Today in History

• Dec. 31 -- 1989: Nationwide driver John Wes Townley is born on this day. Townley started 26 of 35 Nationwide races in 2009 and finished 23rd in the standings. His best finish was 16th at Bristol in March. He made 10 NASCAR starts as an 18-year-old in 2008, three in Nationwide and seven in the Camping World Truck Series.

• Dec. 30 -- 1938: L.D. Ottinger is born on this day. Ottinger won three Nationwide races in 206 starts from 1982 to 1991. He also had 10 starts in the Cup series, making his first start in 1966 and his last in 1984. His best finish in the Cup series was second at Bristol in 1973.

• Dec. 29 -- 1920: Russell Bennett, whose Cup career consisted of two starts in 1950, is born on this day. Both of Bennett's starts were at Langhorne (Pa.) Speedway, and he posted finishes of 14th and 20th.

• Dec. 28 -- 1921: Nelson Stacy, who won four Cup races in 45 starts, is born on this day. After finishing 12th in his Cup debut at Dayton (Ohio) Speedway in 1952, Stacy didn't make another start until 1961. He won his first race that year, at Darlington, and won three more in 1962. He is the second driver to win consecutive Southern 500s at Darlington. Stacy, who also won the World 600 in 1962, was ARCA champion from 1958 to 1960.

• Dec. 27 -- 1974: Rick Bogart, who made four Truck starts in his career, is born on this day. Bogart's starts came from 2002 to 2004, and his best finish was 30th in 2004 at Las Vegas.

• Dec. 26 -- 1959: Robert Sprague, who made one Cup start, is born on this day. Sprague started last in the field of 43 cars in the 1991 Banquet Frozen Foods 300 at Infineon and finished 39th, succumbing to engine failure after 54 of the race's 74 laps. Sprague, who made 33 starts in the Camping World West Series, led a lap in his only Cup start.

• Dec. 25 -- 1928: Leo Cleary, who was 58 when he made his only start in a NASCAR national touring series race, is born on this day. Cleary started 23rd and finished 25th in a field of 44 cars in the 1987 Oxford 250 Nationwide Series race at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine. Cleary, of Hanover, Mass., also made five starts in the Camping World East Series in 1987 and five starts in the Whelen Modified Tour in 1985.

• Dec. 24 -- 1917: Wimpy Ervin, who started 10 Cup races in the 1950s, is born on this day. Ervin finished eighth on Aug. 1, 1951, at Altamont-Schenectady Fairgrounds in Altamont, N.Y., and that turned out to be the best finish of his Cup career. Ervin recorded a second top-10 in 1953 at Bloomsburg (Pa.) Fairgrounds.

• Dec. 23 -- 1938: Nationwide Series driver Jeff Thurman is born on this day. Thurman made his first Nationwide start at age 43 in 1982. Driving for Buddy Arrington, Thurman finished 12th at Daytona in the series' first race with Busch as its sponsor. Thurman would go on to start 184 races in nine seasons, posting six top-fives and 31 top-10s. His best season was 1984 when he finished sixth in the points standings.

• Dec. 22 -- 1994: Butch Hartman, who started 20 Cup races but found more success in USAC's stock car division, died on this day at age 54. Hartman made his Cup starts in six seasons from 1966 to 1979. His best finish was fifth in the 1972 National 500 at Charlotte in a Junie Donleavy Ford. Hartman won five USAC (United States Auto Club) Stock Car championships (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1976).

• Dec. 21 -- 1971: Clyde Minter, who finished in the top five in each of his first four Cup starts, died on this day at age 50. Minter was 27 in 1949 when he started the sixth and eighth races in NASCAR's first Strictly Stock season and finished fourth at both Martinsville and North Wilkesboro. He made eight starts in 1950, finishing third at Charlotte and fifth at Martinsville to open the season. Minter started his 42nd and final Cup race in 1955. He finished his career winless with five top-fives and 19 top-10s.

• Dec. 20 -- 1988: Happy 21st birthday to Taylor Nicole Earnhardt, daughter of Dale and Teresa Earnhardt, who was born on this day.

• Dec. 19 -- 1958: Gary Wright is born on this day. He is one of eight drivers with the last name Wright who has started Cup races. Remarkably, seven of the Wrights made only one start. The seven one-start Wrights, with the year they made their starts: Cliff (1955), Gary (1991), Harold (1952), Jim (1967), John (1949), L.W. (1982) and Ted (1954). Millard Wright bucked the trend by starting two races in 1955 and a third in 1956.

• Dec. 18 -- 1907: Bill Holland, the 1949 Indy 500 champion, is born on this day. Holland, of Philadelphia, started eight Cup races after his 500 win, seven in 1951 and his last in 1952. Holland had a stellar record at Indy, finishing second in '47, '48 and '50. In his only other start, in 1953, he finished 15th. He posted two top 10s in his eight Cup starts, with his best finish a fourth place on April 29, 1951, at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. Race fans might recognize that date. It's the day Dale Earnhardt was born.

• Dec. 17 -- 1923: Rock Harn is born on this day. Harn made four starts in the Cup Series in the 1960s -- one in '62, two in '65 and his last in '66. Although he failed to finish any of the races, his best day was at Martinsville in September 1965 when he completed 330 of 500 laps before retiring with brake issues. He started 36th in the field of 37 and finished 23rd.

• Dec. 16 -- 1901: Frank Smith, who was in the field for the first Cup race in 1949, is born on this day. Smith competed in two NASCAR races in his career, both in 1949. He also started the third race, at Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsboro, N.C. Smith finished 21st in the opener at Charlotte Speedway on June 19 and 14th on Aug. 7 at Occoneechee.

