Emanuel Zervakis (January 23, 1930 – June 25, 2003) was an American NASCAR driver and team owner. He won two NASCAR Grand National Series races in his career, both in 1961 (Greenville 200 and Yankee 500). He later went on to own a part-time Cup team and a successful Busch Series team, receiving five Busch wins as an owner, four with Butch Lindley and one with Ricky Rudd.
Career Driver Zervakis started in 83 NASCAR Cup races between 1956 and 1963 and finished in the top ten in points twice. He started his first race at Daytona Beach in 1956, finishing last in a field of 76 cars. He did not score a single top ten finish until 1960, but after that, he was in the top ten more than he was out. Zervakis was disqualified for his fuel tank being too large after winning at Wilson Speedway in 1960. He was the last winning driver to be disqualified from a race for 62 years. In 1961, he finished third in the point standings, only behind Ned Jarrett and Rex White. He ran his last race in 1963. He also made six starts in the now-defunct Convertible Series.
Owner Zervakis was also a team owner. He might be remembered most for fielding a car for Dale Jarrett's first Winston Cup race. His Cup team competed in 39 events total, with a best finish was a second-place finish by Butch Lindley at Martinsville. He also had five wins in the Nationwide series, including Ricky Rudd's only Busch/Nationwide win in his first start, and four wins by Butch Lindley in 1982, where he finished ninth in points despite running a partial schedule.
Racing career results
NASCAR Grand National Series +NASCAR Grand National Series resultsYearTeam/OwnerNo.Make1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556NGNCPtsRef.1956Emanuel Zervakis113ChevroletDAY 76OCC 14LIN 14RAL 1381stn/a11DAR 23WIL 201957WIL
16RCH 22MAR DNQn/an/aJunie Donlavey90FordRAL
24ChevroletLAN 26MAR
221958ODO 22TRE 24RAL
55DAR 42MAR
33161stn/a9RCH
211960Monroe Shook85DAY 8DAY 10MAR
9WIL
19OCC
7RCH
18CLS 33ATL 10ASH 3DAR
4MAR
8CLS
7ATL
308th9,720FordDAR
81961ChevroletDAY 7DAY 18ASH
5ATL
9GRE 1OCC
14BOW 13MAR
4NWI 6COL 3HIC 17MAR
2DAR
13CLS
15CLS
15GRE
3BOW
4NOR 1HAR 16STA 5ATL
4COL
6MYR 5BRI 7NFA 5BOW
4ASH
5RCH
3SBO 4DAR
5HIC
5RCH
6ATL
14MAR
7NWI
6CLS
7BRI
53rd22,312FordDAY
291962Emanuel Zervakis20MercuryRCH
6DAR
29CLS
14ATL
16RCH
23SBO
21BRI
30DAR
13RCH
24CLS
7ATL
2727th6,4061963RCH
2454th1,882FordCLS
16DAR
41
NASCAR Convertible Series +NASCAR Convertible DivisionYearTeam/OwnerNo.Make123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536NCSSPtsRef.1957Junie Donlavey7ChevroletNOR 627th1,5563WIL
7195890RCH
17DAR
15MAR
31n/an/a1959RCH
1780th64
References
External links