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Johnny Beauchamp

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Johnny Beauchamp
Born(1923-03-23)March 23, 1923
Harlan, Iowa
DiedApril 17, 1981(1981-04-17) (aged 58)
Reno, Nevada
Cause of deathHeart attack
NASCAR Cup Series career
23 races run over 5 years
Best finish11th (1960)
First race1953 Rapid Valley Speedway (Rapid City, South Dakota)
Last race1961 Daytona 500
First win1959 Lakewood Speedway (Atlanta)
Last win1960 Nashville Speedway USA
Wins Top tens Poles
2 10 0

Johnny Beauchamp (March 23, 1923 – April 17, 1981) was an American NASCAR driver from Harlan, Iowa. He is best known for finishing second in the 1959 Daytona 500 in a photo finish after being declared the unofficial winner. In 23 starts, he had ten top 10 finishes, seven top 5 finishes, and two victories.

Racing career

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Beauchamp began racing old model stock cars at local county fair tracks after World War II. In 1949, Beauchamp teamed up with mechanic Dale Swanson to earn several wins, racing hotrods in Iowa, Nebraska, and elsewhere. He raced unmodified old model stock cars at the Playland Park track in Council Bluffs, Iowa, finishing second in season points behind Tiny Lund. In 1951, Beauchamp won five straight features at the Playland track and was season champion. In 1954, he once again was season champion at the Playland track. He began occasionally racing late models in 1953, and, midway through the 1955 season, Beauchamp began racing in the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA). At the time, the IMCA was one of the major racing associations in the midwest and a counterpart to the southeastern NASCAR racing organization. In 1956, driving a Dale Swanson-owned Chevrolet, Beauchamp won an unprecedented 38 IMCA races, while Chevrolets won approximately five races in the NASCAR racing association. He repeated as IMCA champion in 1957,[1] winning the award for top stock car driver of the season.[2][3] Also in 1957, mechanic Dale Swanson was hired by Chevrolet to help build race cars at its semi-secret shop, SEDCO, in Atlanta, for the 1957 February Daytona Beach race. Beauchamp finished second in the beach race, and was the only car on the same lap as the winner Cotton Owens.[1]

In 1959 another excellent mechanic from Playland and IMCA competition, Roy Burdick, was offered by Holman-Moody, a well-known center of Ford racing, to buy a Thunderbird for $5500 to enter in the first Daytona 500. Burdick agreed and asked Beauchamp to drive the car. Beauchamp found himself leading the race when Fireball Roberts went out on lap 43. For the remainder of the race, Beauchamp raced near the front, usually in the top three. On lap 149, Lee Petty, who had been too far back in the pack to be noticed, suddenly appeared driving side by side with Beauchamp. For the last fifty laps, the two continued racing close together.[1] Beauchamp eventually crossed the finish line at about the same time as Petty. Beauchamp was declared the unofficial winner of the race, so he drove the Roy Burdick-owned car to victory lane. Petty protested the win. "I had him by two feet," Beauchamp said. "I glanced over to Lee Petty's car as I crossed the finish line and I could see his headlight slightly back of my car. It was so close I didn't know how they would call it, but I thought I won."[4] NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. studied photographs and newsreels for three days before declaring Petty the official winner. Beauchamp competed in seven events that season; recording his first NASCAR victory at Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway where he lapped the entire field. Although he had several high finishes in 1959, his final points of the season are not listed in the record books.

