Gene Tapia | |||||||
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Born | March 16, 1925 Mobile, Alabama | ||||||
Died | April 12, 2005 | ||||||
Awards | Inducted in the Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers Hall of Fame (1999) | ||||||
NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
4 races run over 2 years | |||||||
Best finish | 134th (1953) | ||||||
First race | 1951 Lakeview Speedway (Mobile, Alabama) | ||||||
Last race | 1953 Five Flags Speedway (Pensacola, Florida) | ||||||
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Eugene "Gene" H. Tapia (March 16, 1925 – April 12, 2005) was an American race car driver from Mobile, Alabama.[1] He competed in four NASCAR Grand National Series races,[1] but he is best known for racing in the #327 supermodified. He was nicknamed the "King of the Supermodifieds."
Early life
[edit]Tapia was born on March 16, 1925, in Mobile, Alabama, to Ada and Homer Tapia.[2] When he was nine years old, he attended a dirt track race with his father.[2] His father began taking him regularly to motorcycle races in the mid 1930s.[2]
At the age of 17, Tapia got married. That same year, he was involved in a street fight[3] and the county district attorney suggested that he should leave town to avoid prosecution.[3] In order to resolve the matter amicably, he left Mobile to work as a civilian on a military base in Alaska. Tapia was wounded when the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor in June 1942.[3]
While Tapia was away, his wife gave birth to a boy named Larry Eugene Tapia in September 1942 at Memphis, Tennessee.[3] Before either parent was able to see the baby, he was stolen by Georgia Tann's baby theft ring that worked at the hospital.[3][4]
In June 1943, Tapia returned to Mobile where he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.[3] He served with the Third Marine Division in Guadalcanal, the first-day invasion of Guam, and spent over 35 days on Iwo Jima.[3]
Racing career
[edit]In 1948, Tapia began racing as a way to get past battle stress which plagued him after the War. Later that year, he won his first stock car race at Chisholm Fairgrounds in Montgomery, Alabama.[2] He raced in several NASCAR races that season. During his brief time spent racing in NASCAR, he won the Florida state title and the 1953 Mississippi state title.[4] He left the circuit because he wanted to race five nights per week instead of one night.[3] "Tapia was right up there with the best," said Donnie Allison. "He could have made it real good in NASCAR, if he had chosen. But I think his regard for his family and the desire to race more frequently is what kept him closer to home."[3]
Tapia won the 1968 and 1969 World 300 Supermodified race at Mobile International Speedway.[3] The event was billed as the "world's richest supermodified race".[3]
Later life
[edit]In 1990, Tapia was able to meet his son. The 47-year-old, who was living in Missouri, was told that his parents had died in an automobile accident.[3] Tapia died in 2005 at the age of 80.[3]
Awards
[edit]He was inducted in the Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers Hall of Fame in 1999.[2]
Motorsports career results
[edit]NASCAR
[edit](key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Grand National Series
[edit]NASCAR Grand National Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 | NGNC | Pts | Ref | |||||||||||||||||||||
1951 | 80 | Ford | DAB | CLT | NMO 20 |
GAR | HBO | ASF | NWS | MAR | CAN | CLS | CLB | DSP | GAR | GRS | BAI | HEI | AWS | MCF | ALS | MSF | FMS | MOR | ABS | DAR | CLB | CCS 17 |
LAN | CLT | DSP | WIL | HBO | TPN | PGS | MAR | OAK | NWS | HMS | JSP | ATL | GAR | NMO 17 |
181st | – | [5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
1953 | Plymouth | PBS | DAB | HAR | NWS | CLT | RCH | CCS | LAN | CLB | HCY | MAR | PMS | RSP | LOU | FIF 16 |
LAN | TCS | WIL | MCF | PIF | MOR | ATL | RVS | LCF | DAV | HBO | AWS | PAS | HCY | DAR | CCS | LAN | BLF | WIL | NWS | MAR | ATL | 134th | 80 | [6] |
Biography
[edit]- The Gene Tapia Story: King of the Supermodifieds ISBN 978-0-9725023-0-6
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Gene Tapia driving statistics". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
- ^ a b c d e Hodges, Gerald. "Racing Hall inducts Tapia". Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gerald, Hodges (April 14, 2005). "Well-known local racer Gene Tapia dies at 80". Fatboysports. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ a b Hodges, Gerald. "The Gene Tapia Story". Archived from the original on 2008-03-05. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ "Gene Tapia – 1951 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ "Gene Tapia – 1953 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
External links
[edit]- Gene Tapia driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Articles