title: Bill Blair (racing driver)
text: # Bill Blair (racing driver)
  
  William Ivey Blair (July 14, 1911 - November 2, 1995) was an American stock car racing driver in the 1940s and the 1950s, and he was one of the pioneers of NASCAR.
  
  ## Racing career
  
  Blair started his racing career as a bootlegger in the 1930s. In 1939, he began racing at the newly-constructed High Point Speedway, and he opened his own track Tri-City Speedway after World War II.
  
  Blair won three NASCAR Strictly Stock/Grand National races:
  
  * June 18, 1950 – Blair piloted a 1950 Mercury owned by Sam Rice to victory in a race at Vernon Fairgrounds in Vernon, NY.
  * April 20, 1952 – Blair drove a 1952 Oldsmobile owned by George Hutchens to his second win at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, GA.
  * February 15, 1953 – In his final series victory, Blair drove his 1953 Oldsmobile to victory lane at the Beach & Road Course in Daytona Beach, FL.
  
  ## Memorial
  
  Blair, Jimmie Lewallen, and Fred Harb are the subject of the independent movie Red Dirt Rising" which is based on the book Red Dirt Tracks: The Forgotten Heroes of Early Stockcar Racing by Gail Cauble Gurley.
  
  