Willard Cantrell

Willard "Bill" Cantrell (December 6 1914 – February 6 1986) was a midget, sprint, and stock car racing driver from Anaheim, California. He was nicknamed the "Silver Fox" for his gray hair and sly tricks. [http://www.worthyofhonor.com/Inductees/Willard_Cantrell.htm Biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame] ]

Racing career

He started racing jalopies in 1936 in Southern California. He raced midgets with the United Midget Association (UMA) in 1939. He drove for over fifty midgets in 1940 and 1941 trying to find a winning car. He found that car in 1942, and he won 15 races in his second place points finish in the UMA.

We won over 120 main events between 1945 and 1964 in United Racing Association, AAA, and USAC races. He won the 1962 Turkey Night Grand Prix. He won the 1947 URA Red Circuit Title in 1947 and series overall championship in 1951 and 1952. He won 18 sprint car races in the California Racing Association.

Cantrell made two NASCAR starts. He started at the only NASCAR event held at Willow Springs Speedway in Lancaster, California in 1957, and at Riverside International Raceway in 1965. [ [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=cantrbi01 NASCAR driving statistics] , Retrieved January 12 2008]

He became the West Coast supervisor for USAC, and he was a start for the USRC midget club after he retired.

Awards

*He was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.

References