Billy Rafter
American racing driver (1929–2026)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Rafter (July 31, 1929 – March 2, 2026)[4] was an American champion stock car driver from Clarence Center, New York and a pioneer of the sport.
July 31, 1929
| Billy Rafter | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | William F. Rafter July 31, 1929 | ||||||
| Died | March 2, 2026 (aged 96) | ||||||
| Retired | 1972 | ||||||
| Motorsport career | |||||||
| Debut season | 1949 | ||||||
| Car number | 22 | ||||||
| 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 finish | 19th (1958) | ||||||
| First race | 1949 Hamburg NY | ||||||
| Last race | 1958 Rochester NY[3] | ||||||
| |||||||
Racing career
Rafter began his racing career in 1948 as a teenager at the Civic Stadium in Buffalo, New York, and was soon hired by local car dealer John Moran to drive his highly-modified ’37 Ford coupe.[5]
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 and Perry Speedway in New York and Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania.[1][6] In 1961, he won the inaugural event at the newly opened Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York.[7]
Rafter claimed track titles at Civic Stadium, Lancaster Speedway and Holland Speedway in New York, as well as Merrittville Speedway in Thorold, Ontario.[5] He was inducted into the New York State Stock Car Association and the Northeast Dirt Modified Halls of Fame.[1][8]
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Grand National Series
| 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 | [9] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | [10] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | [11] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | [12] | |||||||
| 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 | [13] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | [14] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 |
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