Marvin Panch
| Marvin Panch | |||||||
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| Born |
May 28, 1926 Menomonie, Wisconsin, U.S. |
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| Died | December 31, 2015 (aged 89) Port Orange, Florida, U.S. |
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| Achievements | 1961 Daytona 500 Winner | ||||||
| Awards | Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) inductee (2002) National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame inductee (1987) |
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| Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 216 races run over 15 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 2nd (1957) | ||||||
| First race | 35th race of 1951 season (Oakland) | ||||||
| Last race | 1966 National 500 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| First win | 35th race of 1956 season (Montgomery) | ||||||
| Last win | 1966 World 600 (Charlotte) | ||||||
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Marvin Panch (May 28, 1926 – December 31, 2015) was an American driver. Winner of the 1961 Daytona 500, he won seventeen NASCAR Grand National – now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series – events during a 17-year career.
Born in Menomonie, Wisconsin, Panch relocated to California at an early age. He started his racing career as a car owner in Oakland, California. One week, his driver did not show up, and he raced the car to a third-place finish. He won a championship and several races in six years, including five NASCAR races on the West Coast of the United States.
He attempted his first East Coast race at Darlington Raceway in 1953. NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. convinced him to come east for 1954.Lee Petty invited Panch to race in the 1954 Darlington race, where he finished third. The finish impressed Tom Horbison, who hired Panch to race his car during the 1955 season. His 1955 finishes caught the attention of Pete DePaolo, who hired Panch to race in his factory Ford team. Panch won his first NASCAR race on July 20, 1956, at Montgomery Speedway after starting on the pole position and dominating the entire race.
He won the two races in 1957 for DePaolo. He added another victory in April before Ford ended its factory support in the middle of the season. Panch joined the legendary Holman-Moody team for the rest of the season. He won three more events in the season, and finished second in the final points standings.
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