Larry Flynn
| Larry Flynn | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Larry Flynn, 1966 | |||||||
| Born | April 10, 1930 Holly Hill, Florida | ||||||
| Died | September 14, 2007 (aged 77) | ||||||
| Cause of death | Diabetes complications | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 8 races run over 4 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 28th (1955) | ||||||
| First race | 1955 Southern 500 (Darlington) | ||||||
| Last race | 1961 Rebel 300 (Darlington) | ||||||
| |||||||
Larry Flynn (April 10, 1930 – September 14, 2007), of Holly Hill, Florida, USA, was a NASCAR Grand National race car driver that competed in eight races from 1955 to 1961.[1]
Career
[edit]Prior to 1955, Flynn would compete exclusively at the Daytona Beach Road Course for the "Modified" and "Sportsman" divisions of NASCAR.[2] He would drive Ford vehicles from the late 1930s during his formative years in professional stock car racing.[2] As a competitor in the 1955 Southern 500, he had the fastest finishing Ford in the race with a fifth-place finish.[3] Flynn's impressive accomplishment gave credibility to the Ford racing teams that were racing in NASCAR during that era.[3] During the 1956 Southern 500, he would crash into fellow NASCAR driver Bill Brown in an incident that would cause the fence to be temporarily broken.[4]
His total career earnings in the NASCAR Grand National Series were considered to be $1,700 ($17,333.18 when adjusted for inflation) and he finished 1162 laps (1439.6 miles) of racing.[1] Flynn also racked up a single top-five finish in addition to his only top-ten finish.[1] After suffering from complications due to his diabetes, Flynn would die in 2007 at the age of 77.[5] Most of the races in Larry's NASCAR Cup Series career were done as a driver/owner.[2] However, he would race in the 1955 Southern 500 under the employment of Mr. W.R. Waldon.[2][3]
In 1970, Flynn won the Bobby McKim Memorial Race at the 0.375-mile (0.604 km) DeLand Drive-In Raceway, having set the fastest qualifying time for the event.[6] His ultimate retirement from motorsports came from a 68th-place finish at an International Supermodified Association (ISMA) race at Daytona International Speedway on February 1, 1976.[2]
In 1955 Larry finished 2nd at Langhorne which was a major Modified-Sportsman race.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Career statistics for Larry Flynn". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
- ^ a b c d e "Larry Flynn information". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
- ^ a b c 1955 Southern 500 race information at Racing Reference
- ^ "Bill Brown Darlington flip colour". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
- ^ "Death information for Larry Flynn". Legends of NASCAR. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
- ^ "Larry Flynn Captures McKim Memorial Race". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. October 20, 1970. Retrieved 2013-02-26.