Paul Edward Goldsmith (October 2, 1925 – September 6, 2024) was an American racing driver. During his career he raced motorcycles, stock cars, and Indianapolis cars, achieving success in each discipline.
Goldsmith won the USAC Stock Car national championship in 1961 and 1962, driving a Pontiac for Ray Nichels. Earlier in his career, he was a successful motorcycle racer within the AMA circuit, capturing the Daytona 200 for Harley-Davidson in 1953. In 1958, driving a Pontiac for Smokey Yunick, Goldsmith won the final NASCAR stock car race on the Daytona Beach road course.
At the time of his death, Goldsmith was the oldest living former driver to have competed in the FIA World Drivers' Championship, as well as the oldest living veteran of the Indianapolis 500; he and A. J. Foyt were the last living competitors from the 1958 Indianapolis 500.
Early life Born on October 2, 1925, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, Goldsmith relocated to Detroit, Michigan, with his family at an early age.
During the Second World War, Goldsmith served in the United States Merchant Marine. After the war, he worked full-time at a Chrysler plant in Detroit. He co-owned a service station in Royal Oak, Michigan, until 1952.
Motorcycle career Goldsmith began riding motorcycles soon after the end of the Second World War. His racing career began by accident in 1946, while spectating an event at Partington Pastures in Sterling Heights, Michigan. A lower number of riders appeared than had been expected, and Goldsmith was invited to participate, finishing third. He soon began competing locally every weekend.
Goldsmith would race Harley-Davidsons throughout his cycling career, possibly inspired by Leo Anthony, a Michigan-born rider at the peak of his career in 1946. During 1947, Goldsmith earned the backing of leading Detroit Harley-Davidson dealer Earl Robinson. Teaming up with Robinson's chief mechanic, Boots Carnegie, Goldsmith campaigned throughout the county fair circuit of the Midwest. By 1948, Goldsmith had achieved Expert rating from the AMA. In March of that year, he competed in his first Daytona 200, finishing in fifth position.
In 1950, Goldsmith increasingly ran among the leaders. His first Class C podium came at Strawberry Hill Raceway, near Richmond, Virginia, where he finished third in a 10-mile race. During the year, Goldsmith scored two further podiums – third place in a 20-mile event at Bay Meadows, in San Mateo, California; and third in a 5-mile national at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. During the 1951 season, Goldsmith repeated his performance at Strawberry Hill. He later finished second at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, the best finish of his career up to that point. Goldsmith scored his third and final podium of the season in an 8-mile national at Williams Grove Speedway, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Harley–Davidson relationship, and AMA success In 1952, Goldsmith competed until midway though the season before scoring his first podium of the year, a third place in the Class C National Championship event, a 25-mile race held at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The following week, Goldsmith scored the first victory of his career, winning at the Milwaukee Mile, close to the headquarters of Harley-Davidson. In the 15-mile event, extended four extra laps due to a caution, Goldsmith beat Ernie Beckman to the flag. Two weeks later, he finished second in a 5-mile event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. During the season Goldsmith was hired to compete directly for Harley-Davidson. Offered the new KR model, he disliked the handling, and continued competing on an older WR while working on the handling and tuning of the KR model in order to bring it up to speed.
For the opening race of the 1953 season, the Daytona 200 on the Daytona Beach road course, Goldsmith entered riding the newly developed Harley-Davidson KR-TT road-racing variant of the KR model introduced the season before. While in Daytona Beach, Goldsmith would work on his cycles at the race shop owned by famed local racer Marshall Teague. It was on one such occasion that Goldsmith first met and began consulting famed local mechanic Henry "Smokey" Yunick, going on to impress him with his racing style and work ethic. Goldsmith prepared diligently for the event, fine-tuning his engine and testing repeatedly on local roads.
On March 14, starting in the second row, Goldsmith took the lead on the first lap heading into the North turn, before being passed by John Hicks on the back stretch. By the ninth lap, Goldsmith had settled into third place, behind the Triumphs of Hicks and Ed Kretz. For the duration of the event, Goldsmith would adhere to a remarkably consistent pace; his lap times for the duration of the 48-lap event on the 4.1 mile course varied by less than three seconds of one another. On the tenth lap, a serious accident occurred, which bunched up the field, allowing Kretz and Goldsmith to pass Hicks. On lap 21, shortly before the midpoint of the race, Goldsmith passed Kretz for the lead heading into the north turn. Goldsmith would run the remainder of the event unchallenged, setting a new record time of 94.45 MPH. His victory was Harley-Davidson's first at the event since 1940.
Goldsmith followed up his victory at Daytona with a third place at the Ohio State Fairgrounds 10-mile event. At Dodge City Raceway, in Dodge City, Kansas, Goldsmith had built up a two-mile lead by the quarter mark of a 200-mile event, before running out of gas. Later in 1953, he won a 100-mile event at the grueling Langhorne Speedway cinder track. Goldsmith was voted the AMA Most Popular Rider of the Year for his efforts during the season.
