Pete Hamilton
| Pete Hamilton | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Pete Hamilton as he stands next to the 1970 Plymouth Superbird driven to victory by Pete Hamilton in 3 of the 1970 season SuperSpeedway races. | |||||||
| Born |
July 20, 1942 Newton, Massachusetts, United States | ||||||
| Achievements |
1967 NASCAR Sportsman Division Champion 1970 Daytona 500 Winner 1974 Snowball Derby Winner | ||||||
| Awards |
1968 Grand National Series Rookie of the Year New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame (1998) | ||||||
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career | |||||||
| 64 races run over 6 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 21st (1970) | ||||||
| First race | 1968 Fireball 300 (Weaverville) | ||||||
| Last race | 1973 Atlanta 500 (Atlanta) | ||||||
| First win | 1970 Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
| Last win | 1971 Daytona 500 Qualifier #1 (Daytona) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Statistics current as of October 29, 2013. | |||||||
Peter "Pete" Hamilton (born July 20, 1942 in Newton, Massachusetts) is an American retired NASCAR racer. He won four times in his career (including the 1970 Daytona 500), three times driving for Petty Enterprises.
Racing career
Hamilton began racing in the street division in 1962 at Norwood Arena Speedway. [1] In 1965, he was the Thompson World Series Twin 50s champion. He won the 1967 NASCAR National Sportsman division in 1967.[1]
After that season he moved south to race in NASCAR. He started racing in the NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) division in 1968, and was the series Rookie of the Year.[1] In 1969, he competed in NASCAR's Grand American division, a division of smaller pony cars.[1] He won 12 of 26 races that year.[1]
He had 3 wins in 1970 for Petty Enterprises in the #40 Plymouth Superbird with Maurice Petty as his crew-chief. He won the 1970 Daytona 500 and both races at Talladega Superspeedway.[1] He won his fourth race of the season at the July Daytona race in Cotton Owens' car.[1] Hamilton won his Twin 125 mile qualifying race for the 1971 Daytona 500.[1] He retired from full-time racing in 1971 because of a neck injury suffered in a Grand American race in 1969.[1]
Hamilton won the 1974 Snowball Derby in his late model racecar.
Car builder
After he retired, he became a successful car builder.[1]
Career award
He was inducted in the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame in 1998, its first class.[1]
Daytona 500 results
| Year | Manufacturer | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Dodge | 17 | 44 | A.J. King |
| 1970 | Plymouth | 9 | 1 | Petty |
| 1971 | Plymouth | 3 | 28 | Owens |
| 1973 | Plymouth | 2 | 40 | Jack Housby |
References
External links
- Pete Hamilton driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- "2 Minutes With.." Interview Video
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by LeeRoy Yarbrough |
Daytona 500 Winner 1970 |
Succeeded by Richard Petty |
| Preceded by Dickie Davis |
Snowball Derby Winner 1974 |
Succeeded by Donnie Allison |