American auto-racing driver. Born the second-youngest son, he was raised on his family's farm before he went into auto-racing in 1956. However, he wouldn't make his NASCAR (then known as the Grand National Series) debut until 1961, when he drove in that year's World 600 first qualifying run at North Carolina's Charlotte Motor Speedway. In 1964, he made his first NASCAR career win after completing that year's second qualifying run for the Daytona 500 at Florida's Daytona International Speedway. In 1969, he made the NASCAR Grand National season poles record with 20, a record that still stands as of 2023. His biggest win would come along in 1970 when he was declared champion of that year's NASCAR Grand National Series Division season. The following year, he went to Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats & had set an astonishing 28 world speed records, some of which still stand as of 2023. In 1972, he made what would be his final NASCAR (then known as the Winston Cup Series) career win in that year's Carolina 500 at North Carolina's Rockingham Speedway. He had made his final NASCAR career start in the 1976 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finishing in 34th place. During the 1973 Talladega 500 at Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway, he made a controversial move when he had decided to dropout mid-race & end his season, which was likely motivated by the fatal accident of fellow driver Larry Smith that occurred earlier in the race. Both his life & racing career would come to an abrupt end a day after he had collapsed in pit road from heat exhaustion while racing in the 1977 Winston 200 at North Carolina's Hickory Motor Speedway. In his 15-year career with NASCAR, he had made 308 starts, 37 wins, 134 top-five finishes, 170 top-ten finishes, won 48 poles & won an estimated $778,052 (estimated $4,001,783.07 in 2022) in prize money. Two years after his passing, he was posthumously inducted National Motorsports Press Association. In 1996, he was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Two years later, he was named in NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers List. In 2016, he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as a member of its Class of 2016. The K&K Insurance-sponsored #71 Dodge Charger Daytona that he had driven to win his 1970 NASCAR championship is on display at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina.