Red Farmer
Charles "Red" Farmer (born October 15, 1932 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a race car driver who relocated to Hueytown in the late 1950's.
Farmer's first race was in 1946 at Opa-locka Speedway near Miami, Florida in a 1934 Ford. He became famous as a member of the Alabama Gang. Estimates of Farmer's career victories range from 700 to 900 victories, most occurring in the late 1950's and early 60's. He raced 36 NASCAR races from 1953 to 1975. He won numerous championships at local tracks, including Birmingham International Raceway. He was the NASCAR National Late Model Sportsman champion for three consecutive years from 1969 to 1971. Farmer's best finish in NASCAR's top division was a fourth at both the 1972 Talladega 500 , and the 1968 Middle Georgia 500 near Macon, Georgia). He had so few Cup races because he was content to run primarily in the Late Model Sportsman. He was named NASCAR's most popular driver 4 times. Red always raced in the white and gold #97 car.
Red has retained his skills as a driver in spite of his age. He competed in 2 Busch Grand National races in 1992 at age 60. In June 2005, Farmer, in his 70s, turned heads in winning a heat over current NASCAR Nextel Cup stars, and finished 8th in the feature during the Nextel Prelude to the Dream race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, owned by NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart. On June 6, 2007, Farmer completed all 30 laps in the Prelude to the Dream race to finish 17th, behind many current Nextel Cup stars.
Farmer is a member of several halls of fame. Red was named one of the 50 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR history in 1998. He was a member of the first Class of Inductees into the Talladega-Texaco Walk Of Fame. When the International Motorsports Hall of Fame inducted Red, they had to waive their rule of 5 years of retirement, as of 2021 he was still racing at the age of 88.
On July 12, 1993 Farmer was a passenger in the helicopter crash at Talladega Superspeedway that took the life of Davey Allison, when the two were arriving at the track to assist young driver David Bonnett (Neil Bonnett's son). Farmer escaped with only broken bones.
Farmer was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2021.
Farmer contracted the COVID-19 virus in 2020 and recovered. During the March 25, 2021 tornado outbreak Farmer’s Indian Springs house and a trailer containing his race car were damaged. He an his wife survived without injury. After the tornado, NASCAR stars including Dale Earnhardt, Jr helped raise funds to help repair and replace items damaged or destroyed in the storm.
External links
References
- Red Farmer. (2006, December 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed December 27, 2006.
- "Edwards holds of Busch, Gordon, to win Prelude". NASCAR.com. Accessed June 7, 2007.
- Demmons, Doug (May 15, 2010) "After 62 years of racing Red Farmer just can't slow down." Birmingham News
- Heim, Mark (March 26, 2021) “ NASCAR Hall of Famer Red Farmer’s house, race car hit by Alabama tornado; Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts.” The Birmingham News