• Dec. 15 -- 1971: Chris Bingham, who made 11 starts in the Nationwide Series in 2003 for Jay Robinson Racing, is born on this day in Seattle. The bulk of Bingham's racing career -- before and after his foray into NASCAR -- has been in sports cars. He is a two-time Grand Am GTS champion.

• Dec. 14 -- 1927: Former Cup driver Hershel McGriff is born on this day. McGriff made news in 2009 when he started two races in the Camping World West Series at the spry age of 81. He finished 13th of 26 cars on the road course of Portland (Ore.) International Raceway in July and two weeks later finished 19th on the road course of Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. From 1950 to 1993, McGriff made 85 Cup starts, recording four wins, 17 top-fives, 31 top-10s and winning five poles. In 1986, at age 58, McGriff won the Camping World West title.

• Dec. 13 -- 1918: Gib Orr is born on this day. Orr, of Niles, Ohio, started two Cup races in 1952, both in the Midwest. He finished 41st of 47 cars in the Motor City 250 in Detroit and 11th in a field of 15 a week later at Monroe (Mich.) Speedway.

• Dec. 12 -- 1985: Bob England, who started seven Cup races from 1969 to 1971, dies on this day at age 50. A Californian, England made six starts in-state, one at Ontario and five at Riverside, where he recorded his best finish, 12th in June 1971. He also finished 13th twice at Riverside, in June 1970 and January 1971. His lone start outside California was his final Cup start, on his 36th birthday at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas. He finished 29th in a field of 49.

• Dec. 11 -- 1929: Herman "The Turtle" Beam is born. Beam holds the record for consecutive starts in the Cup series without a DNF, 84. Beam earned his nickname because of his driving style. He would go slow, often down on the apron, and save his equipment (a cost-saving measure). Clint Bowyer fell one race short of tying the record in 2009. Bowyer crashed in May at Darlington for his only DNF of the season after running at the finish of 83 consecutive races.

• Dec. 10 -- 1922: Sports-car standout Bob Grossman, who made two starts in the Cup Series, is born on this day. Grossman's first start came in NASCAR's first road race, in June 1954 at Linden Airport in New Jersey. Some reports say Grossman wore Gucci loafers while piloting his Jaguar to a fifth-place finish. His second start came 11 years later at Watkins Glen, a 16th-place finish. Grossman died in 2002.

• Dec. 9 -- 1929: Fred Johnson, one of 33 drivers in NASCAR's first Cup Series race (then Strictly Stock) is born on this day. Johnson was 19 on June 19, 1949, when a 200-lap race on the dirt of three-quarter-mile Charlotte Speedway was held. Johnson finished 25th. He started six more Cup races in his career, the last in 1956.

• Dec. 8 -- 1975: Kevin Harvick is born on this day. Harvick has started 322 consecutive Cup Series races since entering the series in the second race of the 2001 season, filling the GM Goodwrench seat after Dale Earnhardt's death. Harvick has 11 wins in the Cup Series and 34 in the Nationwide Series in addition to two Nationwide championships (2001, 2006). He also has six wins in the Truck Series and two championships as an owner (2007, 2009).

• Dec. 7 -- 1981: Nate Monteith is born on this day. Monteith was 19 when he made his first starts in NASCAR's top three series, in 2001 at Nazareth and IRP, in the Nationwide Series. He has since started a Truck Series race in 2007 and another in August at Bristol, where he finished 26th. Both Truck starts were for Billy Ballew Motorsports.

• Dec. 6 -- 1933: Blackie Watt is born on this day. Watt, a standout in Western Pennsylvania with hundreds of wins in Late Model and Modified feature races, started 24 races in the Cup Series -- 20 in 1966 and four in '67. He finished his NASCAR career with nine top-10 finishes, all in '66.

• Dec. 5 -- 1938: J.D. McDuffie, who holds the Cup Series record for most starts without a win, is born on this day. From 1963 until his death in 1991 in a crash at Watkins Glen, McDuffie started 653 Cup races. Highlights of his Cup career include 12 top-fives and one pole. He finished in the top 10 106 times. His best finish in the points standings was ninth in 1971.

• Dec. 4 -- 1964: Bobby Marshman, the 1961 Indy 500 co-rookie of the year, dies on this day from injuries he sustained in a tire test in Phoenix. Marshman made two starts in NASCAR, finishing eighth in the second Daytona 500 qualifier in 1964 and 35th two days later in the 500. His 500 ended after 17 laps when his Holman-Moody Ford overheated. Marshman started the 1961 Indy 500 33rd and finished seventh, sharing rookie honors with Parnelli Jones, who finished 12th after leading 27 laps.

• Dec. 3 -- 1938: Walker Evans, one of the best off-road drivers of all time, is born on this day. Evans, who has 142 victories and 21 championships in off-road racing, made 18 starts at age 56 in the initial season of the Truck Series. He finished 14th in the standings and returned in 1996 to start 23 of 24 races and finish 17th in points. Those are his only starts in NASCAR's top three series.

• Dec. 2 -- 1982: Erik Darnell turns 27 today. Darnell competed in the Cup Series for the first time in 2009, starting seven races late in the season. He started 16 Nationwide races in 2009, posting two top-five finishes and winning a pole. He has two career wins in 76 starts in the Truck Series. In 2008, he finished a career-high fourth in the Truck standings.

• Dec. 1 -- 1969: Happy 40th birthday to crew chief Kenny Francis. Francis and driver Kasey Kahne made the Chase for the second time in 2009. They have 10 wins together, including two in 2009. Francis also was Jeremy Mayfield's crew chief when Mayfield made the Chase in 2004. (Continued)