Herman Beam
| Herman Beam | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | December 11, 1929 Johnson City, Tennessee | ||||||
| Died | August 27, 1980(aged 50) Johnson City, Tennessee | ||||||
| Cause of death | Pancreatic Cancer | ||||||
| NASCARCup Seriescareer | |||||||
| 194 races run over 7 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 4th (1959) | ||||||
| First race | 1957Race 53 (Hillsboro) | ||||||
| Last race | 1963Race 32 (Moyock) | ||||||
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| NASCARConvertible Divisioncareer | |||||||
| 2 races run over 1 year | |||||||
| Best finish | 70th (1959) | ||||||
| First race | 1959Rebel 300(Darlington) | ||||||
| Last race | 1959 Race 10 (Asheville-Weaverville) | ||||||
| |||||||
Herman Beam(December 11, 1929 – August 27, 1980) was aNASCARGrand National Seriesdriver and team owner fromJohnson City, Tennesseewho was active as a driver from 1957 until 1963. He is famous for holding the longest streak of races without a DNF, with 84, from 1961 until 1963. He had 57 Top 10 finishes in 194 races.[1]
Driving career
[edit]Beam made his Grand National debut in 1957, finishing 20th in a self-ownedChevy.In 1958, he ran 20 races, with a single top 10 finish. 1959 was his best season, where he started 30 of 44 events, had 12 top 10 finishes including his first career top 5, and finished 4th in points. He made 2 starts in theNASCAR Convertible Divisionthat year. In 1961, Beam suffered an engine failure atRichmond International Raceway.It was the last DNF for 84 races, starting the streak of finishing races that he is most famous for, which ended atAtlanta Motor Speedwayin 1963. Beam retired from racing that year, but continued to field cars for other drivers, includingNed JarrettandCale Yarborough.
Beam's nickname was "Turtle", reflecting his cautious driving style, which was to finish each race without retiring. His most famous moment was at the 1962 Richmond 250 race at the Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds atRichmond, Virginia.Due to heavy rain, qualifying was cancelled, and the drivers drew for grid positions by lot. Beam drew pole position, but pulled off the track on the pace lap to let the entire field go past. He eventually finished 12th.[2]After the race Beam said that he did not feel comfortable starting in front of faster cars.[3]
Beam's 84-race streak took place over the span of 22 months 10 days, and was being threatened byClint Bowyer,who if he finished the first ten races of the 2009 season could have tied the record. However, he crashed at the 2009Southern 500at Darlington to end his streak at 83 finished races. Bowyer's teammateKevin Harvickfell three short when his engine failed in the2009 Auto Club 500ending his streak at 81 races without a DNF. After the2014 FedEx 400,his 84-race streak was broken byGreg Biffle,who finished the race despite being 108 laps down in 38th.
Another outstanding mark of Beam's was running the same number throughout his career. In all 194 of his starts, Beam drove only the number 19 in NASCAR Grand National races, the former record for officially retired drivers that has since been surpassed byJeff Gordon,with 797 consecutive starts in the #24.
Career as an owner
[edit]After retiring from driving in the middle of the 1963 season, he remained a team owner in NASCAR. He hiredCale Yarboroughto drive for him the rest of the season. In 1964, Larry Thomas and Yarborough split the ride for most of the season, withH.B. Bailey,Larry Frank,andTiny Lundeach driving one race for Beam. Yarborough left Beam's team after one race, andJT Putneywas hired to drive the car. His team shut down after running only 2 races in 1966.
References
[edit]- ^"Driver's statistics".Racing Reference.Retrieved2008-09-02.
- ^"1962 Richmond 250".www.racing-reference.info.Retrieved16 November2012.
- ^Clements, Michael L (2011).The Crew Chief's Son: A Trackside Memoir of Early NASCAR.United States: McFarland Publishing. p. 297.ISBN978-0-7864-4954-5.
External links
[edit]- Herman Beamdriver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Herman Beamowner statistics at Racing-Reference