Joe Weatherly

NASCAR Winston Cup Career: 1952, 1954-64

Weatherly won back-to-back NASCAR Winston Cup championships in 1962 and 1963. The 1962 championship was the first for legendary car owner Bud Moore and was won on the strength of nine victories. Conversely, Weatherly won the 1963 championship after winning only three races, compared to 14 won by runner-up Richard Petty. He tallied three wins and 35 top-10 finishes through 53 starts that season. He was also an accomplished motorcycle racer, winning three American Motorcylclist Association national championship events prior to his NASCAR Winston Cup career. Weatherly was fatally injured in January 1964 at Riverside International Raceway. The stock car racing museum in Darlington, S.C., is named after Weatherly, into which he was inducted in 1965. In 1994, Weatherly was inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Ala.