Charlie Glotzbach

Charles Lee Glotzbach (June 19, 1938 – April 23, 2021) was an ARCA and NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver. He holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He has the record for fastest pace at Bristol Motor Speedway for a NASCAR race. He was also known as the "Chargin' Comet" and "Chargin' Charlie".

Charlie Glotzbach
Born	Charles Lee Glotzbach (1938-06-19)June 19, 1938 Edwardsville, Indiana, U.S.
Died	April 23, 2021(2021-04-23) (aged 82) Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.
Awards	1964 ARCA Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
124 races run over 15 years
Best finish	19th (1968)
First race	1960 National 400 (Charlotte)
Last race	1992 DieHard 500 (Talladega)
First win	1968 National 500 (Charlotte)
Last win	1971 Volunteer 500 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 50 12

Volunteer 500 win

In 1971 Glotzbach won the caution-free Volunteer 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in a record pace that still stood for 53 years. The race was completed with an average speed of 101.074 mph (two hours, 38 minutes) at the .533-mile track in a race that did not feature a single safety car period in the July heat. Glotzbach required relief during the middle of the race from Friday Hassler.

The record was broken at the 2024 running of the Volunteer 500, which Kyle Larson won despite five safety car periods, with a time of 2:37:53 at 101.277 mph.

NASCAR history

Glotzbach's first NASCAR Winston Cup race was in 1960. While never running a full Winston Cup schedule, he ran a partial schedule every year from 1967 to 1975. The most he ran in a single year was in 1968, when he raced in 22 of 48 events. In 1969 he finished second in the Daytona 500 after being passed on the last lap by LeeRoy Yarbrough.

In late 1969, Glotzbach received broken ribs and was shot twice after firing an employee of his trucking company. He returned the next season and continued to run competitively with one of the bullets still in his upper arm. (ABC Wide World of Sports Broadcast, 1970 Daytona 500.)

Glotzbach set a world record of 199.466 mph in September 1969 at Talladega, driving the Chrysler Engineering No. 88 Dodge Charger Daytona. The car was the pole winner, but Glotzbach, along with most other drivers, sat out the race due to a tire boycott.

His last NASCAR Winston Cup race was in 1992, a season when he competed in seven events. He has four wins and 12 poles in NASCAR and his last attempt was in 1994 for the inaugural Brickyard 400 when he did not qualify.

Other racing

Glotzbach was named the 1964 ARCA series Rookie of the Year. He also attempted to qualify for the 1969 and 1970 Indianapolis 500 races, but failed to qualify for both.

In later life, Glotzbach ran a truck sales business named "Charlie's Truck Sales" in Sellersburg, Indiana.

In a charity legends race on March 20, 2010, Glotzbach was involved in a serious crash at Bristol Motor Speedway. He T-boned the driver's side of Larry Pearson at near full speed after Pearson spun. Both drivers suffered injuries, but none were life-threatening.^[1]

Personal life

Glotzbach was born in Edwardsville, Indiana.

Glotzbach was found dead in his home in Jeffersonville, Indiana, on April 23, 2021. He was 82 years old.^[2]

