- Bobby Isaac
Infobox NASCAR driver
Name = Robert Isaac
Birthdate = birth date|1932|8|1|mf=y
Died = death date and age|1977|8|14|1932|8|1|mf=y
Birthplace = flagicon|USA Catawba,North Carolina
Cause of Death = Heart attack
Best_Cup_Pos = 1st - 1970 (Grand National)
Cup_Wins = 37
Cup_Top_Tens = 170
Cup_Poles = 49
First_Cup_Race = 1963Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds
First_Cup_Win = 1968Columbia 200 (Columbia Speedway , SC)
Last_Cup_Win = 1972Carolina 500 (Rockingham)
Last_Cup_Race = 1976World 600 (Charlotte)
Awards = 1970 Grand National Champion1979 - Inducted into the
National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame1996- Inducted in the
International Motorsports Hall of Fame 1998 - Named one of
NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers
Years_In_Cup = 14
Total_Cup_Races = 308Bobby Isaac (
August 1 ,1932 –August 14 ,1977 ) is a formerNASCAR Grand National (nowSprint Cup ) Series champion.Isaac grew up on a farm near
Catawba, North Carolina , the second-youngest of nine children. He finished school after the sixth grade, which led to the incorrect rumor that he could neither read nor write [http://www.decadesofracing.net/BobbyIsaac.htm] .NASCAR career
He began racing full-time in 1956, but it took him seven years to break into the Grand National division. Isaac won the championship in 1970 driving the #71
Dodge Charger Daytona sponsored by K&K Insurance. His crew chief was legendaryHarry Hyde . Isaac & Hyde took the car to Talladega in November and set a closed-course speed record.Isaac won 37 races in NASCAR's top series during his career, including 11 in his championship season, and started from the
pole position 50 times. He took 20 poles in a single season in 1969. This NASCAR record will be hard to beat since there are currently 36 races on the schedule. According to Isaac a strange "voice" in the car told him to retire from driving because it threatened he would be killed.Land Speed Records
Isaac also made his mark outside of NASCAR. In September 1971, he went to the
Bonneville Salt Flats inUtah and set 28 world speed records, some of which still stand to this day.Awards
Bobby Isaac was inducted into the
National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame in 1979, and theInternational Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996. In 1998 NASCAR honored Isaac as one of itsNASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers of all time.Death
Unfortunately, Bobby did not live to enjoy any of the accolades. He pulled out of a 1977 Late Model Sportsman race at
Hickory Motor Speedway with 25 laps left, and died of a heart attack.External links
* [http://www.motorsportshalloffame.com/halloffame/1996/Bobby_Isaac_main.htm International Motorsports Hall of Fame page]
* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=isaacbo01 Driver's statistics at racing-reference.info]
* [http://www.decadesofracing.net/BobbyIsaac.htm Biography, part 1]
* [http://www.yourfunshop.com/home/archive3/index14.html Biography, part 2]
* [http://aerowarriors.com/bv.html First hand account of Bonneville Salt Flats land speed record attempts]
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