Jump to content

Larry Flynn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Larry Flynn
Larry Flynn, 1966
Born(1930-04-10)April 10, 1930
Holly Hill, Florida
DiedSeptember 14, 2007(2007-09-14) (aged 77)
Cause of deathDiabetes complications
NASCAR Cup Series career
8 races run over 4 years
Best finish28th (1955)
First race1955 Southern 500 (Darlington)
Last race1961 Rebel 300 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0

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]
  1. ^ a b c "Career statistics for Larry Flynn". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Larry Flynn information". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  3. ^ a b c 1955 Southern 500 race information at Racing Reference
  4. ^ "Bill Brown Darlington flip colour". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  5. ^ "Death information for Larry Flynn". Legends of NASCAR. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  6. ^ "Larry Flynn Captures McKim Memorial Race". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. October 20, 1970. Retrieved 2013-02-26.