Behind the Wall: 2015 Hall of Fame Class: Joe Weatherly

By Richard Tix

NASCAR Behind the Wall will take a short look at each 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee. These articles will be spread out in time until the 2015 Hall of Fame induction (mostly depending on how much free time I find).

Previous: Wendell Scott and Fred Lorenzen

Next up in the NASCAR Behind the Wall Hall of Fame Spotlight is Joe Weatherly. If anyone knew how to take advantage of the spotlight it was Joe Weatherly. Joe was one of the biggest characters of his day in NASCAR. his personality came out so much so that he even earned the nickname "Clown Prince of Stock Car Racing."

Joe was definitely known for his personality but he was not using that to hide any lack of talent on the track. Before even hitting the NASCAR top tier he had over 100 race win in NASCAR's Modified Division. He also won a championship in this division in 1953.

The Modified Division isn't the only place he tried his racing ability at. During his lifetime he also has a good run in the American Motocycle Association winning 3 Nationals between 1946-50. In 1998 he was also inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame. On top of that he also gave the convertible series a try during 1956-59 while winning 12 times.

It didn't matter what he was racing, he seemed to find a way to win and do it his way. It was in 1958 that his NASCAR career started to really get going though. That is the season in which he got his first win in the top tier. In the next 7 years he won 25 times, had 93 top 5's, and 129 top 10's in 191 races. That means during his last 7 years of racing in NASCAR he finished in the top 10 67.5% of the time while winning 13.1% of the time.

In 1962 and 1963 he won his first and second Championship. Both seasons are still the only years in NASCAR that he ran a full schedule. In 1962 he was running for Bud Moore and in 1963 he ran for 9 different teams. These Championships came just at the right time as he was named the most popular driver in 1961.

In 1964 Joe Weatherly passed away after incurring head injuries due to a racing accident at Riverside International Raceway in just the fifth race of the season. His untimely death (and a Richard Petty wreck in 1970) were major reasons that NASCAR started to mandate window nets on cars.

Even though Joe's passing was a shock and way too early his spirit and personality lives on in NASCAR. He was one of the first drivers to truly be known as much for his lively persona as his driving skills on the track. He will forever be remembered as being a two time NASCAR Champion and the "Clown Prince of Stock Car Racing."

Some extra Joe Weatherly Photo's: