jarret led the 14 circuits from laps 249 to 262, before Zervakis retook the lead. He would hold it for the final 238 laps to take his second Cup win. White would keep Zervakis honest as he kept the pressure on, running right on his tail. When the checkers flew Emanuel beat White by just 1/4 lap. Jarrett would finish third nine laps behind. This would be Zervakis last Cup win. He was very strong the rest of the year, as his final 20 starts he would finish in the top seven on 17 occasions. For the year

he made 38 starts, and had the two wins, 19 top five, and 28 top ten runs. That season, he finished third in the point standings, only behind Ned Jarrett and Rex White. In 1962 he made just eleven Cup starts. It seems the magic from the previous year was gone, as in those starts, he managed to finish in the top ten just twice. Six of the races he fell out with mechanical issues. He ran his last Cup race in 1963. He made three starts, those coming at Richmond, Charlotte and Darlington. His best finish would come at Charlotte where he blew a motor in the World 600 just 33 laps from the end, finishing 16th. His final start would come at Darlington in the Southern 500. He started 33rd, but he is listed as falling out because of "handling" after only one lap. It's possible this could be an early edition of "start-n-park". He also made 6 starts in the NASCAR Convertible Series. His first start was at Norfolk VA at Norfolk Speedway. He started seventh and finished sixth,

six laps back. Gwyn Staley won the race by just three seconds over Bob Welborn. He was seventh in his next start, coming at Wilson Speedway (NC). He started third, but could not keep pace with the leaders that day, as he was eight laps behind, when the checkered flag flew over Billy Myers. This would be his only two starts in 1957. In 1958 he raced three times, and his best finish would come at Darlington, where he finished 15th. It would be the only race he would complete that year, as he fell out at Richmond with a burned piston, and was out at Martinsville because a rear end broke. He ran one race in 1959, and also fell out. It came at Richmond, and he had a fuel pump failure that relegated him to 17th place finish, completing only 61 of 200 laps. For his Cup career, he made 83 starts, posted two wins, 21 top five and 40 top ten finishes. Emanuel Zervakis broke his kneecap in a fiery crash at Southside Speedway in 1964. The injury, his business concerns, and reluctance of his insurers to underwrite a race driver, led to an early retirement from driving. He later went on to own a part-time Cup team, and a successful Xfinity Series team, receiving five Xfinity wins as an owner, four with Butch Lindley and one with Ricky Rudd. He might be remembered most for fielding a car for Dale Jarrett's first Winston Cup race. His Cup team competed in 39 events total, with a best finish was a second-place finish by Butch Lindley at Martinsville.

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

EMANUEL ZERVAKIS - 1/23/1930 - 6/25/2003