William J. Rexford
Born(1927-03-14)March 14, 1927
Conewango Valley, New York, United States
DiedApril 18, 1994(1994-04-18) (aged 67)
Hemet, California
Achievements1950 Grand National Champion
NASCAR Cup Series career
36 races run over 5 years
Best finish1st (1950)
First race1949 (Langhorne)
Last race1953 (Rochester)
First win1950 (Canfield)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 17 1

William J. "Bill" Rexford (March 14, 1927 – April 18, 1994) was a stock car driver in the early 1950s. He is best remembered for winning the 1950 NASCAR Grand National Series championship at only 23 years old. Rexford currently holds the distinction as NASCAR's youngest Cup Champion.

Biography

Born in Conewango Valley, New York to Kermit and Edith Rexford, Rexford made his name driving stock cars in Western New York. He got his introduction at a young age as his father owned a Chevrolet dealership in the village. At age 16, he made his racing debut at a nearby track in Leon, New York. After he turned 18, he stopped his racing career to join the United States Navy during World War II, during that time, he was stationed in Newport, Rhode Island. After his discharge, he went back home to New York and started racing at bullrings in Buffalo, Rochester, and everywhere in between. When NASCAR introduced its "Strictly Stock" series in 1949, Rexford made three starts, with his best finish being a 3rd at Heidelberg Raceway. He went into full-time competition in the newly renamed Grand National Series in 1950. He and teammate Lloyd Moore became the first Northern-born drivers to go full time on the circuit. He competed in 17 of the 19 races that season, driving Oldsmobiles, Fords, and Mercuries owned by nearby Jamestown, New York resident Julian Buesink. He scored his first and only win in the fifth race of the year at Canfield Speedway.

Rexford was consistent and battled for the points lead for most of the year. His two biggest competitors were legends Curtis Turner and then-rookie Fireball Roberts. A third contender, Lee Petty, had been stripped of 809 points earlier in the season for competing in non-NASCAR sanctioned races and was essentially robbed of a realistic shot at the title. Late in the year, Rexford was able to take the points lead as both Roberts and Turner suffered from inconsistency.

In the final race of the year at Occoneechee Speedway, Rexford was locked in a tight battle with Fireball for the championship, holding the points lead by a slim margin. Rexford's engine expired early, and his championship hopes nearly went up in smoke. All Roberts needed to do now was finish in the top five, but trademark desire to win led him to push his car and his engine gave out with less than 50 laps to go, giving Rexford a dramatic, and controversial championship.

1950 proved to be Rexford's lone full-time campaign in NASCAR's highest division. He moved back to the Northeast and remained a part-time competitor in the Grand National ranks until 1953, when he ran his last race in Rochester, New York. He finished 5th, driving the #60 Chevrolet for long-time car owner Julian Buesink. After 1953, Rexford joined the Midwest Association for Race Car (MERC) in 1954 (now known as ARCA). As a result, Bill France banned Rexford from racing and fined him $1,000 in the process, which Rexford refused to do. He raced until 1956 when he retired from racing at the age of 29. After he moved to Arizona and started a trucking company for 25 years. After that, he sold the company and retired to California where he died after a long illness.

73 years after his lone Cup championship, Rexford is still the youngest driver to win a championship in what has become the NASCAR Cup Series, doing so at age 23. He remained the only driver from the Northeast to win a championship until 2017 when New Jersey’s Martin Truex Jr. won, and was the only non-Southerner to win a title until 1989 when Missouri's Rusty Wallace won, a feat which has been matched many times since. Rexford was the only series champion that was not included among NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and is the only champion from 1949 to 2003 not to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, as well as the only Cup Series champion who has since retired not to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He is the only Cup champion to have just one career win and the first of four drivers to win the title with just one win on the season, being followed by Ned Jarrett in 1961, Benny Parsons in 1973, and Matt Kenseth in 2003.

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 NGNC Pts Ref
1949 Julian Buesink 59 Ford CLT DAB HBO LAN
14
HAM
5
MAR 12th 286 [1]
4 HEI
3
NWS
1950 60 Olds DAB
29
LAN
22
MAR
9
CAN
1
VER
6
LAN
8
NWS VER
6
MAR 1st 1959 [2]
20 CLT
13
8 DSP
10
80 MCF
5
CLT
19
HBO
4
DSP
14
HAM
6
59 DAR
4
61 Ford WIN
3
62 Olds HBO
26
1951 61 DAB
13
72nd 130 [3]
8 Mercury CLT
21
Perry Smith 23 Studebaker NMO
13
GAR
Julian Buesink 60 Mercury HBO
19
ASF
50 NWS
14
5 MAR
16
60 Olds CAN
21
CLS CLB DSP GAR GRS BAI HEI AWS MCF
6
ALS MSF FMS
1 MOR
22
ABS
George Hartley 52 Olds DAR
71
CLB CCS LAN CLT DSP WIL HBO TPN PGS
14
MAR OAK NWS HMS JSP ATL GAR NMO
1952 Julian Buesink 60 Ford PBS DAB JSP NWS MAR CLB ATL CCS LAN DAR DSP CAN
8
HAY FMS
16
HBO CLT NA 0 [4]
Jim B. Copperheat 174 Nash MSF
36
NIF OSW MON MOR PPS MCF AWS DAR CCS LAN DSP WIL HBO MAR NWS ATL PBS
1953 Julian Buesink 60 Chevy PBS DAB HAR NWS CLT RCH CCS LAN CLB HCY MAR PMS RSP LOU FIF LAN
10
TCS WIL MCF
5
PIF MOR ATL RVS LCF DAV HBO AWS PAS HCY DAR CCS LAN BLF WIL NWS MAR ATL NA 0 [5]

References

  1. "Bill Rexford – 1949 NASCAR Strictly Stock Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  2. "Bill Rexford – 1950 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  3. "Bill Rexford – 1951 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  4. "Bill Rexford – 1952 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  5. "Bill Rexford – 1953 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
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