Buddy Baker

:"For the American composer, see Buddy Baker (composer). For the DC Comics character, see Animal Man."

Infobox_NASCAR driver
Name = Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr.
Birthdate = birth date and age|1941|1|25
Birthplace = Florence, South Carolina
Best_Cup_Pos = 5th - 1977 (Winston Cup)
Cup_Wins = 19
Cup_Top_Tens = 311
Cup_Poles = 38
First_Cup_Race = 1959 untitled race (Columbia Speedway)
First_Cup_Win = 1967 National 500 (Charlotte)
Last_Cup_Win = 1983 Firecracker 400 (Daytona)
Last_Cup_Race = 1992 Winston 500 (Talladega)
Awards = Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)

International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee (1995)

National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame inductee (1997)

Charlotte Motor Speedway Court of Legends inductee (1995)
Years_In_Cup = 33
Total_Cup_Races = 699

Elzie Wylie Baker, Jr. (also "Leadfoot" or more famously Buddy) (born January 25, 1941 in Florence, South Carolina) is a former American NASCAR racecar driver.

Early life

Buddy Baker was born in Florence, South Carolina, the son of two time winner of the NASCAR Championship and a Hall of Fame member Buck Baker. Baker began his NASCAR career in 1959. In 1970, he became the first driver to ever exceed 200 mph (320 km/h) on a closed course. The same year, with a victory at the Southern 500, he became the first NASCAR driver to win the same race at the same venue as his father. (Buck did it in 1953.)

Career

During his career, Baker won nineteen races including the 1980 Daytona 500, NASCAR's most prestigious race. His victory remains the fastest Daytona 500 ever run, with an average speed of 177.602 mph (285.809 km/h).

Baker is one of eight drivers to have won a Career Grand Slam, by winning the sport's four majors -- the Daytona 500, Aaron's 499, Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500.; Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson are the other seven to have accomplished the feat. He is the only one of the eight to not win the championship.

He generally raced part-time, competing in every race in only three seasons. He owned a car with Danny Schiff from 1985 to 1989, and was instrumental in the career of Jimmy Spencer. He competed in two International Race of Champions series. His final race in NASCAR was in 1992.

Buddy currently helps run the Buck Baker Racing School with his brother.

Commentator

From 1991 until 2000, he became a television commentator on The Nashville Network and later (1994-2000) races produced by their World Sports Enterprises division, including CBS races. During 2007, Buddy could be heard as the part-time co-host of The Driver's Seat with John Kernan on Sirius Satellite Radio's NASCAR channel 128. As of 2008, Buddy now the co-hosts Late Shift along with Rick Benjamin on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Trivia

*Buddy Baker appears in the 1968 Elvis Presley movie, "Speedway".
*He is a mentor of Ryan Newman. He also is a spotter for the #12 Alltel Dodge driven by Ryan Newman.

Awards

In 1997, Buddy Baker joined his father as an inductee in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Alabama. He was inducted into the Charlotte Motor Speedway Court of Legends in 1995, and into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame inductee in 1997. He was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

External links

* [http://www.buddybaker.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.theinsidegroove.com/pics/12242003/highres/image_html/nascar-racing-history-photo-picture-3-19.html The Inside Groove.com - Historical Nascar Image Gallery]
* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=bakerbu02 Driver stats at racing-reference.info]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before= Richard Petty
title = Daytona 500 Winner
years = 1980
after = Richard Petty