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Billy Rafter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Billy Rafter
BornWilliam Rafter
(1929-07-31) July 31, 1929 (age 95)
Clarence Center, New York, U.S.
Retired1972
Motorsport career
Debut season1949
Car number22
Championship titles
1959 NASCAR NY Sportsman Champion[1]
1959 New York State Fair Champion[2]
NASCAR Cup Series career
35 races run over 6 years
Best finish19th (1958)
First race1949 Hamburg NY
Last race1958 Rochester NY[3]
Wins Top tens Poles
0 11 0

William “Billy” Rafter is a retired American champion stock car driver from Clarence Center, New York and a pioneer of the sport.

Racing career

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Billy Rafter made 35 appearances in the NASCAR Grand National Series, the first of which was in 1949, the inaugural year of the Cup division.[3] He otherwise spent the majority of his career racing in the Late Model Sportsman and Modified divisions, competing at the renowned tracks of the northeast, including Fonda Speedway NY, Langhorne Speedway PA, and Perry Speedway NY.[1][4] In 1961 he won the inaugural event at the newly opened Utica-Rome Speedway. [5]

Rafter was inducted into the New York State Stock Car Association and the Northeast Dirt Modified Halls of Fame.[1][6]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series

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NASCAR Grand National 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 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 NGNC Pts Ref
1949 Ford CLT DAB HBO LAN HAM
3
MAR HEI NWS 20th 160 [7]
1953 Plymouth PBS DAB HAR NWS CLT RCH CCS LAN CLB HCY MAR PMS RSP LOU FFS LAN TCS WIL MCF
18
PIF MOR ATL RVS LCF DAV HBO AWS PAS HCY DAR CCS LAN BLF WIL NWS MAR ATL 146th 64 [8]
1954 Billy Rafter 141 PBS DAB
42
JSP ATL OSP OAK NWS HBO CCS LAN WIL MAR SHA RSP CLT GAR CLB LND HCY MCF WGS PIF AWS SFS GRS MOR OAK CLT SAN COR DAR CCS CLT LAN MAS MAR NWS 201st 14 [9]
1956 41 Dodge HCY CLT WSS PBS ASF DAB PBS WIL ATL NWS LAN RCH CLB CON GPS HCY HBO MAR LIN CLT POR EUR NYF
19
MER MAS CLT MCF
15
POR AWS
7
RSP PIF CSF CHI CCF MGY OKL ROA OBS SAN NOR
13
PIF
11
MYB POR DAR CSH CLT
17
LAN POR CLB HBO NWP
22
CLT CCF
26
MAR
26
HCY WIL 73rd 623.4 [10]
1957 C.M. Julian WSS CON TIC DAB CON WIL HBO AWS NWS LAN CLT PIF GBF POR CCF RCH MAR POR EUR LIN LCS ASP NWP CLB CPS PIF JAC RSP CLT MAS
17
POR HCY NOR LCS GLN
10
KPC 99th 128 [11]
Billy Rafter LIN
23
OBS MYB DAR
4 Plymouth NYF
24
AWS CSF SCF LAN CLB CCF CLT MAR NBR CON NWS GBF
1958 150 Ford FAY DAB CON FAY WIL HBO FAY
11
19th 2916 [12]
50 CLB
32
PIF
10
ATL
15
CLT
8
57 MAR
18
ODS OBS GPS
8
GBF
8
STR
11
NWS BGS TRN RSD CLB NBS
5
REF
14
LIN
8
HCY
11
AWS
13
MCC
11
SLS TOR
6
BUF
9
MCF
12
BEL BRR CLB NSV AWS BGS MBS DAR CLT BIR CSF GAF RCH HBO SAS MAR NWS ATL
Chevy RSP
24

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Billy Rafter Returns For May 30 Hall of Fame Happening". DIRTcar Racing. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  2. ^ "Rafter wins at Syracuse". The Schenectady Gazette. September 8, 1959. Retrieved February 9, 2024 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b "Billy Rafter-NASCAR Cup Series". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  4. ^ "Billy Rafter Career Results". The Third Turn. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  5. ^ "Utica-Rome Speedway celebrates 900th modified feature race Friday". Syracuse Post Standard. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  6. ^ "Meet Stock Car Hall of Fame inductees at Saratoga Auto Museum". The Saratogian. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  7. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  8. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1953 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  9. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1954 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  10. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1956 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  11. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1957 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  12. ^ "Billy Rafter – 1958 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
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