NASCAR state by state: Rusty Wallace, Brad Keselowski represent Missouri, Michigan
Editor's note: This is the fifth in a 10-part series listing the best all-time NASCAR racer from each of the 50 states:
This shouldn't surprise you. I've seen the list. All 50 states and all 50 drivers — those already printed and those to come.
And this group of five is probably the most diverse you'll see.
Roger Penske has a pair of racers here. There's also a man best known — world renowned, in fact — for building cars instead of racing them. But race them he did, and quite well, though not for long.
We have a kid — quite literally, a kid — who not long ago couldn't legally drive to Walgreens to pick up grandpa's prescription.
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JENSON BUTTON Former F1 champ getting back in gear, with Daytona's Rolex 24 next on list
Also here, we have a driver who doesn't win anywhere but the two fastest superspeedways, and has a Daytona 500 trophy to help illustrate the point, and another who reached the Hall of Fame by winning everywhere except Daytona.
In the "others" category, as a little bonus, we introduce you to Iggy Katona.
So let's roll ahead and crack open another five-pack ...
Massachusetts: Ralph Moody (Taunton)
Why Ralph: Moody only raced one “nearly full” season, starting 35 of 56 NASCAR races in 1956 and winning four of them, with 21 top-10s. Overall, he had five wins and 18 top-5s in just 47 career starts.
#TBT - Ralph Moody & John Holman pic.twitter.com/1BwD5eaMuj
— Randy Murphy (@RMinENC) May 7, 2020
Others from Massachusetts: Ron Bouchard, Ken Bouchard, Jeff Fuller, Mike Stefanik, Pete Hamilton, Don MacTavish, Dale Quarterley.
Fun fact: Ralph Moody’s biggest fame came as half of the unbeatable Holman & Moody duo, partnering with California businessman John Holman to field two championship teams for David Pearson, before they turned to car building and supplying the highest quality racing equipment for a literal Who’s Who of Hall of Famers.
Michigan: Brad Keselowski (Rochester Hills)
Why Brad: He has 35 career Cup wins and the 2012 championship. Has also won 39 Xfinity Series races and the 2010 championship. At 39 and with new life as owner/driver, the win totals may increase a bit.
Others from Michigan: Johnny Benson, Tim Fedewa, Carson Hocevar, Howdy Holmes, Gordon Johncock, Erik Jones, Iggy Katona, Jack Sprague, Tim Steele, Phil Parsons, Mel Larson, Tracy Leslie, Vicki Wood.
Fun fact: Michigan native Egnatius “Iggy” Katona, who lived out his life in Daytona Beach, might’ve been the best-ever stock-car driver not associated with NASCAR. In his day, ARCA was independent from NASCAR, and also in Iggy’s day, he was dominant. He won 79 races and six championships in a long career. In 1974, at age 57, he won Daytona’s ARCA 200 and remains that speedway’s oldest race winner.
Minnesota: William Sawalich (Eden Prairie)
Why William: We’re leaning on potential here. Sawalich began this past season, his first on national circuits, at age 16 and competed in the Truck Series (three top-10s in just six starts), ARCA (four wins in 13 starts), ARCA East (four wins, eight starts) and ARCA West (one win, four starts). Also, Minnesota might the land of 10,000 lakes, but it’s produced precious few racers.
RUN IT BACK.
East Series champ @WilliamSawalich once again will be @JoeGibbsRacing's primary ARCA driver in 2024. He'll share the seat with @tannergray5! pic.twitter.com/H1KRDKfsCc— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) December 13, 2023
Others from Minnesota: Blackie Wangerin, Joe Frasson.
Fun fact: All but one of Joe Frasson’s 106 Cup Series starts came in the ’70s, and he produced a respectable 19 top-10s. But it was a 14th-place finish in the 1976 Daytona 500 that made him a key footnote in NASCAR history. It was his No. 18 Chevy, coming off the final turn, that clipped David Pearson just enough to keep Pearson’s reeling Mercury away from the inside wall and pointed toward the checkers.
Mississippi: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Olive Branch)
Why Ricky: His three career Cup wins include the 2023 Daytona 500. He has 54 top-10s in 400 career Cup starts. Before that, he won back-to-back Xfinity Series championships in 2011-12.
Others from Mississippi: Tommy Joe Martins, Chase Purdy, Lake Speed.
Fun fact: Stenhouse has a long and ongoing history of short-track racing in sprints and midgets. When he won his first Cup race, at Talladega in 2017, he joined an exclusive fraternity of racers who won a Cup Series race as well as posting wins in USAC’s three “triple crown” series — Silver Crown, Sprint, Midget. The others, by the way: Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Larson, Ryan Newman, Ken Schrader, Tony Stewart.
Missouri: Rusty Wallace (Arnold)
Rusty Wallace during practice for the 1986 Daytona 500 at @DAYTONA. Wallace qualified ninth and finished eighth in the race. pic.twitter.com/G3QjN9WuSG
— NASCAR History Page (@nascar_by13) December 7, 2023
Why Rusty: He’s not without competition from Missouri, but the 1989 Cup champ finished his Hall of Fame career with 55 victories, including a combined 18 in 1993-94. While he was a combined 0-for-90 at Daytona and Talladega, 25 of his career wins came on tracks measuring under a mile.
Others from Missouri: Kenny Wallace, Mike Wallace, Carl Edwards, Ken Schrader, Jamie McMurray, Larry Phillips.
Fun fact: In 2003, Rusty Wallace became the first racer to land a golf endorsement when he signed a deal with Callaway. He’d taken up golf in his 40s and became one of a few non-PGA Tour brand ambassadors for the company. One of the others: Alice Cooper.
Previously, Alabama through Maryland
Next up: Montana through New Jersey
— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR best, state by state: Carl Edwards isn't Mr. Missouri; who is?
