American race car driver (1934?2022)
NASCAR driver
Henry Neil Castles
(October 1, 1934 ? August 4, 2022) was an American
NASCAR
Grand National and Winston Cup Series
driver. He raced from
1957
to
1976
, and won the
NASCAR Grand National East Series
in 1972.
Early life
[
edit
]
Castles was born in
Marion, North Carolina
,
[2]
on October 1, 1934.
[3]
[4]
He was raised in nearby
Charlotte
.
[3]
When he was nine, he was gifted a car to drive at a soapbox derby racer by
Buddy Shuman
, who also gave Castles the nickname "Soapy". As a teenager, Castles worked on Shuman's cars and cleaned his tools at the latter's shop.
[5]
Career
[
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]
Castles made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in June 1957 at
Columbia Speedway
, finishing 51 laps before engine failure forced him to record a
did not finish
.
[3]
He went on to win 25-lap qualifying races at
Darlington Raceway
(1967) and
Rockingham Speedway
(1969).
[5]
Three years later, he won the NASCAR Grand National East Series, a second-level series beneath the
Winston Cup Series
, which would ultimately prove to be his most successful NASCAR campaign.
[3]
[5]
He also won at the
Greenville-Pickens Speedway
in the spring of 1972.
[5]
Even though he failed to win a race in his nineteen-year career, Castles managed to record 51 finishes in the top five and 178 finishes in the top ten.
[4]
Out of 90,509 laps, Castles led 70 of them. His total mileage in his career was 65,412.8 miles (105,271.7 km).
[1]
[6]
[7]
There was a short story about Castles from
American Zoom
, a book authored by
Peter Golenbock
.
[8]
Castles was an also-ran of the old days who once found himself having an uncharacteristically good day. He had lapped Curtis Turner, but the flagman apparently did not believe it, for he kept giving Castles the move-over flag to let Turner around him. As Castles told the story: "The starter kept doing this, and I was getting real mad, so I just picked up my gun and when I come by the stand the next time I took aim and shot that flag out of his hand."
[3]
By the end of his racing career, Castles managed to earn $276,854 in total winnings ($1,482,383.17 when adjusted for inflation).
[4]
At the time of his death, his 498 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series were the third-most by a driver who did not have a victory, behind
J. D. McDuffie
(653) and
Buddy Arrington
(560).
[3]
Castles also worked in the film industry as a
stunt driver
, beginning in the 1950s about the time that he started racing. After he and his friends were recruited as
extras
for filming at the
Occoneechee Speedway
, he volunteered to replace the stuntman who was stuck in California.
[5]
He later featured in that capacity in
Thunder Road
(1958),
[4]
Speedway
(1968, doubling for
Elvis Presley
),
The Last American Hero
(1973),
Greased Lightning
(1977), and
Six Pack
(1982).
[3]
[5]
He also acted in
The Night of the Cat
(1973) and
Challenge
(1974).
[3]
[9]
In 2019, Castles published a memoir of his life in NASCAR and in the film industry.
[10]
Personal life
[
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]
Castles was married to Iris Jean Gallion for 63 years until her death in December 2019.
[11]
Together, they had three children.
[2]
Castles died on August 4, 2022, at the age of 87.
[2]
[3]
[5]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"Neil Castles Statistics and Results"
. Motorsport Stats
. Retrieved
August 8,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Obituary for Henry Neil Castles Sr"
. McMahan's Funeral Home & Cremation Services
. Retrieved
August 7,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Taranto, Steven (August 5, 2022).
"Neil Castles, former NASCAR Cup Series driver and movie stuntman, dies at 87"
. CBS News
. Retrieved
August 7,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Freedman, Lew (March 14, 2013).
Encyclopedia of Stock Car Racing
. ABC-CLIO. pp. 112?113.
ISBN
9780313387104
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Albert, Zack (August 5, 2022).
"Neil 'Soapy' Castles, longtime NASCAR racer and movie stuntman, dies at 87"
. NASCAR
. Retrieved
August 8,
2022
.
- ^
"Neil Castles"
.
Racing-Reference.info
. Retrieved
August 8,
2022
.
- ^
"Neil Castles Stats"
.
ESPN
. ESPN Internet Ventures
. Retrieved
August 8,
2022
.
- ^
Golenbock, Peter (1994).
American Zoom: Stock Car Racing ? from the Dirt Tracks to Daytona
. Macmillan USA.
ISBN
9780020327820
.
- ^
Haring, Bruce (August 4, 2022).
"Neil Castles Dies: Stuntman In Elvis Presley's 'Speedway', Actor, NASCAR Driver Was 88"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Retrieved
August 8,
2022
.
- ^
Castles, Henry Neil "Soapy" (January 31, 2019).
Neil "Soapy" Castles: Memoir of a Life in NASCAR and the Movies
. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.
ISBN
978-1-4766-3504-0
.
- ^
"Iris Castles Obituary"
.
The Charlotte Observer
. December 20, 2019
. Retrieved
August 7,
2022
– via
Legacy.com
.
External links
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]
Books
[
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]