Joe Weatherly

One of the first big players of NASCAR, Joe Weatherly was immensely talented a fact that was on display often. He won back-to-back NASCAR Cup series championships in the year 1962 and then 1963. The championship win was a first for Bud Moore, legendary car owner, and was a result of nine race wins by Weatherly. In 1963, Weatherly won the championship, despite having only three races wins, as opposed to the 14 won by runner up of the season, Richard Petty. This was because apart from the three wins, Weatherly also accumulated 35 top-10 finishes through 53 starts in that season.

Apart from racing on four wheels, Weatherly was equally adept on two wheels, with three American Motorcyclist Association National Championship wins under his belt. This was before he started his NASCAR racing career. Wounded while serving for USA in the Second World War, Weatherly sustained many scars, and came to be identified them, soon being known as the "Clown Prince of Automobile Racing".

An accident at Riverside International Raceway in January, 1964 proved fatal for this talented and fun loving driver. In Darlington, South Carolina, the stock-car racing museum is named after this legendary driver, and he was inducted into the museum in 1965. Later in 1994, Weatherly was honored with an induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Alabama.