American racing driver
NASCAR driver
John Anderson
(April 20, 1944 ? August 5, 1986) was an American
stock car
racing driver
. He drove in the
NASCAR
Winston Cup Series
between 1979 and 1983, posting a best finish of fifth.
Career
[
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]
Born April 20, 1944, in
Warren
,
Michigan
, Anderson first drove in racing competition at
Flat Rock Speedway
in 1965, winning the Michigan
Figure 8 racing
championship in 1967. He was the
Automobile Racing Club of America
(ARCA) Rookie-of-the-Year in 1968.
[1]
During the late 1960s and 1970s Anderson was successful in competition, winning a number of track championships, along with several ARCA and
American Speed Association
races. He moved up to
United States Auto Club
(USAC)
sprint car
and
midget car
racing in 1977, and ran his first
NASCAR
race, in the modified series, at
Charlotte Motor Speedway
in the fall of that year, winning the pole for the event.
[1]
In 1979 he made his first NASCAR
Winston Cup Series
start, scoring a fifth-place finish in his first race, at
Michigan International Speedway
.
[1]
He ran the majority of the 1980 season for a number of teams, scoring two top-10 finishes; towards the end of the year he was hired by
John Rebham
to drive for his team;
[2]
in 1981, driving an Oldsmobile, he was involved in an accident, in which his car got airborne and flipped over multiple times before landing upside down, during the
UNO Twin 125
qualifying races for the
Daytona 500
.
[3]
Shortly afterwards, Rebham, impatient for results and under pressure from his sponsors,
[4]
fired Anderson, replacing him with
Donnie Allison
.
[2]
Anderson would only run a few additional races in the Winston Cup Series and
Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series
before retiring.
[1]
Anderson won over 200 races of various types during his racing career.
[1]
He was killed in a road crash on
Interstate 85
near
Charlotte, North Carolina
on August 5, 1986, being survived by his wife Mary Ann and two children.
[5]
Anderson was inducted into the
Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame
in 2002.
[1]
References
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]
External links
[
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]
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Years active
| 1978?1992
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Personnel
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Former drivers
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Coca-Cola 600
wins
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Busch Clash
wins
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Other incarnations
|
- Butch Mock Motorsports
- Galaxy Motorsports
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International
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National
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Other
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