Buddy Arrington

Infobox NASCAR driver
Name = Buddy Arrington


Birthdate = birth date and age|1938|7|26
Birthplace = Martinsville, Virginia
Best_Cup_Pos = 9th - 1982 (Winston Cup)
Cup_Top_Tens = 103
First_Cup_Race = 1966 Speedway Park (Jacksonville, Florida)
Last_Cup_Race = 1988 Firecracker 400 (Daytona)
Years_In_Cup = 25
Total_Cup_Races = 560

Buddy Arrington (born July 26 1938 in Martinsville, Virginia) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup Series) driver.

Biography

He has the second most starts without a win, and managed to finished in the top 10 of NASCAR points twice; in 1979 (ninth) and 1982 (seventh). He was known as a Mopar (Chrysler vehicles) loyalist till the end. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/statitudes/news/2000/08/21/waltrip_statitudes/] This was beyond the scope of Chrysler leaving NASCAR competition in 1978 in an effort to avoid bankruptcy. His best career finish was third at Talledega in 1979, one lap up of Richard Petty (ironically driving one of Petty's cast-off Dodge Magnums) and several other top NASCAR drivers. He almost always ran his own car. Buddy's operation was a very money conscious effort. His pit crew were almost always unpaid volunteers, and relied on used equipment; at first Richard Petty/Harry Hyde Dodge Magnums (which Buddy later re-skin and re-wheelbased to Dodge Miradas and Chrysler Imperial/Cordobas) and later ex-Bill Elliott Fords.

Buddy's Chrysler Imperial was the last Chrysler product to run in the NASCAR Winston Cup series. [http://registry.imperialclub.com/Yr/1981/Buddy/index.htm] He ran the car at first in two races in the 1981 season, and in more races (alternating with Dodge Miradas) up until April 1985, when at that point the parts supply for Chrysler products (due to no factory support) dried up. Buddy was always a much liked man on the NASCAR circuit, and other teams and a small, but loyal fan club pitched in to help keep him racing. In 1985 the generosity of rising NASCAR star driver Bill Elliott (who sold Buddy used T-Birds on the cheap) kept Buddy driving until 1988. Buddy's son Joey (who at a the young age of 17 served on Buddy's pit crew), now runs Arrington Manufacturing in Martinsville VA. The company builds racing engines (mostly Dodges) for the Craftsmen Truck Series, and test engines for Nextel Cup Busch series cars.

Tragedy struck Arrington's team in 1986. Upstart driver Rick Baldwin substituted for Arrington, who had been injured the previous week at Pocono International Raceway, for the Miller 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. During his qualifying run, Baldwin spun and backed into the turn 3 wall with severe impact. Baldwin remained in a coma for over 11 years, succumbing to his brain injuries in 1997.

External links

* [http://racing-reference.info/driver?id=arrinbu01 Buddy Arrington's drivers statistics at racing-reference.info]
* [http://racing-reference.info/owner?id=arrinbu01 Buddy Arrington's owners statistics at racing-reference.info]
* [http://registry.imperialclub.com/Yr/1981/Buddy/index.htm Fan site about his 1981 Chrysler Imperial, includes photos]