Bill Rexford
Bill Rexford (March 14, 1927 – April 18, 1994) was a stock car driver in the early 1950s. He is best remembered for winning the 1950 NASCAR Grand National Series championship.
Bill Rexford | |||||||
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Born | Conewango Valley, New York, United States | March 14, 1927||||||
Died | April 18, 1994 67) | (aged||||||
Achievements | 1950 Grand National Champion | ||||||
NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
36 races run over 5 years | |||||||
Best finish | 1st (1950) | ||||||
First race | 1949 (Langhorne) | ||||||
Last race | 1953 (Rochester) | ||||||
First win | 1950 (Canfield) | ||||||
Last win | 1950 (Canfield) | ||||||
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Biography
Born in Conewango Valley, New York, Rexford made his name driving stock cars in the region. When NASCAR introduced its "Strictly Stock" series in 1949, Rexford made three starts, with his best finish being a 3rd at Heidelberg Raceway. He went into full time competition in the newly renamed Grand National Series in 1950. He and teammate Lloyd Moore became the first Northern born drivers to go full time on the circuit. He competed in 17 of the 19 races that season, driving Oldsmobiles, Fords, and Mercuries owned by Julian Buesink. He scored his first and only win in the fifth race of the year at Canfield Speedway.
Rexford was consistent and battled for the points lead for most of the year. His two biggest competitors were legends Curtis Turner and then rookie Fireball Roberts. A third contender, Lee Petty, had been stripped of 809 points earlier in the season for competing in non-NASCAR sanctioned races, and was essentially robbed of a realistic shot at the title. Late in the year, Rexford was able to take the points lead as both Roberts and Turner suffered from inconsistency.
In the final race of the year at Occoneechee Speedway, Rexford was locked in a tight battle with Fireball for the championship, holding the points lead by a slim margin. Rexford's engine expired early, and his championship hopes nearly went up in smoke. All Roberts needed to do now was finish in the top five, but trademark desire to win led him to push his car, and his own engine gave out with less than 50 laps to go, giving Rexford a dramatic, and controversial championship.
1950 proved to be Rexford lone full time campaign in NASCAR's highest division. He moved back to the Northeast, and remained a part time competitor in the Grand National ranks until 1953, when he ran his last race at the in Rochester, New York. He finished 5th, driving the #60 Chevrolet for long time car owner Julian Buesink.
70 years later, Rexford is still the youngest driver to win a championship in what has become the NASCAR Cup Series, doing so at age 23. He remained the only driver from the Northeast to win a championship until 2017 when New Jersey’s Martin Truex Jr. won, and was the only non-Southerner to win a title until 1989 when Missouri's Rusty Wallace won, a feat which has been matched many times since. Rexford was the only series champion that was not included among NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and is the only champion from 1949 to 2003 not to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He is the only Cup champion to have just one career win and the first of four drivers to win the title with just one win on the season, being followed by Ned Jarrett in 1961, Benny Parsons in 1973, and Matt Kenseth in 2003.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Grand National Series
NASCAR Grand National Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | NGNC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||||
1949 | Julian Buesink | 59 | Ford | CLT | DAB | HBO | LAN 14 |
HAM 5 |
MAR | 12th | 286 | [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | HEI 3 |
NWS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1950 | 60 | Olds | DAB 29 |
LAN 22 |
MAR 9 |
CAN 1 |
VER 6 |
LAN 8 |
NWS | VER 6 |
MAR | 1st | 1959 | [2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | CLT 13 |
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8 | DSP 10 |
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80 | MCF 5 |
CLT 19 |
HBO 4 |
DSP 14 |
HAM 6 |
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59 | DAR 4 |
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61 | Ford | WIN 3 |
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62 | Olds | HBO 26 |
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1951 | 61 | DAB 13 |
72nd | 130 | [3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | Mercury | CLT 21 |
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Perry Smith | 23 | Studebaker | NMO 13 |
GAR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Julian Buesink | 60 | Mercury | HBO 19 |
ASF | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
50 | NWS 14 |
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5 | MAR 16 |
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60 | Olds | CAN 21 |
CLS | CLB | DSP | GAR | GRS | BAI | HEI | AWS | MCF 6 |
ALS | MSF | FMS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 | MOR 22 |
ABS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
George Hartley | 52 | Olds | DAR 71 |
CLB | CCS | LAN | CLT | DSP | WIL | HBO | TPN | PGS 14 |
MAR | OAK | NWS | HMS | JSP | ATL | GAR | NMO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1952 | Julian Buesink | 60 | Ford | PBS | DAB | JSP | NWS | MAR | CLB | ATL | CCS | LAN | DAR | DSP | CAN 8 |
HAY | FMS 16 |
HBO | CLT | NA | 0 | [4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jim B. Copperheat | 174 | Nash | MSF 36 |
NIF | OSW | MON | MOR | PPS | MCF | AWS | DAR | CCS | LAN | DSP | WIL | HBO | MAR | NWS | ATL | PBS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1953 | Julian Buesink | 60 | Chevy | PBS | DAB | HAR | NWS | CLT | RCH | CCS | LAN | CLB | HCY | MAR | PMS | RSP | LOU | FFS | LAN 10 |
TCS | WIL | MCF 5 |
PIF | MOR | ATL | RVS | LCF | DAV | HBO | AWS | PAS | HCY | DAR | CCS | LAN | BLF | WIL | NWS | MAR | ATL | NA | 0 | [5] |
References
- "Bill Rexford – 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- "Bill Rexford – 1950 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- "Bill Rexford – 1951 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- "Bill Rexford – 1952 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- "Bill Rexford – 1953 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
External links
- Bill Rexford driver statistics at Racing-Reference
Preceded by Red Byron |
NASCAR Grand National Series Champion 1950 |
Succeeded by Herb Thomas |