NASCAR star won race in rental car then returned – Sports News
A NASCAR star as soon as rented a car, raced it, and returned all of it in the identical evening.
NASCAR was based in February 1948, with stock car racing in the United States evolving quite a few occasions earlier than it morphed into what’s now often called the Cup Series. Throughout the years, NASCAR expanded all through the nation, with the game making a stop in California.
In 1951, NASCAR held its first race in California, which featured Frank Mundy, although his inclusion happened by an attention-grabbing set of circumstances. Now, some 70 years later, NASCAR will likely be debuting one other race in California, this time in San Diego.
On April 8, 1951, Mundy, born Francisco Eduardo Menedez, was a star in NASCAR, driving in 4 races and successful three in the identical yr. Mundy additionally was half of the sphere at Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California, marking the primary time NASCAR had raced west of the Mississippi river.
NASCAR is the premier stock car racing group and as such, drivers on the time needed to drive stock automobiles. The subject for Mundy, nevertheless, was that he didn’t have a car to drive for the race.
As a consequence, Mundy was compelled to rent a car from Hertz, hand-painted the numbers on its sides, put in a seat belt, and raced, in keeping with the Los Angeles Times. After the race, the star returned the car at evening to keep away from any suspicion for what he used it for.
Considering the time, there have been conflicting stories on simply what car Mundy drove and how a lot it price him to rent the car and how a lot he made that day. Speaking to the LA Times, the star acknowledged: “I collected $100 for ending ninth or tenth and the car rental was $37, so I cleared $63, which was a fairly good payday back then.”
Driver Averages claims the star drove a Chevrolet, while the LA Times reported that he drove a Plymouth. What’s more, while Mundy claims he made a profit of $63, there has been debate over simply how a lot he spent and how a lot he made.
Despite having the excellence of being maybe the one NASCAR driver to rent a car, race it and return it the identical day, Mundy’s profession lasted much less than a decade. In all, his racing profession spanned from 1949 to 1956, with appearances in NASCAR, the American Automobile Association (AAA), and USAC Stock Car.
He won two AAA Stock Car championships in 1953 and 1955, during which he was lively from 1952 to 1955. In NASCAR, he accrued three wins, 4 poles and had 10 top-10 finishes.
After his racing profession, he labored for Penske Racing as a pit crew member. Mundy died in 2009 at age 90.
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