Johnny Beauchamp (March 23, 1923 – April 17, 1981) was an American NASCAR driver from Harlan, Iowa. He is best known for finishing second in the 1959 Daytona 500 in a photo finish after being declared the unofficial winner. In 23 starts, he had ten top-ten finishes, seven top-five finishes, and two victories.

Racing career Beauchamp began racing old model stock cars at local county fair tracks after World War II. In 1949, Beauchamp teamed up with mechanic Dale Swanson to earn several wins, racing hotrods in Iowa, Nebraska, and elsewhere. He raced unmodified old model stock cars at the Playland Park track in Council Bluffs, Iowa, finishing second in season points behind Tiny Lund. In 1951, Beauchamp won five straight features at the Playland track and was season champion. In 1954, he once again was season champion at the Playland track. He began occasionally racing late models in 1953, and, midway through the 1955 season, Beauchamp began racing in the IMCA Stock Car. At the time, the IMCA was one of the major racing associations in the midwest and a counterpart to the southeastern NASCAR racing organization. In 1956, driving a Dale Swanson-owned Chevrolet, Beauchamp won an unprecedented 38 IMCA races, while Chevrolets won approximately five races in the NASCAR racing association. He repeated as IMCA champion in 1957,John Havick, The Ghosts of Nascar: The Harlan Boys and the First Daytona 500. Iowa City: The University of Iowa Press, October 2013 winning the award for top stock car driver of the season. Also in 1957, mechanic Dale Swanson was hired by Chevrolet to help build race cars at its semi-secret shop, SEDCO, in Atlanta, for the 1957 February Daytona Beach race. Beauchamp finished second in the beach race, and was the only car on the same lap as the winner Cotton Owens.

In 1959, another excellent mechanic from Playland and IMCA competition, Roy Burdick, was offered by Holman-Moody, a well-known center of Ford racing, to buy a Thunderbird for $5500 to enter in the first Daytona 500. Burdick agreed and asked Beauchamp to drive the car. Beauchamp found himself leading the race when Fireball Roberts went out on lap 43. For the remainder of the race, Beauchamp raced near the front, usually in the top-three. On lap 149, Lee Petty, who had been too far back in the pack to be noticed, suddenly appeared driving side by side with Beauchamp. For the last 50 laps, the two continued racing close together. Beauchamp eventually crossed the finish line at about the same time as Petty. Beauchamp was declared the unofficial winner of the race, so he drove the Roy Burdick-owned car to victory lane. Petty protested the win. "I had him by two feet," Beauchamp said. "I glanced over to Lee Petty's car as I crossed the finish line and I could see his headlight slightly back of my car. It was so close I didn't know how they would call it, but I thought I won."1959: Petty's photo finish ; Mark Aumann, Turner Sports Interactive; January 9, 2003; Retrieved October 24, 2007 NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. studied photographs and newsreels for three days before declaring Petty the official winner. Beauchamp competed in seven events that season; recording his first NASCAR victory at Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway where he lapped the entire field. Although he had several high finishes in 1959, his final points of the season are not listed in the record books.

Beauchamp and his owner-mechanic Roy Burdick were certain they won the first Daytona 500, and their belief had nothing to do with the photo finish. Instead, they believed Lee Petty was one or two laps behind. The Petty pit was close to the Beauchamp pit, and the Burdick crew believed Petty had made several more pit stops than Beauchamp. Petty, as Beauchamp and Burdick learned, had somewhat of a pattern of winning races when drivers and officials believed he was a lap behind: Concord 1958, Daytona 1959, Atlanta 1959, and Weaverville, 1960. Burdick and Beauchamp believed NASCAR had a lap counting (known as scoring) problem, and part of the problem was that NASCAR had the drivers' wives counting the laps.

In 1960, Beauchamp raced for Holman-Moody and Dale Swanson in eleven events. He won his second and final NASCAR race that year in a 400-mile event at Nashville Speedway USA. Beauchamp and Petty were involved in an accident at the 1961 Daytona 500 Qualifier #2. Leader Banjo Matthews lost control of his car, spinning in front of the field. Petty and Beauchamp's cars sailed out of turn four and landed outside of the racetrack. It proved to be Beauchamp's last NASCAR race; though he only suffered head and back injuries.

In 1966, Beauchamp was the track champion in Peoria, Illinois.

Motorsports career results NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.) Grand National Series NASCAR Grand National Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 Pts Ref 1953 Hudson PBS DAB HAR NWS CLT RCH CCS LAN CLB HCY MAR PMS RSP LOU FIF LAN TCS WIL MCF PIF MOR ATL RVS15 LCF14 DAV8 HBO AWS PAS HCY DAR CCS LAN BLF WIL NWS MAR ATL 50th 328 1957 Hugh Babb 50 Chevy WSS CON TIC DAB2 CON WIL HBO AWS NWS LAN CLT PIF GBF POR CCF RCH MAR POR EUR LIN LCS ASP NWP CLB CPS PIF JAC RSP CLT MAS POR HCY NOR LCS GLN KPC LIN OBS MYB DAR NYF AWS CSF SCF LAN CLB CCF CLT MAR NBR CON NWS GBF 63rd 480 1959 Roy Burdick 73 Ford FAY DAY11 DAY2 HBO CON ATL1** WIL BGS CLB NWS REF21 HCY NA - Beau Morgan 76 Chevy MAR2 TRN CLT NSV ASP PIF GPS Wood Brothers Racing 21 Ford ATL14 CLB WIL RCH BGS AWS DAY HEI CLT MBS CLT NSV AWS BGS GPS CLB DAR HCY RCH CSF HBO 58 Chevy MAR45 AWS NWS CON 1960 Holman-Moody 31 Ford CLT CLB DAY DAY33 DAYDNQ CLT16 NWS PHO CLB MAR HCY WIL BGS GPS AWS DAR PIF HBO RCH HMS 11th 8306 Dale Swanson 73 Chevy CLT2 BGS DAY HEI MAB MBS ATL33 BIR5 NSV1 AWS20 PIF CLB SBO BGS DAR8 HCY CSF GSP HBO MAR9 NWS CLT12 RCH ATL29 1961 CLT JSP DAY DAY16 DAYDNQ PIF AWS HMS ATL GPS HBO BGS MAR NWS CLB HCY RCH MAR DAR CLT CLT RSD ASP CLT PIF BIR GPS BGS NOR HAS STR DAY ATL CLB MBS BRI NSV BGS AWS RCH SBO DAR HCY RCH CSF ATL MAR NWS CLT BRI GPS HBO NA -

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1959 Roy Burdick Ford 21 2 1960 Holman-Moody Ford DNQ 1961 Dale Swanson Chevrolet DNQ

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