Billy Wade (racing driver)

Billy Drew Wade (February 28, 1930 – January 5, 1965) was an American stock car racing driver.

Billy Wade
Born	Billy Drew Wade (1930-02-28)February 28, 1930 Houston, Texas, U.S.
Died	January 5, 1965(1965-01-05) (aged 34) Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Cause of death	Injuries from racing accident
Awards	1963 NASCAR Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
70 races run over 3 years
Best finish	4th (1964)
First race	1962 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race	1964 Jaycee 300 (Augusta Speedway)
First win	1964 Fireball Roberts 200 (Old Bridge Stadium)
Last win	1964 The Glen 151.8 (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 41 5

Career

Billy was the 1963 NASCAR Rookie of the Year for car owner Cotton Owens. He finished the season with 14 Top 10 finishes in 31 races. He won four consecutive races the following year for Bud Moore Engineering between July 10 and July 19, 1964. The four wins give Wade the sole distinction of being the only driver to accomplish this feat with victories at Old Bridge Stadium on July 10, the road course at Bridgehampton, N.Y on the 12th, a July 15 win at Islip Speedway in New York, and his fourth (and final) win at Watkins Glen. Dick Linder also followed his first victory at Dayton with a win at Hamburg; but Wade is the only driver to string four victories in a row once he got his first.^[1] He also accumulated five poles and 25 Top 10 finishes in his 35 starts. As of 2017, he is the most recent driver in NASCAR to get his first pole and win in the same weekend.

On January 5, 1965, Wade was performing a tire test at Daytona International Speedway, when a tire blowout caused his car to crash in the west turn, killing the 34-year-old Texan.^[2]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

Grand National Series

NASCAR Grand National Series results
Year	Team/Owner	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	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	NGNC	Pts	Ref
1962	Luther Costales	01	Ford	CON	AWS	DAY	DAY	DAY 18	CON	AWS	SVH	HBO	RCH	CLB																																																				46th	2,008	[3]
	James Turner	24	Pontiac												NWS 10	GPS	MBS	MAR 8	BOW 19	BRI	RCH	HCY	CON	DAR	PIF	CLT	ATL	BGS	AUG	RCH	SBO	DAY	CLB	ASH	GPS	AUG	SVH	MBS	BRI	CHT	NSV	HUN	AWS	STR	BGS	PIF	VAL	DAR	HCY	RCH	DTS	AUG	MAR	NWS	CLT	ATL
1963	Cotton Owens	5	Dodge	BIR	GGS	THS	RIV 7	DAY 29	DAY	DAY 41	PIF 16	AWS 7	HBO			BRI 8	AUG	RCH 4	GRE 10	SBO 13		MAR 7	NWS 9	CLB	THS	DAR 10	ODS	RCH	CLT 24	BIR	ATL 8	DAY 19	MBS	SVH	DTS				BRD 12	BRI 13	GRE 18	FAI 2	COL 6	AWS 5	SPR 4	BGS	ONA	DAR 28	HCY	RCH	MAR 6	DTS	NWS	THS	CLT 33	SBO 19	OCC 21	RIV 33								16th	14,646	[4]
		6												ATL 13	HCY
	Bill Church	0	Chevrolet																		BOW 15
	Mark Hurley	61	Ford																																	BOW 23	ASH	OBS
1964	Cotton Owens	6	Dodge	CON 15																																																														4th	28,474	[5]
		5			AUG 3	JAC 10	SVH
	Rex White	4	Mercury					RIV 13
	Bud Moore Engineering	1							DAY 10	DAY	DAY 6	RCH 3	BRI 10	GPS	BGS	ATL 12	AWS 3	HBO	PIF 6*	COL 4	NWS 8	MAR 33	SVH	DAR 7	LGY	HCY	SBO	CLT 5	GPS	ASH	ATL 8	CON	NSV	CHT	BIR 3	VAL	PIF 6	DAY 20	ODS	OBS 1	BRD 1	ISL 1*	GLN 1*	LIN	BRI 22	NSV 19	MBS	AWS 26	DTS	HUN 6	COL 10	BGS	STR	DAR 6	HCY	RCH 14	ODS	HBO	MAR 9	SVH	NWS 4	CLT 37	HAR 16	AUG 4	JAC