Pete Hamilton
Hamilton and his 1970 Plymouth race car
BornPeter Goodwill Hamilton
(1942-07-20)July 20, 1942
Dedham, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedMarch 21, 2017(2017-03-21) (aged 74)
Johns Creek, Georgia, U.S.
Achievements1967 NASCAR Sportsman Division Champion
1970 Daytona 500 Winner
1974, 1975 World Series of Asphalt Super Late Model Champion
1974 Snowball Derby Winner
1975 Rattler 250 Winner
Awards1968 NASCAR Grand National Series Rookie of the Year
New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame (1998)
NASCAR Cup Series career
64 races run over 6 years
Best finish21st (1970)
First race1968 Fireball 300 (Weaverville)
Last race1973 Atlanta 500 (Atlanta)
First win1970 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last win1971 Daytona 500 Qualifier #1 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
4 33 3
Statistics current as of October 29, 2013.

Peter Goodwill Hamilton (July 20, 1942 – March 21, 2017) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He competed in NASCAR for six years, where he won four times in his career (including the 1970 Daytona 500), three times driving for Petty Enterprises.

Racing career

A street replica of Pete Hamilton's Plymouth Superbird, with which he won the 1970 Daytona 500.

Hamilton began racing in the street division in 1962 at Norwood Arena Speedway in Massachusetts, where he quickly earned the nickname "The Dedham Flash".[1] In 1965, he was the Thompson World Series Twin 50s champion. He won the 1967 NASCAR national Sportsman division championship.[1]

After that season he moved south to race in NASCAR. He started racing in the NASCAR Grand National division in 1968, and was the series Rookie of the Year.[1] In 1969, he competed in NASCAR's Grand American division, a division of smaller pony cars.[1] He won 12 of 26 races that year.[1]

He had 3 wins in 1970 for Petty Enterprises in the No. 40 Plymouth Superbird with Maurice Petty as his crew-chief. He won the 1970 Daytona 500 and both races at Talladega Superspeedway.[1] Hamilton won his Twin 125 mile qualifying race for the 1971 Daytona 500 driving Cotton Owens' No. 6 Plymouth,[1] finishing the season with one pole and 11 top five finishes. He retired from full-time NASCAR racing after 1973 because of complications from a neck injury in a 1969 Grand American race.[1]

Hamilton continued to compete in short track races, and won the 1974 Snowball Derby in his late model racecar.

Car builder

Pete helped Chrysler's Larry Rathgeb[2] develop their "Kit-Car", a weld-it-yourself Volare or Aspen late model stock car that any racer could order from Plymouth and Dodge dealers.[3] He moved to Norcross, Georgia, and worked as a car builder and mentor to many drivers on the 1980s southern dirt tracks, launching successful racing careers for Marvin Oliver and James Shepherd.

Career award

He was inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame in 1998 in its inaugural class.[1] Pete was named to the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2012.[4]

Personal life

Hamilton was born outside Boston in Dedham, and raised in nearby Newton, Massachusetts. He was the son of Roger S. Hamilton, once the Dean of Northeastern University. He graduated from Newton High School in 1960. He married his wife, Susan Huckstorf in 1970. After racing, he owned a warehouse in Atlanta. He spent his time between Duluth, Georgia and Acton, Maine.

Death

Hamilton died on March 21, 2017, at the age of 74 due to complications of a stroke.[5] He was buried at Peachtree Memorial Park in Norcross, Georgia. He was survived by his wife of forty-seven years and a daughter.

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 NGNC Pts
1968 Rocky Hinton 5 Ford MGR MGY RSD DAY BRI RCH ATL HCY GPS CLB NWS MAR AUG AWS
12		 DAR BLV
19		 LGY
5		 CLT ASH MGR SMR
2		 BIR CAR
25		 GPS DAY ISP OXF
7		 FDA TRN
5		 BRI
21		 SMR
23		 NSV ATL
28		 CLB BGS 32nd 919
King Enterprises 1 Dodge AWS
10		 SBO LGY DAR
32		 HCY RCH BLV HBO MAR
34		 NWS
12		 AUG CLT
7		 CAR
34		 JFC
1969 MGR MGY RSD DAY
8		 DAY DAY
44		 CAR AUG BRI NA -
Banjo Matthews 27 Ford ATL
5		 CLB HCY GPS RCH NWS MAR AWS DAR BLV LGY CLT MGR SMR MCH KPT GPS NCF DAY DOV TPN TRN BLV BRI NSV SMR ATL MCH SBO BGS AWS DAR HCY RCH TAL CLB MAR NWS CLT SVH AUG CAR JFC MGR TWS
1970 Petty Enterprises 40 Plymouth RSD DAY
5		 DAY DAY
1		 RCH CAR
5		 SVH ATL
3		 BRI TAL
1		 NWS CLB DAR
19		 BLV LGY CLT
8		 SMR MAR MCH
2		 RSD HCY KPT GPS DAY
30		 AST TPN TRN BRI SMR NSV ATL
6		 CLB ONA MCH
5		 TAL
1*		 BGS SBO DAR
3		 HCY RCH DOV NCF NWS CLT
24*		 MAR MGR CAR
15		 21st 1819
Dick Brooks Racing 32 Plymouth LGY
3
1971 Cotton Owens 6 Plymouth RSD DAY
1		 DAY DAY
28		 ONT
31		 RCH CAR
24		 HCY BRI ATL
3		 CLB GPS SMR NWS MAR DAR
35		 SBO TAL
4		 ASH KPT CLT
3		 DOV
26		 MCH
3		 RSD HOU GPS DAY
4		 BRI TRN
5		 NSV ATL
24		 BGS ONA MCH
31		 TAL
3		 CLB HCY DAR
30		 MAR CLT
7		 DOV CAR
4		 MGR RCH
3		 NWS TWS
4		 24th 1739
Junior Fields 91 Chevy AST
27		 ISP
23

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
1972 Housby Racing 9 Plymouth RSD DAY RCH ONT CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV MCH
22		 RSD TWS DAY
33		 BRI TRN ATL TAL
19		 MCH NSV DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT
32		 CAR
5		 TWS 48th 1083.25
1973 RSD DAY
40		 RCH CAR BRI 114th -
Crawford Brothers Racing 22 Plymouth ATL
39		 NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV CLT DOV TWS RSD MCH DAY BRI ATL TAL NSV DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT CAR
Daytona 500
Year Manufacturer Start Finish Team
1969 Dodge 17 44 King Enterprises
1970 Plymouth 9 1 Petty Enterprises
1971 Plymouth 3 28 Cotton Owens
1973 Plymouth 2 40 Housby Racing

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Biography Archived 2007-10-07 at the Wayback Machine at the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame, Retrieved October 3, 2007
  2. ↑ Lawrence James Rathgeb, b. ca. 1930, d. 22 March 2020 https://www.wymt.com/content/sports/NASCARs-Larry-Rathgeb-569056421.html
  3. ↑ Stock Car Racing magazine cover story
  4. ↑ "The late Pete Hamilton was one of NASCAR's nice guys".
  5. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (March 22, 2017). "Pete Hamilton, who won four NASCAR Cup races, dies at 74". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
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