Joe Herbert Weatherly Jr. Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
Joseph "Joe" Weatherly (May 29, 1922 – January 19, 1964) was a two-time NASCAR championship driver. Weatherly was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009 after winning NASCAR's Grand National (now Sprint Cup Series) championships in 1962 and 1963, three A.M.A. Grand National Championships, and two NASCAR Modified championships.
He was very keen to do his absolute best at every race. At the road course in Riverside Califorina in 1964, he fell out of the race with transmission problems in his Mercury. He insisted that famed car owner Bud Moore fix the problem so he could go on. Bud, and the crew fixed the problem, and Joe got back into the race two laps down. He was driving so hard, that he over used his brakes causing the self adjusting ratchet to fall off inside the brake drum, and blow out the brake cylinder, causing his brakes to go completely out. He hit the wall at better then 130 miles per hour. Since he was only wearing his lap belt, and the angle he hit it, his head hit the wall killing him instantly. Bud Moore said in 1994 if they had the window nets like they have today, Joe would have most likely survived the crash.
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Killed at the Riverside International Raceway (turn 6) in Riverside, California. A shopping mall and a strip mall (right where Joe Weatherly was killed) are on the grounds of the old racetrack.
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Always played jokes with the other NASCAR stars
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Killed at the Riverside International Raceway (turn 2) in Riverside, California. A shopping mall and a strip mall (right where Joe Weatherly was killed) are on the grounds of the old racetrack.
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Has Riverside International Raceway on his headstone as a final joke from his fellow NASCAR racers.
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Has Riverside International Raceway on his headstone
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Was known as the "Clown Prince of NASCAR"
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Was a motorcycle racer
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Had a scar on his left cheek where a bullet struck him during world war II
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Because Pontiac pulled out of racing in mid-season 1963, Joe "bummed rides" from lesser known car owners to keep him in the points race.
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1962, and 1963 NASCAR Grand National (now Winston Cup) Champion
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Thunder in Carolina
1960
Grand National race driver
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Fifty
1998
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
Known for movies
Thunder in Carolina 1960 as Grand National race driver
$2 Million