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
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	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	NGNC	Pts	Ref
1960	Red Hollingsworth	34	Chevy	CLT	CLB	DAY	DAY	DAY	CLT	NWS	PHO	CLB	MAR	HCY	WIL	BGS	GPS	AWS	DAR	PIF	HBO	RCH	HMS	CLT	BGS	DAY	HEI	MAB	MBS	ATL	BIR	NSV	AWS	PIF	CLB	SBO	BGS	DAR	HCY	CSF	GSP	HBO	MAR	NWS	CLT 28	RCH	ATL 31											136th	84	[3]
1961	Melvin Black	65	Pontiac	CLT	JSP	DAY	DAY 11	DAY 15				ATL 43	GPS	HBO	BGS	MAR	NWS	CLB	HCY	RCH	MAR	DAR	CLT	CLT	RSD	ASP	CLT	PIF	BIR	GPS	BGS	NOR	HAS	STR	DAY	ATL	CLB	MBS	BRI	NSV	BGS	AWS	RCH	SBO	DAR	HCY	RCH	CSF	ATL	MAR	NWS	CLT	BRI	GPS	HBO			56th	-	[4]
			Chevy						PIF 15	AWS	HMS
1967	K&K Insurance Racing	37	Dodge	AUG	RSD	DAY 8	DAY	DAY 33	AWS	BRI	GPS	BGS	ATL 4	CLB	HCY	NWS	MAR	SVH	RCH	DAR	BLV	LGY	CLT 42	ASH	MGR	SMR	BIR	CAR 7	GPS	MGY	DAY	TRN	OXF	FDA	ISP	BRI	SMR	NSV																				23rd	11444	[5]
		72																																					ATL 37	BGS	CLB	SVH	DAR 4	HCY	RCH	BLV	HBO	MAR	NWS	CLT 4	CAR 32	AWS
1968	Friedkin Enterprises	40	Plymouth	MGR 23	MGY	RSD																																																				19th	1693	[6]
		15					DAY 32	BRI
	Owens Racing	6	Dodge						RCH 2	ATL 4	HCY	GPS 3	CLB 2	NWS	MAR	AUG	AWS	DAR 28	BLV	LGY	CLT 6	ASH	MGR	SMR	BIR	CAR 20	GPS	DAY 9	ISP	OXF	FDA	TRN 4	BRI 18	SMR		ATL 25	CLB 2	BGS	AWS	SBO 4	LGY 18	DAR 4	HCY	RCH	BLV	HBO	MAR 39	NWS 24	AUG	CLT 1	CAR 41	JFC
	Ervin Pruitt	57	Dodge																																NSV 5
1969	Owens Racing	6	Dodge	MGR	MGY	RSD	DAY	DAY 2	DAY 2	CAR 26	AUG	BRI 19	ATL 33	CLB	HCY	GPS	RCH	NWS	MAR	AWS	DAR	BLV	LGY	CLT	MGR	SMR	MCH 5	KPT	GPS	NCF																												37th	944	[7]
	Fox Racing	3	Dodge																												DAY 32	DOV	TPN	TRN	BLV	BRI	NSV	SMR
	Smokey Yunick Racing	13	Ford																																				ATL 4
	Nichels Engineering	88	Dodge																																					MCH 14	SBO	BGS	AWS	DAR 6	HCY	RCH	TAL Wth	CLB	MAR	NWS
		99																																																	CLT 4	SVH	AUG	CAR 23	JFC	MGR	TWS
1970				RSD	DAY	DAY 1*	DAY 4	RCH	CAR 17	SVH	ATL 38	BRI	TAL 31	NWS	CLB	DAR 22	BLV	LGY	CLT 25			MCH 24	RSD	HCY			DAY 4	AST	TPN	TRN 3	BRI	SMR	NSV	ATL 33	CLB	ONA	MCH 1*	TAL 3	BGS	SBO	DAR 6	HCY	RCH	DOV 3	NCF	NWS	CLT 37	MAR	MGR	CAR 31	LGY							28th	1358	[8]
	Robertson Racing	23	Plymouth																	SMR 14	MAR
		2																							KPT 15	GPS
1971	John McCarthy	38	Dodge	RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	ONT	RCH	CAR	HCY	BRI	ATL 7	CLB 6	GPS 18	SMR 7																																										42nd	699	[9]
	Junior Fields	91	Chevy														NWS 26	MAR	DAR 34	SBO	TAL	ASH	KPT
	Howard & Egerton Racing	3	Chevy																					CLT 28	DOV	MCH	RSD	HOU	GPS	DAY 37	BRI 1*	AST	ISP	TRN	NSV	ATL 4	BGS	ONA 27	MCH 27	TAL 23	CLB	HCY	DAR 24	MAR 4	CLT 5*		CAR 37	MGR		NWS 2	TWS
		98																																												DOV 2			RCH 4

