William Wimble (January 11, 1932 – April 24, 2016) was an American stock car racing driver and two-time champion of the NASCAR Sportsman Division (predecessor of currently Xfinity Series).
Racing career Wimble began his racing career at the St. Lawrence Valley Speedway in Canton, New York in 1951, and finished his first race in last position. He was champion of the 1960 NASCAR Sportsman Division (predecessor of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series) and along with Dick Nephew was 1961 co-champion. Folklore has it the 1961 “tie” was a fabrication designed to cover-up a mistake by NASCAR officials.
From 1958 to 1962, Wimble made four appearances in the NASCAR Grand National Series. He otherwise spent the majority of his career racing in the Sportsman and Modified classes at the renowned tracks of the New York including Airborne Park Speedway in Plattsburgh, Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, Fonda Speedway, and Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon.
Wimble won 14 track championships. He was inducted into the Eastern Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame, the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame and the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame.
Carnegie Hero Wimble along with four others rescued Marvin Panch from a burning race car at the Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 1963, and each received the prestigious Carnegie Medal for their heroism.
That same year, Wimble was pulled from a burning wreck during a race in Syracuse, New York by fellow racer Ernie Gahan, who was also one of those responsible for saving Marvin Panch.
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.)
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 Pts Ref 1958 Lyle Sokoll 400 Ford FAY DAB CON FAY WIL HBO FAY CLB PIF ATL CLT MAR ODS OBS GPS GBF STR NWS BGS TRN RSD CLB NBS REF LIN HCY AWS RSP MCC SLS TOR BUF 114th 120.5 Chevy MCF BEL BRR CLB NSV AWS BGS MBS DAR CLT BIR CSF GAF RCH HBO SAS MAR NWS ATL 1962 Dave McCredy 32 Pontiac CON AWS DAY DAY DAY CON AWS SVH HBO RCH CLB NWS GPS MBS MAR BGS BRI RCH HCY CON DAR PIF CLT ATL BGS AUG RCH SBO DAY CLB ASH GPS AUG SVH MBS BRI CHT NSV HUN AWS STR BGS PIF VAL DAR HCY RCH DTS AUG MAR NWS CLT ATL 48th 1944
Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1962 Dave McCredy Pontiac 36 11
References
External links
Bill Wimble with race car