Pete Hamilton

Pete Hamilton
Hamilton and his 1970 Plymouth race car
Born	Peter Goodwill Hamilton (1942-07-20)July 20, 1942 Dedham, Massachusetts, United States
Died	March 21, 2017(2017-03-21) (aged 74) Johns Creek, Georgia, United States
Achievements	1967 NASCAR Sportsman Division Champion 1970 Daytona 500 Winner 1974 Snowball Derby Winner
Awards	1968 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 finish	21st (1970)
First race	1968 Fireball 300 (Weaverville)
Last race	1973 Atlanta 500 (Atlanta)
First win	1970 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last win	1971 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, where he quickly earned the nickname "The Dedham Flash". In 1965, he was the Thompson World Series Twin 50s champion. He won the 1967 NASCAR national Sportsman division championship.

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. In 1969, he competed in NASCAR's Grand American division, a division of smaller pony cars. He won 12 of 26 races that year.

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. Hamilton won his Twin 125 mile qualifying race for the 1971 Daytona 500 driving Cotton Owens' No. 6 Plymouth, 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.

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 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. 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. Pete was named to the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in 2012.

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. 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

External links

• Pete Hamilton driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• "2 Minutes With..." Interview video