Ken Rush
| Ken Rush | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ken Rush, circa 1969 | |||||||
| Born | September 14, 1931 High Point, North Carolina, United States | ||||||
| Died | October 17, 2011 (aged 80) High Point, North Carolina, United States | ||||||
| Cause of death | Stroke | ||||||
| Achievements | 1969 Grand American Champion 1964 & 1966 Bowman Gray Stadium Modified Champion | ||||||
| Awards | 1957 Grand National Series Rookie of the Year | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 56 races run over 8 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 39th (1957) | ||||||
| First race | 1957 Race #23 (Newport) | ||||||
| Last race | 1972 World 600 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Statistics current as of April 22, 2013. | |||||||
Kenneth Rush (September 14, 1931 – October 17, 2011) was a NASCAR Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1957 to 1972.[1]
Career
He would win the 1969 'Bama 400 Grand Touring race on Saturday, September 13, 1969 - arguably the first race held at Talladega Superspeedway sanctioned by any motorsports body - in his Chevrolet Camaro.[2] Another notable appearance for Rush was at the 1957 Rebel 300 where he finished in last place due to the infamous "lap 29" crash that he was 3 laps behind everyone else for.[3]
In his eight-year career, Rush managed to race in 56 races for a distance of 9396 laps - the equivalent of 5,717.6 miles (9,201.6 km).[1] He started 14th on average and finished in 18th on average.[1] After his racing career was over, Rush managed to earn $11,760 in total prize winnings ($85,659.95 when adjusted for inflation).[1] Had he been born 40 years later, he may have accomplished the big prize winnings that today's NASCAR superstars earn from their races.[4] A lot of the races during Ken's era paid $200 ($2,169.67 when adjusted for inflation) or less just for winning the race.[4]
Ken died from a stroke in his hometown of High Point, North Carolina at age 80.[5] He is survived by his wife Patsy[4] and daughter Deborah.
References
- ^ a b c d Ken Rush racing information at Racing Reference
- ^ History Archived 2010-04-16 at the Wayback Machine at Talladega Superspeedway
- ^ 1957 Rebel 300 at Racing Reference
- ^ a b c The Racing Career of Ken Rush Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine at StockCarRacing.Com
- ^ http://www.nascar.com/news/111023/ken-rush-1957-nascar-rookie-of-year-dies-obit-2011/