Beauchamp and his owner-mechanic Roy Burdick were certain they won the first Daytona 500, and their belief had nothing to do with the photo finish. Instead, they believed Lee Petty was one or two laps behind. The Petty pit was close to the Beauchamp pit, and the Burdick crew believed Petty had made several more pit stops than Beauchamp. Petty, as Beauchamp and Burdick learned, had somewhat of a pattern of winning races when drivers and officials believed he was a lap behind: Concord 1958, Daytona 1959, Atlanta 1959, and Weaverville, 1960. Burdick and Beauchamp believed NASCAR had a lap counting (known as scoring) problem, and part of the problem was that NASCAR had the drivers' wives counting the laps.[1]

In 1960, he raced for Holman-Moody and Dale Swanson in eleven events. He won his second and final NASCAR race that year in a 400-mile event at Nashville Speedway USA. Beauchamp and Petty were involved in an accident at the 1961 Daytona 500 Qualifier #2. Leader Banjo Matthews lost control of his car, spinning in front of the field. Petty and Beauchamp's cars sailed out of turn four and landed outside of the racetrack. It proved to be Beauchamp's last NASCAR race; though he only suffered head and back injuries.[1]

In 1966, Beauchamp was the track champion in Peoria, Illinois.

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. ** – All 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 57 NGNC Pts Ref
1953 Hudson PBS DAB HAR NWS CLT RCH CCS LAN CLB HCY MAR PMS RSP LOU FIF LAN TCS WIL MCF PIF MOR ATL RVS
15 		LCF
14 		DAV
8 		HBO AWS PAS HCY DAR CCS LAN BLF WIL NWS MAR ATL 50th 328 [5]
1957 Hugh Babb 50 Chevy WSS CON TIC DAB
2 		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 POR HCY NOR LCS GLN KPC LIN OBS MYB DAR NYF AWS CSF SCF LAN CLB CCF CLT MAR NBR CON NWS GBF 63rd 480 [6]
1959 Roy Burdick 73 Ford FAY DAY
11 		DAY
2 		HBO CON ATL
1** 		WIL BGS CLB NWS REF
21 		HCY NA - [7]
Beau Morgan 76 Chevy MAR
2 		TRN CLT NSV ASP PIF GPS
Wood Brothers Racing 21 Ford ATL
14 		CLB WIL RCH BGS AWS DAY HEI CLT MBS CLT NSV AWS BGS GPS CLB DAR HCY RCH CSF HBO
58 Chevy MAR
45 		AWS NWS CON
1960 Holman-Moody 31 Ford CLT CLB DAY DAY
33 		DAY
DNQ 		CLT
16 		NWS PHO CLB MAR HCY WIL BGS GPS AWS DAR PIF HBO RCH HMS 11th 8306 [8]
Dale Swanson 73 Chevy CLT
2 		BGS DAY HEI MAB MBS ATL
33 		BIR
5 		NSV
1 		AWS
20 		PIF CLB SBO BGS DAR
8 		HCY CSF GSP HBO MAR
9 		NWS CLT
12 		RCH ATL
29
1961 CLT JSP DAY DAY
16 		DAY
DNQ 		PIF AWS HMS ATL GPS HBO BGS MAR NWS CLB HCY RCH MAR DAR CLT CLT RSD ASP CLT PIF BIR GPS BGS NOR HAS STR DAY ATL CLB MBS BRI NSV BGS AWS RCH SBO DAR HCY RCH CSF ATL MAR NWS CLT BRI GPS HBO NA - [9]
Daytona 500
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Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1959 Roy Burdick Ford 21 2
1960 Holman-Moody Ford DNQ
1961 Dale Swanson Chevrolet DNQ

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e John Havick, The Ghosts of Nascar: The Harlan Boys and the First Daytona 500. Iowa City: The University of Iowa Press, October 2013
  2. ^ "200 Turn Out For Annual IMCA Banquet". Billboard. 16 December 1957. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Biography". Archived from the original on August 29, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
  4. ^ 1959: Petty's photo finish Archived 2009-08-21 at the Wayback Machine; Mark Aumann, Turner Sports Interactive; January 9, 2003; Retrieved October 24, 2007
  5. ^ "Johnny Beauchamp – 1953 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference.
  6. ^ "Johnny Beauchamp – 1957 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference.
  7. ^ "Johnny Beauchamp – 1959 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference.
  8. ^ "Johnny Beauchamp – 1960 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference.
  9. ^ "Johnny Beauchamp – 1961 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference.
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