Buck Simmons

Charles Leroy "Buck" Simmons (July 31, 1946 – August 12, 2012) was an American professional dirt track racing and stock car racing driver. He won over one thousand feature events across Dirt Super Late Models and Asphalt Super Late Models reaching 1,012 feature wins by the end of his career in 2005.

Buck Simmons
Simmons after winning the final race ever held at Lakewood Speedway in 1979.
BornCharles Leroy Simmons
(1946-07-31)July 31, 1946
Baldwin, Georgia, U.S.
DiedAugust 12, 2012(2012-08-12) (aged 66)
AchievementsAll-Time wins leader in the National Dirt Racing Association (23)
Most wins in a single season in the National Dirt Racing Association (13 in 1981)
1981 NDRA Champion
1975 Alabama 200 Winner
1976 Rattler 250 Winner
1977, 1980 Tiny Lund Memorial 200 Winner
1977 National 100 Winner
1980 Super Bowl of Dirt Winner
1980 Georgia 100 Winner
1985, 1986, 1987 Governor's Cup 100 Winner
1985 Stroh's Invitational
Winner
1990 Hillbilly 100 Winner
AwardsNational Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame Inductee (2001 - Inaugural class)
Georgia Racing Hall of Fame Inductee (2009)
NASCAR Cup Series career
6 races run over 2 years
Best finish43rd (1983)
First race1979 Dixie 500 (Atlanta)
Last race1980 Winston 500 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
ARCA Menards Series West career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish72nd (1979)
First race1979 Los Angeles Times 500 (Ontario)
Last race1979 Napa Arizona 250 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 1
Statistics current as of July 13, 2023.

Since Buck's death in 2012 a race has been held annually in his honor known as the Buck Simmons Memorial, the first race was held at Toccoa Raceway in 2012 and won by Casey Roberts then went to Lavonia Speedway in 2014 once Lavonia had reopened, it was won once again by Casey Roberts. The race was not ran from 2015 to 2018 but returned in 2019 and it was won by Zack Mitchell.[1]

Racing career

1950s-1970s

Simmons started his racing career at the age of 12, in 1958, driving a No. 41 jalopy-style car and later progressed into Dirt Late Models around the 1960s. At some point in the late-1960s and early 1970s he strung together Dirt Late Model wins in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, against Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison, and after that, in Hartsville, South Carolina, scored a win over Dale Earnhardt.[2] Later in 1970s he progressed to Super Late Models on both dirt and asphalt, scoring several crown jewel wins, such as the Alabama 200 in 1975 and the Rattler 250 (then Rattler 100) in 1976. He also ran well in other Crown Jewel events; in 1977 he scored a second-place finish in the Snowball Derby.[3]

1980s

Simmons kicked off the 1980s by winning the Super Bowl of Dirt and the Georgia 100 at Lavonia Speedway, one of his home tracks. 1981 was one of the best seasons of his career, winning the NDRA championship and accumulating the most wins of any driver in NDRA history, with 13 in that season alone. In 1985, 1986, and 1987, he won the Florida Governor's Cup in the Pro Late Model division, as well as in 1985 winning the Stroh's Invitational at Smoky Mountain Speedway.

1990s-2000s

In the 1990s Simmons scored one more crown jewel win, in the Hillbilly 100 at Pennsboro Speedway in 1990, and then quietly stopped racing full-time. He raced until 2005, when he scored his last win, putting him at 1,012 wins in his career.

Late Model Sportsman Series

Simmons made two starts in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series in 1977.

1979

Simmons made his NASCAR Winston Cup Series debut in the 1979 Dixie 500 at Atlanta Raceway, in the No. 12 for Kennie Childers, where he finished 14th, ahead of Richard Childress and James Hylton. He made one more start that season, in the combination race with the West Series at Ontario, and finished 29th after a transmission failure on lap 123 with 77 laps to go.[4]

1980

Simmons returned in 1980 to the Cup Series, in the No. 12 for Kennie Childers. He started his season by attempting that year's Daytona 500, although he would ultimately DNQ after wrecking out in the first qualifying race on lap 25. He attempted six more races, making all of them, but was plagued by mechanical problems all year and finished only his last two races. His best finish of the year was a 16th at Martinsville Speedway. He never attempted another NASCAR race after 1980.[5]

1979

In 1979 Simmons ran two NASCAR Winston West Series races in the combination races with the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, at one of which he scored a pole for the last race of the season, at Phoenix International Raceway.

Personal life

Simmons had 4 children, he also has a grandson Paris Simmons, who currently competes in Dirt Late Models and won the 602 Crate Dirt Late Model portion of the Buck Simmons Memorial in 2020 as well as the track championship for 602's at Lavonia in 2022.[6][7]

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.)

Winston Cup Series
NASCAR Winston Cup 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 NWCC Pts Ref
1979 Kennie Childers Racing 12 Chevy RSD DAY CAR RCH ATL NWS BRI DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT TWS RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR ATL
32		 ONT
29		 73rd 197 [8]
1980 RSD DAY
DNQ		 RCH CAR
22		 ATL
14		 BRI DAR NWS MAR
16		 43rd 495 [9]
Olds TAL
24		 NSV DOV CLT TWS RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT CAR ATL ONT
Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1980 Kennie Childers Racing Chevrolet DNQ

Winston West Series
NASCAR Winston West Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos. Pts Ref
1979 Kennie Childers Racing 12 Chevy RSD MMR RSD EVG YAK POR AAS SHA CRS SON EVG SPO POR ASP ONT
29		 72nd 35 [10]
72 PHO
16

References
  1. "Zack Mitchell tops Buck Simmons Memorial at Lavonia". AccessWDUN. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  2. "Charles Leroy "Buck" Simmons". Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  3. "Racing Legend Buck Simmons Passes Away". Raceweek Illustrated. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  4. "1979 LOS ANGELES TIMES 500". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  5. "'Buck' Not About Bucks; He Was About The Wins". Racin' Today. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  6. "Charles Simmons Obituary - Cornelia, Georgia". McGahee-Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  7. "Simmons speeds to 602 Late Model victory at Lavonia". AccessWDUN. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  8. "Buck Simmons – 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  9. "Buck Simmons – 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  10. "Buck Simmons – 1979 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
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