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
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	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1972	Owens Racing	6	Dodge	RSD	DAY 2	RCH	ONT DNQ	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS			CLT 3	DOV	MCH	RSD	TWS	DAY	BRI	TRN	ATL	TAL	MCH	NSV	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	TWS	65th	739	[10]
			Plymouth										MAR 28	TAL
1973	Ellington Racing	28	Chevy	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR 31	MAR	TAL	NSV	CLT 24	DOV	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY	BRI	ATL	TAL	NSV	DAR 30	RCH	DOV	NWS	MAR	CLT 37					43rd	903.35	[11]
	Donlavey Racing	90	Mercury																												CAR 8
1974	Ellington Racing	28	Chevy	RSD	DAY 36	RCH	CAR 4	BRI	ATL 11	DAR	NWS	MAR																							26th	293.08	[12]
	Donlavey Racing	90	Ford										TAL 4	NSV	DOV	CLT 37	RSD	MCH	DAY 22	BRI 4	NSV 6	ATL 26	POC	TAL 34	MCH	DAR 14	RCH 4	DOV	NWS 15	MAR	CLT 30	CAR	ONT
1975	Ellington Racing	28	Chevy	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT 6	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	DAR	DOV	NWS	MAR								110th	60	[13]
	Ed Gibson	3	Chevy																									CLT 36	RCH	CAR	BRI	ATL	ONT
1976	Cunningham-Kelley Racing	14	Chevy	RSD	DAY	CAR	RCH	BRI	ATL	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT 34	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	ONT		109th	61	[14]
1981	Bahre Racing	23	Buick	RSD	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	TWS	RSD	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 26	CAR	ATL	RSD	88th	85	[15]
1988	Dingman Brothers Racing	50	Pontiac	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT DNQ	NWS	CAR	PHO	ATL			NA	-	[16]
1989	AAG Racing	34	Buick	DAY DNQ	CAR	ATL	RCH	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	PHO	ATL			NA	-	[17]
1990			Pontiac	DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	CLT	DOV	SON	POC						MCH DNQ	BRI												70th	140	[18]
			Buick														MCH DNQ
	U.S. Racing	2	Pontiac															DAY 35	POC	TAL	GLN			DAR 27
	Donlavey Racing	90	Ford																						RCH 22	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL
1992	Donlavey Racing	90	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH 26	ATL 18	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL 37	CLT 36	DOV	SON	POC	MCH 16	DAY 20	POC	TAL 30	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL			41st	592	[19]
1994	Carl Miskotten	82	Ford	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND DNQ	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL	NA	-	[20]

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1961	Melvin Black	Pontiac	22	15
1967	K&K Insurance Racing	Dodge	17	33
1968	Friedkin Enterprises	Plymouth	21	32
1969	Owens Racing	Dodge	4	2
1970	Nichels Engineering	Dodge	4	4
1972	Owens Racing	Dodge	6	2
1974	Ellington Racing	Chevrolet	13	36
1989	AAG Racing	Buick	DNQ
1990		Pontiac	DNQ

ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series results
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	AHSC	Pts	Ref
1987	Don Jackson Racing	49	Chevy	DAY	ATL	TAL 2	DEL	ACS	TOL	ROC	POC 2	FRS	KIL	TAL 7	FRS	ISF	INF	DSF	SLM	ATL 25					36th	-	[21]
1988				DAY 3	ATL	TAL	FRS	PCS	ROC	POC	WIN	KIL	ACS	SLM	POC	TAL	DEL	FRS	ISF	DSF	SLM	ATL			105th	-	[22]
1990		0	Pontiac	DAY 4*	ATL	KIL																			27th	-	[23]
	Garrett Racing	28	Chevy				TAL 3	FRS	POC	KIL	TOL	HAG	POC 2	TAL 1*							ATL 1*
	AAG Racing	44	Chevy												MCH 2	ISF	TOL	DSF	WIN	DEL
1991	Garrett Racing	28	Chevy	DAY 38	ATL 18*	KIL	TAL	TOL	FRS	POC	MCH 9*	KIL	FRS	DEL	POC	TAL 1	HPT	MCH	ISF	TOL	DSF	TWS	ATL 22		34th	805	[24]
1992				DAY 7*	FIF	TWS	TAL 1*	TOL	KIL		MCH 29	FRS	KIL	NSH	DEL	POC	HPT	FRS	ISF	TOL	DSF	TWS	SLM	ATL 7	39th	-	[25]
			Pontiac							POC 4
1993	Jim Spicuzza	37	Ford	DAY 31	FIF	TWS	TAL	KIL	CMS	FRS	TOL	POC	MCH	FRS	POC	KIL	ISF	DSF	TOL	SLM	WIN	ATL			118th	-	[26]

References

1. "Scary moments in old-timers' race as legends return to high banks of Bristol". Archived from the original on March 25, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
2. Martin, Brett (April 23, 2021). "Charlie Glotzbach, Southern Indiana NASCAR racer, dies at 83". wave3.com. Gray Media Group, Inc. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
3. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1960 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
4. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1961 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
5. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1967 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
6. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1968 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
7. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1969 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
8. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1970 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
9. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
10. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
11. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
12. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
13. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1975 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
14. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
15. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
16. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
17. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
18. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
19. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
20. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
21. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1987 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
22. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1988 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
23. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1990 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
24. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1991 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
25. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1992 ARCA SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
26. "Charlie Glotzbach – 1993 ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 29, 2016.

External links

• Charlie Glotzbach driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• 2001 Nascar.com article on his 1971 Bristol win