Larry Pollard (born 5 May 1954) is a former Canadian NASCAR Busch Grand National Series driver. During his career, Pollard was the crew chief for NASCAR drivers Richard Petty and Phil Parsons during the 1980s before starting his Busch Series racing career in 1985. As a racecar driver, Pollard became the first non-American driver to win a Busch Grand National event after his win during the 1987 Busch 200 at Langley Speedway. Pollard was inducted into the Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2003.
| Larry Pollard | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | May 5, 1954 Victoria, British Columbia | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 4 races run over 1 year | |||||||
| Best finish | 107th (1987) | ||||||
| First race | 1987 Budweiser 500 (Dover) | ||||||
| Last race | 1987 Holly Farms 400 (North Wilkesboro) | ||||||
| |||||||
| NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
| 98 races run over 6 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 9th (1985) | ||||||
| First race | 1985 Mountain Dew 400 (Hickory) | ||||||
| Last race | 1990 AC-Delco 200 (Rockingham) | ||||||
| First win | 1987 Busch 200 (Langley) | ||||||
| |||||||
Early life
editPollard was born on 5 May 1954 in Victoria, British Columbia.[1]
Career
editPollard began his racing career as a stock car racer in Victoria during the 1970s. At the beginning of the 1980s, Pollard became a NASCAR pit crew member in the Winston West Series for driver Roy Smith.[2] After two years with Smith, Pollard went to the Busch Grand National Series and continued his pit crew career for Ricky Rudd in 1982.[3] Between 1982 and 1984, Pollard was a pit crew chief for Richard Petty before ending his crew chief career with Phil Parsons in 1985.[4]
As a NASCAR driver, Pollard competed in the Busch Grand National Series from 1985 to 1990 while appearing in four races during the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.[1] While in the Busch Series, he won the 1987 Busch 200 at Langley Speedway and became the first non-American driver to win a Busch Series event.[5][4] At the 1988 Budweiser 200 at Dover International Speedway, Pollard crashed into a wall during the 195th lap and acquired a basilar skull fracture.[6] After coming out of a coma, Pollard returned to racing during the 1989 NASCAR Busch Series.[4][7] After Pollard's final Busch Series race in 1990, Pollard briefly drove in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southeast Series during the early 1990s and the Pro All Stars Series in the mid 2000s.[1][8]
Awards and honours
editIn 2003, Pollard was inducted into the Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame.[2]
Motorsports career results
editNASCAR
edit(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
edit| NASCAR Winston Cup 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 | NWCC | Pts | Ref | |||||||||
| 1987 | Hamby Racing | 12 | Chevy | DAY | CAR | RCH | ATL | DAR | NWS | BRI | MAR | TAL | CLT | DOV 16 |
POC | RSD | MCH | DAY 27 |
POC | TAL | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | NWS 23 |
CLT | CAR | RSD | ATL | 107th | - | [9] | ||||||||||||
| Olds | RCH 13 |
DOV | MAR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series
edit(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ATSCSC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985 | 98 | Chevy | ATL | DAY | ATL | TAL | ATL | SSP | IRP | CSP | FRS | IRP 22 |
OEF | ISF | DSF | TOL | 118th | - | [10] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b c "Larry Pollard". Racing Reference. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Larry Pollard 2003 Inductee". Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame and Museum. 17 February 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ Fedoruk, Ernie (18 January 1982). "Pollard heading for stock cars' big league". Times Colonist. p. 14.
- ^ a b c Dheensaw, Cleve (30 July 1995). "Racing runs in Pollards' blood - Victoria's first family of auto". Times Colonist. p. 1.
- ^ "1987 NASCAR Busch Grand National Results". ESPN. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "Victoria driver 'stable' after crash". Vancouver Sun. 6 June 1988. p. D6.
- ^ Lang, Stew (24 December 1989). "Pollard is prepared for bright comeback". Times Colonist. p. E3.
- ^ "Larry Pollard". Driver Database. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ "Larry Pollard – 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ "Larry Pollard – 1985 ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
External links
edit- Larry Pollard driver statistics at Racing-Reference