During the 1954 Daytona 200, Goldsmith again took the lead on the opening lap before settling into a consistent pace, running second behind Joe Leonard. Goldsmith inherited the lead on the eighth lap, as Leonard dropped out with a mechanical issue. On the following lap, coming out of the South turn onto the beach, Goldsmith got caught up in the surf, ending his race. That season, the first in which the AMA applied a championship point system, Goldsmith took a victory in the Charity Newsies, a 10-mile national at the Ohio State Fairgrounds half mile. He also finished second at the San Mateo 20-mile event, and took third place at a 5-mile event at Portland Meadows in Portland, Oregon. Goldsmith finished second on the half mile oval at the Meade County Fairgrounds' 5-mile event in Sturgis, South Dakota. Goldsmith finished the season second in the AMA National point standings, behind Leonard, his former pupil. During the season Goldsmith continually finished in points and prize-paying positions.
In 1955, Goldsmith won his final AMA event, an 8-mile competition at Illiana Speedway, in Schererville, Indiana. He was frequently racing stock cars by this time. He recorded the final national podium of his career, a third at the Milwaukee Mile 9-mile event on August 27, 1955. Goldsmith finished the season eighth in points. Sometime before the 1956 AMA season, Goldsmith signed with Yunick to race Chevrolets during the 1956 NASCAR Grand National season. Goldsmith would soon leave motorcycle competition, pressured to run only stock cars by General Motors.
Goldsmith's final event of his motorcycle career was the 1956 Daytona 200. Goldsmith recalled afterwards that, "Ed Cole was on my fanny pretty good for riding. He told me I shouldn't be riding the bikes but driving full time for Chevy." Goldsmith said he "hated" giving up motorcycle racing, but made the decision because auto racing was "much bigger than Harley-Davidson."
Stock car career
Goldsmith first began racing automobiles in 1950, competing in regional events. He experienced quick success, winning his first ever event driving a modified Ford roadster, in a race in Detroit. Later, he won a 250-mile stock car event held during the 1953 Michigan State Fair. After initially being scored in second place, a later review of the scoring tape revealed Goldsmith the true winner. Goldsmith competed in his first top-level automobile race during 1954, a AAA Stock Car national championship race at the Milwaukee Mile. Starting 22nd in a field of 38, Goldsmith finished in 21st place.
Early NASCAR career (1956–1958) During the 1956 Daytona Speedweeks, Goldsmith was competing in that year's Daytona 200 when he interacted with Yunick. Goldsmith had previously impressed Yunick by acing an improvised series of tests developed by Yunick. Yunick would offer prospective drivers a bit of candy from a snake nut can. Yunick later wrote in his autobiography, "[Goldsmith] caught the son-of-a-bitch snake coming out of the can. I've never seen anybody else that could catch it, even knowing what was going on." Yunick then asked Goldsmith to drive him around a race course set up on the Titusville-Cocoa Airport, located south of Daytona Beach. By Yunick's recollection, Goldsmith's performance lapping the course, as well as in a third test designed to gauge reflexes under braking, exceeded that of the previous record holders of Yunick's tests.
Yunick offered Goldsmith a ride driving his Chevrolet on the NASCAR Grand National circuit. Goldsmith's first appearance came on March 25 at Lakewood Speedway. Starting seventh, Goldsmith was involved in an accident on the 36th lap, ending the race 23rd. During the Southern 500 that year, Goldsmith started and finished the race in the top 5. The next event at Langhorne saw Goldsmith considered a dark horse, due to his strong performance at Darlington, and his previous motorcycling experience at Langhorne. Starting on the outside of the front row, Goldsmith dominated the 300 mile event. Leading 182 of 300 laps, Goldsmith beat runner-up Lee Petty by a seven-lap margin. In addition to his victory, Goldsmith recorded three other top-five finishes in nine races during 1956.
After continuing with Chevrolet for the first few rounds of the 1957 season, Yunick switched to Ford following the Daytona Beach race. Competing with them for the first several months of the season, their factory-backing was cut off after the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) instituted a ban on factory programs in June, in response to increasing public concern over highway safety. During the 1957 Southern 500 held on September 2 at Darlington Raceway, which he had been favored by many to win, Goldsmith sustained serious injuries in an accident which also seriously injured Fonty Flock and killed Bobby Myers. Running for Yunick and occasionally Pete DePaolo, Goldsmith would finish the season with four wins and six other top-five finishes in 25 events that season. Most notable was the Raleigh 250, run on July 4.
In 1958, Goldsmith was the winner of the final Grand National race at the famous Daytona Beach Road Course. His victory would make him the only racer to win the Daytona Beach road course both in a stock car and on a motorcycle. Driving a Pontiac in the event, he led the race from start to finish. A few weeks later, Goldsmith quit the NASCAR circuit, motivated by a desire to race in the Indianapolis 500, sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC).
Association with Ray Nichels Goldsmith's win at Daytona had attracted the attention of Semon Knudsen, the general manager of GM's Pontiac division. Knudsen, seeking to change Pontiac's stodgy image with the public, had recently hired Ray Nichels, until recently an Indianapolis car mechanic, to begin building Pontiac into a performance brand. That fall, Knudsen arranged a meeting between Nichels and Goldsmith, after which the latter was hired to be Nichels' Pontiac development driver.