John Anderson (racing driver)

John Anderson (April 20, 1944 - August 5, 1986) was an American stock car racing driver. He drove in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1979 and 1983, posting a best finish of fifth.

John Anderson
Born(1944-04-20)April 20, 1944
Warren, Michigan, USA
DiedAugust 5, 1986(1986-08-05) (aged 42)
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Cause of deathRoad accident
NASCAR Cup Series career
32 races run over 5 years
Best finish24th (1980)
First race1979 Champion Spark Plug 400 (Michigan)
Last race1983 Miller High Life 500 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 3 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
5 races run over 2 years
Best finish63rd (1982)
First race1982 Goody's 300 (Daytona)
Last race1983 Miller Time 300 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 2 0

Career

Born April 20, 1944, in Warren, Michigan, Anderson first drove in racing competition at Flat Rock Speedway in 1965, winning the Michigan Figure 8 racing championship in 1967. He was the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Rookie-of-the-Year in 1968.[1]

During the late 1960s and 1970s Anderson was successful in competition, winning a number of track championships, along with several ARCA and American Speed Association races. He moved up to United States Auto Club (USAC) sprint car and midget car racing in 1977, and ran his first NASCAR race, in the modified series, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the fall of that year, winning the pole for the event.[1]

In 1979 he made his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series start, scoring a fifth-place finish in his first race, at Michigan International Speedway.[1] He ran the majority of the 1980 season for a number of teams, scoring two top-10 finishes; towards the end of the year he was hired by John Rebham to drive for his team;[2] in 1981, driving an Oldsmobile, he was involved in an accident, in which his car got airborne and flipped over multiple times before landing upside down, during the UNO Twin 125 qualifying races for the Daytona 500.[3] Shortly afterwards, Rebham, impatient for results and under pressure from his sponsors,[4] fired Anderson, replacing him with Donnie Allison.[2] Anderson would only run a few additional races in the Winston Cup Series and Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series before retiring.[1]

Anderson won over 200 races of various types during his racing career.[1] He was killed in a road crash on Interstate 85 near Charlotte, North Carolina on August 5, 1986, being survived by his wife Mary Ann and two children.[5]

Anderson was inducted into the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.[1]

References
  1. "John Anderson". Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame. 2007. Archived from the original on 2012-01-08. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  2. Golenbock, Peter (2006). Miracle: Bobby Allison and the Saga of the Alabama Gang. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-312-34002-5.
  3. Fielden, Greg (2004). NASCAR Chronicle. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-7853-8683-4.
  4. Golenbock, Peter (2004). NASCAR Confidential. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International. p. 215. ISBN 0-7603-1483-7.
  5. "Ex-racer's death behind wheel has cruel touch of irony". The Charlotte Observer. August 3, 1986. p. 4B. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
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