Gary Balough
| Gary Balough | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
September 16, 1947 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States |
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| Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 22 races run over 6 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 40th (1981) | ||||||
| First race | 1979 Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
| Last race | 1992 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
| 4 races run over 2 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 68th (1990) | ||||||
| First race | 1982 Goody's 300 (Daytona) | ||||||
| Last race | 1990 AC-Delco 200 (Rockingham) | ||||||
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Gary Balough is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who has competed from 1979 to 1992.
Balough has only led one lap out of 4033 - the equivalent of 5,668.9 miles or 9,123.2 kilometres.
The one lap that he led was at the 1981 Talladega 500 where he came from 41st to 1st, only to suffer a blown engine. In addition to his many short track wins Balough also won the 1981 Miller High Life 300 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Dale Earnhardt came in a close second. Bob Rahilly of RahMoc Racing built the engines for both of these races.
He started an average of 21st place and finished an average of 25th while bringing home a career grand total of $90,900 ($155,135.71 when adjusted for inflation). Balough's only DNQ was at the 1991 Daytona 500. He served a sentence of 45½ months in jail for drug trafficking; which basically ended his career along with his marriage. A ride with Harry Ranier's team was in the works along with a sponsorship from Domino's Pizza that would have paid him $750,000 ($1,638,661.20 when adjusted for inflation) for having their name appear on his car for 25 races.Robert Yates created the motors that helped Balough become "on top of his game."
After his jail sentence expired, Balough still had access to his children and could still practice his hobby of fishing. His first racing event after the end of his jail sentence was a 200-lap "All-Pro" race in Summerville, South Carolina where he earned the pole position and won the race. Gary Balough has won more than 1000 races throughout his career and has accumulated more than 20 wins in the All Pro division.
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